From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson (Part 7)

SM: What is the percentage of students who take courses in residence versus distance learning?

BR: It is an 80/20 ratio, with 20% of our students coming from Arizona and 80% coming from elsewhere.

SM: Do you also have international enrollees?

BR: We do have international students, and they are included in the 80%.

SM: What percentage of students are international?

BR: Around 3%.

SM: Given that your strategy is also to use the traditional nature of the school, one of the draws for your new CEO, does that imply that your profitability will have to take a hit?

BR: No. The incoming team invented half of the stuff that goes on in the online industry. They have seen it all and they continue to innovate on that side. They continue to feel, as I do, that two things can happen on the traditional side. One is that the university can be a drag on earnings with only 1,200 students. At 2,500 to 2,800 students we break even, and at 4,000 we can start to make a small profit.

The other thing I have not mentioned is that if we have 4,000 students, we would add approximately 100 to 125 new professors. Our goal is to continue to ratchet up the requirements on the ground in terms of academics and continue to hire top-flight faculty by being able to offer them stock options. We want to continue to raise the credibility of the university in that aspect. A lot of academics want a traditional university that they can tie to.

SM: Your emphasis on the traditional university will continue to give you the ability to recruit higher quality faculty?

BR: Yes. We want them to do writing, but we will never be a research institution. We are a teaching institution. We want to raise the profile of the traditional campus by raising the requirements of the traditional students to get in and also the requirements of the faculty who teach there. We want high quality faculty who are published and who are experts in different areas. We feel that will let us drive content, out of it which will help us recruit students not only in our traditional programs but in our online programs as well.

SM: You hired Ken Blanchard, who is also a noted author.

BR: He is an Ivy League guy from Cornell. I don’t know that everybody will be in his mold, but we are hoping to get high-profile professors who have expertise and can come and teach at Grand Canyon University. Not all will be authors, but we are trying to get a blend.

SM: Is there anything I should have asked that I didn’t?

BR: I don’t think so. You are very thorough!

SM: This is a good story. Congratulations and best of luck going forward.

This segment is part 7 in the series : From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson
1 2 3 4 5 6 7