Terms of Use

Effective Date: 18-Jun-2026  ·  Last Updated: 27-Oct-2026

Recent update (27-Oct-2026): New Section 9.1 adds a 100% money-back guarantee: ask within 45 days of any payment and we refund it in full. It replaces the refund and cancellation policies of individual events, and the table in Section 9 now covers only what happens after the 45 days.

Earlier update (09-Oct-2026): Section 5.1 now explains that the email we send when a credential is issued contains a link that opens the credential page while it is private (for a Minor, the email goes to their parent or legal guardian), and asks you not to forward it.

Earlier update (02-Oct-2026): Students can now create a Stellr account themselves. Section 4 defines a Minor by the age of majority in your state, explains pending accounts until a parent or legal guardian signs, and adds new Sections 4.5 (adult students still in high school) and 4.6 (when a student is no longer a Minor). Consent forms and agreements can now be signed through Stellr’s own signing system as well as DocuSign, and Section 22 adds how electronic signing works and your right to paper. Section 4.3 points to our new School Data Terms, Section 11.3 describes the photo, media and survey-quote opt-outs, and Sections 1, 5.1, 6.4, 8 and 20 were updated to match.

Earlier update (23 Sep 2026): New Section 5.1 covers credentials — the verifiable record we issue for course completions and event participation — including your right to display and share them, our right to revoke them, and sharing on LinkedIn. Sections 5, 11.3 and 13 were updated to match.

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) are a legal agreement between you and Stellr (defined below). They govern your access to and use of our website at stellreducation.org, our competition registration portals, our online community platform (including any associated member application at app.stellreducation.org), our Academy and curriculum resources, our events, and any other services that link to these Terms (collectively, the “Services”).

By accessing or using the Services, creating an account, registering for a competition, purchasing a membership, or otherwise indicating your acceptance, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.

Students who are Minors (Section 4.1) need the consent and involvement of a parent or legal guardian, as described in Section 4.

2. Who We Are

The Services are operated by Stellr, a Utah nonprofit corporation doing business as “Stellr Education” (“Stellr,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). Stellr was formerly known as Industry Simulation Education, and some of our branding and social media channels still use that name. Stellr’s mission is to connect middle and high school students with industry professionals through real-world STEM competitions, community, and career pathways.

3. These Terms and Other Agreements

Some parts of the Services have additional terms — for example, specific competition rules, event participation and consent forms, membership descriptions, and our Privacy Policy. By using those parts of the Services, you also agree to the additional terms that apply to them. The additional terms are part of these Terms.

If an additional term directly conflicts with these Terms, the additional term controls for that specific feature, competition, or event — but only to the extent of the conflict. Our Privacy Policy governs how we handle personal information and is incorporated by reference.

4. Eligibility, Accounts & Minors

4.1 Who may use the Services

Our Services are intended for users in the United States. You may create a Stellr account yourself. A “Minor” is anyone under the age of majority in their state of residence (18 in most states, 19 in Alabama and Nebraska, 21 in Mississippi), anyone still enrolled in high school, or anyone who is a ward of the state or under guardianship. If you are a Minor, your account stays pending until your parent or legal guardian signs Stellr’s Participation Agreement — Student / Minor, and you cannot take part in Stellr activities until then. Pending accounts that do not receive consent within 30 days are deleted. A Minor may also be registered by an authorized school official (Section 4.3).

4.2 Parents, guardians, and schools

If you register a minor, create or supervise a minor’s account, or accept these Terms for a minor, you represent that you are the minor’s parent or legal guardian, or an authorized school official with the right to do so. You agree to these Terms on the minor’s behalf and are responsible for their use of the Services. A participant under 18 needs the signed consent of a parent or legal guardian to take part, collected electronically as described in our Privacy Policy. Signing a consent form or agreement for a child you are not the parent or legal guardian of is not permitted, and a form signed that way is not valid consent. A student who registers must give their true date of birth and the real contact details of their parent or legal guardian, and must not complete or sign the Participation Agreement on their behalf. We may take reasonable steps to confirm that consent came from a genuine parent or legal guardian, and we may suspend or close an account registered with false details.

4.3 Educators and group registrations

If you are a teacher or school representative registering a group of students, you represent that you are authorized to do so and have obtained any consents your school requires. When you register a group you accept our School Data Terms on the school’s behalf; they set out how we use and protect the student information you share, consistent with FERPA and our Privacy Policy. A school that needs its own data agreement can ask us at privacy@stellreducation.org.

4.4 Your account

You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to keep it up to date. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity that occurs under your account. Do not share your account or let anyone else use it. Notify us promptly at hello@stellreducation.org if you suspect unauthorized use.

