by: Kent Schnacker, group president, ACS Financial Services Group
If you’ve ever applied for a student loan, it’s quite possible that we helped process your application. And, hopefully, it was a smooth and painless experience. ACS is a leader in higher education services—it’s a business we’ve been in for more than 40 years. As a sign of our success, we manage almost nine million student loans, interacting with borrowers when they are making payments, applying for a deferment or accessing tax information.
Now we hope that students will begin their relationship with ACS at the beginning of their college career.
ACS announced recently the acquisition of Education Sales and Marketing, LLC (ESM), a firm that handles enrollment services for the higher-education market. Through its Admissions Solutions offering, ESM:
- helps clients identify qualified applicants,
- guides prospects through the application process,
- schedules campus visits,
- serves as the admissions advisor,
- and works with clients to increase student retention.
In other words, ESM is a perfect fit for ACS – the company expands on the work we already do, and adds value and capability in a specialized industry that we’ve identified as a priority. The acquisition also adds significant potential for customers of both companies – with services that naturally complement each other; the teams will make cross-selling an early priority.
