POWERING EDUCATION AT SCALE

Penn State Extension is more than just an online learning platform; it’s a lifeline of knowledge for educators, farmers, businesses, and communities across Pennsylvania and beyond. With cutting-edge research, practical education, and real-world application, the platform needed a digital foundation as forward-thinking as its mission. We have spent eight years partnering with Penn State to ensure their technology, user experience, and strategy align with their ambitious vision.

BUILT ON

From Lagging to Leading

The old Penn State site was slowing things down, literally. Performance issues, outdated infrastructure, and a fragmented user experience made it difficult for student users to find resources, register for courses, and engage with content. As digital education offerings grew, the platform struggled to keep up, making it clear that a future-proof, scalable university ecommerce solution was critical.

After a thorough evaluation, we migrated Penn State to Adobe Commerce, giving them an enterprise-level foundation with the flexibility to scale. The move provided faster load times, improved security, and seamless integrations, ensuring Extension’s educational resources are always accessible.

"Their ability to implement solid technical solutions, attention to quality assurance, and top-notch client support, are why we keep partnering with IWD Agency."

Kate Oyler

Web Strategy & Operations, PSU Extension

An Enrollment Experience That Works

From individual student enrollments to group course registration, we refined the checkout and enrollment process to be seamless, intuitive, and frustration-free.

With improved address validation, error messaging, and backend automation, we ensured that more learners could register with fewer roadblocks. Our higher education ecommerce enhancements also included secure payment processing, integrating Authorize.net, PayPal, and other gateways to facilitate smooth and secure transactions.

Find the Right Course, Instantly

With thousands of educational resources, finding the right one used to be a challenge. We introduced advanced search and navigation features, allowing users to filter by category, keyword, and education format. The result was faster discovery, more engagement, and higher enrollment rates.

Content That Works for Everyone

We redesigned Extension’s homepage, menus, and article layouts to be more engaging, mobile-friendly, and visually compelling. Our higher education website optimization ensured that critical educational content was easier to access, read, and interact with, whether on desktop or mobile.

Stronger Integrations, Smoother Workflows

We connected Adobe Commerce custom integrations with Salesforce, edX, and payment gateways to create a seamless ecosystem for managing student enrollment, event registrations, and digital product sales.

By leveraging multi-site management for universities, we ensured that Penn State Extension’s digital ecosystem could grow without limitations, supporting future expansion and additional Penn State initiatives.