67 WALL STREET, New York - August 29, 2012 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Education Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Enrollment and Retention Trends - Regulatory Risks - Chinese Education Growth Catalysts - For-Profit Institutions - Online Content Distribution

Companies include: Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE) and many others.

In the following excerpt from the Education Report, the CEO of Grand Canyon Education discusses the outlook for his company for investors.

TWST: If you would, please start by introducing our readers to Grand Canyon with a brief history and an overview of the company today.

Mr. Mueller: Grand Canyon University started in Prescott, Ariz., in 1949, stayed there for two years before moving to Phoenix in 1951. We're still on the property that was purchased in 1951 to build the university. It was started by a group of Southern Baptists who wanted to create a private, Christian, nondenominational university in Phoenix. There was a close connection with the Baptist Church for many years, although there were Christians of all denominations that attended Grand Canyon through the years, and it was known as a very strong, private, traditional, Christian liberal arts university. About 1,500 students were on campus typically.

They had really strong programs in teacher education and health care, particularly in nursing. The university eventually developed a business program, a full array of liberal arts programs, majors in sociology and psychology and history, and a fine arts department with a focus on theater and musical performance. GCU also had a pretty strong athletic program that competed at the NAIA level. About 10 years ago, Grand Canyon fell into very serious financial difficulties. In fact, we were $20 million in the red at the end of 2003 and were ready to close the university. Brothers Brent and Chris Richardson stepped in and were willing to take control of the university and also assume that $20 million in debt.

That transaction took place, and they assumed control of the university, but didn't have the total $20 million. Their first choice was to stay as a not-for-profit university and go out and raise the money in terms of donations. But unfortunately Grand Canyon's graduates were teachers and nurses, and - God bless them, they provide great service to society, but - there weren't millions of dollars to get the university out of its financial trouble. So they decided to change the university's status to a for-profit status and to build a business plan that invites investment. The business plan was to mimic the University of Phoenix's online program. They hoped it would extend GCU's mission by offering programs delivered online to working adult students and perhaps make the university profitable. The Richardson brothers developed that online program from 2004 to 2008. They had about 15,000 online students. Most of those students were 32 to 34 years old. That did help the university become profitable and got rid of the debt.

At that point, the decision was made to get another infusion of funds by going public. I was at University of Phoenix at that point as President of Apollo Group, and they asked if I was interested in coming over to GCU. When I looked at this opportunity, I was very interested because there's really no other private, traditional, Christian university in Arizona, which is very unusual. There are 70 such universities in California, and other states like Michigan and Indiana and Ohio have 20 or more. Arizona was really an anomaly in that sense, and I saw a chance to create something very unique here.

So I came over in 2008, and we took the company public in November 2008. We received an infusion of $250 million of funds and started to build out the university.

Read more from the original source:
Fast Growth Education Company Lowers University Tuitions with No State Tax Subsidies: Business Model Combines Online ...

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire -08/29/12)- CORE Education and Consulting Solutions, Inc. (CORE ECS), a leading global education company providing assessments, interventions and content solutions for districts and states serving Pre-K, K-12, Employability, Special Education and Higher Education sectors, today announced that Nicole Neal has been appointed President of their Assessment and Solutions Division.

Neal will oversee all US education marketing, sales, client services and product development of CORE's marquee suite of assessment solution offerings, including:

Neal will report directly to Mr. Sanjeev Mansotra, Chairman and Global CEO of CORE ECS' parent company CORE Education & Technologies Ltd.

On Neal's appointment, Mr. Sanjeev Mansotra stated that: "CORE's vision is to be a global leader in the education domain by providing the best-of-breed end-to-end solutions. Dominance in the US is a critical aspect of how we will achieve our vision. The wealth of experience that Nicole brings to our senior management team will not only ensure that CORE ECS' record of cutting edge assessment and learning platforms continues to uniquely serve the needs of students, parents and educators but also will be instrumental in supporting our US growth trajectories."

