American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) outlined a four-year growth plan at a William Blair conference, with Chief Executive Officer Angie Selden saying the company expects revenue and adjusted earnings growth to be driven by its military-focused education business and its nursing education platform.
Selden said the company currently operates two primary businesses: Military+, which includes undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs for active-duty military members, veterans and their families; and Health+, which includes Rasmussen University and Hondros College of Nursing. She said each business accounts for roughly half of the company’s approximately $650 million in revenue.
Company Highlights Simplification Efforts
Selden said American Public Education has worked in recent years to simplify and strengthen its business. She said the company combined four divisions into two reporting segments, exited a non-core subsidiary in 2025 and generated about $14 million in savings last year through actions that included selling buildings, exiting a preferred structure and refinancing debt.
She said the company has $221 million of cash on its balance sheet and more than $100 million of net debt. Selden said American Public Education expects to generate an additional $300 million to $400 million of cash by 2029 from its growth plan, assuming it does not complete an acquisition.
Selden said potential uses of cash include investments in technology, artificial intelligence, campus modernization, marketing, new campus openings, new programs, tuck-in acquisitions and share repurchases. She said there is “no prospect right now” for an acquisition, but that the company is evaluating nursing or healthcare assets that could help it enter states where regulatory barriers make organic expansion more difficult.
Military+ Growth Focuses on Veterans and Families
In the Military+ segment, Selden said American Public University System is the largest educator of active-duty military members, with about 30% of active-duty military students who take courses reimbursed by the Department of War enrolled at the institution. She said that share has grown from 17% to nearly 30% over the past five years.
Selden said the company sees growth opportunities beyond active-duty military members, particularly among veterans and military families. She said the company’s target market for veterans is about 6.2 million people, or about three times the size of its active-duty market.
Selden also highlighted military families as an emerging growth area. She said family members of active-duty military personnel can access the same $750-per-course rate, which she said equates to about $32,000 for a four-year degree and is 30% below in-state public school tuition. She said the military family business has grown at a high-teens rate in recent quarters.
Selden said the Military+ business benefits from several competitive advantages, including its ability to offer education at the reimbursable rate, an alumni base of 160,000 graduates and a system built to connect directly with service branches. She said about 40% of active-duty students come through referrals, reducing marketing costs and supporting margins.
Health+ Expansion Centers on Nursing Capacity
Selden said Health+ includes 27 nursing campuses across eight states, operated by Rasmussen University and Hondros College of Nursing. She described the company as the largest educator of bedside nurses in the country, focused on licensed practical nurse programs and associate degree nursing programs that lead to registered nurse licensure.
Selden said the company’s graduates will fill about 5% of the annual nursing supply-demand gap, which she estimated at 200,000 open nursing positions per year over the next decade. She said hospital systems continue to report that bedside nursing positions are among the hardest to fill.
A key element of the 2029 plan is increasing utilization at existing nursing campuses through an initiative Selden called “Fill the Back Row.” She said existing campuses can educate an additional 6,000 students over the next four years. With each nursing student generating about $20,000 of annual revenue, she said that capacity could represent about $120 million of incremental revenue.
Asked by William Blair analyst Stephen Sheldon about execution risks tied to increasing utilization, Selden said the company needs to ensure it has enough faculty and clinical placements while also retaining students through their programs.
“Getting out ahead of that enrollment growth is really about making sure we have sufficient faculty staffing and the clinicals,” Selden said.
New Campuses Part of Long-Term Plan
Selden said American Public Education plans to open eight nursing campuses over the four-year period. One campus in Orlando has already opened for education in the current quarter, and a second, in Detroit, has been announced. She said the company expects to open six additional campuses over the next three years.
Selden said new campuses are important to future growth but will not be the largest contributor to the 2029 revenue target because they take time to ramp. She said a campus typically requires about $3.5 million of investment, takes about 18 months to reach breakeven and can achieve a full run rate and 35% EBITDA margins within four years.
For 2029, Selden said Military+ is expected to reach $405 million to $420 million of revenue, while Health+ is expected to reach $485 million to $505 million. She said the Health+ segment is expected to move from single-digit EBITDA contribution in 2025 to 18% to 20% EBITDA margins by 2029, driven largely by higher utilization at existing campuses.
About American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI)
American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.
APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.