4.5 Adult students still in high school

If you have reached the age of majority where you live and are still enrolled in high school, you accept these Terms and the Participation Agreement in your own name. Because we have a duty of care to every high school student, we also require a parent or legal guardian to co-sign the Participation Agreement before you can take part. Their signature does not limit your own rights. By registering, you authorize us to share information about your account, consents, and participation with them, and to contact them in an emergency.

4.6 When a student is no longer a Minor

When a student is no longer a Minor, we will ask them to accept these Terms in their own name to keep their account.

5. Our Services

The Services may include, depending on your role and membership:

• Competitions and activities — design challenges, registration portals, and related curriculum and resources.
• Community — an online community and member platform, which may include forums and third-party spaces such as Discord.
• Academy — training, mentoring, and coaching programs.
• Events — in-person and virtual events hosted by Stellr or our partners.
• Resources — downloadable curriculum and educational materials.
• Credentials — verifiable digital credentials for completed courses and event participation (see Section 5.1).
• Donations — the ability to support our mission financially.

We may add, change, suspend, or remove features of the Services at any time. We aim to keep the Services available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access.

5.1 Credentials

When you complete a Stellr course or take part in a Stellr event, we may issue you a verifiable credential with its own web page. Credentials, credential pages, and badge artwork are Stellr materials under Section 12. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to display and share your own credentials — for example on your LinkedIn profile, a résumé, or an application — as a true record of what you achieved.

• Private until you choose. Every credential page is private by default. You decide whether to make it public, and you can make it private again at any time. For a Minor, a page can only be made public with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, which they may decline, as described in our Privacy Policy. Credential pages of a child under 13 always stay private.
• The link in our email. When we issue a credential, we email a link that opens its page even while it is private — for a Minor, to their parent or legal guardian. Anyone who has that link can open the page, so do not forward that email or share the link. To share a credential, make it public and share its public address.
• Use them honestly. You may not alter a credential or its artwork, claim a credential that was not issued to you, present it as something other than what it records, or use it to suggest that Stellr endorses you beyond that achievement. The credential page at stellreducation.org is the authoritative record; anyone can check it there.
• We may revoke a credential that was issued in error, obtained through a breach of these Terms or competition rules, or that must be withdrawn for legal reasons. A revoked credential’s page shows it as revoked.
• LinkedIn. You can choose to add a credential to LinkedIn or share it there. LinkedIn requires its members to be 16 or older, and your use of LinkedIn is governed by LinkedIn’s own terms and privacy policy. Stellr does not connect to your LinkedIn account, and once you have shared a credential, Stellr cannot control, change, or remove what LinkedIn or others do with it. If a credential is made private, revoked, or withdrawn, removing it from LinkedIn is up to you.

6. Membership Plans, Fees & Billing

We offer free and paid membership tiers. The current tiers, prices, and benefits are described on our Membership page, which forms part of these Terms. Prices are in U.S. dollars and may exclude applicable taxes.

6.1 Payments

Paid memberships, competition registration fees, and other purchases are processed by our third-party payment processor, Stripe. By paying, you authorize us and our processor to charge the payment method you provide. You are responsible for any taxes that apply to your purchase.

6.2 Subscriptions and automatic renewal

Paid memberships are billed in advance on a recurring basis (for example, annually) and automatically renew at the then-current price unless you cancel before the renewal date. You can cancel automatic renewal at any time through your account settings or by contacting us; cancellation stops future charges and takes effect at the end of your current paid period.

6.3 Price changes

We may change membership prices or fees. If a change affects a recurring subscription, we will give you advance notice, and the new price will apply from your next renewal. If you do not agree to the new price, you may cancel before it takes effect.

6.4 Purchases for minors

Any purchase for a Minor must be made or authorized by their parent or legal guardian (or an authorized school official), who is responsible for the fee.

7. Competition Registration & Participation

7.1 Registration and eligibility

Competitions have their own eligibility criteria (such as age group, grade level, and team rules) and specific rules, deadlines, and judging criteria published with each event. By registering, you agree to follow those rules and the decisions of our judges and organizers.

7.2 Original work and integrity

Competition submissions must be the original work of the participating student(s), created for the competition unless the rules say otherwise. You must have the rights to anything you include in a submission, and you may not plagiarize, misrepresent authorship, cheat, or violate the spirit of fair competition.

7.3 Judging, results, and prizes

Judging decisions and results are final, except where the published rules provide a review process. Prizes, awards, and scholarships (if any) are described with each competition, are non-transferable unless stated, and may be subject to verification of eligibility and to the prize provider’s terms. You are responsible for any taxes on prizes you receive.

7.4 Changes and cancellation of competitions

We may reschedule, modify, or cancel a competition or event — for example, due to low enrollment, venue issues, weather, safety, or circumstances beyond our control. If we cancel an event, your options for registration fees are described in Section 9.

