EAB Acquires Student Engagement Technology Company Wisr

Education company EAB announced today that it has acquired Wisr, an education technology company that specializes in building affinity between prospective students and colleges. The acquisition is the latest step in EAB’s efforts to help schools and students find, learn about, and interact with one another.

Wisr has grown rapidly since the company began building private, online communities for colleges that enable students to connect with peers and campus leaders. Prospective students use the platform to get a sense of what life is like at a given school and to find friends and mentors with similar interests. The technology also enables faculty to offer guidance on majors and classes, while giving institutions a direct channel for delivering personalized content to interested students.

“The Wisr platform will provide a huge boost to EAB partner institutions as they continue to overcome recruiting challenges that have intensified over the past year,” added EAB’s President of Enrollment Services, Chris Marett. “Even in a post-pandemic environment, colleges will need to provide a mix of virtual and in-person touchpoints that deliver the college exploration experience today’s students demand.”

Since its launch just over one year ago, nearly 75,000 students have used the Wisr engagement solution to explore and select a college as well as navigate their first days on campus.

“We are excited to join EAB and accelerate the rollout of new digital communities to the more than two thousand partner institutions with whom EAB works,” said Wisr cofounder and Chief Executive Officer Kate Volzer. “EAB shares our commitment to building better interactive channels that give all students a more equal opportunity to make authentic connections with colleges in a virtual-first world.”

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We harness the collective power of more than 2,100 schools, colleges, and universities to uncover and apply proven practices and transformative insights. And since complex problems require multifaceted solutions, we work with each school differently to apply these insights through a customized blend of research, technology, and services. From kindergarten to college and beyond, EAB partners with education leaders, practitioners, and staffs to accelerate progress and drive results across three key areas: enrollment management, student success, and institutional operations and strategy.

About Wisr

At Wisr, we help colleges and universities leverage technology to actively engage students throughout their lifecycle. By providing a dynamic virtual community, institutions can prioritize engagement and expose targeted audiences to the vibrancy of their campus. The Wisr platform encourages interactions between all constituency groups while allowing institutions to curate relevant and timely content. With a proactive customer success team, integrations with major CRMs, and higher education professionals on staff, the Wisr team helps all types of institutions-regardless of size-meet goals quickly, efficiently, and affordably.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was announced?

On March 9, 2021, EAB acquired Wisr, a leading peer-to-peer student engagement platform created for higher education institutions. Wisr’s digital platform helps schools reach their enrollment goals by facilitating authentic experiences and personalized connections for prospective students at scale in an innovative virtual community setting.

Who is EAB?

EAB is an education company that serves more than 2,100 colleges, universities, and K-12 schools. Our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. To do this, we harness the collective power of all of our partner schools to uncover and apply proven practices and transformative insights. From kindergarten to college and beyond, EAB partners with education leaders, practitioners, and staff members to accelerate progress and drive results across three key areas: enrollment, student success, and institutional operations and strategy.

Who is Wisr?

Wisr is an education technology company that specializes in building affinity between prospective students and colleges. The innovative Wisr platform allows schools to create vibrant, virtual communities that meet the needs of today’s students and parents. With three distinct but complementary offerings-a virtual welcome center, a yield and melt solution, and an orientation and first-year experience solution-Wisr’s engagement platform supports the full enrollment lifecycle.

Why did EAB acquire Wisr?

Acquiring Wisr is part of a broader EAB effort to speed delivery of best-in-class marketing and enrollment solutions to partner schools as they adapt to meet the needs of today’s students. Student needs have evolved significantly over the past year with virtually all of higher education now operating in a digital-first recruiting environment.

What are the benefits for Enrollment Services partners?

The Wisr platform offers schools a powerful way to cultivate peer-to-peer connections among prospective students, an area of heightened importance for Generation Z. We are excited to incorporate the Wisr platform into our growing portfolio of best-in-class enrollment and marketing solutions. Along with other recent additions, Wisr will augment opportunities for engagement along the student journey and give us additional data and insight into student behavior.

What are the benefits for Wisr partners?

EAB will continue to invest in the Wisr platform, ensuring ongoing innovation and new capabilities that will continue to amplify results for Wisr partners over time. We are excited to strengthen this already incredible platform so that more schools have ways to create digital communities for their current and future students.