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McGraw Hill is an American learning 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.[2][3] McGraw Hill also publishes reference and trade publications for the medical, business, and engineering professions. Formerly a division of The McGraw Hill Companies (later renamed McGraw Hill Financial, now S&P Global), McGraw Hill Education was divested and acquired by Apollo Global Management in March 2013 for $2.4 billion in cash.[4][5][6][7][8] McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.[9]
 The branded McGraw Hill logo as of 2020[update] | |
| Founded | 1888 |
|---|---|
| Founder | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Key people | Simon Allen |
| Publication types | Adaptive learning technology, educational software, e-books, apps, platform services, curriculum, and books |
| Revenue |  $1.72 billion (2017) |
| Owner(s) | Platinum Equity |
| No. of employees | 3,900 (2020)[1] |
| Official website | mheducation |
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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.[10]
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.[10] 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.[11]
In 1946, McGraw-Hill founded an international division of the company.[10] 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.[12]
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.[13]
In 1988, Harold McGraw became chairman emeritus of McGraw Hill.[10]
In 1989, McGraw-Hill formed a joint partnership with Robert Maxwell, forming second largest textbook publisher in the United States.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] The site closed on April 29, 2012.[citation needed]
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.[17] This deal was approved by the FTC on October 31[18] and the FCC on November 29.[19] The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.[20]
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.[21] On March 22, 2013, McGraw Hill Education announced it had completed the sale and the proceeds were for $2.4 billion in cash.[22] In 2012, McGraw Hill acquired Redbird Learning[23] and in 2013, McGraw Hill acquired ALEKS.[24] In 2014, McGraw Hill Education India partnered with GreyCampus to promote Online Learning Courses among University Grants Commission- National eligibility Test Aspirants.[25] In 2014, McGraw Hill acquired Engrade. On June 30, 2015, McGraw-Hill Education announced that Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) had agreed to acquire "key assets" of the CTB/McGraw-Hill assessment business.[26] 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 (Ryerson Press) to Canadian educational publisher Nelson.[27] In 2018, McGraw-Hill launches textbook rental program, adding to affordable options available for college students.[28] On January 17, 2019, McGraw Hill Education announced Reveal Math and Inspire Science, new curricula for K–12.[29]
On May 1, 2019, McGraw-Hill Education announced an agreement to merge with Cengage. The merged company was expected to retain McGraw Hill as the corporate name.[30][31] The merger was called off on May 1, 2020.[32] 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.[9]
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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 acquisition | Company acquired | Industry |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Newton Falls Paper Company[33] | Producer of paper |
| 1928 | A.W. Shaw Company[33] | Publisher of magazines and textbooks |
| 1950s | Gregg Company[33] | Publisher of vocational textbooks |
| 1953 | Companies of Warren C Platts, including Platts[33][34] | Publisher of petroleum industry information |
| 1954 | Blakiston, from Doubleday[35] | Publisher of medical textbooks |
| 1961 | F.W. Dodge Corporation[36] | Publisher of construction industry information |
| 1965 | California Test Bureau[33] | Developer of educational testing systems |
| 1966 | Standard & Poor's[36] | Financial Services |
| Shepard's Citations[37] | Legal publisher | |
| 1968 | National Radio Institute | Correspondence School |
| 1970 | The Ryerson Press | Educational and trade publishing |
| 1972 | Television Stations of Time Life Broadcasting[36] | Broadcasting |
| 1979 | Osborne Books | Educational and trade publishing |
| 1986 | The Economy Company | Educational publishing |
| 1988 | Random House Schools and Colleges[38] | Educational publishing |
| 1993 | Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company including Glencoe, SRA, and former Laidlaw publications[39][40] | Educational publishing |
| 1996 | Times Mirror Higher Education including William C Brown, Richard D Irwin, Irwin Professional, Mosby College and Brown & Benchmark [41] | Educational publishing |
| 1997 | Micropal Group Limited[42] | Financial Services |
| 1999 | Appleton & Lange from Pearson[43] | Publisher of medical information |
| 2000 | Tribune Education, including NTC/Contemporary, Everyday Learning/Creative, Instructional Fair, Landoll, The Wright Group. American Education Publishing, Meeks Heit & Peter Bedrick Books[44] | Publisher of supplementary educational materials |
| Mayfield Publishing Company[45] | Publisher of humanities and social science textbooks | |
| 2002 | Open University Press | University press – academic publications |
| 2005 | J.D. Power & Associates[46] | Marketing information provider |
| 2013 | Key Curriculum[47] | Math technology firm |
| ALEKS[48] | Adaptive learning firm | |
| 2014 | Area9 Aps[49] | Adaptive learning firm |
| Engrade[50] | Learning management system | |
| 2016 | Redbird Advanced Learning, formerly Education Program for Gifted Youth[51] | Adaptive learning firm |
| 2021 | Kidaptive[52] | Adaptive learning firm |
| Triad Interactive[53] | Educational software firm | |
| Achieve3000[54] | Educational software firm |
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- John A. Hill (1909–1917)
- James H. McGraw (1917–1928)
- Johnathan Heflin (1928–1948)
- James McGraw Jr. (1948–1950)
- Curtis W. McGraw (1950–1953)
- Donald C. McGraw (1953–1968)
- Shelton Fisher (1968–1974)
- Harold McGraw Jr. (1974–1983)
- Joseph Dionne (1983–1998)
- Harold W. McGraw III (1998–2013)
- Buzz Waterhouse (2013–2014)
- David Levin (2014–2017)
- Buzz Waterhouse (2017–2018)
- Nana Banerjee (2018–2019)
- Simon Allen (2019–)
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.[55] 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.[55]
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".[56] McGraw Hill issued an apology, updated the digital version of the materials, and offered schools replacement texts at no charge.[57] It has been linked to broader controversies about texts at the Texas Education Agency.[58]
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McGraw Hill has been accused of using online access codes included with texts to prevent students from reselling used books.[59] During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many students were studying remotely, McGraw Hill was accused of price gouging, in charging several times more for ebooks than for print texts.[60]
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