Purdue Global FY20 Financials Show Online School Getting Closer to Break Even – Phil on EdTech
In January I looked at Purdue University’s annual report and shared that Purdue Global (PG) still lost money in its second full year of operations after converting from the for-profit Kaplan University.
Last year I reported that Purdue Global lost $43 million, which a Purdue spokesperson attributed to “a deliberate one-time, $28.5 million marketing investment” and that for “FY20, we have every expectation that Purdue Global will generate an operating surplus.”
We finally have the Purdue University Financial Report for the period ending June 30, 2020, and it appears that despite improvements in enrollment and retention at Purdue Global, the school did not generate an operating surplus. While the numbers were better than last year’s, Purdue Global lost $21 million in its second full year of operations.
Unlike FY19, I did not at the time have the Purdue Global internal budget numbers to better explain this loss. Thanks to an anonymous source, I now have a copy of Purdue Global’s FY20 key metrics and financial summary (July 2019 – June 2020), and the numbers show the school dropping in revenue and inquiries but improving enrollments and reducing marketing spend. While the data is 11 months old, we can now better understand Purdue Global’s operations.
Purdue Global Metrics and Financials Sheet
The view comparing fiscal years 2017 through 2020 is the most useful view, and this combines a view of key operating metrics as well as unit financial performance.