At American Public Education, Inc. (APEI), we believe that everyone deserves to realize their purpose—and that no one should be written out of an education due to limitations of time, money or location. We are driven by the belief that education should be accessible to all, not reserved for the few. Since its inception, APEI has helped more than 100,000 alumni on the path toward achieving their dreams by helping them to maximize the return on their higher educational investment. We call that Purpose Made Possible.

Purpose Made Possible

Our institutions were built on the principles of affordability, quality, inclusiveness, accessibility and relevance—and those are the core strengths that will take us into the future. At a time when the cost of education is out of reach for many, our unique value proposition enables APEI to make education more widely available to adult learners who seek education and training to achieve their purpose.

American Public University System (APUS), which represents 90% of APEI’s revenue, is a leader in delivering value. APUS offers an education with:

The Potential for Low or No Student Debt

Our commitment to affordability, coupled with the ability for many of our students to use programs like Department of Defense tuition assistance, GI Bill education benefits, or corporate programs, has contributed to approximately 72% of APUS alumni graduating with no APUS-incurred student loan debt1 and demonstrates leadership in positively contributing to the national conversation to find ways to provide affordable higher education with limited or no student loan debt.

A High Return on Investment for Learners

A 2019 Georgetown University study2 puts APUS in the top 2% among U.S. colleges in terms of delivering economic value to graduates. The combination of affordable tuition paired with career-minded programs and courses is designed to help APUS students maximize their return on educational investment.

Strong Student Outcomes

Our longstanding record of supporting student success and building enduring, robust relationships with students and alumni is measured by a full 95% of APUS alumni who would recommend APUS to a friend or colleague3 and 59% of APUS students were referred by others.4

At APUS and Hondros College of Nursing (HCN), our goal is to make purpose possible for all learners—especially those focused on making a difference in the world. Our service-oriented curriculum was designed for professionals in the military, public service and nursing communities. A wide range of offerings in fields such as public health, environmental studies and cybersecurity amplify that service orientation.

 

The quality and relevance of educational opportunities at APEI are reflected in the strength of the faculty and the breadth of its programs.

• In 2019, APUS faculty published approximately 500 articles, books and papers; earned nearly 100 awards for their professional practice, research and community service; and presented at more than 600 conferences and workshops.

• American Public University (APU) and American Military University (AMU) together offer 121 degree programs and 111 certificate programs in a diverse array of fields, including highly specialized programs that appeal to the public service and military communities. Our experience with educating those who serve is central to our relationship with the military and military-affiliated communities and goes back to our earliest beginnings.

• HCN’s Practical Nursing (PN) and Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) degrees address the national shortage in LPN and RN nurses while at the same time underscoring the mission of maximizing each student’s return on education investment.

A Bold New Strategy

APEI’s unique value proposition is not widely known, making it one of higher education’s best kept secrets. But we propose to change that.

In 2020, we are launching a bold new strategy built on amplifying our unique value proposition. Our priority is to grow APEI’s core businesses with an emphasis on improving experiences for our students and faculty to ultimately drive enrollment growth and accelerate brand recognition. Key components of the plan include elevating affordability as a core message, embracing technology innovation and expanding our workforce training offerings. That means efforts to increase enrollments through:

• A new marketing strategy that elevates our brand message of maximizing learner return on educational investment and targets prospects with uplifting purpose-driven stories.

• A technology modernization program that enhances student and faculty experience and engagement, measured by improved learner outcomes and increases in referrals.

• New skills offerings with affordable, flexible courses, certificates and programs designed to attract new student segments and corporate partners.

• Building on our brand-recognition in the military, military-affiliated and nursing communities.

Our Path Forward

At this writing, our nation is facing the challenge of a novel coronavirus pandemic. APEI has set its business continuity plan in motion and our employees are now working remotely. While we can’t predict what lies ahead, we do know that our APUS advanced distance learning platform is a durable, proven, at-scale educational platform designed to enable our 80,000 students to continue to pursue their education and training goals affordably at their convenience, and especially in difficult times. And our platform is designed to scale rapidly with enrollments as the need arises.

We have a bright future ahead. Our goal is to address the national need for an adult learning platform where learners of all backgrounds can obtain the skills they need to maximize the return on each learner’s educational investment. That means serving more adult learners across our brands and channels and developing our workforce training programs to create new opportunities, with an eye toward aligning them with employment trends. We’ve already taken our first steps. At APUS, we extended new cost-saving benefits—our tuition grant program and our book grant program—to active duty military at the master’s level. And, in 2020, as part of our IT modernization, we will gradually roll out our next-generation learning management platform. At HCN, we are pleased by the recent improvements in operating performance and the planned opening of the new campus in Indianapolis.

As your new CEO, I’m excited by our potential—our rich heritage of  supporting service-minded learners, combined with our new action plan to achieve our ambitions, means that the possibilities are endless. Both APUS and HCN are positioned to enable the tremendous capabilities of adult learners at a time when the digital economy is rapidly changing. We are uniquely qualified to meaningfully improve the quality of our students' lives and the opportunities they can embrace. And, most importantly, in an era when college costs are soaring, APEI is committed to delivering affordable, high-quality education opportunities for all.

That’s Purpose Made Possible.

​

Angela Selden

President and CEO

1. Includes alumni who graduated with an associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degree from APUS as of December 31, 2019. Student loan debt is defined as student loans and private education loans and considers tuition, fees, living expenses and book costs associated with courses taken at APUS.

2. In a November 2019 Study of 4,500 institutions by Georgetown University’s Center of Education and the Workforce, APUS programs rank #93 overall for 40-year net present value and 95th overall, or in the top 2% nationally. The Study analyzed institutions’ return on investment using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard about the average net price of institutions and salary/earnings.

3. 2019 1-year Alumni Survey. All 2019 responses included.

4. Students starting in 2019.

 

American Public Education, Inc. (APEI), provides higher education to learners through two wholly owned institutions—online learning provider American Public University System (APUS) and campus-based Hondros College of Nursing (HCN).

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