Said Nicole Neal on joining CORE ECS: "I am thrilled to be joining CORE at a point in time when the education industry is thirsting for innovation and creative solutions, to old and new educational challenges. CORE ECS' state-of-the-art products and transformative approach to solving problems makes it well poised to have a real impact on the lives of learners and teachers. I am sure it will be an enriching experience for me to be a part of a global education company with market leadership in the UK and India, and a strong presence in emerging markets like the Middle East and Africa."

Most recently Neal served as Senior Vice President of Major Accounts and State Services at Pearson Education Inc., one of the world's largest education publishing and technology companies. Prior to Pearson, Neal served as Senior Vice President of Client Services with Schoolnet, Inc. where she played an important part in helping to drive the company's accelerated growth, leading to Pearson's acquisition of Schoolnet.

As a seasoned business executive with more than two decades of experience and a series of successes with large and mid-sized firms, particularly focused on operations and emerging educational and business strategies, CORE is confident that Neal is the right person to lead the next chapter of CORE's leadership in the US education domain.

Neal holds a bachelor's degree with honors in Computer Science Engineering from Binghamton University's Watson School of Engineering and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland University College with a master's degree in Business Administration.

CORE ECS is the US subsidiary of listed Indian global education leader CORE Education & Technologies Ltd. with a market capitalization of about $600 million as of August 28th, 2012.

About CORE Education and Technologies Ltd.

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Former Pearson and Schoolnet Executive Appointed President of CORE ECS US Education Division

Your education doesn't have to stop once you leave schoolfreedom from the classroom just means you have more control over what you learn and when you learn it. We've put together a curriculum of some of the best free online classes available on the web this fall for our third term of Lifehacker U, our regularly-updating guide to improving your life with free, online college-level classes. Let's get started.

It's back-to-school season, and fall is in the air. Whether you're busy buying new backpacks, books, and laptops, or you're out of school and just want to keep learning, there are an incredible amount of free, university-level courses that become available on the web every school year, and anyone with a little time and a passion for self-growth can audit, read, and "enroll" in these courses for their own personal benefit. Schools like Yale University, MIT, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, and many more are all offering free online classes that you can audit and participate in from the comfort of your office chair, couch, or computing chair-of-choice.

If you'll remember from our Summer 2012 semester, some of these classes are available year-round, but many of them are only available during the a specific term or semester, and because we're all about helping you improve your life at Lifehacker, we put together a list of courses available this summer that will inspire you, challenge you, open the door to something new, and give you the tools to improve your life. Grab your pen and paper and make sure your battery is chargedclass is in session!

Read more:
Plan Your Free Online Education at Lifehacker U: Fall Semester 2012 [Video]

Fountain Hills Unified School District maintains a partnership with Mesa Distance Learning for online education options but, back in 2009, the local district was approved to lay the groundwork for its own online program.

FHUSDs online classes have been operated under probationary status for the past three years, set for final approval by the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year.

While Superintendent Tom Lawrence said he does not foresee any complications preventing the districts online program from reaching final approval, he said that funding for a fully fleshed out offering simply isnt in the cards at this time.

[Average Daily Membership] is a big part of it, Lawrence said.

You basically need seed money to get something like this up and going and we dont have a source for that yet.

In 1998, the Arizona Legislature created the TAPBI Program to improve student achievement and extend academic options beyond the traditional classroom.

The original group of schools included the Mesa Distirct, Peoria, and a handful of other district and charters, Lawrence said.

The Arizona Online Initiative opened it up to a second wave of schools a few years ago and we jumped in on that. We received approval and began our pilot program.

FHUSD was approved for every course it submitted, including oral communication, written communication, honors/pre-AP English, world history and geography, United States history, economics/free enterprise, education professions 1, elements of design, photography II, photography III, advanced placement studio art and 2D design, graphics intern and boys health.

The high school offered social studies, U.S. history and sophomore English during its pilot year in 2010-11 and, since then, have had a handful of students take advantage of the program each year.

