STEVEN ROY GOODMAN, MS, JD
Educational Consultant and Admissions Strategist
(202) 986-9431
steve@topcolleges.com

Steve Goodman is an international authority on college and graduate school admissions. He is an expert in advancing the academic, social, and professional needs and aspirations of the students and families he advises – and matching those needs to select colleges and universities.

Over the past 20 years, Steve Goodman has designed admissions strategies for more than 1,800 applicants to colleges, graduate programs, and business, law, and medical schools. Specifically, he provides professional assistance with school selection, application strategies, and personal statement preparation, coaching students and families through the college search and application process.

Steve Goodman’s educational services also include assistance with long-range educational planning, course selection, internships, summer activities, gap programs, study abroad, transfer applications, interview training, effective campus visits, and family relocations.

He has lectured before thousands of students, families, and guidance counselors in the United States and abroad, presenting seminars about student and family preparedness for the admissions process, the development of application strategies, school placements, the U.S. education marketplace, the future of higher education, and making effective college, graduate school, and career choices. His first book, College Admissions Together: It Takes a Family, is one of the most referenced college guides for both parents and librarians. His second book, College Success Stories That Inspire, highlights many different college paths and turning points. His television talk show on UDC-TV, Higher Education Today, has won seven Telly Awards for addressing contemporary education issues.

Steve Goodman has spoken at The White House, Politics and Prose, the 92nd Street Y, and the World Bank. He is a frequent expert source for journalists and others. His work has been cited in U.S. News and World Report, The Atlantic, USA TODAY, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Chicago Tribune. He has appeared on numerous radio stations, including WTOP, WYPR, WUNC, WOR in New York, and KPCC in Los Angeles. He has been featured on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, KYW-TV in Philadelphia, WJLA-TV in Washington, and TV Asahi in Japan.

Steve Goodman is a former faculty member of The Wharton School and Haverford College. He served on the Undergraduate Admissions Advisory Committee at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned his master’s degree in higher education. He received his bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University and his law degree from the University of Southern California, where he wrote a dissertation about class-based discrimination in the college admissions process. While at Duke, he served as national student chair of Hillel.

Steve Goodman has done extensive work with students and schools in India, South Africa, Mexico, and Romania. He is a former executive director of the College Admissions Institute of America, a group devoted to expanding educational opportunities for disadvantaged students.