Sign In

Luke Skurman

CEO, Niche

Luke Skurman is the founder and CEO of Niche.com, a platform that helps people make life decisions by providing insights about schools, colleges, and places to live.124 He founded the company in 2002 while he was a student at Carnegie Mellon University, originally starting as College Prowler and later rebranding to Niche in 2013.4

Professional Background:

  • Founder and CEO of Niche.com since May 20021
  • Trustee at Carnegie Mellon University, serving as Vice Chair of the Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship committee13
  • Founding Curator of the Pittsburgh Global Shapers Hub for the World Economic Forum1

Education:

  • Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with both a B.S. and M.S. degree (1998-2004)1
  • Studied abroad at Macquarie University's Graduate School of Business for a semester in 20011

Achievements:

  • Named Entrepreneur of the Year for Western Pennsylvania & West Virginia by Ernst & Young in June 20161
  • Has been featured in media outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and Fortune3
  • Recently made Niche's first acquisition of Goodkind, a communication platform for educational institutions2

Skurman is passionate about education, entrepreneurship, and leadership, and lives in Pittsburgh with his wife Natalia and their two children.3

Highlights

Aug 19 · linkedin

The 2025 Niche Direct Admissions program is now officially up and running 🎉

In just a few days since launching, over 300,000 high school seniors already have college acceptance AND scholarship offers from the excellent institutions in our program.

For many students and their families, knowing that they have real options awaiting them and that they’re wanted by colleges across the country – all before the first day of their senior year – is an incredible weight off their shoulders and well-deserved peace of mind.

This launch follows a very successful 2024 direct admissions program, which resulted in…

 🎒 Nearly 930,000 students receiving at least one acceptance and scholarship offer

 💰 An estimated $165+ million in first-year tuition revenue

 🤝 A remarkable 9% of our partner institutions’ deposits coming from Niche on average, with some as high as 30%

We truly believe that direct admission will become the primary way most students enroll in college within the next five years. I’m so thankful for the fantastic work our team has put in to achieve these milestones and can’t wait to keep pushing forward 🚀   #niche #directadmissions #college #collegeadmissions #highered

Aug 9 · linkedin

Huge shoutout to Reggie Hill at University of Missouri-Saint Louis for the incredible success his institution has had participating in the Niche Direct Admissions program.

UMSL sent direct admissions offers to over 800 students for this fall through our program, of which 114 have committed to enrolling and 76 have registered to attend 👏 👏 👏

In total, six universities from Missouri participated in the Niche Direct Admissions program, and we’re thrilled to have  Maryville University of Saint Louis join us as well for the upcoming admissions season.

And thank you to Monica Obradovic from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for helping families discover an easier, more transparent path to higher education.#collegeadmissions #directadmissions #highered

Related Questions

What inspired Luke Skurman to start Niche.com?
How has Niche.com evolved since its founding in 2002?
What are some of the key achievements of Luke Skurman in his career?
How does Niche.com's acquisition of Goodkind impact its services?
What role does Luke Skurman play at Carnegie Mellon University?
Luke Skurman
Luke Skurman, photo 1
Luke Skurman, photo 2
Add to my network

Location

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States