Strayer Education, Inc. Under Investor Investigation

An investigation on behalf of investors in Strayer Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) concerning possible federal securities laws by issuing false and misleading statements to its shareholders was announced.

Strayer Education, Inc., located in Arlington, VA, is a post-secondary education services corporation. Strayer Education offers a range of academic programs through its wholly owned subsidiary Strayer University, Inc., both in classroom courses and online via the Internet.

On August 4, 2010, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee conducted a hearing on for-profit education firms, where Government Accountability Office representative, George Kutz, presented the findings of report GAO-10-948T, "For-Profit Colleges: Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged Fraud in Deceptive and Questionable Marketing Practices." The report detailed undercover investigations into 15 for-profit schools that uncovered misconduct by school staff. According to this GAO study, the college personnel at schools may have encouraged applicants to falsify their financial aid forms to qualify for federal aid and pressured applicants to sign a contract for enrollment prior to allowing them to speak to a financial advisor. The investigation by a law firm on behalf of investors in STRA shares concerns whether also Strayer Education has violated federal securities laws by issuing false and misleading statements to its shareholder in connection with the report by the U. S. Government Accountability Office.

Strayer Educations’ revenue almost doubled within the past four years. Strayer Education reported in 2006 Total Revenue of $263.65million, in 2007 $318.01million, in 2007 $396.27million, and in 2009 $511.96million. Its Net Income went from $52.31million in 2006 to $105.08 in 2009.

Shares of Strayer Education, Inc. (STRA) traded in 2006 closely above $100 and doubled within the past four years to over $250 per share in April and June 2010. But STRA shares lost substantially in value in the beginning of 2009 from almost $230 per share in January to under $160 per share in March 2009. Eventually STRA shares regained value to its current 52weekHigh of $262.44 per share before substantially in the past weeks. Alone from closing on Friday August 13, 2010 to closing on Monday August 16, 2010 STRA shares lost almost $40 per share. STRA shares recently traded at more than $100 below its 52weekHigh or at $155.65 per share.