Open Campus Advisor

Live academic data across 101 US colleges and universities — directly inside Claude.

CommunityOnlineNo sign-inGlobalFreeCan modify data

What it can do

  • Set Student Context: Update the student's profile for this session. Merges with any previously set context — array fields (completed_courses, career_targets, interests, constraints) append and dedupli
  • Get Student Context: Read back the current stored student profile for this session. Use this to confirm what you know about the student before making recommendations.
  • List Schools: List all available school slugs. Use a slug as the 'school' parameter in any per-school tool.

What data it sees

Do you need an account

No: the server works without sign-in

Live academic data across 101 US colleges and universities — directly inside Claude. Search real course catalogs updated every 60 minutes, find faculty with active NIH grants, compare schools head-to-head on any topic, navigate from a career goal to the exact courses and professors that get you there.

19 tools covering course search, faculty research, degree requirements, career outcomes, and cross-school comparison. Set your student profile once and every subsequent call filters and ranks results automatically completed courses removed, results ranked by your career targets and interests.

Used for: choosing between schools, planning a semester, finding a research advisor, verifying prerequisites, mapping a path from "I want to work in climate policy" to the specific courses and funded labs at Yale, Columbia, and MIT that lead there.

How to connect

How to connect Open Campus Advisor to Claude

The server address to paste into Claude settings:

https://oca--opencampusadvisor.run.tools

  1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
  2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
  3. Click Add custom connector.
  4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
  5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

Authorization

After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

How to connect Open Campus Advisor to ChatGPT

The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

https://oca--opencampusadvisor.run.tools

  1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
  2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
  3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
  4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
  5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
  6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

Authorization

On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

How to connect Open Campus Advisor to Cursor

The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

https://oca--opencampusadvisor.run.tools

Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

Manually:

  1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
  2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
  3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

Authorization

If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

Server tool list (19)

Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

set_student_contextUpdate the student's profile for this session. Merges with any previously set context — array fields (completed_courses, career_targets, interests, constraints) append and deduplicate; scalar fields (major, year, gpa) replace. If riasec_codes are provided and career_targets is empty, career targets are auto-derived from top Holland Code matches.
get_student_contextRead back the current stored student profile for this session. Use this to confirm what you know about the student before making recommendations.
list_schoolsList all available school slugs. Use a slug as the 'school' parameter in any per-school tool.
list_departmentsGet all department codes at a school. Call this first when a student mentions a subject area and you need the exact department code before searching for courses or faculty.
search_coursesFind courses at a school by keyword and/or department — returns sections, instructors, and live enrollment. Always provide a department code when you have one; keyword-only search has limited coverage.
get_course_detailsGet everything about a specific course — full description, prerequisites, gen-ed area, grading, and live seat availability per section.
list_first_year_seminarsList all First-Year Seminars at a school. Use when a student is an incoming freshman who wants a small, discussion-based starting point.
list_courses_for_freshmenFind intro-level courses in a department that first-year students can take.
list_gen_ed_coursesFind courses in a department that fulfill distribution or general education requirements at a school.
search_by_instructorFind all courses taught by a specific instructor at a school this term.
search_faculty_researchFind faculty at a school whose research matches a topic — returns research summaries, contact info, and websites. Always check get_faculty_profile afterward for the full picture including NIH grants.
get_faculty_profileGet a faculty member's full profile — biography, research, publications, current courses, contact info, and active NIH grants.
explore_academic_pathMap a complete academic path for a career goal across all 101 schools — departments to study in, courses to take, faculty to approach, ranked by how well each school supports the goal.
get_major_requirementsGet the exact degree requirements for a major at a specific school — required courses, elective groups, math prerequisites, and catalog URL.
get_career_outcomesGet real data on a specific career — salary range, job outlook, required skills, typical employers, time to entry, and which majors lead there.
get_career_pathsWork backwards from a career to find which majors and schools lead there — and which adjacent careers are nearby.
search_faculty_all_schoolsFind researchers across all 101 schools by topic — auto-discovers departments at each school and returns faculty ranked by research match.
report_answer_gapCall this when you cannot give a useful answer because the system is missing data — a school not in the system, a major not tracked, a career not in the database. Only call after trying available tools and confirming the gap is real.
search_all_schoolsSearch course offerings across all 101 schools simultaneously and rank them by how much each school covers a topic.