Our History

Moving Higher Ed Forward

At Collegis Education, we know higher education. It’s the foundation of our past, the structure of our present and the exclusive focus of our future. Our very origin came from the earliest days of online learning over two decades ago. Over the years, our many client partnerships have proven that data enablement, a strong technology infrastructure and student engagement are powerful enablers in realizing their missions.

Collegis Today

We’re on a mission to help higher ed flourish. At every level of our organization, we have experienced professionals focused on the strategies that will ensure a sustainable future for colleges and universities: growing enrollments, offering anywhere, anytime learning, and operating more efficiently.

 

We take what we know works and help schools adapt, innovate and ultimately thrive. And while no two partners are alike, we’ve found that when you get all the right players together, sparks happen. Old challenges find new solutions. Priorities shift, fresh ideas come to the table and an entire institution can be revitalized.

 

 

The Promise of Digital Transformation

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for online learning in higher education. Although many of our partners already had remote capabilities, the dramatic shift was challenging for institutions to keep students learning.  By drawing on our broad range of experiences, we worked tirelessly to scaffold partner colleges and universities with the people, processes, data and technology needed to increase flexibility, accessibility, convenience and affordability for learners in this digital-first world.

Rewarding Partnerships

Divesting the marketing, technology and analytics capabilities we built within Rasmussen University, we began offering technology-enabled partnerships to colleges and universities from all sectors. Collegis has provided hundreds of colleges and universities with comprehensive solutions across the student lifecycle organized into three segments: Enrollment Management, Educational Technology and Managed Technology Services.

From the Ground Up

We acquired Rasmussen University in December 2003 with 1,600 students, 4 campuses, no fully online programs and no healthcare offerings.  It is now over 75% online and is the nation’s 6th largest nursing school. Enrollments have grown to over 17,000 among 25 campuses. Prior to our selling the college in 2019, revenue had grown from $16mm at acquisition to almost $250mm.  Rasmussen University continues to outsource to Collegis today.

Pioneers in OPM

We created a “joint venture” model where we would take responsibility for attracting and supporting the online student in defined programs in return for a share of tuition revenue.  This revenue-sharing business model established what would become known as the online program management (OPM) market.

Exclusively Higher Ed

Starting out as a provider of IT managed services for higher education, we saw the value of a vertical focus with a core position in outsourcing services to community colleges and mid-tier colleges.