The 2020 emergency transition to remote learning and subsequent ubiquity of courses delivered online has students wanting to hold on to the best parts of the digital learning experience, including flexibility in where and when they learn. Faculty, having used a broad range of digital tools and approaches, want to hold on to the digital […]
We want to look to 2022 with hope. While the pandemic will continue, with a fair wind we will move from “epidemic” to “endemic” and we will start to get back to the in-person discussions, debates and human interaction that add so much enjoyment to our everyday, even as we continue to help clients grapple […]
Today’s higher education system produces persistent gaps in student outcomes for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other historically minoritized and low-income students. When outcomes data are reviewed by race and income, the gaps are stark. Minoritized students are less likely to attend a postsecondary (two- or four-year) institution, and those who do are less likely to […]
As pandemic-fueled demand drove education revenues and deal prices to record levels in the first year of the pandemic, key questions we were asked repeatedly by investors in both diligence and banking assignments were: Is the growth sustainable? Is the market demand for the products sustainable and will the current level of enthusiasm among investors […]
With a second year of Covid under our belts and talk shifting from “pandemic” to “endemic,” it seems an opportune time to reflect on how some of the changes brought about by the virus may persist. Which altered practices are temporary, which are here to stay, and how should decision makers plan for a future […]
Three years since the promise of universal pre-K became a key plank of many Democrats’ political platforms, Congress appears close to passing groundbreaking legislation that would help states make universal pre-K a reality. President Biden’s Build Back Better Act has gone through multiple iterations in the past few months – and may still go through […]
Since the middle of the 20th Century a degree from an American university has been the most sought-after academic credential in the world. Until stifled by COVID-19, every year more than one million learners from around the world sought admission to U.S. colleges and universities. Now, however, as learners around the world – especially in […]
There is no company that better exemplifies the current moment in edtech (and edtech investing) than Indian consumer giant Byju’s (parent company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd). With (most recently available) reported annual revenue at March 2020 of $350 million and losses of $34 million, the company’s growth has reportedly accelerated since then through both acquisition and pandemic-fueled enthusiasm […]
Final report in Tyton Partners’ three-part series investigating the scale and scope of alternative education models concludes with an optimistic view of the future of SLPs As schools strive to achieve a “new normal” following the 2020-2021 academic school year conducted primarily remotely, the continued adoption of supplemental learning pods (SLPs) is impacted by whether […]
As students return to a more traditional “brick and mortar” school setting following a year of learning in a predominantly remote setting, school leaders are confronted by the overwhelming impact of the pandemic on student mental health and well-being. Not surprisingly, many school districts have responded by placing increased attention on the value of social […]
Since the beginning of the pandemic, large-sized deals in pre-K-12 and postsecondary have garnered lots of attention as they point to scale in the acceleration of digital learning. Recent notable examples include Kahoot’s $500M acquisition of Clever, 2U’s $800M acquisition of edX, and Platinum Equity’s acquisition of McGraw Hill for $4.5B, which we split evenly […]
A higher education state system administrator recently told us that employer partnerships are like flossing: valuable sure, but tedious and sometimes painful, and not nearly as prevalent as often claimed. Yet from Starbucks to Walmart to Amazon they are an increasingly prominent part of the higher education landscape and public institutions in particular given their broad missions must reckon with how they will serve and support this new class of student and new category of sponsor. Not unlike […]
Last month Anthology and Blackboard announced that the two companies would merge, creating the largest educational technology company in the world, with more than 4,000 institutional customers. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a Bloomberg reporter covering the merger estimated a combined enterprise value of $3 billion with the merger valuing Blackboard shares at $2 […]
Last week Democrats released details of their proposed $3.5 Trillion budget bill which includes approximately $111 Billion for higher education, the major portion of which is dedicated to a plan aimed at making community college effectively free in all 50 states. The plan is complex because of the wide variation in funding approaches and tuition […]
Despite the challenges still associated with gathering in person, this year’s ASU+GSV Summit was a great success, allowing old friends to reunite and adding faces to names for new ones. We were pleased to have had a large presence at the conference, including participation in several panels, and were glad to have met with so […]
Over the past year, the pandemic has shone a light on and exacerbated pre-existing structural challenges that persist and prevent access and equity in higher education. The criticality of collaboration across diverse stakeholders – institutions, companies, investors, philanthropy, and policy-makers – to address these issues has been part of what drove our development of the […]
In April, we reported on an increased appetite among investors for the K-12 sector, marked by larger, later-stage deals. This trend has continued through Q2 and Q3 of 2021. Up-and-coming names in K-12 educational assessment (Formative) and academic support services (Paper) have raised unprecedented amounts in recently announced Series A and C financings. Similarly, innovative […]
Despite recent announcements that many of the nation’s largest school districts will return to fully in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year, almost half of parents say they won’t discontinue many of the remote and hybrid learning models adopted in response to pandemic-related school shutdowns. That is according to findings from the second publication in […]
The awakening of public markets to the growth potential of technology education was solidified with an exclamation mark during the month of June. Trace Urdan explains why real investor demand seems likely to continue unabated through the second half of the year.
