Tinder's Newest Feature Just For College Students Comes At The Perfect Time

Tinder launched in 2012 at the University of Southern California, and now, it's going back to it's college campus roots. The dating app is rolling out a university-specific feature just in time for those headed back to college this fall. When does Tinder U launch? The new feature just for college students launched on August 21, just in time for the start of the fall semester.

Previously, college students could use the app's geographic settings to narrow in on other people living on or near their campus. But that wasn't a perfect method of matching exclusively with other students. If you really wanted to match with people on campus, you'd have to sort through your potential matches carefully.

Now, with this feature, users can sign into Tinder with their university e-mail address (it has to have an ".edu" on the end of it!) to gain access to the students-only Tinder portal. After logging in with a university e-mail, users will have to verify it's them on their university e-mail account, and then, they can swipe through the other college students on Tinder U. If at any point you'd like to switch from Tinder U back to the regular version of the app, it's easy to toggle off the feature.

Tinder is touting the new feature for university students who don't just want to date. It's a way, according to its blog, for college students to find a "study buddy" or a "coffee date on the quad." You could even browse through Tinder U looking for a sorority semi-formal date.

This feature will be beneficial to students who are already swiping on Tinder anyway. If you're curious, by the way, some of the most-swiped college campuses include: Columbia University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Southern California, Florida State University, University of Texas at Austin, and Harvard University, a rep for Tinder told Elite Daily.

And if you're visiting your friends at other schools, or your campus happens to be nearby another college, you can swipe on Tinder U at other campuses as well, according to Tinder. Maybe you'll see that student you thought was cute at the tailgate on Tinder U, and you'll strike up a conversation on the app. Or this student-exclusive feature could even be something you use to find buddies on game day if you haven't really found your crowd just yet.

Regardless if you're using Tinder U to find a study buddy, a semi-formal date, or a relationship, this feature will no doubt be useful. And luckily, it's already up and running, which means you can update your Tinder app today (or download it if you don't already have it on your phone), and immediately gain access to a whole new world of people who basically live in your backyard — or maybe even right down the hall. Happy swiping!

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