Terms & Conditions
Terms and Conditions
Effective Date: July 27, 2026
These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of odhe.org and the online information, forms, applications, donation links, communications, programs, and services made available by Open Doors Higher Education Alliance (“ODHE,” “Open Doors,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).
By accessing or using the website, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the website.
1. About Open Doors Higher Education Alliance
Open Doors Higher Education Alliance is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing financial and systemic barriers affecting students from under-resourced communities who are pursuing colleges, universities, community colleges, trade schools, or technical education.
The website provides organizational information, educational resources, application opportunities, donation options, and ways to contact, support, volunteer with, or partner with ODHE.
2. Eligibility to Use the Website
You may use the website only if you can legally agree to these Terms.
Users under 18 should use the website with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian, particularly when submitting an application, financial information, educational records, or other personal information.
Children under 13 may not submit personal information through the website without the participation and authorization of a parent or legal guardian.
3. Permitted Use
You may use the website for lawful, personal, educational, charitable, or informational purposes consistent with ODHE’s mission.
You agree not to:
Violate any applicable law or regulation
Submit false, misleading, fraudulent, or incomplete information
Impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation
Access or attempt to access another person’s application or information
Interfere with the website’s operation or security
Introduce malware, malicious code, or harmful material
Attempt to bypass website security or access controls
Scrape, harvest, copy, or collect information through unauthorized automated means
Use website content for unlawful, deceptive, or commercial exploitation
Infringe intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, or other rights
Use the website to harass, threaten, harm, or defraud another person
Submit confidential information belonging to another person without authorization
ODHE may restrict or terminate access when it reasonably believes these Terms have been violated.
4. Educational and Financial Information Disclaimer
Information made available through the website is provided for general educational and informational purposes.
Nothing on the website constitutes:
Legal advice
Tax advice
Financial advice
Investment advice
Credit counseling
A lending commitment
A guarantee of financial aid
A guarantee of scholarship funding
A guarantee of admission
A guarantee of graduation, employment, or financial outcome
Students and families should independently evaluate educational costs, loans, grants, scholarships, financial-aid packages, enrollment obligations, and other important decisions.
When appropriate, users should consult an educational institution, financial-aid professional, attorney, tax professional, or qualified financial adviser.
5. Applications and Eligibility
ODHE may make applications available for grants, scholarships, navigation support, mentorship, or other programs.
By submitting an application, you represent that:
The information provided is accurate and complete
You are authorized to provide the information
Supporting documents are genuine and have not been altered deceptively
You have permission to provide information about references, parents, guardians, or other individuals
You will notify ODHE if material application information changes
ODHE may verify application information with applicants, parents, guardians, references, schools, educational institutions, or other appropriate sources.
Submitting an application does not create a contract and does not guarantee:
Selection
Eligibility
Funding
Reimbursement
Continued support
Admission to an educational institution
Availability of a particular program
Payment by a particular date
Payment of all educational expenses
ODHE retains discretion to establish and apply lawful eligibility standards, selection criteria, award amounts, deadlines, documentation requirements, and program conditions.
ODHE may reject, suspend, or revoke an application or award when information is false, misleading, incomplete, unverifiable, submitted after a deadline, or inconsistent with program requirements.
6. Grants, Scholarships, and Program Support
The nature, amount, timing, duration, and permitted use of any grant, scholarship, or assistance will be governed by the applicable program materials and award communication.
Funding may be:
Limited
Competitive
Conditional
Paid directly to an educational institution or approved provider
Restricted to approved educational expenses
Subject to enrollment or participation verification
Subject to continued eligibility
Subject to available resources
Recipients may be required to provide documentation showing how funds were used.
Unless ODHE expressly agrees otherwise in writing, ODHE is not responsible for expenses incurred in anticipation of receiving assistance.
ODHE may modify, suspend, or discontinue a program when reasonably necessary because of funding limitations, operational needs, legal requirements, fraud concerns, or circumstances beyond its control.
7. Donations
Donations made through the website are voluntary charitable contributions and do not constitute payment for goods, services, admission, or guaranteed benefits.
Online donations may be processed through Stripe or another third-party payment provider. Your use of the payment service is also subject to the processor’s terms and privacy practices.
By submitting a donation, you represent that:
You are authorized to use the selected payment method
The payment information is accurate
The transaction is lawful
The donation does not involve proceeds from illegal activity
Unless expressly stated otherwise, donations support ODHE’s general mission and may be allocated according to organizational priorities and applicable restrictions.
Restricted Donations
ODHE will make reasonable efforts to honor a properly accepted written restriction. ODHE may decline a restriction that is inconsistent with its mission, programs, legal obligations, or administrative capabilities.
If a designated program becomes unavailable, fully funded, impracticable, or no longer aligned with ODHE’s charitable purposes, ODHE may contact the donor or, where legally permitted, redirect the contribution to a substantially similar charitable purpose.
Donation Refunds
Charitable donations are generally final and nonrefundable.
ODHE may consider a refund request in limited circumstances, including:
A duplicate transaction
An incorrect donation amount
An unauthorized transaction
A documented processing error
Refund requests should be submitted promptly to info@odhe.org and must include sufficient transaction information. Approval is not guaranteed and may be subject to payment-processor rules and applicable law.
Tax Deductibility
Any statement regarding tax deductibility depends on ODHE’s current tax status, the nature of the contribution, the donor’s jurisdiction, and applicable law.
