Nitzan Pelman was in her twenties when she began to teach herself the basics. How to write a coherent sentence. How to think critically. Labeled a special needs student at a very young age and raised in an educational environment that gave up on her from the start, Pelman had never really believed herself capable of learning much.

Today, advanced degree in hand and standing at the helm of ReUp Education—which she co-founded—Pelman has every reason to believe in human potential, second chances, and the importance of shedding harmful labels. That belief permeates everything at ReUp, a company that partners with colleges to help them find students who have “stopped out” but want to come back and graduate.

The first three university partners signed on last year and these universities then provide a list of stopped out students, and ReUp does the rest, using predictive analytics and automated surveys to effectively engage potential students and assess their interest. Success coaches, many with a history of overcoming educational barriers themselves, then reach out to the most interested students.

In its first year, ReUp impressively re-enrolled 3,000 students and has ambitious expansion goals in this new “re-entry” market it created. In so doing, could ReUp be disrupting the broader life coaching and retention industry in higher ed?

Read the full article about ReUp Education by Richard Price at Christensen Institute.