MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Capella Education Company (NASDAQ: CPLA - News), a provider of online post-secondary education through its wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, has announced that Hilary Pennington has been named to its board of directors. Pennington is the former director of Education, Postsecondary Success, and Special Initiatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation United States Program, where she led the Foundations Postsecondary Education initiative as well as efforts around one-time opportunities to respond to unique challenges and unanticipated events in the United States.

Capella Education Company is honored to have Hilary Pennington join our board of directors. She has done extraordinary work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation across higher education and has a well-earned reputation as a thought leader. Her specific focus on student success is an area of critical importance to Capella. Her depth of knowledge will greatly benefit Capella and help shape our work as we look to grow and play a major role in addressing the biggest challenges and opportunities of higher education in America, said Kevin Gilligan, chairman and chief executive officer of Capella Education Company.

Pennington has also served as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and as vice-chair of Jobs for the Future (JFF), a research and policy development organization that she co-founded. In her 22 years as president and CEO of JFF, Pennington helped the organization become one of the most influential in the country on issues of education, youth transitions, workforce development, and future work requirements. Pennington also served on the Presidential Transition Team for the first Clinton administration, and as co-chair of a presidential advisory committee on using technology to expand training opportunities.

Pennington is a graduate of the Yale School of Management and Yale College. She holds a graduate degree in social anthropology from Oxford University and was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2000.

About Capella Education Company

Founded in 1991, Capella Education Company is a leader in online education, primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, a regionally accredited online university*. In addition, Capella Education Company offers online education through Resource Development International Ltd. (RDI), an independent provider of United Kingdom (UK) university distance learning qualifications; and owns Sophia, a first-of-its-kind social education platform that offers students many ways to learn by making free, credible, academic content available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

Capella University offers online graduate degree programs in business, counseling, education, health administration, homeland security, human resource management, human services, information technology, nonprofit management and leadership, nursing, psychology, public administration, public health, public safety, and social work; and bachelor's degree programs in business, information technology, nursing, psychology, and public safety. These academic programs are designed to meet the needs of working adults, combining high quality, competency-based curricula with the convenience and flexibility of an online learning format. Currently, Capella University offers 46 graduate and undergraduate degree programs with 144 specializations. More than 37,000 learners were enrolled as of March 31, 2012. For more information about Capella Education Company, please visit http://www.capellaeducation.com. For more information about Capella University, please visit http://www.capella.edu or call 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552).

* Capella University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), http://www.ncahlc.org. Capella University, Capella Tower, 225 South Sixth Street, Ninth Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402, 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552), http://www.capella.edu.

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Capella Education Company Names Hilary Pennington, Formerly with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to Its Board of ...