Legal Policies

Effective Date: December 6, 2025

Welcome to Cheddar Scholar, Scholarship Manager, and Cheddar One ("Cheddar," "we," "us," or "our"), operated by TishEd Technology, Inc. These Terms ("Agreement") govern your access to and use of our websites, mobile apps, and services ("Platform").

1. Eligibility

To use the Platform, you must:

• Be at least 13 years old
• If between 13–18, have parental/guardian consent
• Provide accurate and truthful information
• Have the legal capacity to agree to these Terms
• Be a U.S. resident (unless otherwise approved)

Institutions must ensure all administrators using Cheddar have authority to bind the institution to these Terms.

2. Account Registration

Certain features require creating an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate and current information
• Maintain the confidentiality of your login credentials
• Notify us immediately of unauthorized access
• Accept responsibility for all activity under your account

We may decline, suspend, or terminate accounts at our discretion if terms are violated.

3. Description of the Service

Cheddar provides an integrated ecosystem to support affordability, scholarship discovery, and institutional workflow.

For Students & Families

Cheddar allows you to:

• Discover colleges and scholarships
• Receive personalized affordability insights
• Complete universal profiles and applications
• Track deadlines and financial aid milestones
• Attend webinars, Q&A sessions, and other support programs
• Request information (RFIs) from institutions

For Institutions

Cheddar provides paid subscription tools to:

• Publish scholarship catalogs instantly
• Manage inquiries, applications, and outreach
• Run FAFSA and scholarship completion campaigns
• Automate forms and catalog creation (including AI-assisted drafts)
• Generate donor, reporting, and compliance analytics

4. Important Disclaimers

No Guarantee of Scholarships or Admission

Cheddar helps students find opportunities but:

• We do not guarantee admission
• We do not guarantee scholarship eligibility
• We do not guarantee scholarship awards
• All scholarship info may change at any time
• Institutions make final decisions regarding awards

Users must confirm details directly with institutions or scholarship providers.

Not Financial, Legal, or Tax Advice

Affordability tools, scholarship estimates, and all content are informational only and not professional advice.

FAFSA Disclosure

Cheddar is not affiliated with Federal Student Aid or the U.S. Department of Education. We do not influence FAFSA outcomes.

AI Disclaimer

Some scholarship descriptions, catalogs, and forms may be AI-generated drafts. Institutions are solely responsible for reviewing, validating, and approving all such content before publishing.

5. Third-Party Content & Institutional Responsibility

Institutions are fully responsible for accuracy, completeness, and regulatory compliance of all scholarship listings, eligibility criteria, deadlines, award structures, and related content they publish.

Cheddar is not responsible for errors or omissions in institution-provided or third-party content.

External websites linked from Cheddar are not controlled by us; we disclaim responsibility for their content, privacy practices, or accessibility.

6. Information We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to match students with opportunities and support institutional workflows. This may include:

• Name, contact information
• Academic background
• Demographic and preference data (optional)
• Scholarship applications and inquiry history
• Uploaded documents (essays, transcripts)
• FAFSA progress indicators (not FAFSA data itself)
• Device and usage information
• For institutions: administrative, scholarship, and catalog data

7. How We Use Your Information

Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

We use data to:

• Match students with scholarships and institutions
• Help schools manage scholarship processes
• Send reminders, deadlines, or required notifications
• Allow students to submit RFIs or applications
• Improve platform performance and security
• Provide personalized recommendations
• Facilitate outreach campaigns (email/SMS)

We do NOT:

• Share student information with institutions unless the student initiates the contact
• Share data for third-party advertising

8. FERPA, COPPA & State Privacy Compliance

FERPA

When contracted by an institution:

• Cheddar acts as a FERPA-compliant school official
• We use student records only for institutional educational purposes
• We do not redisclose FERPA-protected data without consent

COPPA

Children under 13 require verified parental consent.

U.S. State Privacy Rights

Depending on your state, you may:

• Request deletion
• Access your data
• Request corrections
• Opt-out of profiling or automated processing

Requests can be sent to: compliance@tish-group.com

9. How We Share Information

We may share data with:

• Institutions that students choose to contact
• Service providers (hosting, analytics, infrastructure)
• Compliance, legal, or security partners as required by law

We never share data for marketing resale.

10. Communication Consent (Email + SMS)

By using the Platform, you consent to receive:

• Email alerts
• SMS reminders
• Application and scholarship notifications
• Webinar and event messages

You may opt out at any time. Message/data rates may apply.

11. Rankings, Recommendations & Paid Visibility

Cheddar provides two types of results:

A. Editorial Rankings (Not Paid)

Generated from:

• Scholarship value & coverage %
• Student academic fit
• Institutional affordability
• Eligibility criteria
• Student preferences

Institutions cannot pay to change editorial rankings or matching algorithms.

B. Sponsored Visibility

Institutions may purchase enhanced visibility such as:

• "Sponsored"
• "Featured"
• "Promoted"

Sponsored content:

• Is always clearly labeled
• Appears in designated sections
• Does not influence editorial rankings or matching outcomes

12. Security Practices

Cheddar takes reasonable measures to protect data. We use industry-standard safeguards:

• Encryption at rest and in transit
• Access controls
• Secure hosting infrastructure
• Auditing and monitoring
• FERPA-aligned data agreements

13. User Responsibilities

You agree to:

• Provide truthful and accurate information
• Not misuse or interfere with the Platform
• Not impersonate others
• Not submit fraudulent scholarship applications
• Not attempt to bypass access controls
• Comply with all applicable laws

Cheddar may suspend or terminate accounts for violations.

14. Intellectual Property Rights

The Platform including software, design, trademarks, and content is owned by TishEd Technology, Inc. You may not, without written permission:

• Copy
• Modify
• Reverse-engineer
• Distribute
• Create derivative works

15. Termination

You may delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate this Agreement, harm users, or disrupt platform integrity.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• The Platform is provided "as is"
• We do not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free service
• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages
• Our total liability is limited to the amount you paid us (if any) in the last 12 months

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless TishEd Inc. and TishEd Technology, Inc. and its affiliates from claims arising out of:

• Your use of the Platform
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of applicable laws

18. Governing Law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Disputes must be brought in Los Angeles County, CA.

19. Changes to This Agreement

We may modify these Terms at any time. Updated versions will be posted with a new effective date. Continued use of the Platform constitutes acceptance of modified Terms.

20. Contact Us