Newsroom
Celebrating 20 years of Mapping Your Future
September 08, 2016
The idea was a simple one – help students and families with college preparation and financial aid – and do that online so schools, students, and parents can get help anytime, anywhere.
It was that idea that drove the creation of Mapping Your Future, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. That idea and the creation of Mapping Your Future wouldn't have been possible without the help of many people in the financial aid and higher education communities. So during this week of our anniversary, we want to say thank you for what you've done to help us carry out our mission.
The Mapping Your Future site as pictured above debuted on the World Wide Web on September 1, 1996 in time for back-to-school when many students and families are thinking about and preparing for college. As such, we were one of the first websites available, providing college, career, financial aid, and financial literacy information. Since then, many websites have come and gone, changed ownership, or altered their mission, but not Mapping Your Future.
Mapping Your Future started when a group of five state and nonprofit education agencies decided to collaborate to provide information and services via the web. At that time, the leaders of the agencies didn't know what types of services we would be able to provide but knew that we could deliver these services better by working together and staying true to our mission to serve schools, students, and families. They also recognized the great potential in providing valuable services via the Internet.
Since that time, Mapping Your Future has developed into a national financial aid industry collaborative project. We've also partnered with other financial aid industry organizations and include many school financial aid professionals in the development of future enhancements to the site. Today, Mapping Your Future is powered by Money Management International and continues as a national collaborative organization of agencies and other supporters. Over 920 schools have Online Counseling accounts, 535 educators have Guide to Life after High School accounts, and many other schools use other services on the site including the calculators and MappingXpress.
While we have helped millions of students and parents and thousands of schools, we know that our mission is ongoing as there are always new students and their families needing our assistance. Thank you for being a part of our 20 years, and we look forward to sharing our next 20 years with you.