Higher Ed Growth Announces Acquisition, Expands Higher Education Marketing Services

TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Higher Ed Growth, a full-service marketing agency specializing in post-secondary education, announced today that it has acquired an equity interest in CalmCircle, an online stress and sleep management platform. CalmCircle's research-based curriculum for postsecondary students will enhance Higher Ed Growth's services and solutions for colleges, universities and education partners. Additionally, CalmCircle's application in other high-stress environments - such as corporate workplaces and healthcare institutions - will allow HEG to expand as a global service provider across industries.

Founded in 2007, Higher Ed Growth's focus has been to help education partners overcome challenges in EDU marketing, streamlining compliance and driving quality student-to-school matches. The CalmCircle acquisition allows the EDU marketing firm to provide partners with greater support throughout the student education journey, including retention, to further drive graduation rates and better student outcomes.

"We're excited to help our partners find success beyond enrollments," said Joe Laskowski, Managing Partner and Chief Marketing Officer at Higher Ed Growth. "Countless studies show how closely related student well-being is to academic performance, retention and outcomes. We weren't seeing anything in the marketplace that addressed this connection in a simple and comprehensive way, and we're excited to offer the solution in 2019. This solution also has widespread use beyond students - corporate employees and healthcare workers can benefit immensely from the stress management practices CalmCircle offers."

The CalmCircle platform was developed in response to high stress levels and poor sleep quality commonly found in student and employee demographics. The guided practice features research-driven methods for reducing the psychological and physiological impacts of stress and developing healthy sleep habits. The program is customizable and includes breathing exercises, mindfulness, meditation, and relaxation techniques. Most sessions are five minutes or less to accommodate busy schedules.

"Higher Ed Growth has been a long-standing advisor for our company and helped drive technology innovation and strategic direction," said Patricia Kinney, founder of CalmCircle. "This new alignment will allow us to provide mental rest and sleep support to students and those in high-stress environments on a much larger scale. Together, we can help schools and workplaces realize the many benefits that balanced and healthy environments can offer -- from engagement and retention to the bottom line. Joining HEG, we look forward to making an even greater impact in education and to also head in some exciting new directions."

A CalmCircle pilot program with Arizona State University showed that 84 percent of participating students experienced reduced stress and 41 percent noted better sleep quality. The program has similarly been integrated into primary and secondary schools with promising results - at one middle school, students saw a 32 percent improvement in sleep and 14 percent decrease in stress levels. In both programs, participants also noted a stronger sense of self-compassion, mindfulness, and ability to stay on task.

CalmCircle has also proven successful for stress management and mental rest in the workplace. At one global company, 62 percent of participating employees stated that CalmCircle helped them manage stress. CalmCircle users also saw a 26 percent increase in efficiency compared to non-users. In addition to education and corporate services, CalmCircle will begin offering its product to healthcare institutions this year.

"We're looking forward to bringing CalmCircle to a wide range of organizations that could benefit from stress relief," said Eric Flottmann, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Higher Ed Growth. "The technology has been carefully developed to be easily accessible and feature minimal time requirements. Pilot programs have shown the benefits are clear and far-reaching. This product will also help propel Higher Ed Growth's current technology and services to new territories in 2019."

To read more about CalmCircle pilot programs or to set up a demo, visit http://www.calmcircle.com.

About CalmCircle
CalmCircle is an online platform offering a research-driven stress and sleep management program. The curriculum centers on mental rest, stress management and sleep support. CalmCircle was initially developed to teach healthy habits to today's heavily taxed college student and was a featured partner in the Huffington Post Sleep Revolution College Tour in Spring 2016. The company's mission is to help users develop lifelong skills and maintain mental balance in everyday life, high-stress environments and other events - from the classroom to the workplace. The company has expanded to bring mental rest and stress relief to the education industry, corporate workplaces and healthcare institutions. To learn more, please visit http://www.calmcircle.com.

About Higher Ed Growth
Higher Ed Growth (HEG) is a full-service marketing agency specializing in post-secondary education. HEG merges innovation and experience to develop technology and marketing programs that support client enrollment goals and meet changing regulatory needs. In addition to lead generation, it offers fully managed Master Vendor Services, compliance monitoring, white label software solutions, inquiry management, and analytics - with the ultimate goal of boosting enrollment and retention numbers for clients. HEG was named one of the Best Places to Work in 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Phoenix Business Journal. The company was also featured as an Inc. magazine Best Workplace 2017 and on its list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in 2014, 2015 and 2016. For more information, visit http://www.higheredgrowth.com.

SOURCE Higher Ed Growth