Yahoo Finance Strategic Education (STRA) Collaborates With Designer Brands
Strategic Education, Inc.’s STRA education management platform, Workforce Edge, recently announced a collaboration with Designer Brands, Inc. — one of North America's largest footwear manufacturers. This association is framed for the professional betterment of Designer Brands associates by funding their need-based learning courses from some of the country’s best academies.
Per the partnership, Designer Brands will be providing its full-time associates access to higher studies options through Strayer University and Capella University, including pathways to degrees with lessons fully covered by Designer Brands. Also, online graduation programs in a system of public and private universities are also covered under this partnership.
The associates of Designer Brands can freely use the education options at Strayer University or Capella University through the Workforce Edge platform where they can use their $5,250 annual learning funds. All the U.S. full time and part time associates use Sophia Learning, an online, on-demand self-paced learning space. This platform facilitates college-level general education and professional development courses at a rebated rate.
With respect to this, CEO of Strategic Education, Karl McDonnell has stated, “It is always encouraging when we see an innovative company like Designer Brands invest in the skill building and economic mobility of their workforce. We’re thrilled to partner with them.”
Share Price Performance
So far this year, shares of Strategic Education have declined 25%. The downside was mainly caused by low USHE contribution and reduced demand owing to higher unemployment caused by COVID-led restrictions.
Nonetheless, Strategic Education has performed better than the Zacks Schools industry’s 65.1% fall. The company is benefiting from Strayer and Capella Universities’ convenient, accessible and flexible educational programs.
Its Capella is continuously investing in new programs and specializations to improve student outcomes. Continuous innovation and course updates expand its product portfolio, which in turn boost enrollment and drive long-term growth. For the first six months of 2021, Capella University’s total enrollment grew 6% year over year. The performance of Capella University in the entire first half of 2021 was very strong. During the said period, total FlexPath enrollment surged 36% and now make up 35% of total enrollment, expanding 700 basis points from the year-ago period.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Currently, Strategic Education carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the same industry include Stride, Inc. LRN, Adtalem Global Education Inc. ATGE and Vitru Limited VTRU. Stride sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Adtalem and Vitru each carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Stride has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 69.8%, on average.
Adtalem has a three to five-year earnings per share growth rate of 15%.
Vitru’s earnings for 2021 are expected to rise 33.8%.
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Strategic Education Inc. (STRA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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