Enrollment

Liaison International Acquisition of Othot Raises the Bar for Data-driven Strategic Enrollment Management and Retention

Apr 22, 2021

Admissions and enrollment leader adds advanced analytics platform for more informed decision making in higher education

BOSTON, MA and PITTSBURGH, PA (April 21, 2021) — Liaison International today announced it has acquired Othot, the leading provider of the nation’s most advanced analytics platform for predictive modeling and prescriptive actions for colleges and universitiesAs an EdTech leader, this step boldly confirms Liaison’s intent to support the full student lifecycle, which in the post-COVID era, means helping institutions manage net tuition revenue and sustainability. 

“We have always known that, to be successful our campus partners need visibility and a clear understanding of the challenges institutions face today, and perhaps more importantly, they need to foresee new challenges that they will face tomorrow,” shared George Haddad, Founder and CEO of Liaison, as he reflected on how Liaison’s combined technology and services help campuses navigate the challenges of limited resources and gain the ability to see around corners. “With Othot’s powerful AI and machine learning capability to better inform modeling in real-time, we are even better equipped to help institutions ensure their enrollment and retention success, and plan for their futures.”  

“Othot combines modern machine learning with comprehensive and rich data sets, to help our partner schools thrive, said Fred Weiss, President and CEO of Othot. Our analysis of the upcoming demographic cliff — and the many other complicating factors — indicates the need for predictions and prescriptions about each individual student to not only drive admissions, but retention as well, since every tuition dollar will be more important to weather the coming storm. Based on what they’ve shown throughout the last three decades, Liaison is best positioned to unite these facets.” 

“By leveraging modern technology (AI and machine learning), Othot stands apart from the historical approach to modeling financial aid and retention. Together with prescriptions, users are guided to take the most effective action, be it an award amount or an intervention, to ensure they maximize efficacy,” added Craig Stanford, Chief Strategy Officer at Liaison. “Othot gives institutions complete transparency, control and dynamic updates in real-time, based on what is happening in market now, versus acting on what happened in prior years.”  

Othot’s Enrollment, Student Success, and other solutions join Liaison’s expanding family of strategic enrollment management solutions, which includes their Centralized Application Service (CAS), Enrollment Marketing Platform (EMP) and the recently acquired TargetX (CRM) 

“When you consider how impactful these tools are on their own, the impact they can have together is astounding,” shared Jamie Hansard, Vice President for Enrollment Management at Texas Tech University. “As superusers of both Othot and TargetX, we have been able to leverage these tools in real time to make strategic decisions and act on those factors that will have the most impact on recruiting the individual student. Our 6% year-over-year freshman increase in enrollment during the pandemic is just one proof point. I look forward to seeing how together they will help us implement an even more transparent and results-focused approach to our strategic enrollment priorities.” 

Tyton Partners advised Othot in the transaction.
Over the last three decades, Liaison has helped over 40,000 programs on more than 1,200 campuses more effectively manage admissions through its Centralized Application Service (CAS™) technology and complementary application processing and support services. The higher education technology leader supports its partner institutions’ total enrollment goals by pairing CAS with its Enrollment Marketing (EM) platform as well as the recently acquired TargetX (CRM) and advanced analytics software Othot.