Corporate Profile

General Academic is Houston’s premier tutoring, test prep, and college counseling consultancy—and a global leader in K12 education publishing. Our mission is to be a knowledge leader and trusted educator to enable our students and employees to realize their aspirations.

Our consumer services include K12 tutoring, test preparation, enrichment, and college counseling. Our institutional services include college counseling and test prep programs plus school market analysis and corporate relocation consulting.

Our publications include The Houston School Survey, more than 70 full-length practice tests for the ISEE, ACT, and SAT, and digital learning lessons in math and English.

Born out of a Rice University dorm room in 2003, General Academic is headquartered in Houston. Our team currently includes approximately 70 brilliant, professional, and charismatic tutors, instructors, writers, editors, and managers.

Our small size and local ownership enable us to more closely tailor our services to our clients’ needs. Simultaneously, our strong management and corporate identity ensure that students receive a top quality and well-supported product.

We believe that education is fundamental in creating more opportunities and a better society, and we continually strive to make our expertise and services available to more people across the globe.

Company History

General Academic’s history is one of young adulthood and the continual pursuit of the next adventure in the name of making the world a better place.

Incorporation

Born and raised in Mississippi, Shelby Joe incorporates General Academic in Jackson, Mississippi on August 11, 2003, just a few weeks before matriculating at Rice University.

Graduation

On May 12, 2007, Shelby graduates from Rice University with a BA in Political Science and joins a management consulting firm. Aerin Williams, a Rice undergraduate, assumes management of day to day operations.

Opportunity

In 2009, the Great Recession is at its worst yet Shelby joins with Stephen Hayes to open the company’s first physical location at the corner of University and Morningside in the heart of the Rice Village.

Growth

By 2013, General Academic has outgrown its original location and moves one mile north to its current site at 2427 Bartlett St. The new office is the hip, loft-style Shelby has always wanted and offers more than 4,500 ft² of learning space.

Publications

General Academic commits to significant investment in publications in 2015. It takes its marquee book on Houston schools online and prints the most comprehensive prep book on the ISEE, “ISEE Upper Level Prep Guide with 6 Full-Length Practice Tests.”

Today

Today, General Academic is an integrated tutoring, consulting, and publishing powerhouse. The Company’s publications include the Houston School Survey, more than 30 full-length practice tests for the ISEE, SAT, and ACT, and a partnership with Piqosity.com to publish digital learning content.

Andy Peters, M.A.Ed.Manager

Andy graduated from the University of Michigan, where he received a BA in English in 2015 and an MA in Educational Studies in 2016. Andy has more than 6 years of teaching and tutoring experience; before joining General Academic, he was a high school English teacher at an innovative Michigan charter school.

Stephen HayesCo-Founder

Stephen graduated from Houston Baptist University with a BA in English in 2010, and he has been a Texan since age 4. Stephen created the curriculum for our ISEE, SAT, PSAT, and ACT services, and he is always happy to talk shop about any of your academic needs. Stephen loves to travel abroad, especially if it’s to Iceland!