The 2U/EdX combination closed the end of a very busy June in #highered capital markets activity. But what does the deal actually mean for the future of alternative credentials for those unable or unwilling to pay degree program prices?
The moral and economic imperative to close racial equity gaps is gaining warranted and newfound momentum across the workforce sector. If you attended JFF’s Horizons conference last week, you probably noticed the explicit focus on the intersection of racial equity and workforce issues weaved throughout the conference’s main sessions. Perspectives on how race factors into […]
A family of reports from Tyton Partners examine how academic institutions can implement practices that increase equitable outcomes in higher education Tyton Partners has released the annual updates of Hitting their Stride, Time for Class, and Driving Toward a Degree which collectively examine the evolving gap existing between the perception and practice of equity¹ across […]
Driving Toward a Degree is a research collaborative for increasing student success across the higher education landscape. Since 2016, data has been collected and analyzed via longitudinal primary research to understand the state of institutional practices and technology adoption that facilitate holistic student support. The goal is to offer insights to help institutions evolve their […]
Since 2014, Tyton Partners has monitored the dynamics of the higher education digital learning and courseware market with the goals of understanding the needs of institutions, instructors, and students and investigating how suppliers are evolving to meet those needs. This 2021 summary provides an updated view on how the pandemic has altered the landscape of […]
The decline in Fall 2020 higher education enrollments—especially at community colleges— has been well reported.¹ However, the impact of higher drop, fail, and withdrawal (DFW) rates among enrolled students and the increased need for learning recovery are just now becoming apparent. Results from the 2021 Hitting Their Stride (HTS) survey add to the understanding of […]
Our survey took the pulse of K-12 teachers to get a sense of how their practice evolved this current year – and what next year has in store for them.
As the U.S. collectively emerges from the pandemic, we see no slowdown in enthusiasm for EdTech among investors. The pace and size of deals across all dimensions of the education market continues to grow. And the enthusiasm seems well-warranted. K-12 and post-secondary institutions find themselves with new federal funds to deploy and corporations are as eager as ever to upskill, reskill or simply retain talent through sponsored training.
Just over a year ago, in a matter of a few weeks nearly every American college and university transformed from primarily face-to-face to remote learning. The result, with little thought for the transformative effect, has been the creation of thousands of public-private partnerships, arraying proprietary platforms and private capital (Zoom has a market cap of $100-billion) into […]
Tyton Partners releases “School Disrupted,” a three-part series investigating the scale and scope of alternative education models and the future state of K-12 in the wake of COVID-19 Parent agency increased dramatically as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country during the last year. Without notice, households were forced to change behavior, schools to transform […]
LXPs are more than a fad. They represent an investible EdTech category that is quickly becoming central to corporations' efforts to upskill and reskill employees.
Over the past 12 months, the federal government has directed an unprecedented amount of money — nearly $75 billion — to U.S. higher education
Market activity in corporate training and workforce development across the first four months of 2021
As we enter the second quarter, it seems increasingly clear that the pace of deal activity established in the second half of 2020 is likely to continue through 2021.
Over the last three months the U.S. K-12 market generated more than $3 billion of deal activity. As schools and districts transition
The higher education landscape is shifting in big and small ways. On the one hand, the pandemic...
Outcomes-driven training is an old idea, but one with newfound momentum as investors, workforce intermediaries, government agencies...
While February may be the shortest month of the year, its limited duration belied the volume of sector activity. The U.S. K-12 market experienced ~$1.1 billion in deal value across a single week...
Many of us at Tyton are former K-12 educators. It has been a long year for our former colleagues across the country who are the linchpin in our K-12 system. Fortunately, yesterday, the Biden administration announced that it will use the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for Covid-19 vaccinations to deliver to states and local communities […]
We are excited to share that in the five months since its launch, the Tyton Partners’ Center for Higher Education Transformation has begun work on a number of exciting projects, including several potential partnership initiatives, as well as efforts to help institutions catalyze new growth and reimagine their approach to online program offerings. As challenging as […]
Education market activity started the year strongly, with nearly 70 announced deals across the first month of 2021...
