Acquisition of the online portal for prospective graduate students provides an even stronger value to students and graduate institutions
PRINCETON, N.J. (Sept. 16, 2020) — ETS announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Gradschoolmatch.com, an online portal focused on assisting prospective graduate students during their graduate school search with the goal of matching the prospective student with the right graduate program. The platform was first launched in early 2013 by Emory University Professor T.J. Murphy with his graduate student and co-founder Brian Clark.
This service empowers students to research and make better decisions regarding graduate education, utilizing data-driven algorithms and institutional data. The match-algorithms, search-engine and business approach are modelled after successful “personal dating” web-driven businesses. Students provide their profile with such information as geography, exam scores, degrees and GPA, academic plans, and work experience during the registration process. Based on these criteria, the website indicates programs of interest and matches students with potential graduate programs.
“The acquisition of Gradschoolmatch is part of an ongoing initiative within ETS to expand upon our digital assets. Utilizing graduate student data within ETS, we believe we can provide more insights and value to the student life cycle journey while providing graduate institutions more data-driven solutions for their recruiting efforts. We believe that ETS’s scale can help further the growth and reach of Gradschoolmatch,” said Alberto Acereda, Executive Director of Higher Education, ETS.
“Gradschoolmatch has always been mission focused with the goal of putting people first by providing guidance to both students and institutions. The combination of ETS and Gradschoolmatch will continue along in this mission and provide even stronger value to students and graduate institutions alike,” added Murphy, Founder and CEO of Gradschoolmatch.
“The acquisition of Gradschoolmatch is part of the core growth strategy within ETS higher education and is part of the diversification strategy currently underway,” said Ralph Taylor-Smith, Managing Director of ETS Strategic Capital, who executed the M&A transaction. “The newly formed ETS Strategic Capital is actively exploring global business diversification in learning, assessment and education-related technologies on behalf of ETS and its corporate subsidiaries, through Private Equity Investments, Growth Partnerships, Mergers and Acquisitions.”
About Gradschoolmatch
Gradschoolmatch.com connects prospective graduate students with individual graduate school programs. Prospective students use Gradschoolmatch to easily find advanced degree programs. Graduate program directors and recruiters are matched to, or can search for, students with precisely the credentials they are looking for and have thoughtful conversations through the website to answer questions potential students may have.
About ETS
At ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, and by conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded as a nonprofit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series® assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.
