Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

IBL News | New York

MIT will develop its own framework for vaccinating approximately 50,000 students, employees, affiliates, and dependents on campus.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved last month MIT’s request to serve as an employer-based distributor of the Covid-19 vaccine—MIT News reported.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been administering regular Covid tests to thousands of members of its community.

In terms of the vaccine roll-out, roughly 700 individuals categorized as top-priority recipients—frontline, public-facing, or essential employees…—have received the shots.

Across the country, teachers and school staff members are on many priority lists to get their vaccines.

The CDC has put out guidance on how to prioritize different groups, but states can ultimately make their own decisions on the rollout.

Education Week tracked this week plans for vaccinating K-12 educators across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

IBL News | New York

Nerdy Inc., the parent company of Varsity Tutors, announced last week that it will be acquired by a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) called TPG Pace Tech Opportunities.

The transaction, expected for Q2 of 2021, will value Nerdy at a $1.7 billion market capitalization. The company will be listed on the NYSC as NRDY.

Based in St. Louis, Varsity Tutors is a live tutoring platform from K-5 to graduate school test prep and professional certifications.

Nerdy raised $107 million in funding from Learn Capital, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and TCV. These existing investors are expected to retain over 50% of ownership.

The acquisition is expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2021. Then Nerdy will be listed on NYSE under the tickers NRDY.

According to its SEC filing, Varsity Tutors posted $106 million in revenue for 2020, with a loss of $23 million.

In 2020, companies like Skillsoft and Meten were purchased and went public through a SPAC.

IBL News | New York

Esme Learning Solutions—a Boston, MA-based ed-tech company led by former edX and Pearson executive, Beth Porter, along with David Shrier—announced last week the close of a $7.5 million Series A financing round.

The funding—led by Adit Ventures—will help the company to further develop AI tools applied to its portfolio of executive-level courses, offered in conjunction with colleges and universities.

Currently, it has three 6-week courses with Oxford University, priced at £2,350: Fintech Programme, Cyber Security for Business Leaders, and Blockchain Strategy Programme.

Founded two years ago and with a staff over 20 people, the start-up plans to announce new classes with MIT’s School of Architecture.

“Our vision is to create a truly effective online learning experience that rivals that of an in-person, face-to-face classroom,” said the company. It creates live simulations and small group exercises that emulate work scenarios.

“We blend high-production-quality video, formative assessments, and interactive media with learning design principles that emphasize measurement and feedback, augmented by AI.”

IBL News | New York

The 199 U.S. public research universities—which employ three million faculty and staff—lost $17.7 billion in revenues during the pandemic and employment fell 14%. In addition, they had to spend another $3.1 billion to take safety measures last fall.

This is what the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) reported to Congress while requesting relief funding. So far, they have received $5.7 billion.

“APLU urges Congress to provide $97 billion in the next Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to address the emergency needs of colleges and universities and those we serve.”

IBL News | New York

Universities and colleges are increasingly outsourcing services—from dorms to online courses—to for-profit corporations, with billions of dollars flowing to third-party organizations.

For example, providing online university programs has become a $4 billion-a-year industry, according to the education market-research firm HolonIQ. That amount is expected to increase to $10 billion by 2025.

In this segment, Online Programs Managers (OPM) firms, such as 2U and Noodle, are particularly active. These companies—in the number of 200—create and operate online courses, recruiting and enrolling students, advising and tutoring them. They charge commissions—sometimes as high as 80%—for these services.

The Washington Post reported this month about it.

During the pandemic, the OPM business has speeded up. Around 300 new deals have been reached between universities and for-profit online, a 79 percent increase over last year.

Many universities—looking at every source of revenue—say that outsourcing makes them more efficient and nimble and saves them money.

Higher education organizations spend $16 billion annually on educational technology, and this is projected to rise to $20 billion by 2024, BMO Capital Markets predicts. The estimated annual spending surpasses $15 billion on marketing, recruiting, and enrolling students.