The Washington Post Company (WPO) plans to lay off approximately 88 employees at its Kaplan Virtual Education segment and shutter its Hollywood facility, Business Journal reported.
The decision marks the company’s in-house staff arrangement to boost the student services, Ken Brown, Kaplan Virtual Education spokesman added. The lay off is scheduled between May 16, 2011 to June 30, 2011, and the Kaplan Virtual Education’s COO and executive director has not been spared from the lay off.
The Kaplan Virtual Education segment notably expands the reach of educational programs to scholars with varied requirements. The company’s high-tech virtual programs are customized to suit the students’ need and allow them to work at their own pace. Further, its pioneering erudition model facilitates the learning process nationwide.
Prior to it, the company slashed approximately 770 employees or 5% of its workforce at its Kaplan Higher Education division, citing declining enrollments.
Total Kaplan Higher Education enrollments plunged 8.0% to 96,701 as of December 31, 2010.
A month before, the company posted fourth-quarter 2010 results. The quarterly earnings of $11.59 per share witnessed a substantial increase from $9.85 delivered in the prior-year quarter on the heels of strong performance in the Television Broadcasting division.
The quarterly earnings also came well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.72 per share.
However, new student enrollment dropped 47.0% during the quarter, negatively impacted by the number of students, who chose to discontinue after the risk-free period along with sluggish demand.
The company also notified that those students, who wished to withdraw from the program during the stipulated period, defined as risk-free period, and students who do not clear the academic assessments, will not be required to pay for the coursework.
Kaplan Higher Education initiated a new program called ‘Kaplan Commitment,’ under which the students of Kaplan University, Kaplan College and other Kaplan Higher Education schools may register for classes and evaluate whether their educational experience commensurate with their needs before incurring a financial obligation. Kaplan will also carry out academic evaluation in order to gauge the probability of the student’s success in the chosen field of study.
Currently, we maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock. Moreover, The Washington Post, which faces stiff competition from The New York Times Company (NYT), holds a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates into a short-term Buy rating.
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