DeVry to purchase Caribbean medical school - tech briefs - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, May 8, 2003 by Ronald Roach

OAKBROOK TERRACE, ILL.

Business and technology education provider DeVry Inc. has announced that it will buy Ross University for $310 million in cash, in a bid to enter the medicine and health sciences education market. Ross, based in Dominica and St. Kitts-Nevis in the Caribbean, has more than 2,500 medicine and veterinary students, the company said.

Students of Ross University are almost all citizens or permanent residents of the United States and are eligible for financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Ross' curricula follow the models used in U.S. medical and veterinary schools

"We are very excited about the opportunities that this key acquisition presents for DeVry. The acquisition of Ross University gives the company entry into an attractive and growing sector of the higher education market--medicine and health sciences," says Dennis J. Keller, DeVry Inc. chairman and co-chief executive officer.

The university currently employs 90 permanent faculty members, recruited primarily from U.S. medical and veterinary schools. Ross graduates include over 4,500 practicing physicians and veterinarians in the United States.

For the year ending Dec. 31, 2002, Ross had revenues of $62 million. DeVry officials said the acquisition will add to its earnings immediately and have a positive impact on operating margins and cash flow.