LinkedIn Launches University Pages

LinkedIn, yesterday, announced it’s latest new feature to it’s networking platform – Linkedin University Pages – a cornerstone of LinkedIn’s strategy to help students at every critical milestone from campus to fulfilling and towards successful careers.

While i think this was a long time pending feature and a likely addition to LinkedIn’s current offering.

As per the blog post announcing the release, here are some use cases for University Pages:

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• Join the conversation: University Pages are a great place to get regular updates about campus news and activities from the schools themselves, to ask questions, and engage with both the campus community and alumni of schools.
• Explore universities worldwide: Interested in graduate schools in France? Start by searching for schools in Paris. Then, explore the careers of graduates to see which schools will get you to your goal. Connect with students or alumni for their perspectives on the school.
• Check out notable alumni: What kinds of leaders does this school produce? From astronauts to architects, executives to entertainers, explore the notable alumni who have done great things since graduation.
• Expand your opportunities: Are you choosing a major or considering a mid-career shift? Explore the careers of philosophy or physics graduates. You might be surprised at the diverse professional paths they’ve taken. See where they live and work, what they do, and even the skills they’ve acquired along the way to see what’s possible for you.
• Build your network: Transform those brilliant, creative, hard-working people you met (or will meet) on campus into a lifelong professional network. Alumni can reconnect with former classmates, and students can cement relationships with current and future classmates.

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University Pages will be especially valuable for students making their first, big decision about where to attend college.

However, this offering is not yet available for everyone. So far about 200 universities have been given access to Linkedin University Pages, including INSEAD,New York University, University of California San Diego, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, University of Michigan, Villanova, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Illinois, and many more.

Beginning on September 12, it will be made available to high school students who can use LinkedIn to explore schools worldwide, greatly expand their understanding of the careers available, and get a head start on building a network of family and friends to help guide them at every milestone.

Here’s an intro video by LinkedIn demonstrating how students can leverage the new feature:

Effect on existing Startups in this space:

There are a number of startups that have their products targeting the same market – alumni networks, mentor networks and other similar student networks.

While its unlikely that these startups will loose out on existing customers due to the niche nature of their products, however it’s possible for them to loose out on potential future customers.

Competing against the size of LinkedIn’s userbase and network will be a difficult task for most startups in this space. Let’s see what lies in the future for them.

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