Donors are responsible for obtaining their own tax advice. A donation receipt is not a guarantee that a contribution is deductible.
8. Recurring Donations
When a recurring donation option is offered and selected, you authorize the payment processor to charge the selected payment method at the stated frequency until the recurring donation is canceled.
Cancellation instructions may be provided through the payment processor or by contacting ODHE.
A cancellation may not reverse a payment already submitted for processing. Donors should retain confirmation of cancellation.
9. Volunteers, Mentors, and Partners
Submitting an inquiry about volunteering, mentoring, employment, service, or partnership does not create:
An employment relationship
An independent-contractor relationship
A partnership
A joint venture
An agency relationship
A fiduciary relationship
A guarantee of placement or participation
ODHE may require interviews, references, background checks, training, confidentiality agreements, codes of conduct, safeguarding procedures, or other screening before permitting an individual to work with students.
No person may represent that they speak for or bind ODHE unless expressly authorized in writing.
10. User Submissions
You may submit messages, applications, essays, documents, testimonials, suggestions, or other material through the website.
You retain ownership of material you submit. However, you grant ODHE a limited, nonexclusive, royalty-free license to receive, store, reproduce, review, and use the material as reasonably necessary to:
Respond to your request
Review an application
Administer a program
Verify information
Maintain records
Comply with legal requirements
ODHE will not publicly use a student’s name, photograph, testimonial, or personal story for promotional purposes without appropriate authorization.
You agree not to submit material that is unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, threatening, abusive, infringing, malicious, or harmful.
11. Intellectual Property
Unless otherwise stated, the website and its content—including text, graphics, logos, design elements, photographs, videos, downloadable materials, and organizational branding—are owned by ODHE or used with permission.
The content is protected by copyright, trademark, and other applicable laws.
ODHE grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to access and use the website for lawful personal and informational purposes.
You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, publish, sell, license, create derivative works from, or commercially exploit website content without prior written permission, except as allowed by law.
“Open Doors Higher Education Alliance,” ODHE’s logos, and related branding may not be used in a manner suggesting sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation without authorization.
12. Third-Party Links and Services
The website may link to third-party websites and services, including payment processors, application platforms, educational institutions, financial-aid resources, mapping services, social media platforms, and partner organizations.
A link does not necessarily mean that ODHE endorses or controls the third party.
ODHE is not responsible for the:
Content
Availability
Accuracy
Security
Privacy practices
Products
Services
Actions or omissions
of third-party websites or services.
Your interaction with a third party is governed by that party’s own terms and policies.
13. Website Availability and Changes
We strive to keep the website accurate and available, but we do not guarantee that:
The website will always be available
Access will be uninterrupted
Content will be error-free
Defects will always be corrected
The website will be free from harmful components
Information will always be current or complete
ODHE may update, suspend, restrict, or discontinue any website feature, content, form, program description, or link without notice.
Application deadlines, award details, and program requirements should be confirmed through the applicable official program materials.
14. No Warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the website and its content are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.
ODHE disclaims all express and implied warranties, including warranties of:
Accuracy
Completeness
Availability
Merchantability
Fitness for a particular purpose
Non-infringement
Security
Results
Nothing in these Terms excludes a warranty that cannot legally be excluded.
15. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, ODHE and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, agents, contractors, and representatives will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to:
Use of or inability to use the website
Reliance on website information
Application or award decisions
Educational or financial decisions
Loss of data
Unauthorized access
Third-party websites or services
Website interruptions
Viruses or harmful code
Program modification or discontinuation
Where liability cannot legally be excluded, ODHE’s liability will be limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.
These limitations do not apply where prohibited by law.
16. Indemnification
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless ODHE and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, agents, and representatives from claims, losses, liabilities, damages, and reasonable expenses arising from:
Your unlawful use of the website
Your violation of these Terms
Information or material you submit
Your infringement of another person’s rights
Fraudulent or unauthorized activity associated with your actions
This provision does not require you to indemnify ODHE for conduct for which indemnification may not lawfully be required.
17. Privacy
Your use of the website is also subject to ODHE’s Privacy Policy. Please review the Privacy Policy to understand how information may be collected, used, shared, and protected.
18. Governing Law and Venue
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
Subject to applicable law, any legal action arising from these Terms or the website must be brought in a state or federal court with appropriate jurisdiction over Leesburg or Loudoun County, Virginia.
You and ODHE consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.
19. Informal Dispute Resolution
Before filing a legal claim relating to the website, you agree to make a reasonable effort to resolve the matter informally by contacting:
The notice should describe the issue, relevant facts, and requested resolution.
Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief or using a legally available small-claims process.
20. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is determined to be unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted or removed, while the remaining provisions will continue in effect.
21. No Waiver
ODHE’s failure to enforce a provision of these Terms does not waive its right to enforce that provision or any other provision later.
22. Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any specific written terms governing an application, scholarship, grant, donation, event, or program, constitute the applicable agreement between you and ODHE regarding use of the website.
When program-specific terms conflict with these general Terms, the program-specific terms will control for that program.
23. Changes to These Terms
ODHE may revise these Terms to reflect changes in the website, programs, practices, or legal requirements.
The effective date at the top of the page will be updated when changes are made.
By continuing to use the website after revised Terms become effective, you agree to the revised Terms.
24. Contact Information
Questions about these Terms may be directed to:
Open Doors Higher Education Alliance
1019B Edwards Ferry Road
Leesburg, VA
United States
Email: info@odhe.org
Phone: 844-696-3338