Higher Education Resource Center

What Higher Education Resource Center does

Higher Education Resource Center (HERC) is a private educational support services company founded in 1989 and operating as a division of Counseling Connection, Inc. The company is headquartered in Knoxville, TN, and is led by founder and CEO Dr. Tim N. Scoggins, a former U.S. Coast Guard Service Chief of Voluntary Education. HERC's core function is helping adult learners — particularly military personnel, veterans, and non-traditional working adults — identify optimal degree pathways by matching their prior academic credit, military training, professional certifications, and examination scores against the curricula of accredited colleges and universities.

HERC's product stack centers on DegreeQuest, a patented degree exploration system using what the company calls "Intelligent Predictive Analysis" to generate 3–5 optimal degree plans per student across 500+ accredited institutions and 18,000+ degree programs, supported by 34 patented processes. This is complemented by SOCRATES, a student support portal linking to 3,000+ resources including 500+ semester hours of tuition-free courses, exam preparation tools, and scholarship matching, and the APDC Seminar, an 18-module instructional course on strategic education planning. The platform draws on a proprietary dataset of 43,000+ evaluated professional training exhibits and integrates American Council on Education (ACE) recommendations covering 37,512+ military courses.

The business model is a hybrid B2B/B2C platform. Revenue is primarily generated through subscription fees from Colleges for Working Adults (CWAs) — accredited institutions that pay to be listed in the degree planning system and provide courtesy pre-admission reviews — supplemented by fee-based Premium Support offerings to individuals and organizations wanting upfront access. Individual students affiliated with partner employers, military units, or sponsor organizations receive free service. The go-to-market combines enterprise partnerships (National Guard Bureau under federal contract, USMC Reserve, EANGUS, corporations such as Diebold-Nixdorf, and agencies such as the NYC Department of Education) with a direct-to-consumer website application flow at degreequickly.com. To date, HERC reports supporting 196,000+ students with an estimated $925 million in potential tuition savings.

Name

Higher Education Resource Center

Legal name

Higher Education Resource Center (HERC), a Division of Counseling Connection, Inc.

Website

https://degreequickly.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Higher Education Resource Center (HERC) is a Knoxville-based private educational advisory firm that helps adult learners, military personnel, and veterans earn college degrees faster by using patented DegreeQuest software to match prior credit to accredited degree programs across 500+ colleges.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Adult Higher Education Support Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Transfer, Articulation & Credit Evaluation (EDALAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Scholarship, Financial Aid & FAFSA Support (EDAMAKAF)

Keywords

• Adult Degree Planning
• Distance Learning Counseling
• Military College Credit
• Credit Transfer Services
• Higher Education Support

Headquarters

HQ city

Knoxville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Sponsored Support (Partner Organizations): Free support underwritten by colleges and universities that subscribe to the degree planning system. Colleges for Working Adults (CWAs) pay to be in the system and provide courtesy pre-admission reviews of degree plans.
2. Premium Support: Fee-based premium level support offered to organizations and individuals. Provides up-front access to SOCRATES and the APDC seminar, including for those pursuing degrees at local colleges not in the partner network.
3. Examination Fees (Pass-through): Students pay examination fees directly to testing organizations ($80 for CLEP/DSST, $110 for UExcel, $156 for TECEP, $20-25 for ALEKS/Saylor). HERC facilitates access to free practice tests and preparation resources.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Higher Education Resource Center (HERC) provides degree exploration and academic support services for adult learners, using the patented DegreeQuest system to match students' prior academic credit (military training, professional training, certifications, college coursework, and credit-by-examination) against degree requirements from 500+ accredited colleges. Services are delivered through SOCRATES (a student support portal with 3,000+ resources and 350+ tuition-free semester hours), the 18-module APDC Seminar, and personalized counseling from admission through graduation, with a free sponsored tier for partner organization employees and a paid premium tier for individuals and organizations.

Product overview

HERC offers a unified platform combining three interconnected products: DegreeQuest® (proprietary degree exploration software with patented Intelligent Predictive Analysis for matching students to optimal degree plans across 500+ accredited colleges), SOCRATES® (student support portal providing 500+ semester hours of tuition-free courses, exam prep, and financial aid resources), and the APDC Seminar (18-module instructional course on strategic education planning). These products work together to guide adult learners from degree exploration through graduation, maximizing credit transfer and minimizing costs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DegreeQuest: Patented degree exploration system that helps students identify optimal degree options by matching their prior academic credit to degree requirements from hundreds of accredited colleges and universities.
• SOCRATES
• APDC Seminar (Strategic University Planning: Education Reimagined)

