Launching in Late Spring 2025: The Complete College Photo Library

Complete College America is developing an intentional and authentic photo library that captures students and real-life college experiences to enhance and transform higher education storytelling.  

Specifically, CCA will develop a deep catalog of photos that show actual learning and actual student experiences in higher education, similar to the EDUimages free library of K-12 photos by All4Ed. This resource of diverse and authentic photos will provide a library of images for users to advance the work of postsecondary success. The library of photos will be free and accessible for use by all across sectors using a Creative Commons license.  

CCA will make this collection the go-to place for authentic college student photos. 

Download the Complete College Photo Library one-pager.

The Problem 

The limited number of open source and affordable stock images are overused, posed, and do not adequately illustrate real students in real situations both inside and outside the classroom.  

And they don’t represent the experiences of students from historically excluded backgrounds, those attending community colleges, working students on commuter campuses, those returning to school as adults, students at rural colleges, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and more.

The Project 

CCA is working with several campuses to capture an initial bank of photos for the library. In 2024, CCA led multi-day photo shoots at campuses across the country over the next year and a half.

The deadline for the first round of photo shoots has passed. If additional campuses are needed, we will share an updated application link on this page.