Education: 2024 M&A Deal Roundup and Trends to Watch for in 2025 (L.E.K. Consulting)

Summary

• Disclosed transaction value in North America reached $20.4B in 2024, representing a growth of 209.3% compared to 2023.p.7
• Total deal volume in North America stabilized and increased slightly to 380 deals in 2024 from 357 deals in 2023.p.11
• Private equity deal count in North America grew at a CAGR of 19.9% from 2020 to 2024, compared to 2.7% for corporate buyers.p.13
• The U.S. higher education tech-enabled services and software market size reached $25B-$30B in 2024.p.37
• K-12 school districts allocated ~28% of COVID-19 relief ESSER funds to instructional support between 2020 and 2024.p.49

Key insights

1. Private equity firms increased their share of education deals in 2024 due to the sector's recession resilience and tech transformation potential.p.5
2. North American employers expect 35%-38% of workers' core skills to be disrupted by 2030, making reskilling a top priority.p.19
3. Undergraduate fall enrollment at four-year private for-profit institutions grew at an annual rate of 5.7% from 2022 to 2024.p.31
4. Software applications account for 65%-75% of total spend in the U.S. higher education solutions market, while services represent 25%-35%.p.37
5. About 93% of K-12 school districts have adopted at least one technology solution to monitor student safety and well-being.p.47
6. Cybersecurity ranked as the top technology priority among K-12 districts from 2022 through 2024, while budget constraints remained the top challenge.p.57
7. The education sector accounted for ~$3.5B out of an estimated ~$154B global spend on AI-centric systems in 2023.p.62