Condoleezza Rice Names Current U.S. Education System as Threat to "American Dream"

November 17, 2010 - When the former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State says that the number one security threat to our nation is our K-12 education system, it’s a sign that our broken education methods have finally become a serious issue. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke at a Commonwealth Institute luncheon in Boston in late October, and ConnectEDU VP Jane Swift sponsored a table for several ConnectEDU employees to attend.

Secretary Rice spoke candidly in front of hundreds of Boston business women in the audience, sharing with us that access to education changed her parents and grandparents’ lives and in turn allowed her to become the first black female National Security advisor and secretary of state. Her grandfather was able to attend college in Alabama through a Presbyterian scholarship even though he was the son of a poor African-American farmer. Her father also attended school on a parochial scholarship, and he put the highest importance on education for his daughter. Secretary Rice said that she benefited from the high expectations her parents and teachers had for her. She was the recipient of affirmative action, which she is in favor of, but she also feels that young people today have a sense of entitlement to being successful in society that can be dangerous.

Since our daily work is dedicated to reforming education through college access, it was helpful for us to hear Rice’s perspective. It is easy to think of education as only a local or national issue. I usually describe ConnectEDU’s products as helping individual student’s apply to college and helping many local counselors and state-wide school systems track student progress and identify areas to improve education.  Secretary Rice noted that the failure of our national education system could lead to an inability for our nation to compete on a global level.  Rarely do I describe our work as affecting our nation’s global competitiveness. However, Rice’s speech helped remind me that education will directly decide the success of our economy in the next fifty years.

-Mollie
Entrepreneurship Program, Class of 2010

$7 Million Funding to pave the way for more great things at ConnectEDU

November 15, 2010 - We're very pleased to share that we have officially raised $7M as led by Allen & Co. with the support of our outstanding and loyal group of investors. This funding paves the way for great things here at ConnectEDU. View the press release here!

We are empowered by our investors’ continued commitment to our business, as demonstrated by their on-going financial support of our growth. As we have achieved each milestone, our investors’ have continued to fund our efforts to empower students, families and those who serve them in their college and career pursuits.
The funds raised today will enable us to work even harder as a team to meet the growing demand for ConnectEDU to be the standard for states, high schools and colleges committed to the success of their students and those who serve them. ConnectEDU can now accelerate the expansion of its regional service centers across the country. We will also invest further in the growth of CoursEval, our data-driven evaluation and assessment system, as well as SuperAPP, our online college admission form completion system.

At ConnectEDU we are proud to be committed to making education and access to education a priority for students across the country. We have a great cause, a great company and a stellar team!