EAB to Enhance Its Student Success Collaborative by Acquiring Starfish

Education company EAB announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hobsons’ student success platform, Starfish. The addition will enhance how EAB supports students inside and outside the classroom, as well as enrich the company’s network of college and university partners.

“EAB is committed to supporting students’ academic and extracurricular success through cutting-edge technology and transformative research,” said Hobsons Chief Executive Officer Kate Cassino. “Starfish shares EAB’s passion for student success and commitment to accelerating progress in higher education, which is why I am excited by the impact our two companies can have together.”

The EAB and Starfish teams have a collective 25+ years of experience building technologies to support schools and promote holistic student success. The agreement will enable EAB to bring to all of its partners the latest research and technologies that have been proven to help students thrive, persist, and graduate, including EAB’s library of student success best practices and extensive research on equity.

“We are constantly working to bring the best of student success technology and expertise to bear on behalf of students, schools, and communities,” said EAB Chief Executive Officer David Felsenthal. “Starfish has helped more than five million students stay on their postsecondary roadmaps to success and graduation. By adding the Starfish team and technology to EAB, together, we can help millions more students stay on track to earn their degrees.”

With the addition and continuation of Starfish, hundreds of community and technical colleges and four-year schools will join EAB’s Student Success Collaborative, a network of institutions working with one another and EAB to improve student experiences and ensure equitable outcomes.

“By adding Starfish’s diverse network to our own, we can surface and share more best practices proven to help students graduate from college, especially those whom our higher education system has systemically under-served,” said Scott Schirmeier, President, EAB Technology.

“Starfish brings to the market complementary features and functionality that EAB intends to maintain. EAB is committed to supporting Starfish and continuing its high levels of service and support,” Schirmeier continued.

Until the transaction closes, Starfish will continue to operate independently from EAB and maintain business as usual-continuing to execute and implement their product roadmap and support their valued customers.

 The transaction is expected to close subject to customary closing conditions. For further information, please visit EAB.com/Starfish.

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We harness the collective power of more than 1,900 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 Hobsons

Hobsons helps millions of students identify their strengths, explore careers, create academic plans, match to best-fit educational opportunities, and reach their education and life goals. Through our solutions, we enable thousands of educational institutions to improve college and career planning, admissions and enrollment management, and student success and advising.