Encoura, Inc.

Core Business and Function

Encoura???s business is centered on providing custom technology solutions that integrate strategic enrollment services, data science, research, and multichannel marketing to over 2,000 higher education institutions across the nation. The company supports colleges and universities across the entire student lifecycle, including enrollment, retention, and advancement efforts. By utilizing a vast, combined data set which includes student and parent data from its own college planning program, Encourage, and ACT Encoura provides its partners with the information and capabilities necessary to build a data-enabled enrollment office.

The company's strategic approach involves moving beyond traditional recruitment methods by offering tailored strategies to improve student search, recruitment effectiveness, funnel management, and overall student engagement. This is accomplished by providing institutions with actionable intelligence to better understand their markets, their prospective students, and their competitive landscape.

Products and Services

Encoura offers a distinct suite of products and services tailored for two primary customer segments: higher education institutions and secondary students/educators.

For Higher Education Institutions

1. The Encoura Platform and Technology Solutions The Encoura Platform serves as the company's comprehensive enrollment solution for colleges and universities. It is an advanced data science and analytics platform designed to equip enrollment and marketing teams with detailed reporting and competitive insights. Key products and services offered through or alongside the platform include: * Data Science and Predictive Modeling: Encoura utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and proprietary data to create customized predictive models. These models are essential for forecasting critical enrollment outcomes such as student yield, retention, and net tuition revenue. They help institutions identify key drivers of student behavior and improve the efficiency and predictability of their recruitment and retention costs. * Market Insights: This advanced analytics offering within the Encoura Platform provides substantial insights and visualizations into the nation's prospective college-bound market and the competitive environment. It enables enrollment offices to strategically plan for future recruitment cycles and pinpoint opportunities for new student markets. * Strategic Enrollment Services: The company provides consulting and professional services to help institutions refine their recruitment strategies, stay agile, and collaboratively achieve their institutional goals throughout the full student lifecycle.

2. Eduventures Research & Advisory Services Eduventures is Encoura's dedicated research division, providing industry-leading, forward-thinking, and actionable research for decision-making across the student lifecycle. * Industry Insights: Eduventures provides year-round research on demographic and enrollment trends, as well as innovations in academic program planning and business model strategy. * Recruitment Research: This includes research on the motivations, preferences, and behaviors of traditional students, adult learners, and graduate students to inform effective outreach and program development. * Technology Landscape Reports: Eduventures reports on the higher education technology landscape, visualizing over 300 technology vendors and products across areas like admissions, enrollment management, student success, and instruction to guide technology acquisition decisions.

For Students, Families, and K-12 Educators

1. Encourage Encourage is a comprehensive, free college and career planning program and application designed to support secondary students and their families in planning their post-high school journeys. * Student Support: The Encourage app provides personalized resources, bringing career exploration, college matching, scholarship matching, and application guidance directly to students??? devices, aiming to increase the likelihood of a student enrolling in college. * Educator Resources: The program also serves K-12 educators in over 7,000 high schools by equipping them with data and insights regarding their students' postsecondary plans. This data allows educators to conduct more informed and purposeful conversations, ensuring their valuable time is focused on students' most critical needs.

2. ACT Score Reports Encoura facilitates the electronic delivery of ACT Score Reports via the Encoura Platform at no cost to institutions and students.

By combining these data, research, and technology-driven offerings, Encoura is positioned as a key partner for educational institutions seeking to transform their enrollment strategies in a challenging and evolving market.