Kaplan Community · Performance Story · Q2 2026 (through May)
Q2 is widening the community, more people, more reactions.
Through April and May, contributors are up 65% and reactions up 89% over the same window last year, with posting at a higher monthly pace than either Q1 2026 or Q2 2025. The counterweight: comment depth (the average number of replies each new thread draws) softened and the monthly attribution pace cooled from Q1, though YTD attribution ($2.08M) is already 95% of all of 2025. June completes the quarter.
Reporting period: Q2 2026 to date · Apr 1 - May 31 · Squared against Q1 2026 & Q2 2025 · June completes the quarter
The Headline
More people showed up in Q2, depth is the open question.
Quarter-to-date (April + May; June completes it), Q2 widened participation: contributors +65% and reactions +89% versus the same window last year, with posting running ahead of both Q1 2026 and Q2 2025 on a per-month basis. The honest counterweight: comment volume eased (-9% YoY), discussion depth (replies per thread) slipped to 1.39 comments per post, and attribution's monthly pace cooled from a strong Q1. Figures are community-wide, Schweser included; compared to Q1 2026 and Q2 2025 below.
Contributors · Q2 to date
↑65%
746 unique contributors (Apr+May)
vs. 451 in Q2 '25 The quarter's breadth story, more people taking part than ever.
Reactions · Q2 to date
↑89%
4,304 reactions (Apr+May)
vs. 2,282 in Q2 '25 2,152/month, the highest reaction pace on record.
Posts · Q2 to date
1,222
new threads (Apr+May)
vs. 1,119 in Q2 '25 (+9%) 611/month, above Q1's 539 and last year's 560.
Lead Attribution · Q2 to date
↑224%
$701,919 (Apr+May)
vs. $216K in Q2 '25 Far ahead YoY, but below Q1's monthly pace (see Money).
The Year So Far
Five months in. Where the community sits today.
A snapshot of the full community, all product lines, Schweser included. Engagement, Members, Adoption, Lead Attribution and Contributors are all filled through May.
Posts YTD
2,838
≈+3% vs. 2025 · +52% vs. 2024 YTD
2,838 new threads in five months. Monthly posts: Jan 610 → Feb 451 → Mar 555 → Apr 565 → May 657, May is the year's high.
Up YoY
Comments YTD
4,283
Behind 2025 pace · ahead of 2024
May's 790 cooled from April's 908. A strong May 2025 (1,188) opens a YTD gap, comments now trail 2025's pace while staying above 2024.
Watch
Comment : Post Ratio
1.51 : 1
YTD community-wide ratio
4,283 comments ÷ 2,838 posts. May's monthly ratio of 1.20 is the year's lowest, more new threads, fewer replies each. Goal is 4:1.
Soft
Reactions · May
1,911
Net +1,850 after 61 removed
A breadth signal beyond posting: nearly 2,000 reactions in the month, plus 64 Q&A answers accepted (8:1 over rejected).
Strong
Contributors YTD
1,629
May: 331 unique · +32% vs. May '25
331 unique contributors in May (deduped community-wide), below April's 415 but up 32% over May 2025's 251. YTD 1,629 (monthly sum). Per-team counts summed to 465 before cross-team dedup.
Up YoY
Lead Attribution
$2.08M
69% of $3M goal · 166% of pace
$2,078,268 YTD vs. a $1.25M five-month pace, already 95% of all of 2025 ($2.18M). But May's $320K was the year's lightest month; the monthly trend is softening.
Ahead of Pace
Total Members
141,931
47% of 300K goal · +5,622 vs. April
120,471 Vanilla members + 21,460 Career Center registrants. Up from 136,309 in April, real growth, but the pace to 300K still needs a step-change in acquisition.
Well Off Track
Community Adoption
17%
Goal: 25% sustained in Q4
Held at 17% (data-team calc). Per-team ranges widely, LSAT 44%, MCAT 42%, Schweser 31%, Bar 26%, down to Real Estate 5% (its large, mostly-dormant licensing base drags the blended rate).
Off Track
The Two-Year Trajectory
2026 isn't just bigger, it's a different shape.
The lines below show the full 2024-25-26 arc. The community-wide comments, Members, Lead Attribution, and Contributors series are all current through May. The multi-year story holds: membership on a steady ramp, engagement at a higher plateau than either prior year.
