Instagram Launches “Schools” Feature to Help College Students Connect

Instagram has introduced a new schools feature to enhance the life of campuses and to enhance the bonding of college students. It is a student-only area where verified U.S. college and university students can add their school to their Instagram profile and connect with peers in a safer and more authentic manner.

What is the Instagram Schools Feature?  

Introduced on August 25, 2025, the Schools feature allows enrolled students to have a college or university as a banner on their profile. It opens up access to a special student directory, where verified friends can be viewed and contacted according to school and grade. The search filters allow students to find students in their own year or campus-wide, creating a connection beyond follows.

How Does Verification Work?

Instagram has teamed up with UNiDAYS, a student verification platform to guarantee real-time relationships. Students should confirm their enrollment in UNiDAYS to see the school banner displayed on their profile. This procedure is a kind of digital student ID, which instills confidence and safety in the campus community. As the CEO of UNiDAYS Jon Hawley remarks, the collaboration allows students to create more realistic, purposeful, and safe relationships online.

How to add school banner on Instagram 2025

You can easily add your school banner to Instagram, but you have to verify your account in order to make the network secure and genuine. Below is a step‑by‑step guide to use this Instagram campus networking tool:

• Download or Update Instagram: Ensure you have updated the Instagram app to be able to use the new Schools feature.  
• Access Profile Settings: Tap the three-line menu on the profile; the next step is to tap Settings.  
• Locate the “Add School” Option: In Settings, look for “Add School” or “Schools.”  
• Verify Enrollment Through UNiDAYS: Instagram relies on UNiDAYS to verify your student-status. You will be redirected to submit proof of enrollment. This action maintains the level of trust of the community.  
• Customize Privacy Settings: Once verified, choose to show your banner to either all the users, friends, or a group of your choice. The privacy settings of Instagram make you feel safe.  
• Explore and Connect via Student Directory: After creating an account, you are able to browse the exclusive directory to find verified peers by school and year of study. It is good to network, study groups, and campus life.  

Why Instagram’s Schools Feature Matters  in the 21st century? 

Instagram, with a publicized school network, fulfills Gen Z desire to have real and close interaction in the crowded social media space. In contrast to open profiles, Schools provide a secure online campus, verified identities, and increased trust and engagement.  

Benefits of the Schools Feature

• Easier Networking: Find and connect with classmates or peers who share the same interests within a very short time.  
• Privacy Control: Authenticated students have control over who will view their school banner.  
• Community Building: The exclusive student directory builds a closed space that enhances school spirit, and closer campus relationships.  
• Verification and security: Verification reduces fake accounts and impersonators to ensure campus networking is secure. 

Solving the Issues of Privacy 

Apparently, this Instagram campus networking tool makes it easier for all the students now to find classmates, but it also naturally raises questions about privacy. Instagram has introduced this as  an optional feature in the app letting the users decide whether they want to link their academic life to their social profiles. They also get to choose to omit the school banner altogether. The verification process and privacy controls help minimize the concerns by restricting access to verified students only.

Additionally, over the past year, student social networking transformed remarkably and has seen rise in concerns about safety, privacy, and authenticity. TikTok’s launch of a campus-based connection tool in early 2025 was a notable precursor to Instagram’s move. Both platforms respond to students’ desire for dedicated, trustworthy spaces that are distinct from broader public profiles.

A Creation of Student Social Spaces like TikTok’s Feature 

The School feature launch follows Tik Tok, which introduced a similar feature, and it emphasises a bigger trend toward campus-based networking. These tools combine both face-to-face experiences with online platforms, where students waste much time.  

Enhancing your School Profile

In addition to the presence of the school banner, students can enhance the presence of their campus by:

• Posting real campus experience in Stories and Reels that demonstrate what life is like on campus.  
• Engaging with verified peers via comments, direct messages, and collaborative content.  
• Engaging in school specific hashtags and challenges to foster community spirit.  

A combination of these tools and Schools feature creates a dynamic active digital campus.  

Instagram schools feature is a strategic move to a safer, closer digital campus. Through easy verification procedures and student directory, college students can make friends and support networks in any other place online, a gap that separates both the physical and the virtual campuses.  

This aspect shows how social media sites are changing according to the sophisticated demands of the upcoming generation of users. They integrate convenience, authenticity, and control in a single streamlined experience.