Follett, NextTier Education Partner to Help Students Achieve Their Postsecondary Goals

MCHENRY, Ill., May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Follett today announced it has signed an exclusive channel partnership with NextTier Education for its cloud-based software solution that provides educators, students, and parents with guidance, information and insight to help students achieve their postsecondary goals. Effective immediately, Follett will begin selling NextTier to public and private school districts and schools, both domestically and internationally.

Since its debut in 2014, Chicago-based NextTier has been helping students navigate the college application process and effectively address their individual needs and optimize postsecondary success.

"We've been watching NextTier for more than a year now, and it offers a very impressive, robust and modern solution," said Nader Qaimari, president, Follett School Solutions. "This will be the first of many college and career partnerships to come where Follett is bridging its long-respected place in both the K-12 and higher education markets."

With its easy-to-use web- and mobile-based platform, NextTier delivers critical information on all two- and four-year colleges. In addition, it provides each student with a comprehensive college application plan, including a detailed list of every school's required tasks, step-by-step guidance, and deadlines throughout the process. NextTier also features a database with more than 20,000 scholarships and grants to successfully match students with the right financial support opportunities.

"While more than 90 percent of high school students desire college educations, fewer than 50 percent achieve that goal, and a primary reason for this is the complicated, disparate search and application process," said Justin Shiffman, founder/CEO, NextTier. "We level that playing field to provide all students with equal access to the resources they need to navigate that process. At the end of the day, we're making it easier for a high school student to achieve his or her college education."

Shiffman said he and his colleagues at NextTier view the new relationship as a game-changing moment for their company.

"This partnership will be transformative for our business," Shiffman said. "Follett not only brings a large and respected global distribution channel for us to partner with, but more than a century of expertise and relationships to help us expand."

Qaimari said it is important to Follett that the NextTier solution is committed to ensuring every student has equal access to higher education. By adding translation capabilities, NextTier has created a centralized communication platform that allows students, educators, and parents to stay informed and participate actively in the process, regardless of what language they speak.

A Colorado administrator who uses NextTier calls it "a great tool" that keeps all interested parties engaged, motivated and on schedule.

"NextTier keeps all student to-do's in one place, while also increasing communication and collaboration between students and counselors," said Rupak Ghandi, the research, data, and accountability officer for Harrison School District 2 in Colorado Springs.

For more information about the Follett's exclusive channel partnership with NextTier Education, visit NextTier.com/Follett, or send an email to [email protected].

About NextTier Education | NextTier.com 
Founded in 2014, NextTier Education is a software company focused on college and career readiness with user engagement as its top priority. NextTier works with K-12 school districts and support programs across the U.S. as well as internationally by delivering software solutions that bring students, parents, and counselors together to plan and improve students' postsecondary outcomes. With the most robust set of college, career, and scholarship data in the industry, NextTier offers dynamic tools that empower students and all those who support them.

About Follett's PreK-12 Business| FollettLearning.com
Follett is the largest provider of educational materials and technology solutions to PreK-12 libraries, classrooms, learning centers and school districts in the United States, and a major supplier to educational institutions worldwide. Follett distributes books, reference materials, digital resources, ebooks and audiovisual materials, as well as pre-owned textbooks. Follett also is one of the leading providers of integrated educational technology for the management of physical and digital assets, the tracking, storing and analyzing of academic data, and digital learning environment tools for the classroom focusing on student achievement.

Find Follett on Facebook, and follow on Twitter (@FollettLearning).

About Follett Corporation | Follett.com 
Follett is a $3.4 billion privately held company headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. As a leading provider of education technology, services and physical and digital content, Follett works with 70,000 schools and operates more than 1,250 local campus stores and 1,600 virtual stores. With the 2016 acquisition of Baker & Taylor, LLC, Follett's reach also extends into the public library and global retail markets.

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SOURCE Follett Corporation

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