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Thank you for your interest in the NearbySchools API. Below are some helpful resources for developers.
Don’t see an answer to your question below? Email us directly at api-support@greatschools.org.
An API, or Application Programming Interface, is like a messenger that lets different software programs talk to each other and share information. It’s a way for developers to use features or data from one program in their own applications without having to build everything from scratch. In this case, the NearbySchools API will allow you to connect with our server and pull a live subset of our K-12 school data from our database, based on the specific API request (or “call”) you make.
An API call is like making a request for information or asking a question to another program or service. It’s how your website or application asks another system to do something specific, like getting data or performing an action. The NearbySchools API offers several endpoints to which you can make an API call, and each endpoint requires different parameters. See a full list of available endpoints in our Technical Documentation.
The API rate limit (or the number of calls that a user can make during a specific time interval) is 10 requests per second.
Yes, when displaying content received from the NearbySchools API, you must meet the requirements outlined in the GreatSchools Attribution & Branding Requirements. Failure to do so may result in the suspension or termination of your subscription.
The Basic, Professional, and Premium NearbySchools API plans are offered under a “fixed” model, meaning our subscribers pay a flat monthly fee upfront for a set number of calls per month. Once you have reached your maximum allotted number of calls for the month, you cannot make additional calls until the next billing cycle begins, unless you decide to upgrade your subscription to a plan that includes more calls per month.
You can request to change your plan at any time by emailing api-support@greatschools.org. If you request a change before the end of your current billing cycle, you will not receive a refund for the payment of your current plan. The new invoice created will not be prorated, and you will start a new billing cycle. You will be able to use your existing API key, as it will now be associated with your new plan. You may also request for the change to take place at the end of your current billing cycle and we will schedule the change to take place on the appropriate day. Please allow 1-3 business days for the update to take place.
Yes, you can make a call to the ‘Usage’ endpoint to check how many requests you’ve made and how many remain in your current billing period, without the call being counted towards your allotted calls this month.
You may sign up to use the GreatSchools NearbySchools API under our Basic, Professional, or Premium plans. Each plan is designed for customers who wish to display GreatSchools data on a public and organically searchable indexed website, with citations and deep links back to GreatSchools.org’s School Profile Pages. Per our Terms of Service, only 1 API key is permitted per website domain and making live calls is required; caching or otherwise storing the data is not permitted when using the GreatSchools NearbySchools API. Compare the features of each plan here.
To report a bug, please email api-support@greatschools.org with the subject line “API bug report” and share as much detail as possible, including the email and company name used when signing up for your plan, the request details (e.g. headers, query parameters), response details (e.g. HTTP status code, response body/error message) and the date/time you encountered the issue. The more information you provide, the more efficiently we can investigate and resolve the issue.
We do not provide refunds for cancellations. If you would like to cancel your subscription, log in to the Stripe customer portal and click “Cancel plan.”
If you cancel your GreatSchools NearbySchools API subscription during the 14-day free trial period, you will continue to have access to the API until the end of your trial period. You will not be charged any fees and your API key will no longer be valid.
To manage your payment information, log in to the Stripe customer portal using the email associated with your API account. If you’re not sure which email is associated with your API account, please reach out to api-support@greatschools.org.
To change your account’s contact information (i.e. name or email address), please email api-support@greatschools.org with a subject line that describes your request and include the following details below in the body of your email.
The GreatSchools NearbySchools API does not provide school assignment boundary data. However, our team would love to know more about your data needs and goals. Please email sales@greatschools.org
The NearbySchools API does not provide K-12 school data in bulk; it will only pull a subset of data based on your specific call. In addition, data received via the NearbySchools API cannot be cached or otherwise stored for later use. If you are interested in bulk data files, please email sales@greatschools.org with the subject line “Bulk data request”.
When you sign up for the NearbySchools API under any plan, a 14-day free trial is included for you to try out the API. You will receive a reminder email 7 days before the trial ends, and once the trial is completed your first monthly billing cycle begins (an invoice will be created and you will be charged). During the free trial period, you are limited to the number of API calls included with your plan. Once the billing cycle begins, your API call count will be reset, i.e. any API calls made during the trial will not be counted towards your monthly quota.
Return to our K-12 Data Intelligence page or API sign-up page.
Yes! Sign me up for updates relevant to my child's grade.
