American Public Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning in the United States. It operates through three segments: American Public University System, Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. The company offers 182 degree programs and 136 certificate programs in various fields of study, including nursing, national security, military studies, intelligence, homeland …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
ROIC Sustainably Above PeersROIC at 67.6th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
Strong Liquidity BufferLiquidity position is strong (score 0.82), providing operational cushion.
Key risks
Volatile Margins Suggest CyclicalityMargin volatility is high (stability score 0.37), suggesting cyclical exposure or competitive pressure.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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American Public Education, Inc. ranks #16 of 42
scored companies in Education & Training Services by moat score — the top 38%.
The widest moat in the group is Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE)
at 83/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near APEI in Education & Training Services
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 56
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 54
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 60
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 69
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 59
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
What is American Public Education, Inc.'s moat score?
American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) scores 58 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #16 of 42 scored companies in Education & Training Services, the top 38%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 41 companies in Education & Training Services. Its strongest defense is Resilience (69/100) and its weakest is Pricing Power (49/100).
How does American Public Education, Inc. compare with other Education & Training Services companies?
American Public Education, Inc. ranks #16 of 42 scored companies in Education & Training Services by moat score. The widest moat in Education & Training Services is Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE) at 82/100. The companies ranked closest are Lincoln Educational Services Co (LINC) at 60 just above it and Graham Holdings Company (GHC) at 57 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 41 companies in Education & Training Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is American Public Education, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for American Public Education, Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and APEI scores: Pricing Power (49), Cost Advantage (56), Customer Stickiness (54), Capital Efficiency (60), Resilience (69), Scale & Market Position (59). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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