v3.26.1
Segment Reporting
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Segment Reporting Segment Reporting
Strategic Education is an educational services company that provides access to high-quality education through campus-based and online post-secondary education offerings, as well as through programs to develop job-ready skills for high-demand markets. Strategic Education’s portfolio of companies is dedicated to closing the skills gap by placing adults on the most direct path between learning and employment. The Company’s organizational structure includes three operating and reportable segments: U.S. Higher Education, Education Technology Services, and Australia/New Zealand.
The USHE segment provides flexible and affordable certificate and degree programs to working adults primarily through Capella University and Strayer University, including the Jack Welch Management Institute MBA, which is an offering of Strayer University. USHE also operates non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain, which are offerings of Strayer University.
The ETS segment primarily develops and maintains relationships with employers to build employee education benefits programs that provide employees access to affordable and industry-relevant training, certificate, and degree programs. The employer relationships developed by the ETS segment are an important source of student enrollment for Capella University and Strayer University, and a significant portion of the revenue attributed to the ETS segment is driven by the volume of enrollment derived from these employer relationships. ETS also supports employer partners through Workforce Edge, a platform which provides employers a full-service education benefits administration solution, and Sophia Learning, which offers low-cost online general education-level courses recommended by the American Council on Education for credit at other colleges and universities.
The ANZ segment is comprised of Torrens University, Think Education, and Media Design School at Strayer (“MDS”) in Australia and New Zealand, which collectively offer certificate and degree programs in business, design, education, hospitality, healthcare, and technology through campuses in Australia, New Zealand, and online.
The Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”) is the Chief Executive Officer.
Revenue and operating expenses are generally directly attributable to the segments. Inter-segment revenues are not presented separately, as these amounts are immaterial. The Company’s CODM does not evaluate operating segments using asset information. The Company’s CODM assesses the segments’ performance by using each segment’s income from operations, which includes certain enterprise shared services allocations attributable to each of the segments. The Company’s CODM uses income from operations for each segment in the annual budget and forecasting process. On a monthly basis, the CODM reviews budget-to-actual, latest forecast-to-actual, and year-over-year actual variances when reviewing segment performance and making decisions about the allocation of resources to each segment.
A summary of financial information by reportable segment for the three months ended June 30, 2025 is presented in the following table (in thousands):
 U.S. Higher EducationAustralia/New ZealandEducation Technology ServicesTotal
Revenues$215,635 $69,144 $36,692 $321,471 
Segment expenses
Direct segment expenses179,840 50,873 19,949 250,662 
Enterprise shared services allocation15,036 5,515 1,715 22,266 
Segment income from operations$20,759 $12,756 $15,028 $48,543 
Unallocated expenses
Restructuring costs(2,783)
Consolidated income from operations$45,760 
Other expense(315)
Consolidated income before income taxes$45,445 
A summary of financial information by reportable segment for the three months ended June 30, 2026 is presented in the following table (in thousands):
 U.S. Higher Education
Australia/New Zealand(1)
Education Technology ServicesTotal
Revenues$220,526 $74,384 $42,354 $337,264 
Segment expenses
Direct segment expenses174,122 67,834 20,883 262,839 
Enterprise shared services allocation14,029 5,548 1,903 21,480 
Segment income from operations$32,375 $1,002 $19,568 $52,945 
Unallocated expenses
Restructuring costs(2,465)
Consolidated income from operations$50,480 
Other income1,351 
Consolidated income before income taxes$51,831 
________________________________________
(1)Australia/New Zealand direct segment expenses and segment income from operations for the three months ended June 30, 2026 include a $13.9 million charge related to a casual academic employee back-pay reserve. Refer to Note 16 for additional information on the reserve.
A summary of financial information by reportable segment for the six months ended June 30, 2025 is presented in the following table (in thousands):
 U.S. Higher EducationAustralia/New ZealandEducation Technology ServicesTotal
Revenues$436,643 $117,404 $71,014 $625,061 
Segment expenses
Direct segment expenses355,378 96,124 38,757 490,259 
Enterprise shared services allocation30,550 10,620 3,381 44,551 
Segment income from operations$50,715 $10,660 $28,876 $90,251 
Unallocated expenses
Restructuring costs(4,697)
Consolidated income from operations$85,554 
Other income1,896 
Consolidated income before income taxes$87,450 
A summary of financial information by reportable segment for the six months ended June 30, 2026 is presented in the following table (in thousands):
 U.S. Higher Education
Australia/New Zealand(1)
Education Technology ServicesTotal
Revenues$433,117 $126,204 $83,871 $643,192 
Segment expenses
Direct segment expenses345,741 116,150 40,591 502,482 
Enterprise shared services allocation29,499 11,059 4,020 44,578 
Segment income (loss) from operations$57,877 $(1,005)$39,260 $96,132 
Unallocated expenses
Restructuring costs(4,567)
Consolidated income from operations$91,565 
Other income2,556 
Consolidated income before income taxes$94,121 
________________________________________
(1)Australia/New Zealand direct segment expenses and segment loss from operations for the six months ended June 30, 2026 include a $13.9 million charge related to a casual academic employee back-pay reserve. Refer to Note 16 for additional information on the reserve.
The following table presents a schedule of significant non-cash items included in segment income (loss) from operations by reportable segment for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2026 (in thousands):
For the three months ended June 30,
For the six months ended June 30,
2025202620252026
Depreciation and amortization
U.S. Higher Education$7,625 $7,204 $15,250 $14,319 
Australia/New Zealand2,486 2,208 4,824 4,423 
Education Technology Services1,239 1,494 2,353 2,918 
Restructuring costs653 289 771 461 
Consolidated depreciation and amortization$12,003 $11,195 $23,198 $22,121 
Stock-based compensation
U.S. Higher Education$4,655 $4,630 $9,035 $9,234 
Australia/New Zealand407 (453)762 (212)
Education Technology Services753 696 1,382 1,141 
Restructuring costs41 — 148 96 
Consolidated stock-based compensation$5,856 $4,873 $11,327 $10,259