FORMERLY PE OWNED
Walden University
Includes Walden
for-profit university · Minneapolis, MN
- PE Firm
- KKR →
- Acquirer
- KKR (via Laureate Education)
- Year Acquired
- 2007
KKR owned the parent of one of America's most indebted universities. 120,000 students owe $9.8 billion. More than almost any school in the country.
What Happened
- KKR and hedge fund SAC Capital joined the investor group, led by Laureate chairman Douglas Becker, that took Laureate Education (Walden's parent) private in 2007 in a deal valued at $3.8 billion including debt
- KKR began exiting through Laureate's 2017 IPO but kept selling for years, offloading another 32.8 million Laureate shares as late as 2022
- Walden was sold by Laureate to Adtalem Global Education for $1.48 billion in 2021 — the third corporate owner in 14 years
The Damage Done
- Brookings ranked Walden's borrowers the second-most indebted in the country: more than 120,000 people owing $9.8 billion as of 2014, much of it built up while the PE consortium owned Walden's parent
- Students alleged Walden arbitrarily added capstone credits mid-program, inflating tuition by tens of thousands of dollars per student. Walden settled the claims for $28.5 million in 2024, with no admission of wrongdoing
- A lawsuit alleged Walden misrepresented the cost and clinical-placement availability of its graduate nursing program. The Justice Department declined to intervene in 2021
Sources
- Adtalem Agrees to Buy Walden University for $1.48 Billion — Bloomberg(2020-09-11)
- Higher Learning Commission Removes Barrier for Walden U Sale — Higher Ed Dive(2021-05-15)
- Old pals in twin buyouts (Laureate take-private led by Douglas Becker; KKR and S.A.C. Capital; $3.8B incl. debt, $60.50/share) — Baltimore Sun(2007-01-30)
- A Crisis in Student Loans? How Changes in the Characteristics of Borrowers and the Institutions They Attended Contributed to Rising Loan Defaults (Table 5: Walden #2 at $9.8B / 120,275 borrowers, 2014) — Looney & Yannelis, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Fall 2015(2015-09-10)
- Carroll et al. v. Walden University — $28.5M Settlement, Final Approval Oct 17 2024 — Relman Colfax(2024-10-17)
- Walden University's $28.5M class-action settlement with students gets court approval — Higher Ed Dive(2024-10-18)
- KKR Divests 32.8M Shares In Laureate Education Via Secondary Offering ($9.75/share, closing Nov 22 2022) — Benzinga(2022-11-18)