How can we help?

You can create a Course Compass account in two ways:

Option 1: Email & Password

1. Click "Get Started Free" on the homepage
2. Enter your email address - use your university email (e.g., @gmu.edu, @stanford.edu) for automatic school detection
3. Create a secure password (minimum 6 characters)
4. Check your inbox and click the verification link we send
5. Complete your profile by confirming your university and selecting your major

Option 2: Google Sign-In

1. Click "Sign in with Google" on the login page
2. Select your Google account (preferably your university Google account)
3. We'll create your profile automatically and detect your university

Pro tip: Using your .edu email helps us automatically detect your university from our 6,600+ supported institutions!

Creating a personalized course plan takes just a few minutes:

Step 1: Enter Basic Info

• University: Start typing and select from autocomplete suggestions
• Major: We'll show validated programs from your university's catalog
• Program Level: Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctoral

Step 2: Customize Your Preferences

• Graduation Pace: Standard (4 years), Accelerated (3 years), or Extended (5+ years)
• Course Load: Light (12 credits), Normal (15 credits), or Heavy (18+ credits)

Step 3: Add Your History (Optional but Recommended)

• Completed Courses: Paste your transcript or type courses you've already taken
• Specific Courses: Any courses you definitely want to take
• Constraints: E.g., "No Friday classes" or "Morning classes only"

Step 4: Generate Your Plan

Click "Generate Plan" and our AI will create a semester-by-semester schedule using real courses from your university's catalog. The AI considers prerequisites, course availability, and workload balance.

Auto-save enabled: Your plan saves automatically every 2 seconds as you make changes. You'll see a "Saving..." indicator when changes are being saved.

We support 6,600+ institutions - ALL Title IV accredited schools in America with over 1 million courses in our database. Our coverage includes:

• All major public universities (UC system, State universities, etc.)
• Private institutions (Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc.)
• Community colleges (886+ nationwide)
• Technical and vocational schools
• Cosmetology and beauty schools (500+)
• Medical, nursing, and dental schools
• Seminaries and religious institutions
• Tribal colleges and HBCUs
• Online and hybrid programs

How to check if your school is supported:

1. Sign up using your university email (we auto-detect from the domain)
2. Or start typing your university name in the plan creator - supported schools appear in autocomplete

What if my school isn't listed?

Contact us at support@course-compass.com with your university name. We add new schools within 48 hours by scraping your university's course catalog.

Sample supported institutions:

George Mason University, UCLA, Stanford, MIT, University of Michigan, Penn State, Arizona State, University of Texas, Georgia Tech, NYU, Boston University, plus 6,500+ more institutions including community colleges, technical schools, beauty schools, and vocational training programs.

7-day free trial: Try Premium free for 7 days. You won't be charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel anytime.

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner
2. Select "Account Settings"
3. Go to the "Billing" tab
4. Click "Start 7-Day Free Trial" or "Upgrade to Premium"
5. Choose your plan:
   • Monthly: $6.99/month
   • Quarterly: $18.87/quarter (save 10%)
   • Yearly: $67.09/year (save 20%)
6. Enter your payment details via our secure Stripe checkout
7. Your Premium access activates immediately!

1. Go to Account Settings > Billing
2. Click "Manage Subscription" (this opens Stripe's customer portal)
3. Click "Cancel plan"
4. Select a reason (optional) and confirm

What happens after canceling:

• You keep Premium access until the end of your current billing period
• Your course plans and data are preserved
• You can resubscribe anytime to restore Premium features
• After your period ends, you'll revert to Free plan limits

Need a refund? Contact support@course-compass.com within 48 hours of your charge.

If you signed up with email/password:

1. Go to the login page
2. Click "Forgot Password?" below the password field
3. Enter the email address associated with your account
4. Check your inbox for a password reset email from Firebase
5. Click the link in the email (valid for 1 hour)
6. Create a new password and confirm

Didn't receive the email?

• Check your spam/junk folder
• Make sure you entered the correct email
• Wait a few minutes and try again
• If using Gmail, check the "Updates" or "Promotions" tabs

Google Sign-In users: If you signed up with Google, use "Sign in with Google" instead. Your password is managed by Google, not Course Compass.

To delete your Course Compass account and all associated data:

1. Go to Account Settings
2. Click the "Privacy" tab
3. Scroll to "Delete Account" section
4. Click "Delete My Account"
5. Type DELETE to confirm
6. Click the final confirmation button

If you have an active Premium subscription, make sure to cancel it first to avoid future charges. Account deletion is processed within 30 days per GDPR/CCPA requirements.

1. Go to Account Settings > Billing
2. Your recent invoices appear in the "Billing History" section
3. Click any invoice to view details or download a PDF

You can also click "Manage Subscription" to access the full Stripe customer portal, where you can:

• View complete billing history
• Download invoices and receipts
• Update payment methods
• Change billing address

1. Go to Account Settings > Billing
2. Click "Manage Subscription"
3. In the Stripe customer portal, click "Update payment method"
4. Add your new card details
5. Your next charge will use the new payment method

Secure payments: All payment processing is handled by Stripe, a PCI-compliant payment processor. We never see or store your full card number.

Our AI uses Google's Gemini model combined with real course data from your university's catalog to create accurate, personalized plans.

How it works:

1. Data lookup: We first check our database of 1M+ real courses from your university
2. Program validation: We verify your major exists at your university (18,000+ programs indexed)
3. AI generation: Gemini creates a semester-by-semester plan using actual course codes and requirements
4. Caching: Results are cached for 7 days to provide instant responses for common queries

The AI considers:

• Prerequisites and corequisites
• Typical course sequencing
• Your completed courses (so it doesn't repeat them)
• Workload balance (credits per semester)
• Course availability patterns
• Your constraints (e.g., "no 8am classes")

Important: AI recommendations are a starting point. Always verify your plan with your academic advisor before registering for classes.

