At just 29 years old, Jamie Beaton stands out as a top figure among full-time college consultants. According to data from market research firm IBISWorld, the overall revenue of college consulting firms has doubled over the past 20 years, reaching $2.9 billion. Mark Sklarow, CEO of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, reports that there are now approximately 10,000 full-time college consultants across the United States, with an additional 3,000 operating internationally. Back in 1990, there were fewer than 100 full-time college counselors.
As highlighted in a Wall Street Journal report on October 16, Beaton is the CEO and co-founder of Crimson Education, a college consulting firm. Originally from New Zealand, he is a Rhodes Scholar with an impressive resume that includes a PhD from Oxford University and master’s degrees from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Tsinghua University. Many middle and high school students travel long distances to New York simply to seek Beaton’s assistance in gaining admission to elite American universities.
Beaton often tells his clients, “Great education changed my life, and it can change yours too.” One Japanese high school student described Beaton as “the Steve Jobs of college consulting.”
In 2023, nearly 2% of students admitted to elite institutions like Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania were clients of Beaton’s consulting services. Notably, 24 of his students were accepted to Yale, 34 to Stanford, 48 to Cornell, and 52 to the University of Pennsylvania.
Crimson Education charges clients between $30,000 and $200,000 for programs lasting four to six years, which include academic tutoring, test preparation, guidance on obtaining stellar teacher recommendations, and tips for enhancing extracurricular activities.
Beaton is praised for his ability to decode the admissions process of elite universities, and Wall Street views him as a close partner who understands parents’ anxieties about their children’s college admissions, thus uncovering significant business opportunities. Private equity investors are also taking notice, with PitchBook estimating that Crimson, founded in 2013, is currently valued at $554 million.
However, some critics argue that Crimson’s success is overstated, suggesting that many of its student clients were already highly competitive academically and involved in activities that would have made them strong candidates for Ivy League schools regardless of their consulting services. University admissions officials have also noted that many of these students likely had a high chance of admission even without Crimson’s help.