Even as we sprint into a new year, this month we take a quick look back at the year that was in the education investment landscape. While much of the investment activity volume took the form of debt to support businesses through the pandemic, enthusiasm and interest in the sector remained strong. And, with considerable […]
Last Wednesday, Joe Biden was sworn in as our 46th President. Discussions immediately centered on what the new administration would do to carry the nation to the other side of the crisis. His response was swift: a massive $1.9 trillion proposal that highlights direct aid to American institutions – among those, K-12 education, which has […]
This month, we share new insights from our ongoing series of faculty surveys regarding the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning in higher education. Nearly a year into the global pandemic that has forced higher education to rethink and shift how instruction is delivered, faculty – especially those teaching introductory-level courses – are […]
This past fall, higher education faculty across the country, after having worked throughout the summer to rebuild and redesign courses, showed up to “keep teaching” for their students, primarily in hybrid, highly-flexible and online courses. As we close in on the one-year mark of the pandemic, 852 faculty teaching introductory courses are calling for urgent […]
This month we highlight the alternative credential market, which has experienced accelerated growth during the pandemic as consumers have sought everything from self-edification to labor market reskilling. Over the past several years in both our consulting and banking practices, Tyton Partners has been at the heart of the development of this emergent phenomenon in a variety […]
This month, we share our perspectives on the growing market for alternative credentials and consider the role specifically for higher education institutions. The demand for faster, cheaper pathways to employment creates enormous opportunities for colleges and universities, but these opportunities also raise significant questions. Understanding where these programs properly fit, whether adjacent to or inside […]
It is speculation season as we navigate the transition from one presidential administration to another, with the added wrinkle of the as-yet undecided composition of the U.S. Senate. While a great deal of press coverage has been devoted to policy predictions, only a handful have addressed implications for those providing products and services to schools […]
As this tumultuous year draws to a close, we have been reflecting on the events of the past year and what 2021 brings for impact investing in education and the future of work. Looking back, we are encouraged by the role impact investors played, whether in nurturing grantees and investees through this difficult period; rapidly […]
In September we announced the addition of two highly respected higher education executives, Greg Finkelstein and Michael Goldstein, to the Tyton Partners team in conjunction with the launch of a new initiative aimed at providing a greater range of services to colleges and universities. The Center for Higher Education Transformation is an initiative of the […]
In September we announced the addition of two highly respected higher education executives, Greg Finkelstein and Michael Goldstein, to the Tyton Partners team in conjunction with the launch of a new initiative aimed at providing a greater range of services to colleges and universities. The Center for Higher Education Transformation is a joint offering between […]
The first day of school looked starkly different this year for teachers and students nationwide. As districts continue to face uncertainty around how and where learning will happen, teachers are doing their best to engage students and deliver high-quality educational experiences. As teachers are stretched ever further by rising expectations, all stakeholders, from parents to […]
With most students from K-20 still predominantly remote, this month we decided to focus on the hottest “learning” platform in education – Zoom. More specifically, we wonder to what extent the eponymous platform can become a durable presence in the market beyond this Covid period. It is a question we know many of you are […]
Like you, we have had a busy start to the proverbial new academic year. Our clients, colleagues, and friends throughout higher education are working harder than ever to navigate this most uncommon back-to-school transition. A few noteworthy items from us: On September 23rd, we announced the launch of the Center for Higher Education Transformation. The […]
This summer, college and university faculty across the country planned for a fall like no other. After the rapid and unprecedented movement to emergency remote teaching this spring, faculty were collectively exhausted. Yet they started to prepare for a fall that they expected to include a combination of online and hybrid modalities while awaiting guidance […]
The continuing economic crisis of 2020 revealed some bare truths that persisted even before COVID: 21st century workers, especially lower and middle skilled, will need to navigate career paths more defined by variety and near-constant change than consistency. Building a stable, sustainable working life across the many jobs and industries that make up a contemporary […]
BOSTON, MA (September 23, 2020) – Colleges and universities are experiencing never-before-seen levels of change, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher education institutions of all types and sizes face a barrage of pressures to improve outcomes and sustainability despite a declining and evolving student population. Tyton Partners has launched its Center for Higher Education Transformation […]
Over the past several years, our firm has developed a significant amount of expertise and ecosystem insight around alternative credential and bootcamp programs, corporate/professional training, digital skills talent acquisition, and the broader workforce development sectors. The COVID situation has accelerated the adoption of models with high student/employer ROI and clear line-of-sight to an employment or […]
With the return to school upon us, the K-12 community still has more questions than answers. Rather than subside, many challenges related to teaching and learning have intensified and rather than align, many key stakeholders – and priorities – have clashed. Underneath all the noise and frustration is a universal truth: all children need and […]
