In an effort to help his own students become independent learners, Jeremy Cox, a schoolteacher from Florida, founded StudySmarts in 1997. While researching study skills, Jeremy learned that close to 80% of colleges require a study skills or developmental course for in-coming freshmen. This fact alone revealed a truth that the study skills gap must be bridged earlier in a student’s education.

Unlike traditional study skills solutions that typically only reach a few teachers, rarely any parents, and only certain grade levels, he wanted something that would enhance the educational environment of everyone by helping schools create a study skills culture and a common language among students, teachers and parents. Jeremy found what he was looking for in a curriculum developed by Dr. Cindy Evans.

Dr. Evans is a professor of study skills who reached national recognition through the University of South Carolina’s monograph publication for the curriculum she developed at the college level. She used her knowledge and expertise to develop a curriculum suited to meet the needs of students in grades 5-8 and 9-12. One of the key differences in the approach was to include self-worth and motivation as the foundation of the study skills. Equipped with an award-winning curriculum, his own creativity and a desire to see students win, Jeremy began the journey to conduct his first on-site field trip to the “University of StudySmarts.”