Blackboard and StudyPortals Join Forces

Partnership Supports Students from Interest to Graduation

London, 5 June 2014

–Blackboard and StudyPortals, two of the world’s leading education companies, are partnering to offer complementary services that will help universities attract, engage and support learners from the first moment they are interested in a course to the day they graduate, the companies announced today.

StudyPortals is a leading study choice search platform that helps connect students with the best education options for them. The website provides prospective students with access to a comprehensive database of the leading universities and business schools worldwide, and then generates an overview of the best Bachelor, Master, PhD, or short courses that match their education goals. At the same time, StudyPortals helps universities with targeted online marketing strategies to reach these prospective students.

Starting with the enrollment process, Blackboard’s comprehensive portfolio of products and services enables universities to deliver highly engaging education experiences to their students. Its complete set of social learning and mobile tools further enriches blended and distance learning programmes. In addition, Blackboard’s analytic solutions track students’ online behavior and performance, allowing universities to offer proactive outreach with personalised support. This helps reduce disengagement, prevent dropouts, and keep learners on track for success.

“The education landscape is rapidly changing and this partnership will help universities succeed in a highly competitive market,” said Matthew Small, senior vice president and managing director, international at Blackboard. “Institutions are looking for ways to attract, engage and support students throughout their entire educational experience – even before enrollment. StudyPortals will give universities access to new and creative ways to reach their target audiences; Blackboard will then enable institutions to provide students with the services and solutions they need to be successful.”

“Thousands of students are still misinformed about their study options and StudyPortals is helping students find their perfect study match,” said Edwin van Rest, CEO at StudyPortals. “Graduation success starts with a good study-choice and our partnership with Blackboard allows us to shift our optimisation beyond the objective of enrollment, towards the goal of graduation. Universities will also benefit by being matched to students who have done their research and know this is the best match for them. This, in turn, will help reduce dropout rates.”

For more information about Blackboard, click here or follow @Blackboard on Twitter. For more information about StudyPortals, click here or follow StudyPortals on LinkedIn

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About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboards solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

About StudyPortals
StudyPortals is the international study choice platform, enabling students to find and compare their study options across borders. With over 35,000 published courses from over 1,500 participating universities and over 3.5 million monthly visits, StudyPortals is a leading information source for study seekers. Initially StudyPortals focused on the European education market, but has the ambition to make study choice transparent, globally. For universities, StudyPortals offers a low-effort and result-based channel for international recruitment.