Education Sector

Brief Excerpt from Industry Overview Chapter:

Institutions in this industry provide instruction and training to students enrolled in elementary through high schools, colleges and universities, and training centers that offer industrial, professional, and vocational programs. Institutions include public, private, and nonprofit as well as for-profit businesses.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Funding-related challenges have a major bearing on competition at every level of the education sector. Public K-12 school districts are vulnerable to state budget cuts, declines in local property tax revenue, and increasing federal support for alternatives to traditional public schools. Sharp declines in enrollment, caused in part by rising tuition costs, are stifling revenue growth at many colleges and universities. Career and technical education providers are benefiting from growing community investment in vocational training, but tighter government regulation of for-profit trade schools has forced several institutions to close in recent years. Regulations regarding public health safety, such as community lockdown due to pandemics, can also impact the school operations.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

In the US, the number of kindergarten to Grade 12 enrollment reached about 56.4 million in 2020; 50.7 million of which were in public schools, and 5.7 million in private schools. The college enrollment in the fall 2020 semester is about 19.7 million; 14 million of which were in public four-year colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).