National Education Opportunity Network

What National Education Opportunity Network does

The National Education Opportunity Network (NEON) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2019 (originally as the National Education Equity Lab) and headquartered in New York City. NEON delivers college credit-bearing courses, taught by professors from leading universities, into Title I high schools nationwide at no cost to students. The model combines three coordinated inputs: university professors who deliver the course content, university teaching fellows (college near-peers) who lead weekly live discussion sessions via Zoom, and high school teachers who provide on-the-ground classroom support. NEON pairs this delivery layer with academic coaching, college advising, and an Honor Society that recognizes top-performing scholars. The program has reached 60,000+ students across 34 states, 190+ cities, 500+ high schools, and roughly 200 school districts since launch, and the organization has stated a goal of serving 1 million scholars over the next decade.

NEON's technology stack is intentionally lean and based on commodity platforms: Canvas serves as the learning management system for course delivery, and Zoom is used for the weekly live discussion sessions between teaching fellows and high school classrooms. NEON's internal data and technology function supports program evaluation, CRM, and operational analytics rather than proprietary AI/ML systems. The university's university consortium currently comprises 17 partners — including Stanford, UPenn, Cornell, Barnard, Dartmouth, Brown, Howard, Wesleyan, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Duke, Arizona State, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Morehouse, and Spelman — and is the core supply-side asset of the model. Distribution is partnership-based: NEON works directly with school district partners (including NYC DOE, LAUSD, Chicago Public Schools, Miami-Dade, DC Public Schools, and El Paso ISD) to deliver courses into their Title I high schools.

Because all programming is provided free to students, NEON's revenue model is philanthropic rather than commercial. Funding comes from a mix of major foundations (Carnegie Corporation of New York, Gates Foundation, McCance Foundation, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Apollo Opportunity Foundation, each at $1M+ or $100K+ tiers), corporate donations, and individual contributions routed through platforms such as ActBlue. Leadership is anchored by Founder & CEO Leslie Cornfeld (former federal prosecutor and Obama administration education official), with a board that includes former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former McKinsey Senior Partner Vivian Riefberg, and Apollo Partner Earl Hunt. Third-party validated outcomes include an over 80% course pass rate, a 2x four-year college attendance rate vs. similarly situated peers, and a 93% teacher-reported rate of changed post-secondary trajectories (per a Johns Hopkins University analysis).

Name

National Education Opportunity Network

Legal name

National Education Opportunity Network

Website

https://neonopportunity.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NEON is a nonprofit that delivers college credit-bearing courses from 17 top universities into Title I high schools at no cost, serving 60,000+ scholars across 34 states through partnerships with 200+ school districts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Equity and College Access Programs

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Dual Enrollment / Early College Programs (via Community Colleges) (EDAHADAH)

Keywords

• College access programs
• Dual enrollment services
• Title I partnerships
• Education equity programs
• College-in-high-school

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations and Grants: NEON is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded by individual donors, corporate foundations, and family foundations. The organization accepts donations through ActBlue and other platforms. Major supporters include Carnegie Corporation of New York, Gates Foundation, McCance Foundation, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and many others at various giving levels ($1M+, $100K+, $10K+).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NEON delivers and supports college credit-bearing courses, taught by professors from a network of 17+ leading colleges and universities, directly into Title I high schools nationwide at no cost to students. Courses are paired with weekly live Zoom sessions led by university teaching fellows (near-peer college students) and on-the-ground support from high school teachers, plus built-in academic coaching and college advising. NEON coordinates school district partnerships (~200 districts, 500+ high schools, 34 states) and university content partnerships (Stanford, UPenn/Wharton, Cornell, Barnard, Dartmouth, Brown, Howard, Wesleyan, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Duke, Arizona State, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Morehouse, Spelman).

