The Princeton Review Reports Extraordinary Delivery of Online Services in 2020-2021

- Company's 2019 Transition to Digital and Proprietary Online Classroom Enabled Record Levels of Service During Pandemic -

NEW YORK, May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review^® today reported impressive statistics about its delivery of online education services over the past three years, specifically from 2019, pre-pandemic, through 2021.  

Founded just over 40 years ago as an upstart company that coached students on unconventional strategies to "crack" the SAT^®, The Princeton Review is now known both as a leading provider of test-preparation services for many exams and as a trusted source for several other education services and products, including its tutoring, books, and annual rankings.

Over the years, the company has helped millions of people, some on multiple occasions, throughout their academic and career journeys. It provides everything from academic tutoring to help students tackle their homework and improve their grades in school to counseling services that assist users in choosing, getting in to, and getting aid from colleges and graduate schools. It also offers test-prep for dozens of standardized exams and resources for adults who want to upskill in their professions.

As a provider of all the above, The Princeton Review was challenged to expand the scope of its mission and its offerings in early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a near total shutdown of schools across America and beyond. A March 2021 UNICEF release cited this sobering statistic about the impact of that unprecedented shutdown: more than 168 million children worldwide had their schools closed for nearly the full year of 2020 due to COVID-19.  Many schools remained closed in 2021. Some are closed still.

Education providers had increased demands for their services online when the pandemic hit. School from home and work from home created challenges on all fronts that required adjustments in learning as well as in working modalities. However, The Princeton Review was exceptionally positioned to provide online services to meet and mitigate those challenges.

The company had been offering online courses for years. It debuted its first online course in 1999. It had an online presence for nearly three decades, having launched its website in 1993, ahead of several of its competitors. More significantly, before the pandemic hit, the company had undergone a fortuitous change in its operations that uniquely positioned it to accommodate the unprecedented need for online education services that would emerge in 2020.

In 2019, when Joshua Park became CEO of The Princeton Review and of its affiliate company, Tutor.com, he led a transformation of The Princeton Review, transitioning it to a largely digital delivery system while the company continued to accommodate customers preferring in-person courses and services. Under his leadership, the company developed a proprietary LiveOnline classroom which became a vital asset across all of the company's divisions. When the first version of the LiveOnline classroom launched in 2019, 66% of the company's online sessions took place in its LiveOnline classroom.  Now, the LiveOnline classroom is the "home" for 100% of the company's online sessions.

"When the pandemic hit, we were solidly positioned to serve our customers via our LiveOnline classroom—unlike many of our competitors that turned to Zoom, Adobe Connect, or other platforms to connect with their customers," said Park. "Moreover, our teachers and tutors had been experts in online education for years. With these factors, we were able both to rapidly transition our in-person classes to our LiveOnline classroom and to expand our roster of online courses and products. While the demand for our services was extraordinary, so was our ability to respond to it."

Six statistics below convey the scope of that response and The Princeton Review's expansion of its online products and services. (Note the statistics refer only to the company's retail operations.)

• In 2019, the percentage of The Princeton Review's services that were provided online grew to more than 50%.
• Since January 2020, The Princeton Review has created 136 new LiveOnline and online self-paced products—a 21% increase.
• By January 2021, The Princeton Review was offering 150% more online programs to students than it had in 2019.
• In 2021, among the company's course and tutoring options for students, 81% were LiveOnline as compared with 28% in 2019.
• In 2021, almost 98% of The Princeton Review's tutoring and course students studied online vs just over 60% in 2019.
• In 2021, the number of online sessions delivered by The Princeton Review grew 323% vs 2019.

The Princeton Review's suite of online-delivered services and products now features a wide range of resources from private tutoring to self-paced and group courses. Provided by the company's more than 3,200 professionally vetted tutors and its experienced admission/counseling experts, many of the services are available on-demand, 24/7.  The services include:

• The Academy. This unit of the company offers everything from homework help for 6^th graders on up to 1-on-1 academic tutoring. Courses are available in more than 80 subjects spanning various disciplines within the fields of Math, Science, English, and Social Studies as well as AP^® tests, Business and Technology, and more. Some of The Academy courses and tutoring programs carry the company's "Grade A Guarantee."
• Test prep for more than 26 types of standardized tests. Among them are tests for school entrance exams and admission including the six best-known tests in this field: the SAT, ACT^®, GMAT^®, GRE^®, LSAT^® and MCAT^®. The company also has resources for 11 AP exams (including test-prep and/or cram courses), and 17 IB (International Baccalaureate) exams. Test prep courses and tutoring are also available for professional licensing and certification exams including the CFA^® Level I and Level II, NCLEX-RN^®, and USMLE^® exams. Many test-prep offerings carry The Princeton Review's Score Improvement Guarantee.
• Admissions Counseling services for applicants to colleges and medical schools. Services include customized 1-on-1 counseling, guidance on school list building, assistance on preparing application materials, and post-application support.

Customer surveys the company has conducted over the past two years show exceptional rates of satisfaction for its online services and grateful feedback:

• In 2020, based on surveys of more than 303,000 online customers, the satisfaction rate was 93.73%.
• In 2021, based on surveys of more than 365,000 online customers, the satisfaction rate was 94.93%.

"I had Zahra as my O Chem prof, and I can honestly say she is the sweetest and most helpful teacher ever. Always had the best attitude." – M.A.

 "I completed the online GMAT course with Muhammed. It was a wonderful experience and a great investment. He was very thorough, energetic, and helpful. His passion for teaching and helping his students to excel was very evident." – A. B.

"I took the MCAT Ultimate Course from The Princeton Review.  Since my first practice MCAT, I have improved my score by 15 points. This was all due to the comprehensive MCAT strategy sessions, as well as the vast array of online tools that helped me study."  – Eva

"All of us on The Princeton Review team—our incomparably dedicated staff, teachers and tutors—are heartened to have served so many learners online over this challenging time in their education and career journeys," said Park.  "We look forward to applying the experience we've learned from them over the past few years to serving an ever-growing family of learners—online as well as in-person—in the hopefully post-pandemic years ahead."

About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review^® is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through its: online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 41^st year. The company's Tutor.com brand, now in its 21^st year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 21 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on Twitter (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview).

SAT^® and AP^® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse The Princeton Review or its offerings.

LSAT^® is a trademark registered by Law School Admission Council, Inc., which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, The Princeton Review or its offerings.

MCAT^® is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products or services offered by The Princeton Review. CFA^® and Charted Financial Analyst^® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

All tests are registered trademarks of their respective owners.  None of the trademark holders is affiliated with The Princeton Review.
WEBSITE: www.princetonreview.com

NOTE TO EDITORS
Joshua Park, The Princeton Review's Chief Executive Officer, is available for interviews. He can discuss the company's growth over the years, and its challenges as it responded to demands for its services during the COVID-19 pandemic. He can also offer his point of view on trending education issues and developments in the field of standardized tests from the recent test-optional movement to the forthcoming Digital SAT.

SOURCE The Princeton Review