8. In-Person Events & Safety

In-person events may require additional participation agreements, codes of conduct, and parental or guardian consent forms, which are part of these Terms for those events. To keep participants safe, we may collect medical, allergy, and dietary information as described in our Privacy Policy; please provide accurate information and update us if it changes.

Participation in physical activities and travel involves inherent risks. You (and, for a minor, the parent or guardian) are responsible for assessing whether participation is appropriate, for any travel and supervision arrangements not expressly provided by Stellr, and for complying with venue and host rules. We may remove any participant whose conduct is unsafe, disruptive, or in breach of these Terms or an event code of conduct. Nothing in these Terms limits any rights or protections that cannot be waived under applicable law.

A student who attends an in-person event without a school group must have their parent or legal guardian, or a responsible adult (18 or over) named at registration, responsible for their transport and their supervision outside scheduled event activities. Stellr staff and volunteers supervise scheduled activities only. Emergency care is arranged as described in the Participation Agreement.

9. Refunds & Cancellations

9.1 100% Money-Back Guarantee

Every purchase from Stellr is covered by our 100% money-back guarantee. That includes competition and event registrations, Campaign fees, memberships (each renewal included), Academy coaching and mentoring, and Store merchandise.

• 45 days, in full. Ask within 45 days of the date you paid and we refund the full amount you paid. No questions asked. This applies whether or not the event has taken place, and whether or not you have used what you bought. Physical merchandise does not need to be returned.
• How to ask. Email hello@stellreducation.org with your name, what you bought, and the email address you used to pay. If someone else paid on your behalf, such as a school or a parent, the request should come from them.
• How you are refunded. We refund the original payment method through our payment processor. Your bank may take several business days to show it.
• What a refund ends. A refunded registration releases its place, and any membership included with it ends. A refunded membership ends when the refund is issued.
• This replaces other policies. The guarantee overrides any refund or cancellation policy stated for a specific event, product, invoice or earlier version of these Terms.

Donations are gifts, not purchases, so the guarantee does not cover them. See Section 15.

9.2 After 45 Days

Once the 45 days have passed:

10. Acceptable Use & Community Conduct

Our community is built for students, educators, and mentors. When using the Services, you agree that you will not:

• break the law or encourage others to;
• harass, bully, threaten, demean, or impersonate any person, including in community spaces;
• post or share content that is hateful, sexually explicit, violent, harmful to minors, or otherwise inappropriate for a youth education community;
• share another person’s private information without permission;
• cheat in competitions, or misrepresent your identity, age, school, or eligibility;
• upload malware, attempt to gain unauthorized access, scrape, overload, disrupt, or reverse engineer the Services;
• infringe anyone’s intellectual property or other rights;
• use the Services to send spam or for unauthorized commercial purposes; or
• help anyone else do any of the above.

Some community features are offered through third-party platforms (such as Discord), which have their own rules you must also follow. We may moderate, remove content, or suspend access to keep the community safe, but we are not obligated to monitor all activity. If you see something concerning, please report it to hello@stellreducation.org.

11. Your Content & Competition Submissions

11.1 You keep ownership

You (or your school or licensors) keep ownership of the content you submit, post, or upload, including competition projects, designs, presentations, profile content, and community posts (“Your Content”).

11.2 License you give us

By submitting Your Content, you grant Stellr a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, adapt for format, publish, display, and use Your Content to operate, promote, and improve the Services and our programs — including in competition showcases, marketing, social media, press, and educational materials. For minors, the parent, guardian, or authorized school official granting consent agrees to this license on the minor’s behalf.

11.3 Publicity and opt-out

The parent or guardian consent form for a participant under 18 includes our photo and media permission, with a box to opt out; opting out does not affect participation, and we do not publish identifiable images of a participant whose parent or guardian has opted out. Anyone may ask us to stop using identifiable submissions or images of a minor, consistent with our Privacy Policy. Some uses already published or distributed may not be fully reversible. Credential pages are covered separately in Section 5.1. Students aged 13 or over may also opt out of Stellr’s use of their photos, videos, name, work, and quotes from their survey responses themselves, as described in our Privacy Policy. For students aged 13 to 17 who live in a state that requires the student’s own agreement first (currently New York and Colorado), we do not use these until the student agrees.

11.4 Your responsibilities

You represent that you have the rights to Your Content and that it does not break these Terms or any law. We may remove Your Content or decline a submission that we reasonably believe violates these Terms, the competition rules, or the rights of others.

11.5 Feedback

If you send us ideas or suggestions about the Services, we may use them without restriction or obligation to you.

12. Our Intellectual Property

The Services, and all content and materials we provide — including our curriculum, competition materials, text, graphics, logos, and software — are owned by Stellr or our licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws. The “Stellr,” “Stellr Education,” and related names and logos are our trademarks; you may not use them without our prior written permission.

