Counselling

Merit Launches Free High School Accounts To Highlight College Success of Former Students

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 03/29/16

Merit, a company that provides a platform designed to showcase connections between high school, college and career, has launched free accounts for high schools in the United States.

"Most high schools are left in the dark about alumni outcomes after graduation, with — at best — only general information about admissions and progress available at a high price," said Colin Mathews, founder and president of Merit, in a prepared statement. "That makes it impossible to help current students see role models for college success, and for high schools to track outcomes in real time."

Merit partners with colleges and universities do document and share the activities, achievements and outcomes of students. Previously, those updates were available to high schools in free, weekly e-mail digests. With the new accounts, high schools will be able to access their own customizable pages with information about former students succeeding in college.

The new accounts include real-time updates, a directory with every college in the network and tools to discover alumni based on interests or accomplishments, a customizable landing page for students, parents and other school community members and more.

"Merit is an invaluable way for our school to follow and promote the achievements of our alumni," said Ben McMurray, principal of Ottawa Hills High School, in a prepared statement. "Previously, we found it challenging to track our former students beyond high school. Sharing these stories of alumni success can inspire our current students to achieve, and it helps our school demonstrate our role in positive outcomes."