Ball Foundation

What Ball Foundation does

The Ball Foundation is a private not-for-profit research organization founded in 1975 by Carl Ball and Vivian Elledge Ball and headquartered in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It operates as a research foundation dedicated to the identification and measurement of human aptitudes and their application to academic and vocational planning, distributing those measurement products to qualified end users and the broader career development community.

The Foundation's core intellectual property is the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB), a multi-aptitude test battery first published in 1981 with 16 ability tests covering Verbal, Numerical, Memory, Spatial Reasoning, and Perceptual-Motor Speed dimensions. The BAB has migrated from paper-and-pencil to a computerized, internet-deliverable format (1999), with a 2002 national norm study supporting the computerized version and HTML5-based administration and reporting layers added through 2012. The product portfolio was expanded in 2010 with the acquisition of the Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB) of 20 ability tests from IPAT, and supplements include a 37-item Job Satisfaction Survey and a 36-item Self-Estimate of Abilities measure.

Revenue is generated through three streams: professional services delivered by Career Vision (a wholly-owned service subsidiary established in 1985 providing aptitude-based career consulting), annual licensing arrangements for the BAB and related instruments to partners such as YouScience, and (historically, 2007-2014) a customized Job Satisfaction Survey hosted by CareerBuilder. Distribution occurs via direct consulting, self-serve internet delivery, and channel partners. Customers are primarily students, individuals, and families seeking aptitude-based career planning, with secondary segments in educational institutions and employers.

Name

Ball Foundation

Legal name

The Ball Foundation

Website

https://ballfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Ball Foundation is a Glen Ellyn, Illinois-based not-for-profit research organization founded in 1975 that develops and licenses the Ball Aptitude Battery and related psychometric assessments, delivering aptitude-based career planning through its wholly-owned Career Vision subsidiary, channel partners such as YouScience, and direct consulting services to students, families, and educational institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Glen Ellyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Assessment Licensing: Annual licensing arrangements for the Ball Aptitude Battery and related assessments to partners such as YouScience and CareerBuilder.
2. Career Consulting Services: Career Vision provides personalized aptitude-based career planning services to individuals and families.
3. Job Satisfaction Instrument Licensing: Modified Job Satisfaction Survey licensed to CareerBuilder from 2007-2014, providing users with personalized reports.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Ball Foundation develops and delivers the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB), a multi-aptitude psychometric assessment battery comprising 16 ability tests measuring verbal, numerical, memory, spatial reasoning, and perceptual-motor speed dimensions, delivered via computerized internet-based platform. Through its Career Vision subsidiary, the Foundation also provides personalized aptitude-based career consulting services to individuals, families, students, and organizations.

Product overview

The Ball Foundation offers a portfolio of aptitude assessment products centered around the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB), a multi-aptitude test battery first published in 1981. The product suite includes the BAB as the core assessment platform (now delivered via computerized/internet format), supplemented by the Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB) acquired from IPAT in 2010. Additional modules include the Job Satisfaction Survey (37-item instrument) and Self-Estimate of Abilities measure for career planning. The Ball Career System (BCS) provides an occupational crosswalk connecting aptitude profiles to career clusters. Career Vision serves as the service brand for personalized aptitude-based career consulting services leveraging these assessments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB): The centerpiece multi-aptitude battery developed by The Ball Foundation for career assessment and counseling, personnel selection, and employee training and development.
• Career Vision
• Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB)
• Job Satisfaction Survey
• Self-Estimate of Abilities

Products and services

• Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB) The centerpiece multi-aptitude assessment battery developed by The Ball Foundation, consisting of 16 ability tests designed to measure individual aptitudes and predict career fit. Evolved from paper-and-pencil format to computerized internet-delivered assessments, normed for students and adults, used for career assessment and counseling, personnel selection, and employee training and development.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and legacy.

• YouSciencecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2013YouScience recognized the value of assessing natural strengths and integrated the Ball Aptitude Battery into their suite of career assessment offerings. YouScience provided nationwide reach for services to individuals making educational and career investments. A key part of the collaboration includes The Ball Foundation receiving anonymous aptitude data to add to their analysis history.
• CareerBuildermajorTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2007Established annual licensing arrangement with CareerBuilder for the Job Satisfaction Survey. CareerBuilder hosted a customized version providing working adults with career assessments and resources. The annual license was renewed each year until 2014.
• National Center for Literacy EducationlegacyStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded by National Council for Teachers of English and the Ball Foundation to celebrate work of successful school teams advancing literacy learning and share learnings with education policymakers.
• School Design CollaborativelegacyStrategic or Co-development PartnerModel for shared leadership and decision-making developed in partnership with the University of Illinois to increase student achievement and parent satisfaction.
• Michigan State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped statistically-based crosswalk between BAB scores and O*NET-based world of work taxonomy in conjunction with Michigan State University.
• The Institute of Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT)coreTechnology or IntegrationAcquired the entire Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB) from IPAT in 2010. Future plans include computerizing several CAB tests.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation: Direct predecessor and most comparable peer; Johnson O'Connor was the psychometrician whose work inspired Carl Ball. JOCRF continues to administer aptitude batteries for career planning using a multi-aptitude testing model identical to the BAB's core approach.
• Hogan Assessments: Provider of personality and occupational assessment instruments used for personnel selection and career development; directly comparable in selling validated assessment batteries to HR and career planning audiences with licensing and consulting revenue models.
• Myers-Briggs Company: Sells the MBTI and related career assessment instruments to individuals, schools, and organizations for self-knowledge and career planning; competes in the same career assessment channel with established brand recognition and broad distribution.
• PAR (Psychological Assessment Resources): Publisher of validated psychological and career assessment instruments, including those originally from IPAT; competes in the same niche of selling normed ability and personality batteries to professionals for assessment use.

Emerging players

• YouScience: Career assessment platform that licenses the Ball Aptitude Battery as part of its suite; serves the same student and career-planning customer segments with a more technology-forward delivery model and nationwide school channel reach.

Broad incumbents

• SHL (CEB/Gartner): Global leader in talent assessment serving enterprise HR and workforce planning; overlaps with the Foundation's organizational segment in aptitude-based personnel selection and employee development use cases, though at much larger scale.
• ACT: Large-scale educational testing organization whose ACT and workforce assessment products overlap with career aptitude assessment at the high school and student planning segment, though as part of a broader testing portfolio.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS): Major testing organization providing educational and workforce assessments; comparable in publishing and licensing validated assessments with decades of norming research, though serving a broader testing market.
• Pearson TalentLens: Part of Pearson offering occupational and cognitive ability assessments for talent selection and development; directly comparable aptitude assessment offering with larger distribution and global footprint.

Others

• CareerBuilder: Former licensing partner that hosted the Ball Foundation's Job Satisfaction Survey from 2007-2014; an ecosystem participant in the career services space rather than a direct assessment competitor, historically adjacent in distribution.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ball Foundation