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Services, and to use curriculum and resources we make available, for personal, educational, non-commercial purposes in connection with Stellr programs, unless we expressly say otherwise. You may not copy, sell, redistribute, modify, or create derivative works from our materials except as allowed by these Terms or with our written permission.

13. Third-Party Services & Links

The Services rely on and link to third parties — for example, Stripe (payments), DocuSign (electronic signatures, until our contract with DocuSign ends in 2027), Discord (community), LinkedIn (where you choose to share a credential), and the hosting and infrastructure providers listed in our Privacy Policy — and may link to partner, sponsor, university, or host organization websites. Your use of a third-party service is governed by that party’s own terms and privacy policy. We are not responsible for third-party services or websites, and including a link does not mean we endorse it.

14. Privacy

Your privacy matters to us. Our Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and protect it, and the rights of users, parents and guardians (including under COPPA), schools (including under FERPA), and California residents. By using the Services, you acknowledge our Privacy Policy.

15. Donations

Donations help fund our educational mission and are processed by our third-party payment processor. Unless we say otherwise or the law requires it, donations are non-refundable. Information about Stellr’s tax status and the deductibility of contributions is provided on our Donate page; please consult your own tax advisor, as we do not provide tax advice.

16. Disclaimers

The Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free.

Our programs are educational. While we are proud of our participants’ outcomes, we do not guarantee any particular educational result, award, scholarship, admission, or career outcome from using the Services or participating in our programs.

17. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stellr and its officers, directors, employees, volunteers, mentors, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of the Services.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for all claims relating to the Services in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of (a) the total amount you paid to Stellr for the Services giving rise to the claim during that period, or (b) US$100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law — including, where applicable, liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for any non-waivable rights of consumers or minors.

18. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Stellr and its officers, directors, employees, volunteers, and agents from claims, damages, and reasonable costs (including attorneys’ fees) arising out of your misuse of the Services, your violation of these Terms, or your infringement of someone else’s rights. If you accepted these Terms on behalf of a minor, this applies to the minor’s use as well. This section does not require you to cover losses caused by our own negligence or misconduct.

19. Suspension & Termination

You may stop using the Services at any time and may close your account by contacting us. We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Services if you breach these Terms, if needed to protect the safety of participants or the integrity of a competition, or if required by law. We will use reasonable efforts to give notice where appropriate.

If your access ends, the parts of these Terms that should reasonably continue — such as content licenses already granted, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution — will survive.

20. Changes to the Services and These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised version on this page with a new “Last Updated” date and a notice at the top summarizing what changed. As with our Privacy Policy, we announce changes on our website rather than by email. Changes take effect when posted unless we say otherwise. If you continue to use the Services after changes take effect, you accept the revised Terms. If you do not agree, please stop using the Services. Changes that affect how we handle the personal information of a Minor follow Section 14 of our Privacy Policy, which may require new parental consent.

21. Dispute Resolution & Governing Law

Let’s talk first. If you have a concern, please contact us at hello@stellreducation.org so we can try to resolve it. You agree to give us at least 30 days to work things out informally before starting a formal proceeding.

These Terms and any dispute relating to them or the Services are governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You and Stellr agree that the state and federal courts located in Salt Lake County, Utah have exclusive jurisdiction, and you consent to venue there — except that either party may seek relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect intellectual property or confidential information. Nothing in this section removes any right to bring a claim that, under applicable law, must be heard in another forum, or that cannot be waived (including rights of minors and consumers).

22. General Terms

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms referenced here, are the entire agreement between you and Stellr about the Services.

Severability. If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.

No waiver. If we don’t enforce a part of these Terms, that isn’t a waiver of our right to do so later.

Assignment. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or transfer of our assets, consistent with our Privacy Policy.

Force majeure. We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

Electronic communications. By using the Services, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically, and that electronic agreements, notices, and records satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing.

Electronic signatures. Consent forms and agreements are signed electronically, through Stellr’s own signing system or through DocuSign. Before you sign, we show you what signing electronically means and ask you to agree to it. Your electronic signature has the same effect as a handwritten one. You may instead sign on paper, or ask for a paper copy of anything you have signed, at no cost, by writing to privacy@stellreducation.org; you may withdraw your agreement to sign electronically the same way, which does not undo a signature already given. Every signer can download a copy of the signed document, and we keep it as described in our Privacy Policy.

Notices. We may provide notices to you by email or through the Services. You may send notices to us at the contact details below.

23. Contact Us

Questions about these Terms? We’re happy to help.

Stellr (doing business as Stellr Education)
7533 S Center View Ct, Ste R, West Jordan, UT 84084
Email: hello@stellreducation.org
Privacy matters: privacy@stellreducation.org