Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of collegecostscompared.com (the "Site") and any spreadsheet products, downloads, or services offered by College Costs Compared ("we", "us", or "our"). By using the Site or purchasing a product, you agree to these Terms.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or have the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian, to make a purchase. By purchasing a product you represent that you meet this requirement.

2. The Products

Our products are downloadable spreadsheets (.xlsx files) that compile cost, fee, room and board, and scholarship information for colleges and universities. The data is compiled from information publicly available on each college's website at the time the spreadsheet is prepared.

College tuition, fees, scholarships, and other figures change frequently. Some colleges do not publish GPA-based scholarship information until a student applies, and those schools are not included in the GPA scholarship data. We make no guarantee that the data is current, complete, or accurate at the time you use it, and you should verify any figure that influences a financial or enrollment decision directly with the college.

3. License and Permitted Use

When you purchase a product, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to download and use the spreadsheet for your own household's college search. You may duplicate the file for use across your own children or family members.

You may not:

• Resell, sublicense, or commercially redistribute the spreadsheet in any form.
• Post the file or its contents to public websites, file-sharing services, or social media.
• Use the file or any portion of its data to build, train, or operate a competing product or service.
• Remove or obscure any branding, copyright notices, or attribution within the file.

4. Pricing, Payment, and Delivery

Prices are listed in U.S. dollars and processed by Stripe. After your payment is confirmed, a download link is emailed to the address you provided at checkout. Download links are single-customer and time-limited. Please check your spam folder if your email does not arrive within a few minutes — and contact us if you still need help.

5. Refunds

Because our products are delivered as instant digital downloads, all sales are final. If you experience a delivery failure (e.g. your download link did not work or you never received the email), please contact us and we will make it right. See our Refund Policy for full details.

6. Intellectual Property

The Site, the spreadsheet templates, the compiled data layouts, the brand name "College Costs Compared", logos, and all related materials are owned by us and protected by U.S. and international intellectual property laws. Public data points (such as a college's published tuition figure) are not owned by us; the value we provide is the curation, organization, and presentation.

7. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Site and the products are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, or non-infringement. We do not guarantee that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components, nor that any information contained in our products will produce any particular outcome (including but not limited to admission, scholarship, or financial-aid results).

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, College Costs Compared and its affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the Site or the products, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or the products shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless College Costs Compared from any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the Site or the products.

10. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site or any product license at any time for violation of these Terms or for fraudulent, illegal, or abusive activity.

11. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, U.S.A., without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the products shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Michigan, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

12. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date above reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the Site after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

13. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email support@collegecostscompared.com.