Adtalem Global Education Counters Safkhet Capital Report

Adtalem Global Education, Inc. (NYSE: ATGE) responds to claims in a report released on January 30 from Safkhet Capital.

“The report contains numerous factual errors, demonstrates a poor understanding of our industry as well as rudimentary transaction accounting, and is a reckless attempt to defame the nation’s largest healthcare educator,” said Adtalem President and CEO Steve Beard.

Safkhet Capital’s inability to accurately state even the most basic facts undermines the credibility of the report and its purported premise. By way of example, the chairperson of Adtalem’s Board of Directors is Michael Malafronte (2022 – present), not former Chairperson Lisa Wardell, a fact plainly visible on Adtalem’s website. Additionally, erroneous figures are referenced for enrollment and graduation rates when accurate data is freely available from publicly accessible, U.S. government sources as well as from Adtalem’s own disclosures.

The Safkhet Capital report also stated, “for-profits produce disastrously substandard results with most students unable to graduate, and even those who do face high levels of underemployment and higher levels of indebtedness.” We do not know where Safkhet Capital found data to support these assertions and, as it pertains to Adtalem, these claims are categorically false. Adtalem is proud to produce more nursing and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) graduates than any institution in the U.S., award more medical and research doctoral degrees to African Americans than any other U.S. institution, and to have achieved 98% first-time residency attainment for graduates of our medical schools last year.

Errors and gross misrepresentations of the nature described above are too numerous in the Safkhet Capital report to warrant a complete recounting, but they illustrate the flimsiness of the research. As for many of the claims made by Safkhet Capital — they are misleading, incomplete, and factually inaccurate.

Because of Adtalem’s systemically important role in delivering practice-ready clinicians to the U.S. healthcare system, we feel compelled to correct some of the more egregious errors in the report.

1. Safkhet Capital Assertion: Adtalem should impair its $1.48 billion acquisition of Walden.

Fact: Recognizing intangible assets and goodwill in conjunction with an acquisition is common; goodwill alone represents nearly half of the aggregate transaction value of U.S. corporate mergers and acquisitions¹. As a 100% online institution with relatively few physical assets, a significant portion of the Walden acquisition was recognized as intangible assets and goodwill on our balance sheet. These assets are tested for impairment annually, and are audited by our external audit firm. The most recent test was completed in May 2023 and did not identify any impairment. Walden’s growth and financial trajectory has improved significantly since May 2023, further substantiating the value of these assets.