About Encourage


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All Students - Regardless of Zip Code - Deserve Robust Planning Tools

Encourage is a free comprehensive planning program for college and career success that supports both students and educators.


For students, the Encourage app is a one-stop-shop for planning life after high school. Encourage empowers students to define their goals, outline their personal journeys, and achieve important milestones.


At the same time, Encourage equips educators with data regarding their students’ postsecondary plans, empowering them to have more informed and purposeful conversations with their students.

Our Mission & Values

Our mission is to empower students, families, and educators to create meaningful connections with colleges and employers so students can have the knowledge and support to achieve their goals.

  • INTEGRITY. We are open, honest and ethical. We strive to be our authentic selves.
  • LEADERSHIP. We believe in having the courage to take action to shape a better future for all students and educators.
  • SERVICE. We are committed in heart and mind to serve students and educators, with the purpose of building a more equitable community.

Our Affiliations

Encourage is a part of the Encoura® family, with an ACT® connection.


Encoura is an educational data science and research organization whose mission is to empower students and institutions to create meaningful connections so everyone can make the most informed decisions to achieve their goals.


Encoura was acquired in 2018 by ACT, the nonprofit testing organization that shares our goals and values. The acquisition advances ACT’s mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success.


Equipped with more than 100 combined years of experience of research and reach, our missions are aligned in building dynamic content, tools, and technology, enabling all stakeholders to take action to understand and do their parts to create a better world.

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Want to Connect with Us?

We are a team of former educators, counselors, and education equity advocates committed to no-cost solutions that help students achieve their dreams. We continually evolve and reimagine our products, services, and resources to meet the needs of secondary education to better impact student success.

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