ForProfit EDU » bad economy

EDU stocks continue to get hit

onlineedu — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:31:25 +0000

Clearly the EDU stocks are continuing to get hit. Apol is leading the downward trend, but the others are following. Many of the analysts I speak with are still concerned about pending legislative changes… Thought they all agree that for the most part on the state level the for-profits are welcomed, but at the federal/national level they don’t feel the love. I have to say it is interesting to hear the “end is near” fears from a number of them, while the vast majority believe it is all much to do about nothing!

August search volume still strong, but not as expected

onlineedu — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:19:06 +0000

August search volume was strong, but it did not exceed expectations. August, which for the last 4 years was the strongest volume month YTD did not deliver on that expectation. While the volume was still strong as for year over year growth, it did not top the previous months of 2009. August usually tops Jan thru July as it has for the last 4 years.

LeadsCon East very strong this year, sold out early

onlineedu — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:40:52 +0000

For those of you who didn’t get into this years leadscon East, it was a solid show. Lost of EDU folks from the school side, the vendor side as well as financial types. It sold out early this year, hopefully next year they will find a bigger arena for the conference. It’s a solid sign of the power and strength of the EDU space when shows like Leadscon, continue to show strength.

July Search Volume bangs back…

onlineedu — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:37:09 +0000

July, usually one of the slowest months for leads and consumer demand once again bucked the trend and was dominant. Check out the stats

You can see that July was actually the stongest month for a number of terms

DOE looking to shorten FASFA form

onlineedu — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:36:42 +0000

Wow, we like good news and this can be good news. While I was working at a school I cant help but remember how much difficulty people had with the fasfa forms. It was almost like an entrance exam or sorts. Finally it looks like to Govt. is doing something that will actually result in more people going to college. Read it here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124580161498344673.html

CCA Starts Sunday

LouDog — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:01:11 +0000

For those of you attending the CCA this year good luck and enjoy. Many have expressed some disappointment that the location changed away from Vegas this year. So far the attendance looks strong. Please feel free to post some highlights from this years show.

What ever happened to Apollo’s Billion Dollar International Investment Fund?

LouDog — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:57:05 +0000

Remember the press release from 2007 about Apollo’s billion dollar invetment with Carlyle? What ever happened with that?Apollo Group and the Carlyle Group Form $1 Billion Joint Venture to Make Investments in the International Education Services Sector

PHOENIX & WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 22, 2007–Apollo Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOL) (“Apollo Group” or the “Company”), and private equity firm The Carlyle Group (“Carlyle”), today announced that they have formed a $1 billion joint venture, Apollo Global, Inc. (“Apollo Global”). Apollo Global intends to make a range of investments in the international education services sector. Apollo Global will target investments and partnerships primarily in countries outside the U.S. with attractive demographic and economic growth characteristics. Apollo Group has committed up to $801 million and will own 80.1% of the joint venture. Carlyle has committed up to $199 million and will own 19.9% of Apollo Global. Investments and funding will be subject to approval by the respective investment committees of both Apollo Group and Carlyle. Apollo Global will be a consolidated subsidiary of Apollo Group and Greg Cappelli, Apollo Group’s Executive Vice President and Director will be Chairman of the subsidiary.Commenting on the new venture, Greg Cappelli said, “We are very excited about this new joint venture and our partner, The Carlyle Group. Our core competencies in the education space, combined with Carlyle’s industry relationships and strategic assets across the global education sector, will allow us to successfully capitalize on the tremendous global opportunity that exists in the marketplace.”

Brian Mueller added, “We will continue to invest capital in our high return core domestic business, and through Apollo Global, we will also explore strategic and value creating global acquisition opportunities. Importantly, we reiterate that any investment must meet our disciplined investment criteria as we remain committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

Brooke B. Coburn, Managing Director and Co-head of Carlyle Venture Partners III, L.P., said, “Global demand for higher education is strong. Apollo Group’s operational expertise coupled with Carlyle’s global network make this a powerful partnership.”

The remaining six directors who comprise Apollo Global’s board include Brian Mueller, President and Director of Apollo Group, Peter V. Sperling, Senior Vice President, Secretary and Director of Apollo Group, Roy A. Herberger, Jr., an Apollo Group Director, Jeff Langenbach, Vice President Corporate Development of Apollo Group and Apollo Global’s interim President, Brooke B. Coburn, Managing Director and Co-head of Carlyle Venture Partners III, L.P. and Charles C. Moore, Managing Director on Carlyle’s U.S. Venture and Growth team.

About Apollo Group, Inc.

Apollo Group, Inc. has been an education provider for more than 30 years, operating the University of Phoenix, the Institute for Professional Development, the College for Financial Planning, Western International University and Insight Schools. The Company offers innovative and distinctive educational programs and services at high school, college and graduate levels at 259 locations in 40 states and the District of Columbia; Puerto Rico; Alberta and British Columbia, Canada; Mexico and the Netherlands, as well as online, throughout the world.

For more information about Apollo Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, call (800) 990-APOL or visit Apollo on the company website at: www.apollogrp.edu.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $75.6 billion under management committed to 55 funds. Carlyle invests in buyouts, venture & growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $32.3 billion of equity in 686 transactions for a total purchase price of $157.7 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 900 people in 21 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $87 billion in revenue and employ more than 286,000 people around the world. www.carlyle.com.

Will online masters growth hold up?

LouDog — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:06:28 +0000

After speaking with many analysts over the last few months there are two big fears that keep being repeated. The first being bad debt and the other top fear is the continued growth of online Master programs. The main reasons mentioned are potential future cuts by corporations of tuition reimbursement & continued decline in economy, thus affordability of education.

While I have heard of reports indicating that the risk of loosing corporate tuition reimbursement is minimal, are those accurate? Who were polled? HR people, they are usually the last to know.

Will the economy get so bad that people fear they will not be able to afford the monthly out of pocket costs of their tuition along with their rent, car, insurance and food?

The search volume as well as lead volume continue to show strong demand.

What do you think? Are you seeing anything either in support of this or to the contrary?