· ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Profiles of For-Profit Education Management Organizations 2004-2005 Seventh-Annual Report by Alex Molnar, David Garcia, Carolyn Sullivan, Brendan McEvoy and Jamie Joanou Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU) Education Policy Studies Laboratory College of Education Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Box 872411 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287-2411 April 2005 EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES LABORATORY EPSL | Commercialism in Education Research Unit EPSL-0504-101-CERU http://edpolicylab.org Education Policy Studies Laboratory Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies College of Education, Arizona State University P.O. Box 872411, Tempe, AZ 85287-2411 Telephone: (480) 965-1886 Fax: (480) 965-0303 E-mail:
[email protected] http://edpolicylab.org Profiles of For-Profit Education Management Organizations 2004-2005 Introduction In 2004-2005 the education management industry continued its decade-long expansion. More students were enrolled in schools managed by Education Management Organizations (EMOs) in 2004-2005 than at any time since the Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU) and the Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) began tracking the industry in 1998-1999.1 The term EMO, originally coined by Wall Street analysts to describe the for-profit companies involved in the management and administration of public schools, is intended to reflect similarities between such companies and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).2 For the purposes of this report, a company is considered an EMO if it is for-profit, manages a school that receives public funds, and operates under the same admissions rules as regular public schools. This year’s Profiles of For-Profit Education Management Organizations is the largest to date, listing 59 companies that manage 535 schools, enrolling approximately 239,766 students in 24 states and the District of Columbia.