With summer now behind us, it is a deal-closing sprint to the calendar end of this most unusual year. Through all the tumult, the markets have remained active. More than 50 M&A and investment deals were announced August, led by Cambium Learning’s nearly $800 million acquisition of Rosetta Stone; an additional dozen deals had equity […]
As we begin a fall term unlike any before (and hopefully unlike any again) we wish you a safe and smooth start to the academic year. If we can be helpful in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out. This month, we are focusing our newsletter on equity in higher education. The combination […]
Tyton Partners has been deeply involved in the global education and training ecosystems for many years, frequently operating at the intersection of mission-driven private capital and philanthropy. While education has not been as top-of-mind for impact investors, family offices and foundations as other sectors, it is now becoming increasingly prominent. The pandemic and the movement […]
In May, we detailed a few of the open questions relating to the impact of COVID-19 that we knew would be relevant for our workforce and corporate training networks. This month we’re back with updated views on those same questions, based on fresh data and several months of dialogue with companies and organizations on the […]
As higher education experiences a summer unlike any other, we wish you all a smooth start to the upcoming term. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be helpful as you manage and implement change. We are devoting the bulk of our newsletter this month to the dramatic announcement from the University […]
Since 2015, Tyton Partners has tracked the state of higher education digital learning, courseware and digital adoption via Time for Class, the largest longitudinal study of faculty and administrators focused on digital learning strategy, tools, and practice. Our 2020 release is designed for institutions and includes a series of short research briefs on targeted topics […]
In the past two weeks, the debate over K-12 schools reopening has captured the nation’s attention. The current administration has made its position clear – schools should prepare to fully reopen this fall – and is introducing plans to incentivize this outcome with a Republican-sponsored stimulus package. Fundamentally, K-12 learning is in a tenuous state. […]
As schools and districts plan for a return to school in the fall of 2020, social emotional learning has a critical role to play in helping students cope with the trauma of the past few months and overcome the learning loss that occurred in the spring. Over the past year, Tyton Partners has been working […]
This spring, higher education institutions engaged in a rapid and unprecedented movement to remote teaching and learning that exposed a new cohort of faculty with no prior experience teaching online to the use of digital learning tools and techniques. Counter to the prevailing sentiment in the popular press, this transition left many faculty with a […]
Back in April, we shared early insights from teachers as to how they and their students were contending with the abrupt transition to remote learning. As an historic school year draws to a close, we wanted to check back on teachers’ spring experience and their perspective on their community’s plans for the 2020-2021 academic year. […]
In this newsletter, Tyton Partners is pleased to share early insights from a national survey of faculty regarding the key challenges they and their students faced this spring as they undertook a rapid transition to remote learning. The preliminary findings paint a picture of a sometimes disorganized response to a pandemic that exacerbated underlying inequities […]
Building on our previous outreach to parents, K-12 teachers, and early childhood educators, we solicited feedback from K-12 executives to better understand how they have steered their organizations though the current challenges and the initiatives they have implemented to ensure continued service to districts, educators, and students. We have highlighted selected findings below; more detailed […]
The current coronavirus pandemic has created a series of specific and difficult challenges for higher education. Through its advisory practices, Tyton Partners is committed to helping institutions navigate the short and long-term ramifications of these challenges. To that end, this months’ newsletter marks the start of a new cadence for us and over the coming […]
One of the questions we hear most often talking to K-12 stakeholders these days is, “What will happen to K-12 budgets?” As you know, this one simple question masks an incredibly complex set of conditions and criteria that must be parsed to be able to answer it credibly at the federal level, let alone at […]
We hope you had a pleasant weekend and a productive start to the week. Today, we offer perspective on the early childhood education community, including insights drawn from a pulse survey of ECE leaders and teachers conducted late last week. Building on our previous surveys distributed to parents and K-12 teachers, we solicited feedback from […]
While the severity of this crisis cannot be underestimated, we are inspired by how organizations are shifting their stance from “managing through” to “managing out of” the crisis. In that spirit, we have three items to highlight in this week’s newsletter: A Summary of Higher Ed Suppliers’ Actions – The first is a refreshed link […]
Last week we shared initial perspectives on where we believe the K-12 sector may be headed in the near term. This week we offer insights drawn from teachers who are working to support their students in remote learning environments. Building on our survey to parents last month, this past week we surveyed PreK-12 educators nationwide […]
Last week we shared data from a pulse survey of parents of PreK-12 students across the U.S. to better understand the current state of their children’s remote learning experience. We hope you found it valuable and we plan to check in with parents again shortly. As we continue to track activity across the ecosystem, we […]
