Tinder to launch dating service for college students

Tinder is going to college.

The popular dating app announced it will launch a new version of its social platform — Tinder U — exclusively for college-aged students enrolled in a four-year university.

The new service will display potential matches who are in college. Prospective users can only sign up if they have a .edu email address that will be geolocated on campus while they’re signing up for the free service. Student profiles will have a badge displaying the university they attend. Users will be able to see matches from their school along with nearby colleges and universities.

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Students can access Tinder U within Tinder’s main app and can switch back and forth if they prefer to match with suitors off campus. So, for example, a student swiping at New York University on Tinder U could match with a student at Columbia University or go back into the main app and match with someone older if they choose. The service is rolling out to Apple iPhone first and will be available at four-year colleges.

About half of Tinder’s users are between 18 and 25, the typical college age, so giving that age group an exclusive place to meet others their age makes sense. And Tinder U could help college students have a safe space to converse with people their own age, and perhaps, avoid trolling from older users. The news of Tinder U comes after Facebook recently announced it was testing out its new dating portal.

“We believe it is critical that Tinder maintains a strong foothold at universities around the globe, especially given that every 18-year-old who starts college is building a social life from scratch making new friends and starting new relationships,” Match Group CEO, the company that owns Tinder, Mandy Ginsberg recently said.

Dating apps are generally used by millennials and Gen Z. Usage among this age group has nearly tripled from 10% in 2013 to 27% by 2016, according to Pew Research. An estimated 50 million people use Tinder every month, with an average of 26 million matches per day.