Penn Foster College

Online Education & Workforce Credentialingpennfostercollege.edu

Penn Foster is a privately held, multi-divisional online education platform serving 133,000+ active students through 100+ accredited career diploma, associate degree, bachelor's degree, and high school programs delivered via self-paced asynchronous learning across healthcare, skilled trades, business, veterinary, and other verticals.

Company typePrivate
Founded-
HeadquartersChandler, United States
Headcount—
GTM typeB2B and B2C
OfferingServices

What Penn Foster College does

Penn Foster is a privately held, multi-divisional online education platform headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, operating three accredited divisions: Penn Foster Career School (vocational career diplomas, based in Scranton, Pennsylvania), Penn Foster College (associate and bachelor's degrees, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona), and Penn Foster High School (accredited high school diploma, based in Nashville, Tennessee). The company serves over 133,000 active students through more than 100 self-paced, fully online programs spanning 13+ subject areas including automotive, business (22 programs), healthcare (19 programs), skilled trades (17-18 programs), veterinary (AVMA-accredited), criminal justice, design, computers and electronics, child care, fitness, and travel and hospitality. The platform delivers asynchronous educational content through a proprietary learning management system, with graduates earning industry-recognized certificates, career diplomas, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and high school diplomas depending on program pathway.

The business model is a direct-to-consumer, subscription-style recurring tuition structure billed monthly, with select programs starting at $20. The company employs a hybrid go-to-market combining self-service online enrollment through pennfoster.edu and enroll.pennfoster.edu with inside sales phone support (1-800-275-4410, 9AM-10PM ET). A B2B channel through partners.pennfoster.edu serves employer-sponsored workforce development partnerships. Marketing is conducted across a multi-channel digital footprint including content marketing (blog), organic social (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok), email, and organizational partnerships. Three wholly-owned subsidiary brands—Ashworth College, New York Institute of Art & Design, and New York Institute of Photography—extend the product line into adjacent education verticals while retaining their original brand identities. Multiple institutional accreditations (DEAC, Middle States Association, COGNIA) plus the AVMA-accredited veterinary technician credential constitute the regulatory backbone of the business.

Penn Foster College firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Penn Foster College
Legal name: Penn Foster
Website: https://pennfostercollege.edu
Company type: Private
Operating status: Operating
Short description: Penn Foster is a privately held, multi-divisional online education platform serving 133,000+ active students through 100+ accredited career diploma, associate degree, bachelor's degree, and high school programs delivered via self-paced asynchronous learning across healthcare, skilled trades, business, veterinary, and other verticals.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Penn Foster College industry classification

Industry

Product category: Online Education & Workforce Credentialing
NAICS: Junior Colleges (6112), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Educational Services (61)
SIC: Services-Educational Services (8200)
akta.pro primary industry: Online Community Colleges (2-Year, Degree/Transfer) (EDAHALAC)
akta.pro secondary industry: Online Credit Recovery & Alternative Pathways (Virtual) (EDAJADAF)

Keywords

Online education
Distance learning
Career diplomas
Vocational training
Associate degrees

Where Penn Foster College is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Chandler
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

Penn Foster College business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B and B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

Tuition and Program Fees: Students pay tuition on a monthly or program basis to access Penn Foster's online courses and credential programs. The revenue model is subscription/recurring in nature as students pay over time for ongoing access to educational content and credential preparation.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Monthly	Select programs available starting at $20

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Penn Foster College product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Penn Foster College is an online education provider that sells self-paced, fully-online career diplomas, undergraduate certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees across 13+ career-focused subject areas such as healthcare, business, skilled trades, automotive, veterinary, criminal justice, computers & electronics, design, child care, fitness, and travel/hospitality. It also operates Penn Foster High School, which sells an accredited online high school diploma, and delivers all programs through a web-based learning platform accessible to students 24/7.

