Discover How You're Naturally Wired
Understand How You Think, Learn, and Solve Problems
The Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) is an aptitude test that provides objective insight into how a person naturally thinks, learns, and solves problems. For college-bound student-athletes, that insight is especially valuable, helping them choose not just the right program to play for, but the right academic and career path to pursue when their playing days are over.
This isn't a new idea dressed up in modern packaging. The science behind the HAB traces back nearly a century to the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation, one of the most respected aptitude research organizations in the world. That legacy of research is what separates the HAB from the personality quizzes and interest surveys that flood the internet. Those tools reflect what a student thinks about themselves on a given day. The HAB reveals something far more durable.
Understanding these patterns helps student-athletes make more confident decisions about their future, on and off the field.
Performance-Based Assessment
19 Hands-On Tasks That Measure Real Ability
Most assessments rely on self-reported questionnaires. The HAB is different. Through a series of timed, interactive exercises (such as recreating designs from memory, manipulating shapes in space, and sequencing patterns), the assessment measures how you actually process information and solve problems.
Complete the HAB at Your Own Pace
The full assessment typically takes 3–3½ hours, but most participants complete the 19 tasks across several sittings at their own pace. This flexibility allows students and professionals to work through the assessment at their convenience.
Key ability areas measured include:
Visual & Spatial Reasoning
How you interpret shapes, patterns, and spatial relationships.
Verbal & Analytical Reasoning
How you process language, construct ideas, and reason through complex problems.
Memory Systems
Different types of memory influence how you learn and retain information.
Numerical & Pattern Recognition
Natural facility with numbers, sequences, and logical patterns.
Together, these measurements reveal how a student-athlete naturally approaches learning and problem-solving, and can provide powerful insight into how they process coaching, adapt to new strategies, and perform under pressure in competition.
Personalized Insight Reports
Turning Ability Patterns Into Practical Insight
After completing the assessment, participants receive a detailed report explaining their pattern of abilities and how those abilities influence learning style, problem-solving approaches, and work environments. Unlike many other aptitude assessments, participants retain lifetime access to their HAB reports, making these insights a resource they can return to at every major academic and career crossroads.
These reports translate aptitude patterns into practical insight that can guide decisions about majors, careers, and long-term professional development.
Ability Profiles
Understand how your abilities compare to the broader population and where your strongest aptitudes lie.
Career Exploration Tools
Ability patterns are connected with potential career paths using the U.S. Department of Labor's ONET occupational database.
Learning & Work Style Insights
Understand the types of environments and challenges where you are most likely to thrive.
HAB Leadership Report
For student-athletes who are emerging leaders (on their team, in their school, or beyond), the HAB Leadership Report provides a deeper look at how natural abilities influence leadership style, communication, and decision-making. This specialized report builds self-awareness of leadership talents and strengths, identifies potential blind spots, and offers practical strategies for becoming a more effective leader both on and off the field. It is also a powerful tool for coaching staff and athletic directors looking to better understand their own leadership approach.
Why the HAB, and Not Something Else?
If you've searched for aptitude assessments online, you've probably come across a dozen free quizzes promising to tell your student-athlete who they are and what they should do with their life. Those aren't aptitude tests. They measure preferences (what someone likes or thinks they're good at), not actual ability.
The Highlands Ability Battery is different. It measures performance. It is widely recognized as the gold standard of aptitude assessment, rooted in nearly a century of research, and it is one of only three truly comprehensive aptitude tests in existence. The other two require families to travel to a testing center and cost nearly twice as much.
The HAB can be completed entirely online, across multiple sittings. For a student-athlete balancing practices, competitions, and coursework, that flexibility is not a small thing.
But what truly sets the HAB apart isn't the assessment itself. It's what happens after. Every HAB includes a guided debrief with a certified consultant, and that's where the real value lives. Data without context is just numbers. The debrief turns those numbers into a roadmap.
With The Paratum Scholars, the full HAB experience is available for $495, which includes the assessment, personalized reports, and a guided debrief. And unlike most assessments that give you a one-time snapshot, participants retain lifetime access to their HAB reports, making this one of the most enduring investments a student-athlete and their family can make. As life evolves, so do the decisions. The HAB grows with you.
Who Should Take the HAB?
The Highlands Ability Battery is designed for individuals seeking objective insight into how they naturally think, learn, and solve problems.
High School Students (Typically Age 15–16+)
Students are usually ready for the HAB around ages 15 to 16, when they begin making important decisions about courses, extracurricular activities, and potential college majors.
College Students
Gain clarity about strengths and explore career directions that align with natural abilities.
Families
Many families use the HAB to better understand how their student approaches learning, challenges, and decision-making, leading to more productive conversations about plans.
Adults Exploring Career Changes
Because natural abilities remain relatively stable over time, the HAB can help professionals reassess strengths when considering new career paths or leadership roles.
For many student-athletes, HAB insights become a foundational reference point, informing decisions about their major, their career, and who they want to become long after their playing days are over.
Bring the HAB to Your Team or Organization
The Highlands Ability Battery isn't just for individual students. It's a powerful tool for teams, coaching staffs, and athletic organizations looking to better understand how their athletes think, learn, and perform. At The Paratum Scholars, we offer customized, group HAB experiences designed for:
High School & College Athletic Programs
Help your athletes understand their natural strengths and how to apply them both in competition and in the classroom.
Coaching Staffs & Athletic Departments
Gain insight into how your athletes process information, respond to pressure, and learn new skills.
Youth & Club Organizations
Give young athletes an early advantage by helping them understand how they're wired before the college recruiting process begins.
Group sessions are available virtually or in person and can be tailored to the specific needs of your program. The HAB is also a powerful tool for coaches and leadership teams themselves, helping them better understand their own communication styles and leadership approach.
What People Are Saying
Hear from students and professionals who completed the HAB and discovered their natural strengths.
“The Highlands Ability Battery gave me a clear understanding of how I naturally think and learn. Through the process with The Paratum Scholars, I gained real clarity about the types of work and environments where I'm most likely to thrive, which has helped me approach college and career decisions with confidence.”
“The Highlands Ability Battery gave me powerful insight into how I naturally learn, lead, and make decisions. The debrief with The Paratum Scholars helped connect the results to my real experiences and career transition, giving me greater clarity and confidence about how to grow as a leader.”
“Taking the Highlands Ability Battery with The Paratum Scholars gave me valuable insight into my natural abilities and how they connect to my college future. The experience provided clarity and practical resources that will help guide important decisions throughout my academic and professional life.”
“The Highlands Ability Battery debrief with The Paratum Scholars was a true 'aha' moment for our daughter and for us as parents. It helped move her away from guessing about future paths and instead gave us a thoughtful, analytical framework for discussing her interests, strengths, and long-term direction. The insights will guide her decisions for years to come.”
“The Highlands Ability Battery provided insights about my natural aptitudes that I had never received through any other assessment. What made the experience truly valuable was the thoughtful guidance from The Paratum Scholars in interpreting the results and connecting them to real academic and career decisions.”
Move Forward With Clarity and Confidence
Access the Playbook: our comprehensive month-by-month guide for college-bound student-athletes (middle school through senior year).
You will also be able to access past expert webinars, plus planning checklists, NCAA eligibility resources, and our full library of family guides. Two decades of college counseling experience, given to your family at no cost.