Laureate Education
Introduction '''Laureate Education, Inc.''' is a corporation based in Miami, Florida, United States. The firm owns and operates '''Laureate International Universities''', with campuses in Mexico and Peru.The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq.
Corporate history ===Beginnings: 1998–2009===Laureate Education was originally created by Douglas Becker in 1998, as Sylvan International Universities, an operational division of Sylvan Learning Systems that would focus on post-secondary institutions. At the time, Sylvan was primarily focused on services for students in primary and secondary education through company owned and franchise locations.Sylvan International Universities' first acquisition was Spain's Universidad Europea de Madrid for $51 million in 1999.By 2001, the company had expanded to include institutions including Mexico's Universidad del Valle de México (UMV), Chile's Universidad de las Américas, Switzerland's Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, and 41% ownership of the online institution Walden University. In March 2003, the firm decided to focus exclusively on post-secondary education. It sold the K-12 business units, and the Sylvan name and trademark to Apollo Management, and in May 2004  changed its name to Laureate Education to reflect the new direction. Laureate took full control of Walden in September 2004, after purchasing remaining shares of the university for $109 million. The ''Baltimore Sun'' reported in 2004 that "Walden's enrollment grew tenfold from the time Laureate first invested in it four years ago. "In 2007, the firm became private after being acquired by an investor group led by Becker.===Growth: 2010–2017===Laureate continued to expand and acquire new institutions after becoming privately owned. By 2010, it owned more than 50 institutions, both campus-based and online, in 21 countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. According to the firm, it had a total enrollment of about 550,000 students. Former United States President Bill Clinton held a role as honorary chancellor of Laureate from 2010 until early April 2015.Clinton's publicly disclosed tax returns showed he was paid just short of $16.5 million for his work with the firm. His position included attending meetings on education issues, campus openings, and commencement ceremonies.In January 2013, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, made a $150 million equity investment in the firm to expand access to higher education in emerging markets. The firm, which had been present in Brazil since 2005, also bought Brazilian for-profit university chain Centro Universitário das Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas for $412 million in anticipation of a growing middle-class in Brazil.The firm was among investors in Coursera, a provider of massive online open courses, citing the opportunity to license courses through Coursera.Arizona-based Thunderbird School of Global Management announced a partnership with the firm in March 2013 to set up a joint venture that would provide capital support for Thunderbird to open multiple international instruction sites, create an undergraduate program, and expand its executive education and online programs. The partnership proved controversial. Some trustees and alumni expressed concerns that partnering with for-profit education could negatively affect Thunderbird's reputation, while supporters said working with Laureate would allow Thunderbird, which was struggling financially, to maintain its independence.In December 2013, Laureate announced the election of three independent directors: Robert B. Zoellick, former World Bank president; Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation; and George Muñoz, principal of the Muñoz Investment Banking Group. In 2015, Laureate named Ernesto Zedillo, the former president of Mexico, to the post of  Presidential Counselor replacing U. S. President Clinton.Laureate reported revenue of approximately $4 billion in 2014.At the time, it owned 75 schools in 30 countries. ''Inside Higher Ed'' reported that total enrollment among the firm's institutions was 800,000, with its largest school, UVM, enrolling 120,000.In July 2015,   Moody's  rated Laureate's corporate bonds as high-risk and characterized Laureate as highly leveraged.Laureate filed for an initial public offering in October 2015.At the time, it disclosed $4.7 billion in debt, and that funds raised from the IPO would be used to reduce its debt load. At the end of 2015, the firm became a certified benefit corporation, the largest at the time. In 2016, the firm sold its two Glion Institute of Higher Education campuses, and four campuses of Les Roches to Eurazeo for $384.9 million.The firm began trading at $14 per share on the NASDAQ on February 1, 2017.It initially offered 35 million shares, raising $490 million, and closed its first day at $13.25 per share. The IPO stated that the firm had grown to more than 1 million students and 200-plus campuses in 28 countries, and the IPO was in part a response to a global demand for more higher education among a rapidly growing middle class. It was only the third B Corporation to go public, the first two being Etsy and Rally Software.