We hope this note finds you and your family safe and healthy during this unprecedented time. We also hope that your communities – both personal and professional – have proved helpful in navigating the current transitions. It is in that spirit of community that we are reaching out to you and our higher education networks. […]
Since our note last week, conditions in the K-12 community continue to shift on a nearly daily basis. Eight states have now announced school closures for the entire academic year with most others closed at least through April, if not longer. For many, the specter of a fully remote spring semester is a growing reality. […]
We hope this note finds you and your family safe and healthy during this unprecedented time. We also hope that your communities – both personal and professional – have proved helpful in navigating the current transitions. It is in that spirit of community that we are reaching out to you and our K-12 networks. For […]
Happy new year and hope you have had a wonderful start to the 20’s. After tracking more than 350 deals in the education sector in 2019, we thought we’d take you for a quick spin highlighting the year’s key investment dynamics and deal volume. And, we offer perspective into what we see as continued areas […]
The sprint between Thanksgiving and 2019 year-end is officially on, and with it, companies and investors striving to get those last 2019 deals done. We hope to have a few of our own announced shortly and look forward to sharing more in the new year as we embark on a number of new sell-side mandates. […]
As we bear down on the holidays, we find the sector particularly active on the deal front, with a number of compelling platforms in or coming to market. We expect many of you remain busy and hope that you will be able to carve out time for turkey later this month. Early last month, we […]
Hope you have had a good transition into Fall. As we review the September deals, the lighter volume of activity is offset by both the size and strategic dynamism of those investments announced. Perhaps most notable, student-centered edtech darling Chegg continued its evolution by jumping fulling into the education delivery market via its acquisition of […]
Developmental education has long been a critical issue in higher education. Historical approaches required students to take a multi-semester sequence of non-credit-bearing courses. The year or more spent in developmental education left many students discouraged and financially strapped. Those who dropped out left with high levels of debt and no college credit to show for […]
Hope you had a wonderful end to the summer and are well prepared for the mad dash to the end of the year. August was a somewhat quiet month, punctuated by a few notable deals including Cambium Learning’s acquisition of AIR’s K-12 testing business, Coursera’s first acquisition to bring more robust pedagogy to its evolving […]
One of the most notable events across the past month occurred in the waning days of July as 2U experienced a significant decline in its stock price coming out of its earnings call. As we highlight below, while the headlines may have appeared grim, the underlying story is one that should reassure investors of the […]
Bernie and Liz Aren’t the Only Ones Tackling Student Finance The predicament facing higher education is well chronicled: its costs continue to rise ahead of inflation and well ahead of direct government subsidies, forcing tuition prices higher even as its student population grows more diverse, less affluent, and less able to pay full price, without […]
Educational publishing is a sector roiled by change. Last month’s head-turning announcement of the planned merger of McGraw-Hill Education and Cengage Learning was yet another stark reminder that the emergence of digital technology is continuing to lower barriers to entry in the educational content market, creating the same types of pressures on entrenched players and […]
Deal news this month reflects a phenomenon that we have been tracking for some time – an accelerating level of activity in the online program management (OPM) sector. Of course, 2U’s $750 million acquisition of Trilogy represents the most dazzling example. But Zovio’s purchase of Fullstack in April and TutorMe this month, Red Venture’s purchase […]
Much discussion of late has been focused on the place and practice of online education among traditional institutions. Earlier this year, in the pages of The New York Times, University of Michigan professor and public policy analyst Dr. Sue Dynarski highlighted research suggesting that fully online programs do a particular disservice to the neediest students. […]
This month Tyton Banking had the privilege of advising Fullstack Academy in its sale to Bridgepoint Education for $17.5 million in cash and 2.5 million shares of common stock. Fullstack offers remote and in-person career training programs to consumers focused on software engineering, and recently partnered with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to launch coding bootcamps for […]
This report follows Tyton Partners’ 2015 two-part series Driving Toward a Degree: The Evolution of Planning and Advising in Higher Education, the 2016 publication Driving Toward a Degree: Establishing a Baseline on Integrated Approaches to Planning and Advising, and the 2017 publication Driving Toward a Degree: The Evolution of Academic Advising in Higher Education. 2019’s publication titled, Driving Toward […]
February education transactions underscore traditional university’s desire for comprehensive solutions, suggesting further consolidation of the technology-based services landscape. Meanwhile, Private Equity demonstrates continued interest in subscription-based administrative software. Rapid change in the employment market continues to drive deal counts and grow ties between education offerings and employment services. We hope these observations provide insights into […]
For this monthly deal round-up we took a look at knowledge services metrics from 2018. In the data we see evidence of a robust, vibrant, and perhaps most importantly, stable market. Venture and M&A deals are taking place in fairly equal quantities — suggesting steady maturation of winning approaches into sustainable businesses — and across […]
The Bottom Line Years ago, siloed student supports were the standard, while holistic student supports were merely a blip on the higher education radar. Today, increasing numbers of institutions are aiming to achieve integration across supports to serve the whole student. Drawing from our 2018 Driving Towards a Degree survey that reached over 3,300 administrators, […]
