- HBR's List of Audacious Ideas for Solving the World's Problems: Enroll the World in For-Profit Universities
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1.1.2012
by Karan Khemka
HBR asked experts and leaders from many disciplines to propose audacious ideas that attack big, difficult problems while improving the economy and society as a whole. Parthenon Partner and Mumbai Office Head, Karan Khemka, and senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and author of How to Run the World, Parag Khanna, co-authored Enroll the World in For-Profit Universities. The segment is featured in HBR's List of Audacious Ideas for Solving the World's Problems.
Recent Reports and Presentations
Learn more about Karan's views on education in emerging markets, watch videos, and download reports from recent conference appearances:
Upcoming Report
Check back soon for an upcoming publication on private universities in India by Karan Khemka
Parthenon's Education Practice
- British Independent Schools: International Growth Opportunities
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11.24.2011
by Karan Khemka
There are two main opportunities for British independent schools to benefit from the growing demand for international K-12 education in emerging markets: 1) Establishing a branch campus abroad and 2) Attracting international students to the UK.
British brands have a mixed record of success in executing these initiatives. This report identifies the critical success factors required to tap into both of these opportunities. In order to establish a successful branch campus abroad, evaluating the target population (expats or affluent locals) and the level of incremental market demand available in the local market given competition is crucial to set and achieve realistic enrolment targets. To attract international students to the UK, schools need to clearly articulate their value proposition, establish a student recruitment network and manage the potential impact of international student influx on the local cohort of students.
Related Events
International and Private School Education Forum
Presenting: British Independent Schools: International Growth Opportunities
Presenting: Investing in International K-12
- Parthenon Perspectives: The Role of Community and Private Sector Colleges in Job Training
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11.7.2011
by The Parthenon Group
Approximately 26 million citizens were served by federal job training programs in 2009 – an $18 billion expenditure – but only 4% of participants received the type of classroom-based skills instruction that leads to lifelong income gains. America is at the precipice of a serious “skills gap.” The unemployment rate exceeds 9 percent, millions of new college graduates are required by 2020 to meet the demands of the 21st Century economy, and community colleges face significant funding constraints. The public sector has a significant role to play in addressing this problem, but the flexibility and financial capacity of private sector colleges will be critical to finding a solution.
- The “New Normal” in U.S. Postsecondary Education
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11.1.2011
by Haven Ladd
Higher education remains the United States’ greatest asset and the envy of many industrialized nations. An ever-increasing number of students attend university each year in an effort to develop skills and perspectives necessary to succeed in increasingly competitive global job markets. While the path to success – which includes the tasks of applying to, paying for, and graduating from university – continues to challenge students, running America’s colleges and universities has become increasingly complex for administrators and leaders. The historic models of sustainable growth are being challenged due to increasing financial pressures, a changing student population, increasing competition from new sources, and an ever-present pressure to innovate. Making decisions in this “new normal” landscape requires a strategic balancing of mission-driven growth, financial realities, and organizational capacity.
- Investment Opportunities in K-12 and Higher Education in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
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10.26.2011
by Karan Khemka
In order to maintain and grow income levels the UAE and KSA require significant development of the education infrastructure. This is an opportunity for private investors to deploy capital in schools and higher education institutions – both sectors that can provide sustained and predictable income growth. To succeed investors should focus on meeting requirements of parents in the case of schools and students in the case of higher education. This report quantifies the scale of the opportunity, identifies attractive segments within schools and higher education in the UAE and KSA and provides guidance on parent and student needs.
Related Events
Building Future Education MENA Conference 2011
Presenting: K-12 and Higher Education: Opportunities for Investors in the Middle East
- Next Generation Learning
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9.20.2011
by The Parthenon Group
Parthenon’s Education Center of Excellence (ECE) is pleased to share the publication of Next Generation Learning – Defining and Scaling the Opportunity, co-authored by Parthenon’s Seth Reynolds and Tammy Battaglino, in partnership with Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Opportunity Equation and Stupski Foundation. The emerging Next Generation Learning market has the opportunity to fundamentally transform the K-12 learning experience and shift many deeply embedded notions about when, where and how learning should occur. If fulfilled, Next Generation Learning will be a key driver in dramatic improvements to global education systems.
- Understanding the Evolving K-12 Landscape
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9.27.2011
by Robert Lytle
Parthenon Partner, Robert Lytle, presented Parthenon Perspectives: Understanding the Evolving K-12 Landscape at the EdNET 2011 Conference in Denver, Colorado.
- UK Higher Ed - International and Commercial Perspectives on the Post-Browne Landscape
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May, 2011
by Matthew Robb
This thought piece from Matthew Robb, a Senior Principal in our London Office, and an expert in our Education Center of Excellence, offers a commercial and international perspective on the recent English and Welsh Higher Education reforms. It draws on Parthenon's global knowledge of Higher Education markets to identify lessons for traditional sector institutions and new entrants.
- Post-Secondary School Enrollment: Preparing for the Slowdown
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3.16.2011
by Robert Lytle
Amidst all the angst surrounding incentive compensation and gainful employment, many have lost sight of the primary driver of post-secondary enrollments – the economy. The Parthenon Group’s proprietary macro-economic models suggest that much of the swing in post-secondary enrollments is a predicted function of the economy. And yet the full story cannot be told by the economy alone, as many postsecondary institutions are also re-evaluating which student segments they can best serve, revamping admissions processes, and beginning to focus inward on student persistence and graduation. A combination of econometric analysis and business process insight is needed to truly understand what is driving recent—and sometimes wild—enrollment swings in the post-secondary education industry.