===Decline: 2017–2021===In September 2017, Becker announced his resignation as Laureate's CEO effective January 2018.He was succeeded by Chief Financial Officer Eilif Serck-Hanssen. In 2018, the firm began divesting in several markets. It sold schools such as Université Internationale de Casablanca in Morocco, and Kendall College, as well as others in China, Malaysia, Italy and Cyprus. Its focus at the time was on its operations in Spain, Portugal, the U.S., and South and Central America. Laureate continued its divestiture in 2019, including ending its relationship with Istanbul Bilgi University in Istanbul, and selling University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. In this period, it also closed or sold several schools, including Santa Fe University of Art and Design, Kendall College, Centro Universitário do Norte (UniNorte),  Universidad Europea de Madrid, Universidad Europea de Valencia, Universidad Europea de Canarias, Universidade Europeia in Portugal and Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing in Portugal. Laureate also reportedly sold Université Internationale de Casablanca. Laureate also stopped enrolling new students at the University of Liverpool and the University of Roehampton.The firm's long-term debt at the time was approximately $2.5 billion. It also provided the US Department of Education with letters of credit totaling $137 million for several schools, meant to safeguard federal student aid if the schools closed.In May 2019, ''Pública'', a Brazilian news outlet, published an investigative report on Laureate Education's practices in the country after 150 teachers were dismissed in December 2018.A dozen teachers accused Laureate of corruption ranging from forged documents to assigning teachers in classes outside of their area of expertise.In 2020, the firm announced a new strategy to review its operations, including possible sales of schools in Peru, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. It then entered into an agreement to sell its Australian and New Zealand schools to Strategic Education, Inc., and on September 11, said it would sell Walden to Adtalem for $1.48 billion. ''The Baltimore Business Journal'' reported that Laureate executives would receive $19 million in bonuses from the sale of Walden. By November, the firm had divested its universities in Australia, New Zealand and Chile,Laureate also  announced that it would sell its Brazilian operations to Ser Educacional for $724 million. However, the firm received a higher offer of $765 million from Anima Holding during a 30-day period while it was allowed to solicit other offers. 11 institutions were included in the sale of the firm's Brazilian operations. The firm also said it had stopped enrolling students in its United Kingdom programs in 2020.The sale to Anima was completed in May 2021.In 2021, the firm focused on its continuing operations in Mexico and Peru and plans to safely return to in-class education, noting increased demand for higher-education in those markets.As of June 2021, the firm had reported $522 million in revenue for the year. The Walden sale was completed in August 2021, following which the firm announced a $1.29 billion cash distribution that would be made available to eligible stockholders in October. As of September 2021, the firm maintained operations in Peru and Mexico and said it would continue to operate as a public company.
Selected revenue and enrollment figures  Year  Revenue  Total enrollment  Notes  References 2004$648 million130,000 2007 $659.3 million 243,000 Revenue reported as of June 30, 2007, prior to the company being taken private. 2013 $3.913 billion800,000 2017$4.377 billion1 million2020$1.02 billion336,5002021$522 million349,000Revenue as of June 30, 2021
Laureate International Universities Laureate International Universities have taught various subjects at both undergraduate and graduate level. Subjects covered by some of its remaining colleges include design, business, culinary and hospitality, and health sciences. As of June 2021, Laureate's continuing operations in Mexico and Peru have a total enrollment of 349,000 students, according to the firm. '''Mexico'''*Universidad del Valle de México (UVM)*Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC)'''Peru'''*CIBERTEC*Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)*Universidad Privada del Norte (UPN)=== Institutions previously in the Laureate Education network ===These schools were previously owned or managed by Laureate Education, or offered courses in partnership with the firm.