What Art & Science Group does

Art & Science Group is a privately held, Baltimore-based strategy consulting firm founded in 1994 by David Strauss. It specializes in providing market-informed strategy to colleges, universities, independent schools, and adjacent nonprofit organizations, focused on five core service lines: market-informed strategic planning, institutional positioning and branding, enrollment marketing and research, tuition pricing and financial aid strategies, and advancement strategies. The firm markets itself against large generalist consultancies by emphasizing highly customized research with key institutional constituencies and direct principal involvement on every engagement, rather than a mass-market delivery model.

The firm's underlying technical platform is anchored by its proprietary Simulated Decision Modeling (SDM) methodology, which tests how prospective students respond to differentiated strategic scenarios, pricing options, and program formulations to forecast enrollment and revenue outcomes. It is complemented by the Center for Student Opinion Research, a wholly-owned research division that fields online and telephone surveys, and the studentPOLL national omnibus poll of college-bound high school students, which generates ongoing longitudinal data on student search behavior and decision-making. The firm selectively partners with WBA Research for telephone survey execution.

The business model is a project-based professional services firm. Engagements are won through direct outreach, RFPs, conference relationships (American Council on Education, College Board, NAIS, Council of Independent Colleges), earned media placements, and referrals, with principals personally leading client work. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is structured per engagement. There is no external private equity or venture capital ownership; the firm is operated as a partnership by its principals (David Strauss, Craig Goebel, Nanci Tessier, Jamie Ealy, et al.), with revenue tied to the utilization of a small bench of senior consultants and research associates serving hundreds of institutional clients across the United States.

Name

Art & Science Group

Legal name

Art & Science Group, LLC

Website

https://artsci.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Art & Science Group is a Baltimore-based strategy consulting firm founded in 1994 that provides market-informed strategy, enrollment, pricing, positioning, and advancement research services to colleges, universities, and independent schools across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: Art & Science Group provides market-informed strategy consulting to educational institutions. Services include strategic planning, enrollment strategy, tuition pricing analysis, institutional positioning, and branding. Work is conducted through project-based engagements with institutional leadership.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Art & Science Group is a specialized strategy consulting firm that provides market-informed strategy and empirical research to colleges, universities, independent schools, and adjacent nonprofit organizations. Its work covers strategic planning, institutional positioning and branding, enrollment marketing research, tuition pricing and financial aid optimization, and advancement strategies. Engagements are conducted project-by-project, anchored by proprietary methodologies including Simulated Decision Modeling and the studentPOLL national omnibus survey, and led personally by firm principals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Center for Student Opinion Research: A division of Art & Science Group that designs and fields opinion research studies with prospective and current students at independent, undergraduate, graduate and professional schools on behalf of educational institutions nationwide.

Products and services

• Market-Informed Strategic Planning Strategic consulting that uses rigorous research with institutional constituencies to inform decision-making on major strategic questions for colleges, universities, and independent schools.
• Institutional Positioning & Branding Research-driven positioning and branding services that help educational institutions articulate their distinctive value proposition and strengthen their market position.
• Enrollment Marketing, Research & Planning Comprehensive enrollment management consulting including market research, recruitment marketing strategies, and planning to help institutions meet enrollment and net revenue goals.
• Tuition Pricing & Financial Aid Strategies Econometric modeling and predictive analytics to optimize tuition pricing levels and financial aid allocation in order to maximize enrollment and net tuition revenue.
• Advancement Strategies Strategic consulting to support fundraising initiatives, alumni relations, and capital campaigns for educational institutions.
• Center for Student Opinion Research A division of Art & Science Group that designs and fields opinion research studies with prospective, current, and former students at independent, undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools on behalf of educational institutions nationwide.
• studentPOLL A national omnibus poll surveying college-bound high school students about their attitudes and behavior regarding the college search process, published regularly throughout the year to provide ongoing industry insights.

Quantifiable outcome

• Denison University applications more than doubled between 2016-2024 after implementing new majors identified through SDM research; acceptance rate dropped below 20%; net tuition revenue increased more than 30%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• WBA ResearchsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFor some projects, the Center for Student Opinion Research works in partnership with WBA Research, a full-service research firm headquartered in Lanham, Maryland. WBA Research conducts telephone surveys as part of the joint research operations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Carnegie Dartlet: Carnegie Dartlet is a higher education marketing and recruitment agency that combines research, strategy, and creative services for college enrollment — a closely overlapping offering to Art & Science Group's enrollment marketing, research, and planning practices.
• Hanover Research: Hanover Research provides subscription-based custom research, market intelligence, and advisory services to educational institutions and nonprofits — directly comparable in that it serves the same higher education market with research-driven strategic insight, though typically at scale and on a recurring model.
• Stamats: Stamats is a higher education research, strategy, and marketing firm that helps colleges and universities with enrollment, branding, and program development — closely aligned with Art & Science Group's research-driven strategic planning and enrollment services.
• Lipman Hearne: Lipman Hearne is a marketing and branding agency focused on colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations — directly comparable to Art & Science Group's positioning, branding, and enrollment marketing capabilities for the same institutional buyer.
• SimpsonScarborough: SimpsonScarborough is a higher education branding, marketing, and communications consultancy that helps colleges and universities articulate positioning and value — directly comparable to Art & Science Group's Institutional Positioning & Branding expertise and StudentPOLL-driven brand research.
• Ruffalo Noel Levitz: Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) is one of the most established direct competitors in the higher education enrollment and student search consulting space, providing enrollment management, marketing, and student retention services to colleges, universities, and faith-based institutions — overlapping directly with Art & Science Group's enrollment marketing and retention offerings.
• Maguire Associates: Maguire Associates is a higher education consulting firm focused on enrollment management, institutional advancement, and student success research — directly comparable to Art & Science Group's enrollment and advancement strategy practices, with overlapping client types in independent and higher education.
• Tyton Partners: Tyton Partners is an education-focused strategy consulting and investment bank that advises higher education institutions, edtech companies, and investors on strategy, M&A, and operational improvement — directly comparable as a niche education strategy advisor serving institutional clients in the same sector.

Broad incumbents

• Huron Consulting Group: Huron Consulting Group is a large global professional services firm with a dedicated Higher Education practice spanning strategy, financial advisory, and operational consulting — overlapping with Art & Science Group's institutional strategy and tuition pricing work as part of a much broader portfolio.
• EAB: EAB is a large, well-capitalized advisory, research, and technology services firm focused exclusively on higher education — providing membership-based research, enrollment analytics, and consulting services that overlap with Art & Science Group's strategic planning and enrollment expertise, but at significantly greater scale and breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/artscigroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Art & Science Group