Total Members, Cumulative Growth
From 30K in Jan 2024 to 142K in May 2026, a 4.7× expansion in 29 months. May reached 141,931 (Vanilla + Career Center).
Monthly Comments, Community-Wide
Comment volume ranged from roughly 490 to 1,188 a month across 2024-25. The mix has shifted: Schweser comments fell hard (893 in May 2025 to 386 in May 2026) while the rest of the community grew (295 to 404 over the same window), partly offsetting the decline.
Monthly Lead Attribution, From Zero to Engine
Tracking didn't begin until July 2024. YTD 2026 is $2.08M (+215% YoY), but May's $320K was the year's lightest month, a softening monthly trend.
Monthly Contributors, Community-Wide
After flat 2024-25 monthly counts (160-340 band), May added 331 unique contributors, below April's 415 but +32% over May 2025's 251.
Q2 to date · vs Q1 2026 · vs Q2 2025
Squaring Q2 against last quarter and last year.
Quarter-to-date metrics shown as average per month, so a two-month Q2 compares fairly against a three-month Q1 and last year's Q2. The pattern is consistent: participation, contributors, reactions, posts, is running at its highest pace yet, while comment depth (the comment-to-post ratio: the average number of replies each new thread draws) and the monthly attribution pace eased from Q1. Members are end-of-period levels. (Bars show monthly average; YoY is Q2 '26 vs Q2 '25.)
PostsNew threads · avg / month
Q2·25
560
Q1·26
539
Q2·26
611
+9%vs Q2 '25
CommentsReplies · avg / month
Q2·25
935
Q1·26
862
Q2·26
849
-9%vs Q2 '25
Comment : Post RatioReplies per thread (comments ÷ posts)
Q2·25
1.67
Q1·26
1.60
Q2·26
1.39
-17%vs Q2 '25
ContributorsUnique members · avg / month
Q2·25
226
Q1·26
294
Q2·26
373
+65%vs Q2 '25
ReactionsReaction activity · avg / month
Q2·25
1,141
Q1·26
1,711
Q2·26
2,152
+89%vs Q2 '25
Lead AttributionCommunity-influenced $ · avg / month
Q2·25
$108K
Q1·26
$459K
Q2·26
$351K
+224%vs Q2 '25
Total MembersEnd of period · Vanilla + Career Center
Q2·25
69,180
Q1·26
134,096
Q2·26
141,931
+105%vs Q2 '25
The Money · Q2 2026 to date
Attribution towers over last year, and is easing from a strong Q1.
Kept separate from the engagement story above. Quarter-to-date and year-to-date, lead attribution dwarfs 2025; the monthly pace, like comment depth (replies per thread), cooled from Q1's peak. Re-purchase is the durable commercial case.
$701,919Q2 to date · +224% YoY
$701,919 in community-attributed sales in Q2 so far (Apr+May) vs. $216,574 the same window last year, +224%. Year-to-date is $2,078,268 (+215% vs. 2025 YTD), already 95% of all of 2025 and 166% of the $1.25M pace toward $3M. The counterweight: Q2's pace is ~$351K/month vs. Q1's $459K (-24%), far ahead YoY, but cooling sequentially. June closes the quarter.
20%members · vs 14% non-members
Re-purchase rate, first-time purchasers who buy another Kaplan product, runs 20% among community members (all-time) vs. 14% for non-members, at a higher average value too ($1,256 vs. $714). The gap is widest at CFFP (41% vs. 35%) and Real Estate (25% vs. 16%). That ~6-point membership lift is the durable commercial case.
The story Q2 tells so far: the community is widening, more people, more reactions, while depth and the money pace ease.
01
More people showed up
Contributors +65% and reactions +89% over Q2 2025 (Apr+May), with posting at 611/month, above both Q1 and last year. Participation is broadening across the community, not narrowing.
02
Depth is the watch item
Comments eased -9% YoY and the comment-to-post ratio fell to 1.39 (from Q2 2025's 1.67). More members are taking part, but each posting a bit less, breadth up, depth down.
03
Money: banner YTD, cooling pace
YTD attribution is $2.08M (+215% YoY, 95% of all 2025), but Q2's $351K/month pace trails Q1's $459K. Members reached 141,931 (+105% YoY), and members re-purchase at 20% vs. 14% for non-members.