+ List of previous institutions in the Laureate Education Network Country  School Name  Year Founded  Year Affiliation Began  Year Affiliation Ended  References  Australia Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School  1991  2008  2020 Australia  Torrens University Australia  2014  2014  Australia  THINK Education Group  2006  2013 Brazil  Universidade Anhembi Morumbi  1970 2005  2021   Brazil  Universidade Potiguar  1981  2007  Brazil  Faculdade dos Guararapes  2002  2007  Brazil  Faculdade Internacional da Paraíba  2005  2007  Brazil  Business School São Paulo  1994  2008  Brazil  Faculdade de Desenvolvimento do Rio Grande do Sul 2004  2008  Brazil  Instituto Brasileiro de Medicina de Reabilitação  1974 2009  Brazil  Universidade Salvador  1972  2010  Brazil  Centro Universitário Ritter dos Reis  1971  2010 Brazil  Faculdade dos Guararapes de Recife  1990  2012  Brazil  FMU Education Group  1968  2014  Brazil  Faculdade Porto-Alegrense  2008  2014  Brazil  Centro Universitário do Norte  1994  2008  2019  Chile  Universidad de Las Américas  1988 2000  2020  Chile  Instituto Profesional AIEP  1960  2003  Chile  Universidad Andrés Bello  1989  2003  Chile  IEDE Escuela de Negocios  1994  2006   Chile Instituto Profesional Escuela Moderna de Música  1940  2008 Chile  Universidad Viña del Mar   1988  2009  China  Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School—Suzhou  2004  2008  2018   China  Hunan International Economics University  1997  2009  China  Les Roches Jin Jiang International Hotel Management College  2004  2004  2016  Costa Rica  Universidad Americana  1998  2008  2020   Costa Rica  Universidad Latina de Costa Rica  1989  2008 Cyprus  European University Cyprus  1961  2005  2018   France  École Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur  1968  2001  2016    France  Institut Français de Gestion  1956  2004   France  École Centrale d'Electronique  1919  2004  France  European Business School  1967  2013 France  Centre d'Etudes Politiques et de la Communication  1899  2013  Germany  Business and Information Technology School  2000  2007  2018    Germany  BTK University of Applied Science  2006  2011  Germany  htk Academy of Design  1987  2011  Germany  btk Academy of Design  2000  2011  Honduras  Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana  1987  2005  2021   India  Pearl Academy  1993  2011  2019   India  University of Petroleum and Energy Studies  2003  2013  India  University of Technology and Management  2011  2013 Italy  Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano  1980  2009  2018   Jordan  Royal Academy of Culinary Arts  2007  2008  2016   Malaysia  INTI Education Group  1986  2008  2020   Mexico  Universidad del Desarrollo Profesional  2003  2007  2013    Morocco  Université Internationale de Casablanca  2010  2010  2018   New Zealand  Media Design School  1998  2011  2020   Panama  Universidad Interamericana de Panamá  1994  2003  2019    Portugal  Universidade Europeia  1962  2011  2019   Portugal  IADE-U—Instituto de Arte, Design e Empresa—Universitário  1969  2015 Portugal  Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing de Porto  1984  2015  Portugal  Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing de Lisboa  1987  2015   Portugal  Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing de Aveiro  1989  2015  Portugal  Ensicorporate  1986  2015 Saudi Arabia  Riyadh Polytechnic Institute  2010  2010  2019    Saudi Arabia  The Higher Institute for Water and Power Technologies  2011  2011 Saudi Arabia  The Higher Institute for Paper and Industrial Technologies  2013  2013  Saudi Arabia  Laureate Riyadh Tourism and Hospitality College of Excellence  2013  2013  Saudi Arabia  Laureate Jeddah College of Excellence  2013  2013  Saudi Arabia  Laureate Mecca Female College of Excellence  2013  2013  Saudi Arabia  Laureate Al-Kharj Female College of Excellence  2013  2013  Saudi Arabia  Laureate Medina Tourism and Hospitality College of Excellence  2014  2014 Saudi Arabia  Laureate Al-Nammas Female College of Excellence  2015  2015 Saudi Arabia  Laureate Buraydah Female College of Excellence  2015  2015  Saudi Arabia  Laureate Wadi Al-Dawaser Female College of Excellence  2014  2014  Spain  Universidad Europea de Madrid  1995  1999  2019   Spain  Universidad Europea de Canarias  2010  2010   Spain  Universidad Europea de Valencia  2012  2012  Spain  Les Roches International School of Hotel Management Marbella  1995  2002  2016  South Africa  Monash South Africa  2001  2013  2019   Switzerland  Les Roches International School of Hotel Management  1954  2000  2016   Switzerland  Glion Institute of Higher Education  1962  2002  Switzerland  Les Roches Gruyère University of Applied Sciences  2008  2008  Thailand  Stamford International University  1995  2011  2018   Turkey  Istanbul Bilgi University 1996  2006  2019   United Kingdom  Laureate Online Education B.V. (University of Liverpool)  1881  2004  2018   United Kingdom  Laureate Online Education B.V. (University of Roehampton)  2004  2012  2017  United States  Walden University  1970  2001  2021    United States  NewSchool of Architecture and Design  1980  2008  2020  United States  Kendall College  1934  2008  2018 United States  Santa Fe University of Art and Design  1859  2009  2018 United States  University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences  1979  2013  2018
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