BOSTON, MA (Sep 19, 2018) – An update to the Courseware in Context (CWiC) Framework was released today. The CWiC Framework is an open, field-owned suite of resources designed to help postsecondary decision makers make informed selections of digital courseware products, and support effective adoption and implementation of these solutions. It was developed and initially […]
Tyton Partners Recognizes 50 International Education Companies with Impact Tyton Partners names the 2018 Tyton Global Growth50 at EdTechX Conference in London London, June 19, 2018 – Tyton Partners, the leading provider of investment banking and strategy consulting services to the global knowledge sector, today announced its Tyton Growth50, a recognition of dynamic growth-stage companies in […]
The Bottom Line In the fading glow of March Madness, we turn our attention to another kind of Cinderella story: the untold impact of online courses (versus online programs) on enrollment growth and more importantly completion rates for colleges and universities. There are now more than three million students enrolled in at least one online […]
Tyton Partners has officially launched the 2018 Tyton Global Growth50, a recognition of dynamic growth-stage companies across all markets in the global education sector. In a space enamored with new, the Tyton Global Growth50 celebrates sustainability. The list recognizes the top 50 organizations achieving impact at scale through a combination of strong financial performance, market […]
The Bottom Line Barriers to entering or advancing in the United States labor market have created economic insecurity for millions of Americans. This population, many of whom are women, minorities, and immigrants, often lack the skills and opportunities to find meaningful and / or sustained employment. They struggle with acquiring the level of training or […]
Bottom Line In search of the Swiss Army knife – the technology product that does everything well – institutions have struggled to realize the promise of an integrated technology solution that dramatically improves academic advising. Drawing largely from a 2017 survey that reached over 2,200 administrators and advisors across 1,400 institutions, as well as interviews […]
The Bottom Line A rapidly expanding collection of companies and organizations are operating and launching Alternative Pathways programs to accelerate individuals’ economic and employment mobility. While drawing on elements of more traditional education-to-employment programs, Alternative Pathways programs (APPs) explicitly prepare participants for validated, in-demand workforce opportunities, often in a much shorter timeframe, and sometimes at a […]
A publication focusing on identifying challenges and emerging solutions related to technology in the U.S. financial aid system. Challenges and complexities within the financial aid process have a significant impact on students’ ability to pay for and complete school. Nearly 3 million students drop out every year for reasons related to finances. Beginning in 2016, […]
A two-part publication highlighting how alternative pathways programs can accelerate employment prospects for low-income adults In the latter half of 2016, Tyton Partners conducted national research on behalf of The James Irvine Foundation regarding innovative education-to-employment opportunities for low-income adults. The goal of this initiative was to better understand the emerging ecosystem of Alternative Pathways […]
The Bottom Line Purdue’s acquisition of Kaplan University has been the subject of much debate. Punditry aside, a look at the data offers a different perspective on the rationale for the combination: academic efficiency. Kaplan University’s online instructional delivery and related student support spending is nearly 4.5x lower than Purdue’s. Sure, graduation rates are lower, […]
BOSTON, MA–(Marketwired – Oct 11, 2016) – Today marks the official launch of the Courseware in Context (CWiC) Framework, a research-based resource to help postsecondary decision-makers navigate the digital courseware market and effectively adopt and implement courseware solutions. The Framework, developed through a collaboration between the Online Learning Consortium (“OLC”) and Tyton Partners, with contributions from […]
Education sector M&A activity increased once again in 2015. Nick Herbert takes a look at the deals and emergent sector trends. Source: Education Investor, July/August 2016 [Excerpted here by permission] “There has been a bit of a micro-bubble in ed tech,” says Chris Curran, Founder and Managing Director at Tyton Partners. “There are still multitudes of phenomenal […]
Source: Press Release Company Recognizes Top 50 Growth-Stage Companies in the Education Sector Achieving Impact at Scale BOSTON, MA–(Marketwired – Sep 7, 2016) – Tyton Partners, the leading provider of investment banking and strategy consulting services to the global knowledge sector, today released their annual Tyton Growth50 list, which recognizes the top 50 organizations achieving impact […]
Source: Press Release STAMFORD, CT–(Marketwired – Sep 8, 2016) – Tyton Partners, a leading advisory firm in the global knowledge market, today announced that Rich Flynn, former president of Apollo Education Ventures, will join the firm’s senior leadership team as a Managing Director in Tyton Partners’ investment banking practice. Rich has over 25 years of […]
We are excited to announce the 2016 Tyton Growth50, which recognizes the top 50 organizations achieving impact at scale. Our effort with this initiative is to highlight dynamic companies that have pushed beyond the start-up phase and offer insight into what is required to sustain and extend market success across the education sector. In reflecting […]
Source: Edsurge The latest Tyton research focuses on how higher-ed institutions are using advising and planning technology. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and the Global Community on Academic Advising (NACADA), […]
Source: Inside Higher Ed Major study of adaptive learning finds inconclusive results about its ability to improve outcomes and lower costs, but use at two-year colleges and in remedial courses shows potential. Click here to read the full story
Source: Bloomberg.com What people might learn from the combined companies after the Microsoft deal. Click here for the full story.
