TopSchool

About TopSchool

Based in Denver, Colorado, TopSchool, Inc. was established in April 2008 by co-founders Justin McMorrow and Matthew Schnittman. Both founders leveraged extensive experience from their previous executive roles at eCollege, with Schnittman having served as president and McMorrow having founded the eClassrooom division. Their collective background in the higher education technology sector directly informed the development of TopSchool's core offering. The company positioned itself as a provider of a cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Student Lifecycle Management (SLM) system for higher education institutions, particularly targeting the career college sector.

TopSchool's business model is centered on providing a comprehensive, integrated platform that manages student information across the entire educational journey, from recruitment and admissions to academics, finance, and career services. This system was designed as an alternative to traditional, in-house student information systems (SIS), which often required significant IT staff to manage. Revenue was generated through subscriptions to this service. The platform's key components included a customizable student portal, a customer relationship management (CRM) system for managing prospective students, an SIS to track students from enrollment to completion, and a robust reporting suite to measure outcomes and ensure compliance.

The company's platform offered schools greater flexibility and control over their student data, aiming to help them drive growth, reduce operational costs, and meet accountability requirements. Over its history, TopSchool secured significant venture capital funding, raising a total of $21.2 million over five rounds from investors such as MK Capital, New World Ventures, Alsop Louie Partners, and Access Venture Partners. A notable funding round in July 2010 raised $8 million, led by MK Capital, to further product and infrastructure development. The company was eventually acquired by Broadleaf Holdings in a deal dated January 1, 2018.