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Online offerings at FHUSD

August 27, 2012 - Available at aamanet.org/FenestrationMasters, online education format allows professionals to complete coursework at their own pace through access to any computer or device with Internet connection. Courses cover wide range of subject matters, including performance standards, product and material types, and code requirements. Group 1 courses are currently available and address fenestration product types, selection criteria, performance requirements, testing and labeling, and glazing options. American Architectural Manufacturers Association 1827 Walden Office Sq #104 Schaumburg, IL, 60173 USA Press release date: August 23, 2012

Schaumburg, Ill. -- The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) recently launched a new platform for FenestrationMasters(TM). All FenestrationMasters courses will now be available from the association's website to provide faster updates to courses and direct customer service.

FenestrationMasters, a nationwide education and certification program for professionals in the window, door, skylight, curtain wall, storefront and sloped glazing industries, was developed to help companies differentiate their business and increase their credibility by offering their customers the benefit of employees who have pursued a well-rounded education in the fenestration industry.

"We are very pleased to offer a unique and flexible education program that can be utilized for many different career paths and for candidates with varied degrees, training and experience who are seeking certification," says Rich Walker, AAMA president and CEO. "Switching to a new platform will be a big plus for FenestrationMasters students, as AAMA will be able to quickly update courses as new industry information becomes available and address customer concerns directly."

Course Curriculum The online education format of FenestrationMasters allows professionals to complete the coursework at their own pace and convenience through access to any computer or device with an Internet connection.

Courses cover a wide range of subject matters, including performance standards, product and material types and code requirements. Group 1 courses are currently available and address fenestration product types, selection criteria, performance requirements, testing and labeling and glazing options. They additionally provide an introduction to special performance challenges, such as acoustical performance, wind-borne debris, wind-driven rain and blast mitigation.

Scope of topics that will be offered later in the year consist of code requirements, coatings and finishes, installation documents, energy and thermal performance, skylights and daylighting, framing material considerations, window and door hardware, as well as sealants and adhesives.

Eligibility Criteria There are two different credentials available through the program, both requiring successful completion of the applicable coursework and the certification exam.

To qualify for the FenestrationMaster(TM) (advanced-level) certification, one of the following prerequisites must be met: a four-year degree in engineering, architecture or applied sciences in addition to four years of full-time fenestration-related experience; six years fenestration product-related experience or a FenestrationAssociate(TM) with three years of experience.

However, to qualify for the FenestrationAssociate (entry-level) certification, no minimum education or experience is required.

Excerpt from:
AAMA Launches Industry Education on aamanet.org/FenestrationMasters

Enlarge Courtesy of University of the People

Students work at the University of the People student computer center in Haiti. Students from 129 countries are currently enrolled with the institution.

Students work at the University of the People student computer center in Haiti. Students from 129 countries are currently enrolled with the institution.

Naylea Omayra Villanueva Sanchez, 22, lives on the edge of the Amazon rain forest in Tarapoto, northern Peru.

"Where I live, there's only jungle," Villanueva Sanchez says through an interpreter. "A university education is inaccessible."

And that's true in more ways than one. Villanueva Sanchez is in a wheelchair, the result of a motorcycle accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down.

She is now enrolled in the University of the People, an online institution that claims it is "the world's first, tuition-free, nonprofit, online university." It's aimed at poor students around the globe who would otherwise not have access to higher education.

Villanueva Sanchez came upon the University of the People while surfing the Internet during her recovery. When she applied for admission, she had to verify she was at least 18 years old, had finished high school and knew English. She paid a one-time $35 application fee, but her business administration courses are free. She pays no tuition or book costs.

"Of course, you see 'free' and right away you're suspicious," Villanueva Sanchez says. But after reading the organization's mission statement, she understood why it was free: She says it's for people like her, who don't have the opportunity or the money to attend college.