Source: Press Release As postsecondary student retention and completion rates in the US fail to improve at expected rates, there has been an increased focus on advising and specifically an approach called integrated planning and advising for student success (iPASS). Tyton Partners and the Babson Survey Research Group collaborated with The Global Community for Academic […]
The Bottom Line Institutions find themselves in one of four categories on the road to achieving an ideal advising situation for their students. Where is your institution on this road? Institutions Face Several Barriers on the Road to Ideal Advising Tyton Partners recently conducted its first annual postsecondary planning and advising survey of more than 1,400 administrators, faculty, […]
Tyton Partners has officially launched the second annual Tyton Growth50, an annual recognition of dynamic growth-stage companies across all markets in the education sector. In a space enamored with new, the Tyton Growth50 celebrates sustainability. The list recognizes the top 50 organizations achieving impact at scale through a combination of strong financial performance, market penetration, […]
The Bottom Line Adaptive teaching is breaking the black box of adaptive learning. What is it and why does it matter? Beyond the Black Box – Adaptive Teaching Tyton Partners’ long-standing evaluation of adaptive learning models and adoption dynamics in higher education has revealed many gaps and opportunities. One critical evolution in the space has […]
Tyton Partners Places Call for Growth Companies With Staying Power Nominations for the 2016 Tyton Growth50 are open, recognizing growth-stage companies in education sector achieving impact at scale Boston, April 19, 2015 – Tyton Partners, the leading provider of investment banking and strategy consulting services to the global knowledge sector, today announced it is accepting […]
Tyton Partners has officially launched the second annual Tyton Growth50, an annual recognition of dynamic growth-stage companies across all markets in the education sector. In a space enamored with new, the Tyton Growth50 celebrates sustainability. The list recognizes the top 50 organizations achieving impact at scale through a combination of strong financial performance, market penetration, […]
Over the past four years, adaptive learning has gone from an ill-defined concept in postsecondary education to an important category of teaching and learning technology. Definitions of adaptive learning have been proposed and rejected, with the term often dismissed as “marketing-speak” among skeptical buyers. Despite the confusion surrounding this technology, a promising road lies ahead […]
What does it take to go from start-up to scale in the education sector? In 2015, Tyton Partners launched the Tyton Growth50, an annual recognition of dynamic growth-stage companies across all markets in the education sector. In March 2016, we had the chance to sit down with leaders from three of those inaugural winners during our […]
The Bottom Line Tyton Partners’ tracking of postsecondary education investment deals highlighted an attractive category for the investor community in 2015: career services. By our count, companies supporting individuals’ transition from education to the workforce received the highest number of investments. What’s the common thread investors are looking for? Each year, Tyton Partners tracks equity investments […]
The Bottom Line Companies and investors are always searching for a blue ocean in the education sector. Why aren’t any of them diving in here? Beneath the Surface of the Adult Education Opportunity Tyton Partners’ analysis of the adult education ecosystem, informed by a national survey of more than 1,000 program administrators and instructors, reveals […]
The methods for signaling individuals’ capabilities and competencies are rapidly changing, even as little consensus exists about the value and validation of these alternative methods. In one area, however, leaders from the postsecondary and workforce community do agree – student transcripts do not convey the information and insight they should for students or employers. As postsecondary institutions […]
A two-part publication series on instructional technologies within adult education The number of US adults lacking basic skills in the areas of literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy is substantial – nearly one in six US adults maintains low literacy skills, while nearly one in three possesses low numeracy skills – and the consequences are debilitating. […]
A confluence of factors, including a shift to performance-based funding and declining student enrollment, has led to an increased focus on student retention and on-time graduation at postsecondary institutions. In response, over 100 vendors in the integrated planning and advising services market have introduced products aimed at improving student retention and graduation rates. These product […]
As the education sector continues to grow, businesses are learning how to transition from start-up to scale, preserving the integrity of their mission while achieving broad-based awareness and financial stability. Building on our Growth50 initiative, Tyton Partners is excited to have assembled a diverse panel of edtech entrepreneurs to host a panel discussion at SXSWedu […]
Adaptive learning continues to evolve. Is this evolution leading to more adoption and improved outcomes? Tyton Partners is working in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Post Secondary Success team to, better understand the market for adaptive learning technologies for higher education. Our goal is to disseminate findings broadly to the field with […]
Through our research with 20+ institutions and 120+ companies supporting institutions around student success and retention, we have identified 9 product categories that institutions can employ for planning and advising. The graphic below shows a subset of 40+ companies that are at various stages of maturity but have demonstrated product breadth with an offering in at […]
The world doesn’t need another list, right? Wrong, or at least that’s what we thought when the Tyton Growth50 was hatched earlier this year. Based on the early engagement and reaction we’ve had with folks in the field, our instincts were correct. The education sector did need another list, but one focused on those organizations […]
