Why we built this
Most college counseling is designed to get you into college. That works for some people. For a lot of others it ends in debt, a degree they don't use, or years spent on a path they never really chose.
We started Elton University because we think higher education should be more personal, more affordable and more accountable. We built College Alternatives because the honest answer for many people is that the best next step isn't a traditional college at all.
The College Alternatives Counselor will tell you about teaching yourself, starting something, learning on the job, bootcamps, certifications, community college, trades, gap years and, when it fits, Elton. It is told to give honest tradeoffs for every option, ours included, and to say so whenever it mentions us.
How it works
The counselor is an AI agent built on Claude by Anthropic. It can search the web for current programs, wages and deadlines. It can still make mistakes, so please verify important details with the programs themselves.
Privacy
No account is required. Your conversation is sent to our server and to Anthropic to generate replies. We don't sell your data. Please don't share sensitive personal information.