Products and services

• DegreeQuest Patented degree exploration system using Intelligent Predictive Analysis to match students' prior academic accomplishments (transfer credits, military training, professional certifications, exam scores) against curriculum requirements at 500+ accredited colleges and universities; produces 3-5 optimal degree plans per student and minimizes loss of credit in transfer.
• SOCRATES Advanced student support website providing 3,000+ resource links including 350+ semester hours of tuition-free college courses (Hollywood-style video courses, classroom recordings, downloadable text instruction), credit-by-examination resources (CLEP, DSST, UExcel, TECEP, ALEKS, Saylor), low-cost textbook providers, and scholarship/grant matching tools.
• APDC Seminar (Strategic University Planning: Education Reimagined) 18-module instructional seminar teaching students how to navigate the U.S. higher education system, understand accreditation and transferability, maximize credit for prior learning (military, professional training, exams, certifications), and strategically plan accelerated degree completion.
• Professional Counseling Services Continuum of counseling provided by HERC staff, available 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time Monday to Saturday via phone (1-865-686-2545) and email ([email protected]), guiding students from admission through graduation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Students can earn college credit at 93% less than average cost of tuition at state universities through SOCRATES credit-by-examination
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and historical.

• USMC Reserve HeadquarterscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2016At the request of USMC Reserve Headquarters in New Orleans, LA, HERC support was extended to the entire Marine Corps Reserve. Educational Services Officers were briefed at their annual training, with site visits scheduled to installations.
• USMC HQ Henderson Hall Education OfficecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 September 2016Full-time counselors from the Education Office at USMC HQ Henderson Hall can process students using the degree exploration system. Site visits to installations are also being scheduled to expand support.
• Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016HERC partnered with EANGUS to provide free degree exploration support to National Guard members, officers and enlisted, and their family members. The partnership extends across all states without limiting support to EANGUS members only. EANGUS helps promote the free educational support initiative to the National Guard community.
• Diebold-NixdorfcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner receiving Premium Level Support for employees. HERC provides comprehensive educational support services including degree exploration, SOCRATES access, and professional counseling.
• New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment agency partner receiving Premium Level Support for employees. Comprehensive support for NYCDOE staff seeking to earn degrees.
• Colleges for Working Adults (CWA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner500+ accredited colleges and universities that subscribe to the degree planning system and provide courtesy pre-admission reviews of degree plans. These institutions offer distance degrees, flexible curricula, and willingness to award credit for extra-institutional learning. They include state/community colleges, private non-profit, and some for-profit institutions.
• U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)historicalStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal contract with the Coast Guard to provide degree exploration support to USCG members. HERC's degree planning system was originally developed while serving as Service Chief of Voluntary Education for the USCG.
• American Council on Education (ACE)coreTechnology or IntegrationACE has evaluated over 37,512 military courses and professional training programs for college credit. HERC integrates ACE credit recommendations into their degree planning system to match student experiences to degree requirements.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Going Merry: Going Merry provides a scholarship discovery and application platform, comparable to HERC's scholarship matching component within SOCRATES but without the broader degree exploration and credit transfer services.
• Scholly: Scholly is a scholarships discovery app founded to help students find and apply for scholarships—directly comparable to HERC's SOCRATES scholarship matching functionality but focused exclusively on scholarships.
• Raise.me: Raise.me pioneered micro-scholarships for high school students, addressing similar student-support themes (financial aid, degree affordability) as HERC's SOCRATES scholarship matching but at an earlier life stage.
• CollegeVine: CollegeVine provides college admissions counseling, essay review, and advising services—overlapping with HERC's individualized counseling model but focused on traditional high-school-to-college transitions rather than adult learner credit transfer.

Broad incumbents

• College Board: College Board operates the dominant college planning and standardized testing platform in the U.S., offering broad college search and admissions tools that partially overlap with HERC's degree exploration offerings but at vastly greater scale.
• EAB (formerly Advisory Board Company): EAB is a large higher education consulting firm offering enrollment management, student success, and advising solutions to universities—provides overlapping capabilities but primarily serves institutions rather than directly supporting students like HERC.

Direct peers

• InsideTrack: InsideTrack provides student success coaching and persistence services to higher education institutions, focusing on degree completion support for adult and non-traditional learners—directly comparable to HERC's counselor-driven approach with similar target population.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line provides college access and success coaching focused on first-generation students from low-income backgrounds, with a mission-driven, counselor-supported model that mirrors HERC's student advocacy approach and individualized advising.
• College Possible: College Possible provides near-peer coaching for college access and success, with similar focus on guiding non-traditional and first-generation students through degree completion—comparable target population and mission-driven service model to HERC.
• College Coach (formerly Bethesda Coaching): College Coach provides paid college admissions and degree planning counseling services to individuals—comparable to HERC in offering individualized educational advising but more focused on admissions than credit transfer and prior-learning evaluation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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 Higher Education Resource Center