Company overview
PREP, based in Austin, Texas, is a premier education service provider for international students. We are an innovator and a leader specialized in the K-12 study abroad market. Our unique approach to integrate homestay management, scholastic placement, academic counseling, outdoor adventure, and community service helps develop international students to become the next generation of leaders with the character and capacity to impact the world.
PREP continues to grow every day thanks to the confidence our students and parents have in us.
-Ed Wu, Founder & CEO
Vision
PREP provides professional and trustworthy education services to international students so that they can grow in wisdom and stature to become the next generation of leaders with the character and capacity to impact the world.
passion
PREP team loves our students, and we work tirelessly to help them navigate through the most formative years in a foreign country, without their parents being around.
Mission
Change lives together
PRep team
We are extremely grateful that we have a team of professionals with a passion for education and love of our children who work tirelessly to provide industry-leading services to our students.
Founder & CEO
Ed has 20+ years of professional management experience including Sales Manager at Procter & Gamble China and Marketing Director at Dell, responsible for the global eCommerce optimization of dell.com. His professional expertise is in digital analytics and he served as a board member of the Digital Analytics Association.
Ed holds a B.A. from Peking University in China and an MBA from the Ross Business School at the University of Michigan.
Ed resides in Austin with his wife and they have a daughter and a son – as well as the many children through PREP.
Priscilla Zhong
CFO
Priscilla joined PREP in 2015 and has been fundamental in establishing a close relationship with our students and parents. She oversees students’ academic and extra-curricular development and serves as the warm-hearted, loving A-Yi in PREP.
Priscilla graduated from Peking University with a degree in Finance and earned an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Her professional expertise is in pricing analysis and strategy. She had significant leadership roles at both P&G China and Dell Global.
Heidi Zhang
Education Counselor
Heidi wears many hats at PREP. She evaluates the English fluency and fit of student applicants. She designs and leads the PREP outdoor and community service projects. She also oversees visual designs of PREP publication materials on marketing platforms.
Heidi graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, with a Master’s degree in Education. She currently lives in Boulder, CO with her husband.
Leanne Chen
Education Counselor
Leanne had been an ESL teacher in a public middle school in China for ten years and worked in an international education company in California as an education consultant. Her qualification includes experience in ESL/TEFL lesson plans and curriculum development, classroom management, educational consulting service for international students.
Leanne came to Christ in 2010 and has served in the church, youth group, and YMCA in China since then. She currently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband.
Maggie Qiu
Education Counselor
Maggie graduated from Gordon College in Boston, MA with a Master of Art in Leadership. She also had a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a minor in Psychology from Gorton.
Prior to PREP, Maggie had an internship at Covenant Christian Academy and volunteered at InterVarsity.
Maggie has rich experience in cross-cultural education, mentoring, mental health, tutoring, and leadership development. She currently lives in Boston with her fiancé.
Why us
There are many agents in the USA to serve international students in different capacities. We are not the oldest, nor the biggest. We are here to create a unique and premier education experience and offer parents and students a service that they can trust. In our definition, such experience and service should meet the following criteria:
01
A Family experience
When your son or daughter joins PREP, they are joining a family, not just a program. A program provides basic structure, but a family provides love, protection, and guidance that an adolescent teenager needs so much during the critical years of transitioning from a youth to an adult.
All of our host families are faithful families, who join us for the same mission to love and teach our students. As parents, you can be assured that your son or daughter is in good hands.
02
A true American experience
It’s obvious that you wanted your child to have a truly American experience when you sent him off. Somehow, they ended up with a school full of Chinese students and still speak English with a heavy Chinese accent after graduating from high school if they graduate.
That’s not OK with us. At PREP, we want your child to have a truly American experience both in school and outside of school. All of our partner schools commit not to have more than 10% of the international student population at each grade. Outside of school, our students live with American families, eat American food, and immerse them in American culture. Isn’t this what you want your child to have?
03
An Adventure experience
Life is a journey and when your child joins PREP, they are joining an exciting adventure. They will be challenged to set a goal for themselves, and they will be held accountable. They will be asked to step out of their comfort zone and go to explore the unknown. They will be led to the wilderness where they can forget about their electronics and rediscover the beauty of creation and nature. They will join our mission and service trips when they can serve others in need and practice compassion and love.
When your child graduates out of PREP, they will be a confident, responsible, and mature young man and woman. They are ready to go where God leads them to and live a life with purpose and joy.
company history
PREP started in 2014 when Ed saw this new wave of young students flooding into the United States, he realized this is not only a business opportunity but also a ministry opportunity. “Parachute kids” can get into jail if left all by themselves alone or can grow into next-generation leaders of China with the right support, love, and care.
Since then, PREP has been at the far front of the study abroad industry especially in the K-12 space. We are proud of being the innovator of establishing a homestay model and we are very grateful for all of our partners who choose to work closely with us.
2021
perseverance
We pressed on in the second year of pandemic and saw many of our students making great progress. We graduated a larger class and sent 12 students to colleges.
2020
hope
Due to the pandemic, we had to chancel our winter camp and No Fear Camp. Most of our students stayed with their host families throughout the summer. Our students contributed so much to the community through the online concert, miles for life, face shield project, etc. We had our largest graduation class ever and sent 10 students to colleges.
2019
do the right things
This year we focused on “Do Right Things”, in words and in deeds.
Ed visited Chattanooga Christian School and by the fall, we had our first student outside of Austin Texas.
PREP moved No Fear Camp to Colorado and Wyoming.
Bowen and Tom graduated and went to Indiana University and Vanderbilt University respectively.
2018
Do little things
Continue the theme of “Do hard things”, this year we want to focus on “Little Things” that matter. We believe if we do little things that matter, great things happen. If we do little things consistently, our lives will be transformed!
PREP started No Fear Camp in California, a two-week adventure experience for Chinese students.
Abby, David, and Tony graduated and sent to UT Austin, Rice, and Purdue respectively.
2017
do hard things
There is growing pain…there is trials and tribulations…there is accusation and threat…we had it all! But going through all of those, we were constantly reminded that God is still in control and without Him, we can’t do anything. This was the year we did hard things and our students and parents also embraced the idea.
PREP had our first graduate student, Alan who went to the University of California, Irvine.
2016
growing
We had more schools to partner with and doubled our student enrollment. We hired more team members. Most importantly, all of our students are placed in strong and faithful families.
PREP started the Winter Camp program, a two-week experience for visiting Chinese students.
2015
experimenting
With more students coming, we continue to experiment with the best way to serve them. Priscilla joined us as the full-time PREP “mom”.
2014
start
Out of nowhere, we had the first two students and then another three. We hosted the first two students at our own home to understand what it takes to provide for them.
2013
dream
This was when Ed saw the changes in the industry and he had the dream of becoming the premier education service provider to the young Chinese students and their families and share good news with them in that process.
2004
Saved
We were saved at the University of Michigan, the first day after my graduation ceremony. Our lives were turned around and the seed of PREP was planted.
2002
journey
Ed and Priscilla came to the US.
PREP Education International LLC and SIT Education International LLC are two companies owned by Mr. Wu, both doing business as “Premier Education Partners”, or PREP.