We’re Excited to Announce Free Access to Our Platform for Universities

The class of 2026 is entering one of the most difficult job markets in recent memory. Unemployment among recent college graduates has climbed to 5.7%, a three-year high, while underemployment sits at 41.5%. Junior-level job postings fell 7% last year even as senior-level openings grew, and AI is quietly making the entry-level roles where graduates traditionally get their start increasingly scarce. For the first time in decades, the job-finding rate for young college graduates has converged with that of high school graduates. The college credential, once a near-guarantee of a smoother path into the workforce, no longer carries the certainty it once did.

Universities feel this acutely. Career services teams are fielding more anxious students, under more pressure to demonstrate outcomes, and have fewer resources to do it. Higher education institutions shed over 9,000 positions in 2025 alone. Federal funding cuts, declining state support, and shrinking incoming class sizes have left many institutions trying to do more, in a more challenging market, with less.

We've been sitting with all of this, and it's shaped a decision we’re excited to share.

RippleMatch Is Now Free for Every University

RippleMatch was recently acquired by JobGet, the fastest-growing job platform connecting workers to employers at scale. This partnership expands the number and diversity of jobs available to students on our platform: more employers, more industries, more opportunities that match where students actually are.

But it also changes our business model for universities. By joining the JobGet ecosystem, we've gained access to a dramatically larger job and employer network, and that growth allows us to expand access to universities at no cost. Effective immediately, RippleMatch is now free for every university.

What This Means for Students

In a market where standing out matters more than ever, RippleMatch gives students a meaningful edge:

• Higher interview rates. Students on RippleMatch secure interviews at 20x the rate of those applying through traditional job boards, because they're not competing in a black-hole application process, but being surfaced directly to employers who are a fit.

• Verified skills that speak for themselves. Students can complete learning paths and earn verified skill badges that appear on their RippleMatch profiles, giving employers concrete signals of job-readiness beyond GPA and coursework.

• A curated, personalized job feed. Rather than scrolling through thousands of irrelevant postings, students receive a feed of high-quality opportunities matched to their skills, interests, and goals — including roles they may not have known to look for.

What This Means for Universities

For career services teams, RippleMatch provides something that's been hard to come by: real visibility into what's actually happening with students' job searches, and the ability to help students stand out in their job search.

University partners get access to:

• Real-time analytics tracking student engagement, platform activity, skills progress, interview rates, and placement outcomes
• Employer connections through both the RippleMatch and JobGet employer networks
• Skills-to-jobs correlation data that helps institutions understand which competencies are driving outcomes, and where students need more support
• Targeted communications tools to reach specific student cohorts with relevant nudges, upskilling prompts, and job search guidance

What This Means for Employers

This free product for universities will expand RippleMatch's presence across more institutions, which means access to a broader, more diverse pool of student talent. As more universities onboard, you'll be able to reach more students, get more verified skills data, and have better matching signal to hire early career talent with confidence.

An Invitation

If your institution has been exploring new ways to empower students in this market, now is the moment to get started. Onboarding is fast, and we're here to support your team through every step of setup.

Book a meeting here to get your institution signed up for RippleMatch.

Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of New York – Labor Market for Recent College Graduates · EPI – Class of 2026 · CNBC – New College Graduates Face a Tough Job Market · Inside Higher Ed – December Cuts Close Out Brutal Year · Pew – Higher Education's Uncertain Fiscal Future