Making The Inaccessible Accessible

Read more:
Online University For All Balances Big Goals, Expensive Realities

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug.27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --American College of Education, one of the world's leading providers of online advanced degree programs for educators, announced today the availability of its Board of Trustees Scholarship Program. This new program provides prospective students with scholarships developed in honor of American College of Education's seven Board of Trustee members.

Members of the Board of Trustees at American College of Education include prominent leaders and some of the most respected names in the field of education with each scholarship reflecting various board members' passions and interests. Through this program, American College of Education aims to provide even more teachers with access to affordable graduate education to improve their skills as educators.

"The development of this scholarship program is a reinforcement of our belief that all classroom teachers and administrative leaders deserve the right to attend graduate school and become better educators," said Sandra Doran, President, American College of Education. "By recruiting outstanding students with this opportunity, we are taking steps toward elevating the standard of education in the modern classroom."

Prospective students can apply online each term at http://www.ace.edu/trusteescholarships for any of the seven scholarships, each with a specific focus in terms of educational or future career interest. With the new program, one $500 scholarship per member will be awarded each year, with the amount prorated over the duration of recipient's program.

The seven scholarships that make up the Board of Trustees Scholarship Program are:

About American College of Education

The mission of American College of Education is to deliver affordable, online degree programs that provide evidence-based content and relevant experiences to improve educators' knowledge, skills and performance.At American College of Education, students don't just earn a degree they receive immediate and tangible instruction on how to improve their classrooms and their schools. American College of Education is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC/NCA). For more information, visit http://www.ace.edu.

Media Contact: Kristin Kelly Ketchum for American College of Education 404.879.9248 Kristin.Kelly@Ketchum.com

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American College of Education Offers Scholarships to Outstanding Students in Honor of All-Star Board of Trustees

August 27, 2012

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

Sex education has had little to no effect on teen pregnancy rates, which have remained essentially unchanged over the past four decades, claims the author of a controversial new study.

According to Sarah Harris of the Daily Mail, professor David Paton, chair of industrial economics at The University of Nottingham, has said that despite schools attempts to educate students under the age of 16 about sex, annual pregnancy rates from 1969 to 2009 have remained almost exactly the same.

While the rate has seen peaks and valleys over that time, rising and/or falling to between seven to 10 per 1,000 girls each year, Paton said that it tends not to correlate with UK efforts to prevent such occurrences, Telegraph Medical Correspondent Stephen Adams added.

It surpassed nine per 1,000 on three occasions (once in the mid-1970s, once in the early 1990s, and once in 1996) but has been on a general decline since then, the professor argued.

Writing in the journal Education and Health, Paton said that it is very difficult to establish a strong case that standard policy interventions have been at the root of such changes, according to Harris.

To illustrate his point, Paton explained that the all-time highest teen pregnancy rate was reached in 1996, just four years after the introduction of the Health of the Nation initiative that made contraception and information more readily available to young women.

Implicit (and sometimes explicit) in these approaches has been an assumption that access to family planning will reduce pregnancy rates amongst those teenagers who were already having sex but will not cause an increase in the proportion of all teenagers who engage in sexual activity, he wrote, according to the Daily Mail.

Standard economic models, however, suggest that the two factors are irretrievably interlinked. Easier access to family planning reduces the effective cost of sexual activity and will make it more likely (at least for some teenagers) that they will engage in underage sexual activity, he added. In conclusion, despite recent decreases in the overall underage conception rate, unwanted pregnancy amongst minors in England and Wales has proved remarkedly resilient to policy initiatives implemented by different Governments over the past 40 years.

Excerpt from:
Sex Education Does Little To Lower Teen Pregnancy Rates In The UK

HERNDON, Va., Aug.27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --K12 Inc., the nation's leading provider of proprietary curricula and online education programs for students in kindergarten through high school, today announced it has partnered with Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District in California's Sonoma County to launch a new, blended online learning program for high school students across the district.

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110113/PH29436LOGO)

Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District has designed a multi-faceted online learning program to address the individual needs of its diverse student population, from advanced learners, to struggling students, to students that require alternative learning environments. Eligible students can elect to take some of their required courses, or additional courses, online using the Aventa Learning by K12 curriculum.

