Institutional Research Consultants

What Institutional Research Consultants does

Institutional Research Consultants, Ltd. (IRC) is a private, family-owned program evaluation research firm headquartered in New Albany, Ohio (Columbus metro area). Founded by Dr. Jan Upton in 2000 and restructured as an LLC in 2008, the firm provides external program evaluation services to universities, colleges, K-12 school districts, and nonprofit educational organizations. Its core offerings include grant proposal evaluation plan development, formative and summative evaluation research, survey design and administration, interviews and observations, and technical assistance. Most projects focus on STEM education, reading and literacy, at-risk students, and teacher professional development, with a current portfolio spanning 4 NSF-funded and 6 US Department of Education evaluations.

The firm's technology stack is intentionally lightweight, centered on Survey Monkey for online survey development, administration, and data analysis, supplemented by standard qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. There is no proprietary software product; all work is delivered as professional services. The core operating team consists of Dr. Jan Upton as President and Dillon Upton as Support Services Manager, with additional capacity drawn from a network of independent consultants and partner firms such as qualitative analyst Rachel Ross. Operations are delivered primarily via email, phone, and Zoom, with on-site data collection subcontracted to local consultants to control costs.

IRC's business model is professional services revenue earned through consulting fees on quote-based, scope-defined engagements. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Client acquisition is sales-led, driven by direct outreach, professional network referrals, RFP processes for grant-funded projects, and visibility through memberships in the American Evaluation Association and Ohio Program Evaluators' Group. Projects are typically multi-year and tied to federal or state grant funding cycles, providing revenue visibility but exposing the firm to grant renewal risk.

Name

Institutional Research Consultants

Legal name

Institutional Research Consultants, Ltd.

Website

https://irc-evaluation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IRC is a private Ohio-based program evaluation firm providing external evaluator services to universities, colleges, school districts, and nonprofits on grant-funded STEM, literacy, at-risk student, and teacher development initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Program Evaluation Research Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration (EDADAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Formative & Benchmark Assessment Content (K–12) (EDAGADAH)

Keywords

• Program evaluation services
• Education research consulting
• External program evaluation
• Grant evaluation research
• Formative summative evaluation

Headquarters

HQ city

Powell

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Program Evaluation Research Services: IRC provides professional evaluation research services primarily to educational institutions and non-profit organizations. Revenue is generated through consulting fees for evaluation planning, implementation, survey design, interviews, observations, and report writing services. Projects are typically grant-funded and span multiple years.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

IRC serves as an external evaluator for education-related projects, providing program evaluation research services to universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations. Core deliverables include development of evaluation plans for grant proposals, multi-year formative and summative evaluation reporting, online survey design and administration (via Survey Monkey), stakeholder interviews and observations, and broader technical assistance. Most projects focus on STEM, reading/literacy, at-risk students, or teacher professional development and are grant-funded (NSF, USDOE, and others).

Product overview

IRC is a program evaluation research services firm that offers a unified suite of evaluation services rather than a software product. The core offerings include Grant Proposal Evaluation Plan Development, Evaluation Research (formative and summative), Survey Design and Processing (using Survey Monkey), and Interviews and Observations. These services are tailored to educational institutions, universities, colleges, schools, and nonprofits, with most projects focusing on STEM education, reading, at-risk students, and teacher professional development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grant Proposal Evaluation Plan Development Design and writing of the evaluation section for grant proposals, with each plan tailored to the specific funding guidelines and project goals. Most projects focus on improving STEM education and services to disadvantaged populations.
• Evaluation Research Multi-year evaluation planning and implementation for educational programs, including data collection and analysis, identification of needed program changes, and facilitation of program improvement. Specializes in formative reporting and year-end summative reporting for grant-funded projects.
• Survey Design and Processing Rapid development of new surveys or identification of pre-existing validated instruments, with survey administration, data analysis, and report writing delivered using the Survey Monkey platform for online surveys.
• Interviews and Observations Telephone interviews, in-person interviews (individual or focus group), and observations — typically of classrooms and professional development activities — covering a wide range of stakeholder types from top executives through elementary school children.
• Technical Assistance and Other Services Broad suite of additional evaluation, data collection, analysis, and report writing services, with IRC collaborating with individual consultants or partner firms when client needs extend beyond core capabilities.

Named customers8 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

Integration2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Rachel RossminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional Qualitative Analyst and Editor who has continuously assisted IRC with various report and data analysis tasks since 2014. Located in northern California, she works extensively as an Independent Consultant for social science firms, nonprofit agencies, entrepreneurs, authors, and publishers. Holds a Bachelor's in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz and worked in commercial broadcast news and public affairs (PBS). Fluent in Portuguese.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Mathematica Policy Research: Mathematica is a leading social policy research and evaluation firm with deep expertise in education and workforce program evaluation. It is a frequent competitor on the same federal RFPs IRC bids on, particularly for USDOE-funded studies.
• Abt Associates: Abt Associates is a global research and consulting firm with a sizable education and workforce evaluation practice. It pursues large federal evaluation contracts where IRC may serve as a sub-contractor.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): AIR is a major nonpartisan research and evaluation organization with a large education practice. It pursues the same federal education evaluation contracts as IRC but operates nationally with hundreds of researchers and methodologists.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a large research institution with a substantial education and workforce evaluation portfolio serving federal and state clients. While it operates at vastly greater scale, it competes in the same federal evaluation marketplace.
• Westat: Westat is a large employee-owned research firm with a substantial education evaluation practice serving federal agencies. It competes with IRC on the same NSF and USDOE RFPs but at much greater scale, with national reach and proprietary analytic capabilities.

Direct peers

• Equal Measure: Equal Measure is a Philadelphia-based consulting firm that provides evaluation, research, and capacity-building services to education, workforce, and non-profit clients. Like IRC, it focuses on external program evaluation for grant-funded initiatives, making it a closely comparable direct peer.
• Insight Policy Research: Insight Policy Research is a small-to-mid-size firm providing program evaluation, policy analysis, and technical assistance to federal agencies and educational institutions. Its grant-funded education evaluation work closely mirrors IRC's niche.
• Horizon Research, Inc. Horizon Research is an education research and evaluation firm specializing in STEM education, professional development, and systemic reform evaluation. Dr. Upton previously worked at Horizon, and its focus on NSF-funded STEM program evaluation directly parallels IRC's service mix.
• IMPAQ International: IMPAQ International provides research, evaluation, and analytic services for education, workforce, and social policy programs. Like IRC, it serves as an external evaluator on federal grant initiatives but at a significantly larger scale.
• MDRC: MDRC is a nonpartisan social policy research organization that designs and evaluates education and workforce programs. Dr. Upton is a former MDRC evaluator, and the firm's external evaluation work for grant-funded programs is directly comparable to IRC's service offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/institutional-research-consultants

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Institutional Research Consultants