Strategic Education (STRA) to Aid All-In On Education Campaign
Strategic Education, Inc. STRA or SEI’s employee education management platform — Workforce Edge — inked a deal with Caesars Entertainment Inc. CZR to support the casino-entertainment giant’s robust tuition benefit campaign, “All-In On Education.”
Through this partnership, nearly 50,000 eligible U.S.-based Team Members will be able to pursue affordable degree programs at Strayer and Capella University. Also, they will be able to gain professional and personal development. Members may take advantage of reimbursement of eligible educational expenses to reduce heavy tuition costs through STRA’s Workforce Edge network.
Also, members may utilize their yearly tuition assistance allocation to fund completion or starting a new degree program at an accredited higher education institution of their choice regardless of subject of study.
Terry McDonough, president, STRA’s Education Technology Services, stated, “Caesars Entertainment’s investment in its workforce through the ‘All-In On Education’ campaign will position it as the go-to employer in the entertainment space for individuals looking to advance their economic mobility. We are thrilled to support Caesars as they provide their eligible workforce of nearly 50,000 Team Members with access to our best-in-class tuition assistance platform, and we look forward to our new partnership.”
SEI’s Support to Employers
Strategic Education supports more than 1,000 employers to upskill and retain their workforce and provides pioneering education solutions to beat the competition. With increasing demand from employers for job-ready candidates to address the skills gap in the United States, SEI has been providing various workforce-development programs.
SEI’s Education Technology Services segment is focused on developing and maintaining relationships with employers to build employee education benefits programs. The segment helps employer partners through Workforce Edge — a platform that provides employers a full-service education benefits administration solution — and Sophia Learning — which enables lower-cost education benefits programs through the use of low-cost online general education courses recommended by the American Council on Education for credit at other colleges and universities.
Launched in January 2021, Workforce Edge helps employers offer higher education options that are relevant, innovative and affordable to their workforce. During fourth-quarter 2021, the company introduced its new Workforce Edge product. With a coverage comprising Strayer and Capella Universities and schools from Noodle Partners, the company expects this platform to serve as a low-cost source of new enrolments.
In 2021, Workforce Edge signed 32 corporate agreements and collectively hired about 650,000 employees. SEI remains optimistic about these initiatives.
Share Price Performance
Shares of the company have increased 14.3% against the Zacks Schools industry’s 12.1% fall so far this year. The company is benefiting from Strayer and Capella Universities’ convenient, accessible and flexible educational programs.
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Yet, it has been experiencing lower demand for its services caused by a higher unemployment level. The company noted that the impact of rising unemployment was largely seen at Strayer due to the undergraduate student mix, including many first-time college students. Also, it has been witnessing increased competitive intensity, which resulted in advertising inflation and lowered the yield of marketing investments.
The recent move is likely to aid the company’s top line and enrolment growth in the future.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
SEI currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII and Caleres, Inc. CAL.
G-III Apparel sports a Zacks Rank #1. GIII has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 97.5%, on average. The stock has declined 34.9% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIII’s current financial year sales and earnings per share (EPS) indicates growth of 12.9% and 10.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported levels.
Caleres sports a Zacks Rank #1. CAL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 62.9%, on average. Shares of the company have increased 5.3% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAL’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 4.8% and 0.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.
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Strategic Education Inc. (STRA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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