Frequently Asked Questions
Whether You're A Student Or A School, Here's Everything You Need To Noodle Ahead.
Are You Sure Noodle Is Free? Even The Counseling?
We’re sure. Noodle is completely free and always will be. And some students who counsel with us want to learn more about our partner universities, so we’re willing to swallow the cost of that counseling.
Where Does Your Data Come From?
We aggregate data from a number of sources, and are adding more all the time. You can see the sources of our data at the bottom of any profile.
Can I Correct Or Delete The Information On My Profile?
Yes. If you save a search on Noodle, we’ll keep your information so you can navigate the admissions process more easily. But you can change or delete that profile anytime, and we won’t share it with anyone unless you request we do so.
How Does Noodle Make Money?
Noodle helps top universities build and administer online and hybrid degree programs. We’re trying to lower the cost of higher ed, and then share that savings with students in the form of increased grants. By promoting those schools here to qualified students, we help them lower their recruiting cost. All of that said, we will try hard to find you the right school, even if we don’t work with them. As noted, we don’t sell your information unless you request us to, or publish content without telling you who wrote it— meaning you can trust the editorial integrity of all Noodle articles.
I Found Something On Your Site That’s Not Accurate. What Should I Do?
Please contact us to let us know, and we’ll correct it right away! With more than 800,000 records from a variety of sources, there is the occasional mistake. We strive to provide the best quality possible, and your feedback helps us do that. If you are a school, university, tutor, or other provider, you can easily get access to your profile and manage your information so it’s always accurate and up-to-date.
What Is A Noodle Expert?
An expert is someone we’ve identified who has demonstrated significant knowledge, interest, and commitment to a particular education topic. This could be a tutor, guidance counselor, school administrator, parent, or even you! Interested in becoming a? Get more information.
How Did Noodle Get Its Name?
Your noodle is your brain, and to noodle on something means to “improvise, experiment, or think creatively” (Collins Dictionary). Our favorite reference to the word is in this New York Times book review. It's also more joyful and easygoing than most words about brains and thinking.
Are You Hiring?
Yes! Check out our Careers page.
I Read All Of This, But Am Not Sure I Fully Understand. What Is Noodle?
Noodle builds and manages online and hybrid programs for dozens of the best universities in the US. We are more agile and transparent than traditional OPMs, and produce better results than homegrown efforts. We’re building an expansive (and ever-growing) network of tech, institutions, students, investors and experts making connections between them to fuel innovation and engagement while driving down cost.
This Is All Nice, But I Need To Prepare For This Fall. How Can You Help Right Now?
Many current and prospective partners have asked us to help their faculties bring their courses online for this fall; we’ve done so successfully with hundreds of professors, passing along only our out-of-pocket costs. Please let us know ASAP if you need help here.
Should I Launch Online Programs That Are As Good As My Campus-Based Programs, Or MOOC-Like Programs With Low Tuition But Low Student:faculty Engagement?
Both are interesting paths. We favor creating great online programs, and eventually eliminating the distinction between modalities–there’s one student body, one faculty, and one infrastructure. But schools like Georgia Tech have had success with a large-scale, low-cost approach. These programs have very little faculty engagement, low graduation rates, and no long-term research on their impact, but could make great schools more accessible. Let’s look at your program(s) together and chart the right course.
You Speak A Lot About Agility. Do You Simply Mean That You Build Hybrid Programs?
We mean that a single technology and administrative infrastructure should support both online and on-campus instruction. This is not only more efficient and resilient than a siloed approach, but it puts great tools in the hands of every student and professor.
Is Noodle A Shortcut To Building A Program And Then Maintaining It On Your Own?
No, though we can help build a better program more quickly than you can alone. Our partners agree that we add value long after a program is launched. Our ongoing research, our tech infrastructure, our support team, and the network of schools we’re building more than justify our limited fees. We keep our contract short (four years) solely because we’re not trying to hold our schools hostage.
What Technologies Does Noodle Invest In?
We invest in two areas: first, we build tech that connects a variety of products into an increasingly seamless and collaborative experience for students and faculty. Second, we’ve built an administrative platform that securely allows us to co-manage every part of the marketing, recruiting, and support for students with our partner schools.
Doesn’t A Revenue-Share Give A Partner “Skin In The Game”? What’s Noodle’s Incentive?
The revenue share model turned out to encourage conventional OPMs to steer students to the most expensive programs, and to create systems that are opaque, rigid, and siloed. Noodle collects a small fee per credit hour; we are incentivized to grow enrollments to a healthy scale, and to operate with transparency and flexibility.
Have You Ever Stopped Working With A School?
As Noodle has evolved, we’ve become more thoughtful about which schools we can best help, and turned down more opportunities in the past two years than we’ve accepted. And because our contract terms are reasonable, we were able to consciously uncouple with a few early partners and remain friendly. We’re looking for schools and programs that: Have a solid regional or national reputation, are willing to grow it by offering online and agile programs in areas of strength, at a price students are willing to pay, and have faculty buy-in to raise capacity and explore a new medium.
What Type Of Investors Back Noodle?
We are funded by the top education venture firms, including Owl Ventures, ReThink Education, NewMarkets, Osage Ventures (sister to Osage University Partners), The Spring Fund, and The Lumina Foundation. Overall, we have raised $60M, which we continue to invest in great technology and systems to help our schools build world-class programs.