SCT Acquires Newfront Software Assets, Expands SEVIS and Foreign Student/Scholar Support for Higher Education
MALVERN, Pa. – September 17, 2003 – SCT (Nasdaq:SCTC) today announced it has acquired the assets of privately held Newfront Software, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., a leading provider of software for international student/scholar data management. The Newfront fsaATLAS product helps U.S. higher education institutions manage the enrollment and federal reporting needs of international students, professors, and researchers-an increasingly high-profile challenge as institutions are asked to comply with growing homeland security regulations.
The Newfront acquisition strengthens SCT’s ability to support U.S. institutions by adding one of higher education’s most widely used foreign student management products to SCT’s broad portfolio of technology solutions. Newfront is a leading provider of international student/scholar data management software to U.S. colleges and universities, supporting more than 150 clients. SCT gains and intends to continue to support these clients, and intends to continue selling fsaATLAS to institutions using administrative systems from SCT as well as other vendors. With the acquisition, SCT welcomes a strong new group of developers, support engineers, and immigration experts onto the SCT team. Likewise, SCT brings Newfront clients a new level of stability, resources, and support, and the opportunity to continue to benefit from the important work of the former Newfront team.
“This acquisition immediately provides SCT with a proven product and established expertise that will help us be even more responsive to critical client needs,” said Mike Chamberlain, SCT president and CEO. “This is a logical step in expanding our footprint and continuing on our mission of providing solutions that promote individual achievement, enhance institutional performance, and foster education communities worldwide.”
The Newfront acquisition is in line with SCT’s vision of an e-Education Infrastructure for higher education, a comprehensive framework for leveraging an institution’s technology, systems, and services for greater operational effectiveness in teaching, learning, research, and administration. Through this paradigm, institutions can create digital campuses that extend existing investments, capitalize on new technologies, and address their constituents’ high expectations for personalized delivery of information and services.
Attracting and retaining foreign students and scholars is an ongoing priority for many institutions that take pride in assembling diverse and international constituents. Foreign enrollments also have a significant revenue impact because of higher tuition rates. It is estimated that nearly 600,000 foreign students will be enrolled in U.S. institutions this fall.
Since 1995, Newfront has strived to improve how institutions manage enrollment and visa processing for this valuable population. fsaATLAS was developed in an effort to help these institutions attract and retain the best and brightest, and to keep paperwork and processes from hindering the pursuit of academic goals.
Since then, federal regulations and compliance issues have escalated due to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Newfront was well positioned to expand its capabilities to help institutions monitor foreign students and scholars entering U.S. institutions and comply with the congressionally mandated Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) regulations.
“Together, SCT and Newfront offer tremendous benefits for U.S. institutions of higher education,” said J. Greg Leonard, Newfront vice president. “fsaATLAS is the leading product for international student and scholar case management and SEVIS compliance because it helps institutions truly provide quality support and services for this valued academic audience. SCT is the ideal leader and partner for us to continue our work because it has earned trusted partner status from a large installed base of clients as well as new clients looking for solutions beyond the scope of traditional ERP technologies.”
The SCT Banner, SCT Plus, SCT Matrix, and SCT PowerCAMPUS administrative products all provide SEVIS-required data collection and reporting capabilities. With the anticipation that SEVIS requirements will expand and more institutions will desire more sophisticated visa and case management support, the need for a fully automated international student management solution is expected to grow.
fsaATLAS is a Microsoft-based product that can automatically import and update information from student information systems, such as those from SCT, PeopleSoft, Oracle and Datatel. Using an XML-based data interchange, updates can be accomplished manually or in a batch process, supporting prompt and accurate SEVIS tracking and reporting. However, fsaATLAS goes beyond basic SEVIS reporting capabilities, enabling the expanded management of all categories and classes of international student and scholar visas with a complete alert and analysis system.
As SCT products and fsaATLAS become more extensively integrated over time, clients should experience greater ease of use, improved access to information, and an ability to adapt these technologies to their unique requirements, enabling them to provide superior service to their international students and scholars. With SCT’s integration technologies and services, institutions with non-SCT student information systems will also benefit from integration advances, allowing them to choose the mix of products that best support their particular technology environments.
“The Newfront transaction is clearly in line with our corporate direction and reaffirms our commitment to higher education,” added Chamberlain. Over the past two years, SCT has divested all operations not focused on higher education, and has made other significant acquisitions including Campus Pipeline, Applied Business Technologies, and the student information systems business from Sallie Mae.
About SCT
SCT is the leading global provider of e-education technology solutions for institutions of all sizes and complexity. The Company supports more than 1,300 client institutions worldwide with administrative and academic solutions, portal and community solutions, content management and workflow solutions, information access and integration solutions, and professional services. SCT works collaboratively with clients and partners to provide the e-Education Infrastructure that enables institutions to fulfill their unique missions. For more information visit www.sct.com
.
The matters discussed in this press release that are forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include without limitation: the Company’s ability to complete development of and enhance the assets acquired efficiently and cost effectively; the ability of SCT to integrate the assets acquired from Newfront Software, Inc. with SCT’s operations and products in an efficient and cost-efficient manner; the ability of the Company to effectively market the acquired technologies; the success of SCT’s strategy for delivering enterprise-wide education technology solutions through SCT’s e-Education Infrastructure; the ability of competitors of SCT to provide similar solutions in a timely manner; continued market acceptance of the Company’s products and services including those acquired; the timing of the receipt of software licenses; competitive and pricing pressures in the markets which the Company serves; the Company’s ability to complete fixed price contracts profitably including the contracts acquired; the timing of the receipt of services contracts and renewals; the Company’s ability to develop and market innovative products and enhancements cost-effectively and on a timely basis; the Company’s ability to attract and retain highly skilled technical, managerial, sales and marketing personnel including its ability to retain those employees transitioned to the Company as a result of the acquisition; general economic conditions; and other risks and uncertainties more specifically set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SCT, SCT Matrix, SCT Banner, SCT Luminis, SCT PowerCAMPUS, and the SCT logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Systems & Computer Technology Corporation. All other product and company names referenced herein are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contacts:
SCT Media Relations
Laura Kvinge
801.257.4158
lkvinge@sct.com
SCT Investor Relations
Eric Haskell
610.578.5175
ehaskell@sct.com
Distributed by:
Katie Kilfoyle
SCT
Marketing
315.524.7640 phone
315.524.9169 fax
www.sct.com
kkilfoyl@sct.com
