Educational Consultant Directory

What is an educational consultant?

In the troubled teen industry, an "educational consultant" (often shortened to "ed con" or "IEC") is a private advisor that parents pay to recommend where to send a struggling child. Despite the name, most of the placements they arrange are not schools. They are wilderness programs, residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, and similar facilities, many of which appear in our facility directory.

Why the title is a red flag

The word "educational" makes the service sound like academic advising. In practice, these consultants are the industry's main referral pipeline. Many are former program staff, belong to industry trade groups such as NATSAP or IECA, receive hosted tours and marketing from the programs they recommend, or have financial and professional ties to specific facilities. Families are rarely told about those ties before a placement. A recommendation from an educational consultant is not an independent assessment and should not be treated as one.

What this directory records

This directory documents individuals and agencies with recorded referral activity into TTI programs: which facilities they have referred families to, where they worked before, who they are affiliated with, and any legal history we have found. A listing here is a record of that activity, not an endorsement and not an advertisement. If you were placed through one of these consultants, or have information to add or correct, use the submit button on any entry.