Product overview

Penn Foster is a multi-divisional online education platform offering flexible, self-paced programs through three sub-brands: Penn Foster Career School (vocational career diplomas), Penn Foster College (associate and bachelor's degrees), and Penn Foster High School (high school diploma). The platform provides over 100 accredited online programs across 13 major subject areas including Healthcare (19 programs with AVMA-accredited vet tech), Business (22 programs), Skilled Trades (17-18 programs), Veterinary (8 programs), Automotive, Criminal Justice, Design, Computers & Electronics, Child Care & Education, Fitness & Nutrition, and Travel & Hospitality. Programs range from career diplomas and certificates to undergraduate degrees, designed for career preparation, skill advancement, and academic completion with flexible online delivery and military benefits available.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Ashworth College: Online education programs division
New York Institute of Art & Design
New York Institute of Photography

Companies that use Penn Foster College

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Penn Foster College technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Penn Foster College partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Penn Foster College competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Southern New Hampshire University: Large non-profit online university offering associate, bachelor's, and graduate degrees with a strong focus on adult learners, directly competing with Penn Foster College for the same working-adult, flexible-education market segment.
Western Governors University: Non-profit, competency-based online university serving adult learners with affordable tuition and self-paced programs, competing head-to-head with Penn Foster in career-focused online degrees and certificates.
University of Phoenix: For-profit online university with a similarly broad catalog of associate, bachelor's, and graduate programs aimed at working adults; directly comparable business model and target customer to Penn Foster.
Ashworth College: Online for-profit career diploma and degree provider that is itself a wholly-owned Penn Foster subsidiary, representing the same operational platform targeting a closely adjacent learner base.
Purdue University Global: For-profit online university (formerly Kaplan University) offering career-focused associate and bachelor's degrees to working adults, sharing Penn Foster's emphasis on workforce-aligned, self-paced online credentials.
Rasmussen University: For-profit institution offering online and on-campus programs in healthcare, business, and skilled trades with strong workforce alignment; closely comparable catalog and target audience to Penn Foster.
Walden University: For-profit online university focused on working adults pursuing graduate and undergraduate degrees, overlapping with Penn Foster in the online, adult-learner, career-advancement segment.
Colorado Technical University: For-profit online university offering associate, bachelor's, and graduate degrees with a career-oriented curriculum for adult learners, comparable to Penn Foster's flexible online degree model.

Broad incumbents

Grand Canyon University: Large for-profit university with a significant online division offering associate through doctoral programs, operating a broader portfolio than Penn Foster but overlapping heavily in adult-learner online degrees.
Liberty University Online: Non-profit university with a large online program serving adult learners across associate, bachelor's, and graduate levels; competes with Penn Foster in the flexible, distance-education adult-learner market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Penn Foster College compliance and trust

Trust signal

Compliance4 records

Penn Foster College financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Penn Foster College leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Penn Foster College subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries3 records

Penn Foster College funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Penn Foster College M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Penn Foster College

What does Penn Foster College do?

Is Penn Foster College a public or private company?

Penn Foster College is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.

When was Penn Foster College founded?

Penn Foster College was founded in -1.

Where is Penn Foster College based?

Penn Foster College is headquartered in Chandler, United States, in the North America region.

How does Penn Foster College make money?

One revenue line is on record: tuition and Program Fees.

Who are Penn Foster College's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Southern New Hampshire University, Western Governors University, University of Phoenix, Ashworth College, Purdue University Global, Rasmussen University, Walden University and Colorado Technical University. Broad incumbents are Grand Canyon University and Liberty University Online.

Does Penn Foster College have an API?

No public API is recorded for Penn Foster College.

What industry is Penn Foster College in?

Penn Foster College's product category is Online Education & Workforce Credentialing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHALAC, Online Community Colleges (2-Year, Degree/Transfer), with a secondary code of EDAJADAF, Online Credit Recovery & Alternative Pathways (Virtual). Its NAICS code is 6112 and its SIC code is 8200.