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eCollege.com (ECLG)
ECollege may be a little company with barely 500 employees, but the Chicago-based outfit has become the big man on campus when it comes to distance learning. Its special advantage is housing under one roof all the software, hardware, and services to make online learning a snap. This one-stop shop has helped it to make eCollege, founded in 1999, the source of choice for high schools and colleges in need of services to educate students wherever they reside. With demand high, eCollege's revenues are surging, reaching $102.9 million in 2005, up threefold from 2003's $36.9 million. Operating income soared over the same span to $13.5 million from just $1.7 million. But beware: The effect of a tax credit that buoyed after-tax earnings in 2004 has run out, causing net income to plunge 70%, from $19.4 million to $5.9 million in 2005.
Company Info |
|
| 2005 Rank | NR |
| Market Value* ($ Millions) | 468.8 |
| Sales* ($ Millions) | 106.5 |
| Sales Growth (3-yr. avg. annual) |
69.7 % |
| Profits* ($ Millions) | 6.4 |
| Profit Growth (3-yr. avg. annual) | 223.1 % |
| Return on Inv. Capital (3-yr.) | 8.5 % |
| Share Price 12-Mo. Hi/Lo | 22/9 |
| Share Price As of 4/28/06 | 21 |
| Return on Equity | 6.6 % |
| P/E Ratio | 73 |
| No. of Employees | 519 |
| Industry | Internet Software & Services |
| CURRENT MARKET INFO | ECLG > |
| COMPANY WEB SITE > | |
| Location | Chicago |
| Phone | 312 706-1710 |
*Trailing 12 months
Stock price data as of 4/28/06
DATA: Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
eCollege.com provides outsource value added information services to the post-secondary education industry. It operates in two segments, eLearning and Enrollment. The eLearning segment offers eCourse that includes applications for managing courses, outlining assignments, facilitating class discussions, conducting lectures, testing, grading, and interacting with and among students; and eCompanion, which offers the functions of eCourse and provides tools to create an interactive online component to supplement on-campus courses. This segment provides Content Manager to manage, standardize, and reuse content across programs, courses, sections, and other applications; Gateway Campus and CampusPortal that offer community, academic, and administrative functions; and Program Management and Reporting for term and course administration and user management, and activity usage and enrollment reports that analyze student data to help customers manage their online programs. It offers Evaluation Solutions that automate the course and instructor evaluation process; and Program Intelligence Manager to identify and act on key drivers affecting student satisfaction, course and program quality, course completion, and student retention rates. This segment also provides help desk, course development and support, instructional design consulting and training, content solutions, and technical consulting services, as well as provides hosting, Internet connectivity, and product advancement infrastructure. The Enrollment segment provides direct mail, interactive marketing, media placement, student retention, custom research, admissions training, and admissions shopper services. The company serves for-profit education companies and post-secondary schools, public and private universities, community colleges, career commuter colleges, state departments of education, and K-12 school districts in the U.S. and Canada. eCollege was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Chicago.
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