McGraw-Hill Reports Continued Strong Growth in its Digital Offerings in Early 2020

NEW YORK (May 8, 2020) – McGraw-Hill reported strong preliminary fiscal Q4 and 2020 results today with double-digit growth in digital billings and a greater than 50% increase in Inclusive Access billings.

The expansion of Inclusive Access, which delivers course materials to students by the first day of class at discounted rates (up to 70% off the retail cost of print textbooks) is in place on more than 1,100 college campuses and is a key component of McGraw-Hill’s Affordability and Outcomes program. The Affordability & Outcomes initiatives, including Inclusive Access, textbook rental and loose-leaf print options, have saved students more than $200 million since the beginning of 2018.

Overall, billings for McGraw-Hill’s Higher Education Group in January through March 2020 were up more than 13 percent compared to the same period in 2019 with billings from digital products up more than 18 percent.

The successful quarter was also marked by a surge in demand from schools and colleges for help transitioning instruction online after the COVID-19 outbreak. McGraw-Hill responded in a number of ways:

• In higher education, the company provided free access, training and support for McGraw-Hill Connect® and ALEKS® digital learning platforms, responding to 7,000 instructors at 1,500 institutions serving more than 100,000 students.
• In K-12, the company provided free online resources to support remote learning for schools, educators, parents and students, assigning 130,000 new students seats across its digital platforms. It also offered free digital access to its 5 Steps to a 5 AP test prep materials with more than 30,000 accounts set up.
• For professionals, McGraw-Hill offered free support and trials of its Access medical, engineering and science solutions to assist with distance learning and built a "COVID-19 Central" news site that provides information, developments and analysis on the virus from McGraw-Hill’s medical experts.
• Internationally, the company offered free access and worldwide support across its digital platforms, responding to over 5000 customer support requests for access to courseware. Through the UAE Ministry of Education alone, the company provided 360,000 students with online resources.

"March and April were incredibly stressful times for educators and school and college leaders around the world," said Simon Allen, CEO of McGraw-Hill. "In the weeks that followed school and campus closures, we shifted our attention entirely to helping our customers transition online. With our learning science-backed digital solutions and deep relationships with educators, we’re in a unique position to help address their challenges and support successful student learning going into the summer, the fall and beyond."

As the demand for online learning tools grows, McGraw-Hill has continued to invest in its digital platforms to remain a leader in the industry. So far in 2020, the company has announced cutting edge new writing assignment technology and a Virtual Labs product for its higher ed digital platform Connect, as well as a partnership with Proctorio to bring remote proctoring and browser locking capabilities to its courseware. Use of McGraw-Hill Connect and ALEKS have both continued to expand with 5.2 million unique student users of ALEKS across K-12 and higher ed and more than 4 million activations of Connect in higher education in fiscal 2020.

Going forward, the company will continue to focus on creating the world-class content it is known for, providing best-in-class digital platforms for learners and educators, and operating efficiently and effectively.