Product overview

The National Education Opportunity Network (NEON) is a nonprofit organization, formerly known as the National Education Equity Lab. NEON's core offering is a college-in-high-school program that delivers and supports actual college credit-bearing courses—taught by professors from top colleges and universities—into Title I high schools nationwide at no cost to students. The program includes built-in academic coaching, college advising, and weekly Zoom sessions with university teaching fellows (college near-peers) who deepen content knowledge and lead discussions on college preparation. NEON's model involves collaboration with over 500 high schools across 34 states and a network of leading colleges and universities including Arizona State University, Barnard College, Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Georgetown University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, and Wharton School.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• College-in-High-School Program
• Academic Coaching and College Advising

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Duke UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2025Duke University, through The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, partnered with NEON to bring college courses to talented scholars from low-income high schools. Professor Tyson Brown offers 'Medical Sociology: Who Gets Sick and Why?' to 200+ scholars. Students receive Duke course materials, video lectures, weekly Zoom sessions with teaching fellows, and official transcripts upon completion.
• Stanford UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanford University delivers college credit-bearing courses to NEON partner high schools. Courses taught by Stanford professors with teaching fellow support via Zoom.
• University of Pennsylvania (Wharton, SP2)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUPenn, including Wharton School and School of Social Policy & Practice, delivers college courses to NEON high schools nationwide.
• Cornell UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornell University offers college credit-bearing courses through NEON to Title I high school students.
• Barnard CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBarnard College is one of NEON's university partners delivering college courses to underserved high schools.
• Dartmouth CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDartmouth College offers college courses through NEON to high schools across 34 states.
• Brown UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrown University partners with NEON to deliver rigorous college coursework to Title I high schools.
• Howard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoward University offers college credit-bearing courses to NEON scholars, including programs for underrepresented high school students in data analytics (partnered with Google).
• Georgetown UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeorgetown University delivers college-level courses to NEON partner high schools.
• Wesleyan UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWesleyan University, including Professor Dr. Kelly Thayer, offers courses through NEON's network.
• University of Notre DamecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNotre Dame partners with NEON to deliver college credit-bearing courses to underserved high schools.
• Arizona State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASU is a university partner delivering courses through NEON's College-in-High-School program.
• UC BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of California, Berkeley partners with NEON to offer college courses to Title I high schools.
• UC DaviscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUC Davis, including Professor Dr. Julie Sze, offers courses through NEON.
• Morehouse CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMorehouse College, a historically Black men's college, partners with NEON to bring college courses to underserved communities.
• Spelman CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpelman College, a historically Black women's college, partners with NEON to deliver college-level courses.
• Common AppcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommon App, a nonprofit serving 1,100+ member colleges and universities, partners with NEON to advance college access and equity in the admissions process.
• Google and Howard UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle and Howard University partnered to train underrepresented high school students in data analytics - free to students - through NEON's program network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• College Board: College Board administers AP courses and the SAT, the most widely adopted mechanism for high school students to earn college-level credit. AP is the most direct competitive analog to NEON's college credit-bearing courses, though NEON differentiates by being free and targeted at Title I schools.
• QuestBridge: QuestBridge runs a national college access and scholarship program connecting high-achieving, low-income high school students with selective colleges. It targets the same population as NEON and is often co-marketed with NEON in district pipelines, making it a close mission peer.
• Posse Foundation: Posse Foundation identifies and places cohorts of underrepresented students at selective colleges through leadership development. Like NEON, it operates at the intersection of elite higher education and low-income high school populations, and serves as a parallel pipeline.
• College Possible: College Possible provides near-peer coaching for low-income high school students to gain admission to and graduate from college. It is a direct functional peer in the college access and advising layer that complements NEON's credit-bearing course delivery.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line delivers one-on-one college access and success coaching to first-generation students from low-income communities. It targets the same Title I / first-generation population and competes for the same district relationships and donor dollars.
• Jack Kent Cooke Foundation: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation funds scholarships and supports high-achieving low-income students through college. It is both a peer organization in mission and a documented financial supporter of NEON, and is one of the most established players in the same population.
• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with college-educated mentors for college access and success. It is a comparable college access model serving Title I populations through district partnerships.

Broad incumbents

• KIPP Foundation: KIPP operates one of the largest networks of college-preparatory public charter schools, serving low-income communities. It is a broader incumbent in the K-12 college readiness space and overlaps with NEON in district and student populations.

Emerging players

• BUILD: BUILD provides entrepreneurship education programs for high school students from low-income communities, including in-school and out-of-school experiences. A NEON senior leader previously led BUILD's business incubator program for Title I high school students, indicating functional overlap.
• Khan Academy: Khan Academy provides free online learning content widely used in Title I schools, including Khan World Schools and SAT prep. It overlaps in mission (free, high-quality instruction for underserved students) but differs in delivery (asynchronous online vs. credit-bearing live courses).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/neonopportunity
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-education-opportunity-network
• Instagraminstagram.com/neonopportunity
• Facebookfacebook.com/neonopportunity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 National Education Opportunity Network