TikTok Launches Campus Verification to Connect Students

TikTok brings back the campus directory with verified student profiles

TikTok is rolling out a Campus Verification feature that lets college students add their school and graduation year to profiles after verifying with an academic email address. The goal: make it easier for students to find classmates and build real-world connections on the app—echoing the early days of social networks like Facebook.

To opt in, users tap “Add school” on their profile, enter the college name, select a graduation year, and confirm ownership with a .edu or academic email. Once verified, the school name and year appear on the profile and the user is listed on their school’s page.

TikTok partnered with UNiDAYS to validate student status, and the feature is available at more than 6,000 universities. Verified students can browse classmates, filter by graduation year, and sort by popularity to see the most-followed school accounts first.

• Add school and graduation year to profile
• Verify with an academic email via UNiDAYS
• Browse, filter, and sort classmates by year or follower count

The move revives a familiar pattern. Early social platforms used campus directories to create closed, trusted communities that encouraged offline interaction. TikTok frames this update as a way to foster belonging and make campus life more discoverable within a highly visual app.

Benefits and friction points

For students the feature can speed up connections, help find classmates in niche programs, and boost campus groups’ visibility. For creators, it’s a way to grow locally. But the feature also introduces new friction around privacy and safety.

Where privacy concerns arise

Making enrollment status discoverable can simplify unwanted tracking, harassment, or doxxing. Even with verification, public affiliation ties an online identity to a physical campus, increasing the surface area for abuse if safeguards are not in place.

• Risk: Easier discoverability for stalking or harassment
• Risk: Data sharing with verification partners must be transparent and limited
• Mitigation: Opt-in control, clear data retention policies, and abuse reporting flows

TikTok notes the feature is optional, so students who prefer separation between their campus life and social presence can simply skip adding a school. Still, optionality alone doesn't eliminate systemic risks—platform tools, reporting mechanisms, and university awareness matter.

Meta reportedly tested a similar school display on profiles last year, underscoring that major platforms are re-evaluating campus-focused features. For universities and student organizations, this is a moment to rethink policies around student data, digital safety education, and partnerships with third-party verifiers.

At a practical level, institutions should ask: what data is exchanged with verification services, how long is it stored, and how will abuse reports from campus communities be triaged? Clear answers help protect students while letting platforms offer localized social features.

QuarkyByte views this launch as both an opportunity and a reminder: product features that boost community also change risk models. By combining platform telemetry, partner audits, and campus stakeholder input, organizations can design verification features that favor belonging without compromising safety.

For students, the Campus Verification feature could make campus life more discoverable and connected. For universities and safety teams, it’s a call to engage with platforms and verification partners now—before localized social features become entrenched and harder to govern.