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Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Nature of Operations and Liquidity

v3.2.0.727
Nature of Operations and Liquidity
12 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2015
Nature of Operations and Liquidity [Abstract]  
Nature of Operations and Liquidity

Note 1. Nature of Operations and Liquidity


Overview


Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ. (together with its subsidiary, the “Company” or “Aspen”) is a holding company. Its subsidiary Aspen University Inc. was founded in Colorado in 1987 as the International School of Information Management. On September 30, 2004, it changed its name to Aspen University Inc. (“Aspen University”).  On March 13, 2012, the Company was recapitalized in a reverse merger. All references to the Company or Aspen before March 13, 2012 are to Aspen University.


On April 5, 2013, the Company gave 120-day notice to CLS 123, LLC of its intent to terminate the agreement between the Company and CLS 123, LLC dated November 9, 2011. Moreover, at the end of the 120-day period, the Company no longer offered the “Certificate in Information Technology with a specialization in Smart Home Integration” program. Accordingly, the activities related to CLS (or the “Smart Home Integration Certificate” program) are treated as discontinued operations. As this component of the business was not sold, there was no gain or loss on the disposition of this component (see below “Discontinued Operations”).


Aspen's mission is to offer any motivated college-worthy student the opportunity to receive a high quality, responsibly priced distance-learning education for the purpose of achieving sustainable economic and social benefits for themselves and their families. Aspen is dedicated to providing the highest quality education experiences taught by top-tier professors - 60% of our adjunct professors hold doctorate degrees.


Because we believe higher education should be a catalyst to our students' long-term economic success, we exert financial prudence by offering affordable tuition that is one of the greatest values in online higher education. Early in 2014, Aspen University unveiled a monthly payment plan aimed at reversing the college-debt sentence plaguing working-class Americans.


On November 10, 2014, Aspen University announced the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (“CCNE”) has granted accreditation to its Bachelor of Science in Nursing program (RN to BSN) until December 31, 2019.


Since 1993, we have been nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Accrediting Council (“DEAC”), a national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (the “DOE”).  On February 25, 2015, the DEAC informed Aspen University that it had renewed its accreditation for five years to January, 2019.


 

Discontinued Operations


As of March 31, 2013, the Company decided to discontinue business activities related to its “Certificate in Information Technology with a specialization in Smart Home Integration” program so that it may focus on growing its full-time, degree-seeking student programs, which have higher gross margins. On April 5, 2013, the Company gave 120-day notice to CLS 123, LLC of its intent to terminate the agreement between the Company and CLS 123, LLC dated November 9, 2011. Thus, as of August 3, 2013, the Company is no longer offering the “Certificate in Information Technology with a specialization in Smart Home Integration” program. The termination of the “Smart Home Integration Certificate” program qualifies as a discontinued operation and accordingly the Company has excluded results for this component from its continuing operations in the consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented. The following table shows the results of the “Smart Home Integration Certificate” program component included in the income (loss) from discontinued operations:


For the Year Ended

 

April 30,

 
   

2015

   

2014 

 

 

 

 

 
                         

Revenues

                  $     $ 549,125  
                                 

Costs and expenses:

                               

Instructional costs and services

                          494,213  

General and administrative

                          (29,751 )

Total costs and expenses

                          464,462  
                                 

Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes

                  $     $ 84,663  


The major classes of assets and liabilities of discontinued operations on the balance sheet are as follows:

  

April 30,

2015

2014 

 

 

 

 

 

Assets

   

Cash and cash equivalents

  $     $  

Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $486,781, and $481,531, respectively

          5,250  

Other current assets

           

Net assets from discontinued operations

  $     $ 5,250  
                 

Liabilities

               

Accounts payable

  $     $  

Accrued expenses

           

Deferred revenue

           

Net liabilities from discontinued operations

  $     $  


Liquidity


At April 30, 2015, the Company had a cash balance of approximately $3.3 million which includes $1.1 million of restricted cash. In April 2015, the Company offered a warrant conversion, through which the Company issued 14,636,582 shares, raising $2,268,670. In fiscal 2015, the Company completed an equity financing of $5,547,826. With the additional cash raised in the financing, the growth in the Company revenues and improving operating margins, the Company believes that it has sufficient cash to allow the Company to implement its long-term business plan.