Beginning this school year, the online courses are available to students during the daily class schedule and after school in two newly remodelled classrooms, now serving as a math support lab and an independent studies lab, or students can access Aventa courses from home. The District's teachers provide guidance, review and grade assignments, and ensure students remain on track. In addition, the District provides Aventa courses for independent study through its Alternative Education program.

"We see blended learning as the instructional model of the future," said Dr. Robert Haley, Superintendent of Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. "By combining high quality online curricula with the guidance of our experienced teachers in a traditional setting, we are providing our students the best of both worlds."

Aventa is a comprehensive online curriculum of high-quality, standards-based online courses for middle and high school. Covering all core subjects and electives, over 170 Aventa courses feature a rich multimedia format. The curriculum is designed to meet the University of California a-g requirements.

For students who fall behind, need assistance for exam preparation, or remediation, the District uses the A+nyWhere Learning System by K12 (A+) to conduct diagnostic assessments and prescribe lessons according to individual student needs. A+ contains over 5,500 lessons and over 200,000 pages of research- and objective-based, problem solving content all very tightly aligned with the Common Core State Standards.

"We are very pleased be able to offer our high school students the option to learn anywhere, anytime using proven, well-known curricula from K12," said Dr. Elizabeth Kaufman, Assistant Superintendent of Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. "K12 enables us to cost effectively provide a consistent, district-wide program so we can focus our attention on meeting the individual needs of more of our students."

"By maximizing use of their existing technology, leveraging their excellent teaching staff and relying on K12 for world class online curricula and support, Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District is better preparing their students for the future," said John Olsen, Executive Vice President of Operations for K12. "We are very pleased to work with the District to implement online learning on a large scale."

Cotati-Rohnert Park USD will soon expand its world language offering by providing access to online world language courses by Middlebury Interactive Languages, a joint venture that combines Middlebury College's proven language pedagogy with K12's expertise in online learning. Middlebury provides schools and districts with online courses in five world languages for grades 3-12, available in multiple levels to help students achieve world language fluency. Middlebury courses are developed using proven academic methods to meet national ACTFL standards.

Excerpt from:
Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District Launches District-Wide Blended Online Learning Program with K12 Inc.

Two months ago, to take a course from the University of Pennsylvania's medical school, you needed to excel at a grueling admissions test and pray you were one of the few who got accepted - not to mention pay tuition once you got there.

Now you can stumble out of bed halfway around the world and still catch courses taught by Penn medical professors.

All for free, at the moment.

Both the medical school and the university are amping up their participation in the online education game. Fifteen Penn professors are now signed up to offer free classes over the online learning platform Coursera (www.coursera.org), including seven from the Perelman School of Medicine.

One is bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, whose just-completed Health Policy and the Affordable Care Act class attracted more than 30,000 students - about 5,000 more than the Penn student body.

Emanuel's class is being outdrawn by Wharton School professor Kevin Werbach's Gamification, which starts Aug. 27 and will apply game-design techniques to business problems. Its 50,000 sign-ups top the Penn offerings so far.

Last month, Penn joined with the California Institute of Technology to invest $3.7 million in Coursera, which now offers 117 free courses from 16 official partners, including Stanford, Duke, and Princeton Universities. The University of California Berkeley and two Indian colleges also offer classes on Coursera but are not yet official partners.

The online courses mimic aspects of a traditional experience by having not only video lectures, but also strict class start and end dates, homework assignments, interactive quizzes, and discussion boards for students.

"Coursera feels like a good partner for us," said Deirdre Woods, interim executive director of Penn's Open Learning Initiative, which is for now primarily devoted to the Coursera project. "Penn is about rigor . . . and [Coursera's] philosophy was very much in line with that."

Of Penn's 16 online courses, two are currently in session and more will start up in the next several months.

Original post:
Penn amps up role in Coursera online-education effort