Better Health for All

Strategic Education, Inc. offers substantial health benefits through its educational programs, particularly via Capella University, which provides CE-accredited healthcare skills pathways and an MSN in Nursing Education.

These programs equip healthcare staff with up-to-date skills to enhance patient care, address social determinants of health, and improve health equity. More than 700 healthcare organizations partner with Capella University for tuition savings for their employees. The company reported 5 OSHA recordable injuries for employees in 2024, with no illnesses or fatalities for employees or contractors. The U.S. is projected to have a shortage of nearly 700,000 critical healthcare workers by 2037, and 66% of rural counties are Health Professional Shortage Areas. The company's programs aim to address these shortages, with 63% of healthcare employees agreeing they would be more likely to stay with their employer if tuition support were provided. However, only 47% of employers use tuition assistance as a retention strategy, and only 39% of employees use available education benefits. Less than one-third of healthcare employees feel valued or loyal to their employer, and only 1 in 5 feel their employer is invested in their long-term career success. Healthcare professionals who feel valued are 40% less likely to experience burnout, but burnout remains high. Employers identify AI skills training as a top priority (92%), but 60% find it difficult to find resources for this training. The company's educational offerings contribute to addressing the healthcare workforce shortage and improving professional development, which can indirectly impact mental health by reducing burnout.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Strategic Education, Inc. serves a significant portion of minority students, with approximately 58% of its US Higher Education (USHE) students self-reporting as minorities in Fall 2023.

The company's core business is education, not financial services, leading to several KPIs being scored as not applicable. However, the company does interact with student financing. For fair lending compliance, Strayer University's 3-year cohort default rate was 8.6% in 2018 and 2.2% in 2019, while Capella University's rates were 5.2% in 2018 and 1.1% in 2019. These rates are below the national average for proprietary institutions (11.2% in 2018, 3.1% in 2019). The company also provides entrance and exit counseling for federal student loans and engages third parties for repayment counseling. Regarding financial literacy, the company offers entrance and exit counseling and third-party counseling for repayment obligations, but there is no evidence of broader, structured financial literacy programs with outcome tracking. The company's debt burden ratio is impacted by federal regulations requiring programs to meet a debt-to-earnings ratio of less than or equal to 8% of annual earnings or 20% of discretionary earnings. For geographic inclusion, while Strayer University serves students in all 50 states and 39 foreign countries online, ANZ campuses are located in central business districts of major cities, not specifically targeting banking deserts or underserved rural areas.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

For 2024, Strategic Education, Inc.'s CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 88:1.

The CEO's total compensation was $5,487,873, while the median employee pay was $62,861.

Honest & Fair Business

Strategic Education, Inc. has a formal whistleblower policy with multiple reporting channels, including an ethics hotline administered by a third party that permits anonymous reports.

Protection from retaliation is explicitly stated, and the Code of Business Conduct, which includes the policy, is disseminated to all covered persons and included in new hire and periodic employee training. The company has a Code of Business Conduct that commits to honest and ethical business practices, explicitly addressing anti-corruption, including compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act, and prohibiting bribery and kickbacks. The company's Statement of Corporate Governance Principles requires a minimum of 2/3 independent directors on the board, as per NASDAQ and SEC requirements. The ethics hotline is administered by a third party.

No War, No Weapons

Strategic Education is committed to respecting the basic rights per the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, as stated in a September 2020 update.

However, the provided evidence does not detail the extent of implementation across divisions or external assurance of compliance, nor does it mention performance metrics being published.

Planet-Friendly Business

No specific, quantifiable data points were found across the provided articles for any of the Planet-Friendly Business KPIs.

Information regarding environmental initiatives, such as recycling efforts or green building certifications, was not presented in a format that allowed for direct mapping to the quantitative thresholds of the rubric (e.g., total waste for diversion rate, total facilities for percentage certified, or total energy consumption for renewable energy share). Therefore, no KPIs could be scored.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Capella University, a subsidiary, has been a member of the Minnesota Keystone Program since 2019, committing to donate at least 2% of its pretax earnings to the community.

The company's policy outlines that 20% of its community investment budget is allocated for spontaneous community requests. Torrens University, another subsidiary, provided AUD$89 million in scholarships across 2020 and 2021. Torrens University also offers scholarships for First Nations students. The company's policy states that receipt of community donation requests will be acknowledged in writing with an expected response timeline, and applicants will be responded to in a reasonable amount of time. Employees and contractors are made aware of the company's commitment to strategic community investment and sustainable development, and how this affects stakeholder engagement requirements and inclusion in operational decision-making. There are no reported cultural appropriation incidents.

Safe & Smart Tech

No specific data relevant to Strategic Education, Inc. (STRA.US) or its performance against Safe & Smart Tech metrics was found in the provided articles.

The articles discuss general cybersecurity topics or provide information about subsidiaries (Strayer University, Capella University) without detailing the parent company's practices in data protection, cybersecurity, or AI ethics.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

The company has implemented several waste reduction initiatives, including reducing its overall real estate by more than 10% at the end of 2024 compared to the square footage occupied at the end of 2022.

It also offers 100% online instruction at Capella University and a majority online at Strayer University, with much of its workforce accustomed to remote work, which reduces the physical footprint. Additionally, the company operates recycling programs in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, including a national contract for on-site paper shredding and recycling, securely recycling approximately 50 U.S. short tons of paper between January 2021 and December 2022, and another 8 and 7 U.S. short tons in 2023 and 2024, respectively.