McGraw Hill Education


McGraw Hill, Inc. is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, digital learning tools, and adaptive technology to enhance learning experiences and outcomes. It is one of the "big three" educational publishers along with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Pearson Education. McGraw Hill also publishes reference and trade publications for the medical, business, and engineering professions. Formerly a division of The McGraw Hill Companies, McGraw Hill Education was divested and acquired by Apollo Global Management in March 2013 for $2.4 billion in cash. McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.

History

McGraw Hill was founded in 1888, when James H. McGraw, co-founder of McGraw Hill, purchased the American Journal of Railway Appliances. He continued to add further publications, eventually establishing The McGraw Publishing Company in 1899. His co-founder, John A. Hill, had also produced several technical and trade publications and in 1902 formed his own business, The Hill Publishing Company.
In 1909, the two co-founders formed an alliance and combined the book departments of their publishing companies into an incorporated company called The McGraw-Hill Book Company. John Hill served as president, with James McGraw as vice-president. The remaining parts of each business were merged into The McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc in 1917.
In 1946, McGraw-Hill founded an international division of the company. It acquired Contemporary Films in 1972 and CRM in 1975. McGraw-Hill combined its films in the CRM division in 1978. McGraw-Hill sold CRM in 1987.
In 1979, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company purchased Byte from its owner/publisher Virginia Williamson, who then became a vice-president of McGraw-Hill. In 1986, McGraw-Hill bought out competitor The Economy Company, then the nation's largest publisher of educational material. The buyout made McGraw-Hill the largest educational publisher in the U.S.
In 1988, Harold McGraw became chairman emeritus of McGraw Hill. In 1988, Random House sold its school and college textbook divisions to McGraw-Hill.
In 1989, McGraw-Hill formed a joint partnership with Robert Maxwell, forming the second largest textbook publisher in the United States. McGraw-Hill took full ownership of the venture in 1993.
In 2004, The McGraw-Hill Companies sold its children's publishing unit to School Specialty. In 2007, The McGraw-Hill Companies launched an online student study network, GradeGuru.com. This offering gave McGraw-Hill an opportunity to connect directly with its end users, the students. It allowed students to share notes and materials for cash or gift cards in return. The site closed in April 2012.
On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing all seven television stations owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies' broadcasting division McGraw-Hill Broadcasting for $212 million; the sale is a result of McGraw-Hill's decision to exit the broadcasting industry to focus on its other core properties, including its publishing unit. This deal was approved by the FTC on October 31 and the FCC on November 29. The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.
On November 26, 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies announced that it was selling its entire education division to Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion. On March 22, 2013, McGraw Hill Education announced it had completed the sale and the proceeds were for $2.4 billion in cash. In 2012, McGraw Hill acquired Redbird Learning and in 2013, McGraw Hill acquired ALEKS. In 2014, McGraw Hill Education India partnered with GreyCampus to promote Online Learning Courses among University Grants Commission- National eligibility Test Aspirants.
In 2014, McGraw Hill acquired Engrade. On June 30, 2015, McGraw-Hill Education announced that Data Recognition Corporation had agreed to acquire "key assets" of the CTB/McGraw-Hill assessment business. In 2016, McGraw Hill acquired Everyday Mathematics. In 2017, McGraw Hill acquired My Math.
On May 11, 2017, McGraw-Hill Education announced the sale of the business holdings of McGraw-Hill Ryerson to Canadian educational publisher Nelson. In 2018, McGraw-Hill launches textbook rental program, adding to affordable options available for college students. On January 17, 2019, McGraw Hill Education announced Reveal Math and Inspire Science, new curricula for K–12.
On May 1, 2019, McGraw-Hill Education announced an agreement to merge with Cengage Group. The merged company was expected to retain McGraw Hill as the corporate name. The merger was called off on May 1, 2020. In 2019, McGraw Hill acquired Core-Plus Mathematics Project. In 2020, McGraw Hill became a distributor for Illustrative Mathematics. In 2021, McGraw Hill acquired Kidaptive.
McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.

Acquisitions

The McGraw Hill Companies expanded significantly through acquisition, including financial services and broadcasting. Many acquisitions continued with McGraw Hill after their acquisition by Apollo Global Management in 2013.
Date of acquisitionCompany acquiredIndustry
1920Newton Falls Paper CompanyProducer of paper
1928A.W. Shaw CompanyPublisher of magazines and textbooks
1950sGregg CompanyPublisher of vocational textbooks
1953Companies of Warren C Platts, including PlattsPublisher of petroleum industry information
1954Blakiston, from DoubledayPublisher of medical textbooks
1961F.W. Dodge CorporationPublisher of construction industry information
1965California Test BureauDeveloper of educational testing systems
1966Standard & Poor'sFinancial Services
1966Shepard's CitationsLegal publisher
1968National Radio InstituteCorrespondence School
1970The Ryerson PressEducational and trade publishing
1972Television Stations of Time Life BroadcastingBroadcasting
1979Osborne BooksEducational and trade publishing
1986The Economy CompanyEducational publishing
1988Random House Schools and CollegesEducational publishing
1993Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company including Glencoe, SRA, and former Laidlaw publicationsEducational publishing
1996Times Mirror Higher Education including William C Brown, Richard D Irwin, Irwin Professional, Mosby College and Brown & BenchmarkEducational publishing
1997Micropal Group LimitedFinancial Services
1999Appleton & Lange from PearsonPublisher of medical information
2000Tribune Education, including NTC/Contemporary, Everyday Learning/Creative, Instructional Fair, Landoll, The Wright Group. American Education Publishing, Meeks Heit & Peter Bedrick BooksPublisher of supplementary educational materials
2000Mayfield Publishing CompanyPublisher of humanities and social science textbooks
2002Open University PressUniversity press – academic publications
2005J.D. Power & AssociatesMarketing information provider
2013Key CurriculumMath technology firm
2013ALEKSAdaptive learning firm
2014Area9 ApsAdaptive learning firm
2014EngradeLearning management system
2016Redbird Advanced Learning, formerly Education Program for Gifted YouthAdaptive learning firm
2021KidaptiveAdaptive learning firm
2021Triad InteractiveEducational software firm
2021Achieve3000Educational software firm
2022Boards & BeyondMedical education platform

Presidents

  • John A. Hill
  • James H. McGraw
  • Johnathan Heflin
  • James McGraw Jr.
  • Curtis W. McGraw
  • Donald C. McGraw
  • Shelton Fisher
  • Harold McGraw Jr.
  • Joseph Dionne
  • Harold W. McGraw III
  • Buzz Waterhouse
  • David Levin
  • Buzz Waterhouse
  • Nana Banerjee
  • Simon Allen

    Controversies

In 1980, McGraw Hill paid the African American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin a $200,000 advance for his unfinished book Remember This House, a memoir of his personal recollections of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Following his death, McGraw Hill sued his estate to recover the advance they had paid him for the unfinished book. The lawsuit was dropped by McGraw Hill in 1990, citing a desire not to cause distress to Baldwin's family.
In October 2015, McGraw-Hill Education was accused of whitewashing history after it published a caption in a geography textbook referring to American slaves as "workers". McGraw Hill issued an apology, updated the digital version of the materials, and offered schools replacement texts at no charge. It has been linked to broader controversies about texts at the Texas Education Agency.