The College Planning Center North America Inc.

What The College Planning Center North America Inc. does

The College Planning Center North America Inc. is a privately-held educational consulting firm founded in 2005 by Lynette Mathews and headquartered in Folsom, California, with additional offices serving the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area markets. The company delivers college admissions advising to college-bound high school students (grades 9-12) and their families through four interconnected offerings: College Planning Services, the Signature Project mentored program, SAT/ACT Test Prep, and a Student-Athlete Recruitment Program. Services are delivered through a sales-led GTM built around complimentary introductory Zoom consultations followed by one-on-one advising, supported by a Kajabi-based online curriculum and on-demand video learning platform, with delivery available in-person in its California locations and remotely nationwide since the 2020 pandemic-driven online transition.

The company's revenue model is consistently structured as recurring or packaged engagements across each of its four service lines, with no public tier pricing disclosed but with a free trial and consultation offer functioning as the entry point. Customer concentration is by design highly distributed across individual families rather than enterprise accounts, supported by testimonial-driven referral acquisition. The team of roughly 13 includes former Ivy League / elite university admissions insiders (e.g., a former Vanderbilt undergraduate admissions council member and a long-standing Harvard Business School alum interviewer), writing specialists, an executive function coach, and student-athlete advisors, providing differentiated human capital. The founder has been recognized via the WACAC IDEA Grant for work with under-represented students, and the firm has spoken at NACAC, HECA, IECA, and WACAC conferences, indicating industry positioning rather than technology-led differentiation as the primary moat.

Name

The College Planning Center North America Inc.

Legal name

The College Planning Center

Website

https://thecollegeplanningcenter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The College Planning Center North America Inc. is a private, Folsom-California-based educational consulting firm, founded in 2005, that delivers college admissions advising, mentored Signature Projects, SAT/ACT test prep, and student-athlete recruitment services to college-bound high school families in California and nationwide via its Kajabi online platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Consulting (College Admissions Advising)

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

College Readiness & Admissions Prep Centers (Small-Group Workshops) (EDANAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Test Prep Learning Centers (SAT/ACT, AP/IB, State Exams) (EDANAHAH), Summer Programs, Research & Extracurricular Planning for Admissions (EDANAEAL), Academic Support & Learning Assistance (Tutoring Centers) (EDALABAF)

Keywords

• College admissions consulting
• Educational counseling services
• Standardized test preparation
• Student-athlete recruitment
• Academic advising

Headquarters

HQ city

Folsom

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. College Planning Services: Ongoing professional consulting services for college admissions guidance including one-on-one sessions, curriculum, and application support
2. Signature Project Program: Standalone mentored program for developing meaningful student projects to differentiate college applications
3. SAT/ACT Test Prep: Online test preparation courses available 24/7 through on-demand videos and interactive lessons
4. Student-Athlete Recruitment Services: Specialized advising for student-athletes navigating collegiate athletic recruitment

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The College Planning Center delivers one-on-one college admissions advising supported by a video-based curriculum, with complementary standalone offerings in standardized test preparation (SAT/ACT), mentored Signature Projects for application differentiation, and a specialized student-athlete collegiate recruitment program. Services are delivered to college-bound high school students and their families through Zoom, in-person sessions at Sacramento and Bay Area offices, and an online Kajabi learning platform available nationwide.

Product overview

The College Planning Center offers a suite of four interconnected educational consulting services: College Planning Services as the foundational offering providing one-on-one guidance and curriculum; The Signature Project as a mentored project-based program helping students create differentiation through original work; SAT/ACT Test Prep delivering personalized online test preparation; and the Student-Athlete Recruitment Program providing specialized athletic recruiting guidance. These services are designed to complement each other, with The Signature Project working alongside college planning to strengthen applications, and student-athlete services partnering with college planners for holistic admissions support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• College Planning Services One-on-one student guidance sessions and dynamic college planning curriculum covering student self-assessment, college readiness, college search, essay writing, application review, scholarship search, and financial aid education for college-bound high school students and their families.
• The Signature Project A mentored program providing a structured path for ambitious students to create original, impactful projects that stand out in college admissions, including eight mentored sessions over 3-6 months structured around four key stages: Define, Build, Execute, and Present.
• SAT/ACT Test Prep Online test preparation offering four practice tests, innovative video-based lessons focusing on areas of weakness, on-demand quizzes, and structured action plans for test scheduling and vocabulary building, accessible 24/7 through the Kajabi platform.
• Student-Athlete Recruitment Program Step-by-step collegiate athletic recruitment assistance including NCAA rules education, athletic profile development, target school recruiting plans, and online recruiting profile management for high school student-athletes seeking to play their sport at the collegiate level.

Named customers3 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

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• College Confidential: Online community and resource platform for college admissions, with forums, articles, and admissions data. Not a direct competitor for paid advising, but a comparable ecosystem player that influences how families research college planning services.

Direct peers

• Compass Education Group: Provides test prep, academic tutoring, and college admissions counseling with a strong focus on one-on-one guidance. Overlaps directly with The College Planning Center's combination of SAT/ACT prep plus personalized admissions advising.
• AcceptU: College admissions consulting focused on one-on-one advising for selective college applicants, founded by former admissions officers. Comparable to The College Planning Center in advisor-led admissions guidance and family-facing service delivery.
• C2 Education: Test prep, tutoring, and college admissions counseling delivered through in-center and online formats. Comparable to The College Planning Center in the SAT/ACT prep component and the bundled advising-plus-test-prep positioning.
• IvyWise: Premium college admissions consulting firm offering one-on-one advising, tutoring, and test prep for selective college applicants. Comparable to The College Planning Center in target customer (college-bound high schoolers/families) and bundled service approach.
• Collegewise: One of the largest dedicated college admissions counseling companies in the U.S., offering one-on-one advising, test prep, and college application support. Closely comparable to The College Planning Center's bundled, advisor-led service model.

Broad incumbents

• The Princeton Review: Large, established test prep and admissions counseling provider with a broad portfolio (SAT/ACT prep, tutoring, admissions services). Comparable to The College Planning Center across test prep and admissions advising, but at a much larger scale and brand recognition.
• Kaplan: National test prep and admissions services provider offering SAT/ACT prep, tutoring, and college admissions resources. Directly comparable on the SAT/ACT test prep component, though at significantly larger scale than The College Planning Center.

Emerging players

• Empowerly: AI-enabled college admissions counseling and research platform serving high school students and families. Comparable to The College Planning Center in target market and advising model, with a tech-forward twist that pressures traditional advisors.
• PrepScholar: Online-first SAT/ACT test prep provider using adaptive diagnostics and video lessons. Directly comparable to the on-demand, video-based test prep component of The College Planning Center's offering, though with a tech-first, less human-advisor-led delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-college-planning-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 The College Planning Center North America Inc.