OpenAI sets out college planning tools for ChatGPT for Teens

OpenAI says College Planner will support US students in grades 10 through 12 applying to four-year colleges, with the feature expected soon. The announcement also describes photo uploads that make a PDF and flashcards drawn from notes. Common Sense Media has separately assessed ChatGPT for Teens as an “unacceptable risk,” while OpenAI reports average teen use of under 15 minutes a day.

The development concerns ChatGPT for Teens, a mode introduced in August with safeguards and break reminders, according to the report. OpenAI says its College Planner will collect application requirements, deadlines, tasks and financial-aid steps for schools selected by a student. It says students can use a timeline to plan and monitor progress, then ask ChatGPT for explanations or help beginning a task. The feature is described as forthcoming, without a specified release date.

Planner scope is limited to a stated student group

The initial US focus is students in grades 10 through 12 who plan to apply to four-year colleges. The source does not state whether other age groups, countries or types of post-secondary study will be included later. It also does not identify participating schools or explain how application requirements will be checked. Those details remain outside the public description provided in the report.

OpenAI’s description frames the planner as an organisational aid across applications. It brings requirements, deadlines, tasks and financial-aid steps together for schools on a student’s list. Students can return to update progress and use a timeline to see what is left. The source does not provide further operational rules for the feature, including how its information will be maintained.

Common Sense Media raised separate safety concerns

Common Sense Media published a report deeming ChatGPT for Teens an “unacceptable risk.” The organisation said the AI tool still does students’ homework and fails to send parent alerts when it should. The source does not set out the report’s methods, legal status or any formal regulatory finding. Its assessment is reported as criticism from Common Sense Media, not as a decision by an identified authority.

OpenAI’s response in the announcement includes a claim that teens spend under 15 minutes a day on ChatGPT on average. The figure is attributed to the company, and no methodology or usage breakdown appears in the source. The announcement does not directly answer the specific homework and parent-alert criticisms described in the report. No further company response to those points is provided in the material.

Photo and flashcard functions add study workflows

The reported iOS update allows continuous multi-photo capture, with the images combined into one PDF. The source does not state a maximum number of photos or explain whether the resulting file can be edited within ChatGPT. A separate study feature will generate flashcards from a user’s notes, though its release timing and platform scope are not specified. Both features are presented as additions to ChatGPT’s study functions.

The announcement leaves the College Planner’s release date and supported school coverage open. Further detail would also be needed to understand how the planner presents financial-aid steps and how users can review generated study material. The described safety criticism remains attributed to Common Sense Media, with no regulator, legal stage or dated proceeding identified. OpenAI’s reported usage figure does not resolve those unanswered points in the source.