The education sector – stretching from early childhood through to corporate, professional and life-long learning – is in the midst of an epic period of investment activity and national discussion. A steady stream of tenacious entrepreneurs and emergent product and service models are pushing up against long-standing practices and institutional systems. Driving and achieving scale […]
U.S. post-secondary institutions spend over $1 billion annually on academic planning and advising and, despite this, on-time student graduation rates and freshman retention rates have not improved over the last 10 years. It is safe to say that the current approaches of most institutions are not working and yet identifying and implementing improved practices is […]
Patience is a virtue when it comes to investing in education. Lynda.com’s sale to LinkedIn for $1.5B is the latest in an increasingly long line of large transactions in the education market. About this time last year, Renaissance Learning was acquired for $1.1B. Two unicorns inside of twelve months. In education. Unbelievable. Some are concerned about valuations […]
BOSTON, (February 10, 2015) – Colleges and universities now have a framework that synthesizes the holistic set of learning experiences accrued by individuals. “Evidence of Learning: The Case for an Integrated Competency Management System for Students, Higher Education and Employers” is the latest research from Tyton Partners (formerly Education Growth Advisors) and was funded by […]
In the past several years, record amounts of investment capital have financed new companies serving – and targeting – US colleges and universities. These efforts often seek to enhance or shift established practices and processes, injecting innovative models and ideas into the existing postsecondary landscape. Across the Evidence of Learning framework, the diversity of stakeholders […]
A shift in expectations is occurring among core postsecondary education stakeholders – students, employers, and institutional administrators and faculty – regarding the “evidence of learning” required in today’s world and its effective validation and presentation. The ability of individuals to present their evidence of learning should be a hallmark of our society’s increasing orientation toward […]
Education Growth Advisors is now Tyton Partners Since Education Growth Advisors was established in 2010, we have experienced significant growth. We now have 14 professionals across our two offices in Boston and Stamford (CT), who bring a depth of knowledge and experience and expand all aspects of our investment banking, strategy consulting and operations capabilities. […]
Leading Education Investment Banking and Strategy Consulting Firm Expands to Serve the Global Knowledge Sector.
The online program management space is growing at an estimated 35% annual rate and is expected to be a $1.5+ billion domestic market in 2015. The OPM space consists primarily of outsourced higher education service providers that enable online education. However, these providers have essentially become comprehensive contract manufacturers for higher education institutions, delivering services […]
In a classroom at Wheatley Education Campus in Washington, D.C., a pair of representatives from Discovery Education are chatting with Shannon Brown, a middle school math and social studies teacher, about a field trip her students will take to Discovery Communications’ headquarters the next day. “They’ve been talking about it all week,” Brown tells them. […]
We hope you had a productive 2014, and that 2015 offers an even more rewarding trajectory for you and your organization. Since launching our firm in June 2010, we have been infrequent communicators regarding the scope and success of our team’s efforts. Our New Year’s resolution is to change that, and we’re excited to share […]
Pressure is mounting in the postsecondary education ecosystem to improve the quality of teaching and learning, while increasing accessibility and affordability for students. Digital courseware has the potential to alleviate the pressures building through the delivery of scalable, personalized instruction; however, the category as a whole has not delivered on its promise. Our summer 2014 […]
Boston, MA – Through a new partnership between Cengage Learning, a leading education company, and Pathbrite, the world’s leading Portfolio Learning Platform, students will have access to Pathbrite’s best-in-class e-portfolio in Cengage Learning’s course solutions. The addition of an e-portfolio to MindTap’s high quality course content differentiates it as the only truly comprehensive student centric […]
Salt Lake City, UT – Datamark, the leader in data-driven enrollment marketing, today announced it has acquired the technology assets of Altius Education, including its competency-based online learning platform, Helix, as well as its enrollment management and student retention platforms. An investment group led by Oakleigh Thorne, current Chairman of the Board of Datamark and […]
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND — Camden Partners Holdings, LLC is pleased to announce that Calvert Education Services (CES), a portfolio company in Camden Partners Strategic Fund IV acquired VSCHOOLZ, Inc., a Huizenga Education Company, to strengthen their digital presence in the K-12 market. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In response to the rapidly evolving […]
Among the innovations sweeping across the higher education landscape, adaptive learning may remain one of the least understood and most misrepresented. At the same time, few “true” adaptive learning solutions have achieved meaningful scale of institutional adoption. However, given the challenges facing higher education institutions today and the profound rethinking of their missions and models […]
Adaptive learning is a more personalized, technology-enabled, and data-driven approach to learning that has the potential to deepen student engagement with learning materials, customize students’ pathways through curriculum, and permit instructors to use class time in more focused and productive ways. Adaptive learning aims to make a significant contribution to improving retention, measuring student learning, […]