- Financing Indian Higher Education
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3.10.2011
by Karan Khemka, Robert Lytle
A country’s education level is a major determinant of its economic success. Higher tertiary enrolment ratios are strongly correlated with higher GDP per capita and higher standards of living. As a country with the potential to become a major player in the world economy, India must focus on how to provide more of its citizens with higher education so that it can continue (and accelerate) its strong economic growth.
One of the most pressing issues that needs to be addressed in India’s higher education system is affordability. Currently only the wealthiest citizens can afford to pursue higher education, which perpetuates income disparity in the country and stifles economic growth. To solve this problem, India must increase the accessibility of student loans to student from all income levels.
In its second report for the EDGE conference, The Parthenon Group discusses the challenges that India faces in revamping its student financing system, and recommends ways in which stakeholders in this system (educational institutions, banks, and the government) can drive change. Parthenon uses examples from student financing systems in the USA, UK, and Brazil to show different paths to expand tertiary education access in India.
- Parthenon Public Comment on Gainful Employment
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9.9.2010
by Roger Brinner
This study examines the Missouri data released by the Department of Education to estimate the impacts of the proposed gainful employment regulation. These regulations represent an effort to ensure that students attend quality programs and that both students and taxpayers receive good value for their joint investment in post-secondary education. This comment in no way challenges these admirable policy goals; indeed, our aim is to point out that the regulations as proposed may accidentally frustrate these policy goals. In their current form, the regulations are likely to:
- Cause 400,000 students to leave post-secondary education each year
- Reduce lifetime incomes for these students by approximately 15%, leading to $400MM in lost annual tax revenues
- Cause 90,000-100,000 job losses
Lead to a $5.3B annual burden on taxpayers due to lower tax receipts from students who leave post-secondary education, employees who lose their jobs, along with higher subsidies for public colleges
- Race to the Top | Scope of Work: Lessons Learned
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September 2010
by Education Center of Excellence, The Parthenon Group
Having received the well-deserved notification of Race to the Top success, winning RTTT states now must begin a critical set of activities to ensure that bold reform visions evolve into successful implementation. An essential part of this effort is to support LEAs as they develop Scopes of Work that define how they will use their 50% of awarded funding over the next four years to realize the ambitious and bold reform strategies laid out in state plans. Informed by our experience on the ground in districts and states across the nation, Parthenon offers some initial advice to winning states on how to begin this essential work with LEAs.
- The Outlook for Education Investing
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6.14.2010
This study highlights the evolution of education spending in the UK over the past 20 years. We also evaluate the likely outlook for education spending in the UK, given the current fiscal deficit. Finally, we highlight three trends in the UK education sector that, despite the challenging funding environment, are likely to present opportunities for private education companies and private equity investors in the short to medium-term.
- Private Sector Post-Secondary Schools - Do They Deliver Value to Students and Society?
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3.31.2010
by Robert Lytle
Recently, U.S. private sector post-secondary education providers have come under intense legislative, regulatory, political, and press scrutiny across a myriad of issues. Likewise, discussions in Washington, D.C. have focused on assuring quality outcomes for students by enhancing existing regulations and proposing new ones. Underlying this scrutiny is an apparent belief that private sector educational providers are likely to suppress investments in educational quality and student outcomes in favor of profits. As a result, there has been much subjective discussion around the private sector’s role in post-secondary education with a limited level of objective facts.
In an effort to shed more objective light on the role of private sector education providers, The Parthenon Group examined the following question: Do private sector post-secondary schools deliver value to students and society? Over the past several months, through an analysis of U.S. Department of Education longitudinal studies, industry data, and primary research, Parthenon conducted a rigorous examination of the private sector’s ability to provide meaningful post-secondary outcomes.
- The Urgent Necessity to Adjust Federal Cohort Default Rate Standards
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2.24.2010
by Roger Brinner
Removing economic barriers to postsecondary education is a primary goal of student loan programs. Despite government-guaranteed student loan programs meeting this goal, current legislation for Cohort Default Rates (CDR) threatens to reverse this progress. Under CDR, institutions are held accountable for a defined standard of loan default behavior by prior students. This institutional statistic is critical for federal funding as it affects the ability of an institution’s future students to receive Title IV funds. A range of institutions are under great CDR pressure. The basis of the threat is that the “Great Recession” is almost certain to more than double default rates. Further threatening students’ ability to access Title IV money is the recent fixing of interest rates, the increase in the cohort default period from two to three years, and the phasing out of the FFEL program. The surge in unemployment and these policy changes
disproportionately affect proprietary schools since they educate traditionally underserved populations with a higher risk of default.
This paper seeks to highlight what causes default and suggest an adjusted CDR that reflects the students served and the economic environment. Academic loan literature suggests that the default rate of an educational institution is dominated by the characteristics of the student body, and not by the public/private or profit/nonprofit nature of the school. Thus, schools tending to meet the goal of serving the disadvantaged will be inadvertently penalized — and their potential students abandoned — if standards for institutional default rates are not adjusted for both student characteristics and the national unemployment crisis.
- Investing in Education
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7.1.2009
by Robert Lytle
Where are opportunities and how can you capture them?
- The Impact of the Education Stimulus on K-12
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March 2009
by Robert Lytle
- Corporate Reimbursement for Continuing Education in the Current Downturn
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3.1.2009
by Robert Lytle
Given the success enjoyed by market-funded colleges and universities over the past decade, both in growing enrollment and generating shareholder value, industry observers have become increasingly interested in the impact of the current economic crisis. One particular focus of attention has been the threat of reductions in corporate tuition reimbursement budgets as companies seek to manage costs by reducing funding for non-core employee benefits.
In response to this concern, The Parthenon Group, a strategic advisory firm, conducted interviews with Human Resources professionals at companies with revenue of more than $500 million. These companies represent a broad spectrum of industries and offered their perspective on how the economic downturn is impacting the funding levels for degree-based program tuition reimbursement.