We have real tuition data for thousands of institutions. No AI estimates - every number comes from official sources.

Data includes:

• Tuition: In-state and out-of-state rates
• Mandatory fees: Student activity fees, technology fees, etc.
• Room & Board: On-campus housing estimates
• Books & Supplies: Estimated costs per year
• Transportation: Commuting costs
• Personal expenses: Living costs estimate
• Health insurance: If required by the university

Data sources:

All tuition data is scraped directly from official university websites and financial aid pages. Each estimate includes a link to the official source so you can verify.

Academic year:

Currently showing 2024-2025 rates. We update data annually when universities publish new rates.

Customization:

You can toggle cost categories on/off to exclude items that don't apply to you (e.g., exclude Room & Board if you live at home).

Professor ratings are sourced from RateMyProfessors.com, the largest database of student reviews.

Data we show:

• Overall Quality: Rating out of 5.0
• Difficulty: How hard students found the class (1-5)
• Would Take Again: Percentage who would retake
• Number of Reviews: How many ratings the score is based on

Our rating algorithm:

We use a weighted scoring system that considers both rating quality AND number of reviews. A professor with 4.2 from 100 reviews is ranked higher than 4.5 from 3 reviews. The formula: rating × log(numRatings + 1)

Department-based search:

We search by department to find professors who actually teach at your university, not just those with similar names at other schools.

Limitations: Not all professors have RateMyProfessors profiles, especially new faculty or those at smaller schools. Ratings are subjective student opinions.

The sidebar shows your real-time progress toward graduation:

Credits progress:

• Combines your academic history (completed courses) with current plan
• Shows completed credits vs. total required (e.g., "72 / 120 credits")
• Visual progress bar updates as you add/remove courses

GPA calculation:

Your cumulative GPA is calculated using standard grade points:

• A = 4.0, A- = 3.7
• B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0, B- = 2.7
• C+ = 2.3, C = 2.0, C- = 1.7
• D+ = 1.3, D = 1.0, D- = 0.7
• F = 0.0

Quick stats shown:

• Total credits completed
• Cumulative GPA
• Courses taken
• Semesters remaining

Career insights (Premium feature) shows relevant job opportunities based on your major:

What we show:

• Entry-level positions matching your field
• Internships for current students
• Job titles, companies, and locations
• Links to apply directly

How it works:

• We use major-specific keyword filtering
• Senior and executive roles are excluded
• Results are cached for 24 hours for speed
• Fallback links to LinkedIn/Indeed searches if no direct results

Example: A Computer Science major would see software engineering internships, junior developer roles, and IT positions from companies hiring entry-level candidates.

Try these search tips:

1. Search by course code (e.g., "CS 301") instead of full name
2. Try different variations of the department prefix (e.g., "COMP" vs "CS")
3. Search partial course numbers (e.g., "301" instead of "CS 301")
4. Check for spaces in the course code format your school uses

If the course still doesn't appear:

• The course may be newly added to your university's catalog
• It might be a special topics or experimental course
• Cross-listed courses may appear under a different department

Solutions:

• You can manually add courses that aren't in our catalog
• Email us the course details at support@course-compass.com and we'll add it within 24 hours

Plans auto-save every 2 seconds when you make changes. If saving seems stuck:

Check these first:

1. Look for the "Saving..." indicator in the interface
2. Check your internet connection
3. Refresh the page - your data should persist (we use content-based change detection)

If changes aren't saving:

1. Clear your browser cache and cookies
2. Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
3. Disable browser extensions that might block network requests
4. Check if you're logged in (session may have expired)

How auto-save works:

• Changes are debounced (2 second delay to batch rapid edits)
• Only saves when actual content changes (not on every click)
• Plans load automatically when you log in

AI recommendations are helpful but not perfect. Here's how to improve them:

Check your inputs:

• Is your university spelled correctly?
• Is your major the exact name used by your school?
• Is your program level correct (Bachelor's vs Master's)?
• Did you add your completed courses so they're not repeated?

Common issues:

• Wrong courses suggested: The AI may not know about recent curriculum changes
• Missing prerequisites: Some prerequisites may not be in our database yet
• Course doesn't exist: Rarely, the AI may suggest courses not offered at your school

What you can do:

• Manually edit the generated plan - add, remove, or swap courses
• Use the feedback button to report incorrect recommendations
• Be more specific in your constraints (e.g., "Must take MATH 125 in Spring")

Free accounts have daily/monthly limits to ensure fair usage:

Free tier limits:

• 3 course plans per semester
• 10 AI queries per day
• 5 professor ratings per day
• 1 plan export per month

When limits reset:

• Daily limits reset at midnight UTC
• Monthly limits reset on the 1st of each month
• Semester limits reset when a new semester starts

Options to continue:

1. Wait for your limits to reset
2. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited access
3. Start a 7-day free trial to test Premium features

Premium users get unlimited plans, AI queries, professor ratings, and exports - no limits to worry about.

Try these steps in order:

1. Refresh the page (Ctrl/Cmd + R)
2. Hard refresh (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + R) to bypass cache
3. Clear browser cache and cookies for this site
4. Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
5. Check your internet connection
6. Disable browser extensions (ad blockers, privacy tools)
7. Try incognito/private mode

If you see specific error messages:

• "Session expired": Log out and log back in
• "Network error": Check your internet connection
• "Something went wrong": The error is logged - try again or contact support

Still having issues?

Email support@course-compass.com with:

• Your browser and version
• The error message (screenshot if possible)
• What you were trying to do when it failed