2U declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy today and the company is now valued at less than $5M. That's a small shadow of the $5.4B perceived value it had in mid-2018.
As a company that will be owned and operated by vulture capitalists (VCs), 2U (TWOU) and its subsidiary edX will fall below the radar. But that won't stop the company from ensnaring more students for overpriced "elite" and "brand name" degrees and certificates--as it tries to survive. In fact, it might make it easier. The visible economic market and its media won't care anymore.
Somehow, these VC firms will try to extract value from the bankruptcy deal. But how they do that is a mystery. C-suite executives have already gotten some of their bonuses, leaving little else for workers. Reducing labor costs (firing people) will be essential. Not paying their bills is another. Continuing to deceive consumers would be difficult to change. Even after the deal, 2U will still be laden with more than $400M in debt.
Since 2019, we have tried to expose 2U and its business practices, as well
as the role of elite university partners in enabling the sale of advanced degrees and
edtech certificates that led to few good jobs and lots of consumer debt. When they acquired edX from Harvard and MIT for $800M, we doubled down.
The Higher Education Inquirer has been the only outlet to name the elite schools that were complicit in this scheme that took money away from consumers just trying to get ahead. Not just USC, but Harvard and MIT, and Yale, and Cal Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina, and Syracuse, and Pepperdine, and many others. Check out the links below to learn more about how this higher ed scheme developed and collapsed. And how this is just the latest wave of edugrift.
Related links:
2U-edX crash exposes the latest wave of edugrift (2023)
2U Virus Expands College Meltdown to Elite Universities (2019)
Our thanks to you for years of hard work exposing OPMs, and warning us about them! Nothing epitomizes the greed, the mindless over-expansion of "accessible" online instruction (not to be confused with 'learning') more than scams like this.
ReplyDeleteRegulators were caught flat-footed when these grifters moved in, embraced with open arms by university administrators whose faculty were brow-beaten into selling themselves this way. Just to have a brand new-online program to offer, like the schools that welcomed Kaplan and Ashford when they were floundering on the brink of turning out the lights. May University of Idaho avoid their fate! Good riddance to OPMs!
Right on.
ReplyDeleteCheck out these comments about OPMs from 2019! https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/04/10/expert-roundup-what-kevin-carey-got-right-and-wrong-about-opms
ReplyDeleteAlso, this lame and limping response from online-innovation cheerleaders at Inside Higher Ed. How embarrassing this turned out to be 5 years later! https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/technology-and-learning/opms-are-losing-battle-hearts-and-minds
We ought to keep a file on how the higher ed herd works.
ReplyDelete