For seven years, Manny Smith served in the U.S. Air Force, building satellites and software for mission-critical defense systems. While still on active duty and earning his M.B.A. from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, he began working on what might seem like an unlikely problem for a former Air Force officer: modernizing the systems higher education institutions rely on to evaluate transcripts, award transfer credit and shape the future of aspiring and motivated students across the United States.
His company, EdVisorly, now partners with more than 100 higher education institutions to help admissions and enrollment teams improve their operations with AI.
Q: First, tell me about EdVisorly. What do you do?
A: At EdVisorly, we help colleges and universities automate enrollment workflows so admissions teams can spend less time on paperwork and more time supporting students through one of the most important decisions of their lives.
Enrollment teams are being asked to do more with less. They’re processing high application volumes, evaluating more and more transfer credits, and trying to get admissions decisions back to students faster, often with limited staff and systems with limited functionality. In many cases, the workflows behind those decisions continue to rely on manual review.
Our EddyAI platform automates time-consuming administrative work, including transcript evaluation, transfer credit evaluations, GPA recalculations and more. The goal is to help institutions improve their ability to provide the highest-quality enrollment decisions quickly and efficiently, ultimately providing a more transparent experience for students.
For example, we helped one institution process 120,000 transcripts in six weeks. That kind of capacity shift can make a real difference for enrollment teams and for students waiting on admissions decisions that could shape the rest of their lives.
Q: How did your own experience as a first-generation college student shape the way you think about enrollment, and why did this feel like the right problem to build a company around?
A: I grew up in a low-income household in Georgia. My parents had no college credit, so the thought of going to college was not really in the cards for me. My plan was to work out of high school or enlist in the military. I took every odd job I could to earn money and lighten the load for my family. College admission wasn’t something I knew how to navigate, and it felt insurmountable.
I was blessed to earn a full scholarship to the U.S. Air Force Academy as a Division I athlete, and that opportunity changed the trajectory of my life. It opened doors to education, honorable military service, travel that I could only dream of as a child, leadership and eventually entrepreneurship. Because of that experience, I believe deeply in the power of higher education to create economic mobility and expand opportunity for those who have a dream of a brighter future.
As a low-income, first-generation college student, I experienced how confusing and intimidating the college admissions process can be. For many students, the enrollment process is filled with uncertainty and confusing processes. They are left trying to answer basic questions, like: How much will my education cost me? Will my hard-earned community college or military credits transfer to my new school? How long will it take to complete my degree? Am I making the right decision?
Enrollment is the front door to opportunity for millions of students, but too often that door is closed for the most important students we serve. EdVisorly exists to help enrollment teams at institutions streamline their operations processes to give students the clarity they need to complete their degrees.
Every student who completes their bachelor’s degree increases their lifespan by seven years and increases their lifetime earnings by nearly $900,000. These are major shifts in equity and opportunity for generations of students, students who we are trusting to build a better world than the version they were born into. Our future doctors, nurses, teachers and professionals depend on higher education to deliver, and we are grateful to play a role in this process.
Q: You mentioned that many of the admissions and enrollment teams you talk to ask you if AI is going to take their job. What do you say?
A: For EdVisorly, building trust starts with being very clear about what the technology does and does not do. EdVisorly does not make admissions decisions for prospective student applicants. Those decisions always remain with the college or university enrollment professional.
At its core, education is human and relies on caring and mission-driven professionals to provide high-quality admissions decisions. Yet, most enrollment teams across the United States are being asked to drive improved outcomes with fewer resources.
AI is one of many tools to help make this possible by streamlining workflows, providing improved consistency in processing labor-intensive back-office tasks and freeing front-line enrollment team members to spend more time with their prospective and current students.
