McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for
pre-K
Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool o ...
through
postgraduate education
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
. The company also publishes reference and
trade publications
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for thi ...
for the medical, business, and engineering professions. McGraw Hill operates in 28 countries, has about 4,000 employees globally, and offers products and services to about 140 countries in about 60 languages. Formerly a division of The McGraw Hill Companies (later renamed McGraw Hill Financial, now
S&P Global
S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...
), 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
Platinum Equity, LLC is an American private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
History
Platinum Equity was founded in 199 ...
for $4.5 billion.
Corporate History
McGraw Hill was founded in 1888 when
James H. McGraw James Herbert McGraw (December 17, 1860 in Harmony, New York
Harmony is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,108 at the 2020 census. The town is on the south border of the county and southwest of Jamestown.
...
, co-founder of the company, 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
John Alexander Hill (February 22, 1858 – January 24, 1916) was a co-founder of the McGraw-Hill Book Company, the predecessor corporation of today's McGraw Hill Financial and McGraw-Hill Education. He was born in Sandgate, Vermont on Feb. 2 ...
, had also produced several technical and trade publications and in 1902 formed his own business, The Hill Publishing Company.
[https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/mcgraw-hill-inc ]
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 Virginia Williamson (also Virginia Londner Green and Virginia Peschke) was the co-founder, owner and publisher of ''Byte'' magazine. She founded the magazine in 1975 together with her ex-husband, Wayne Green the founder/publisher of the amateur rad ...
, 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 the company.
In 1989, McGraw-Hill formed a joint partnership with
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...
, forming America's second largest textbook publisher.
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
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referen ...
.com. This offering gave McGraw-Hill an opportunity to connect directly with its end users, the students. The site closed on April 29, 2012.
In 2008, the company acquired Reveal Math. On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing all seven television stations owned by
The McGraw-Hill Companies
S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...
' 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
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
on November 29. The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.
On November 26, 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies announced 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, the company acquired Redbird Learning and in 2013, the company acquired
ALEKS
ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) is an online tutoring and assessment program that includes course material in mathematics, chemistry, introductory statistics, and business.
Rather than being based on numerical test scores, ...
. In 2014, McGraw Hill Education India partnered with GreyCampus to promote
Online Learning
Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...
Courses among
University Grants Commission- National eligibility Test Aspirants.
On June 30, 2015, McGraw-Hill Education announced that Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) had agreed to acquire "key assets" of the
CTB/McGraw-Hill
DRC/CTB (CTB) was a publisher of educational assessment for the early learner, K–12, and adult basic education markets. DRC/CTB was a division of Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) until being fully merged into DRC's Educational Services divisi ...
assessment business.
In 2016, the company acquired
Everyday Mathematics
''Everyday Mathematics'' is a pre-K and elementary school mathematics curriculum, developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (not to be confused with the University of Chicago School of Mathematics). The program, now pub ...
. In 2017, the company acquired My Math.
On May 11, 2017, McGraw-Hill Education announced the sale of the business holdings of McGraw-Hill Ryerson (
Ryerson Press
Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970.Janet B. Friskney"The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint" Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of t ...
) to Canadian educational publisher Nelson.
On May 1, 2019, McGraw-Hill Education announced an agreement to merge with
Cengage
Cengage Group is an American educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education, K-12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world.(Jun 27, 2014Global Publishing Leaders ...
. The merged company was expected to retain McGraw Hill as the corporate name. The merger was called off on 1 May 2020. In 2019, the company acquired
Core-Plus Mathematics Project
Core-Plus Mathematics is a high school mathematics program consisting of a four-year series of print and digital student textbooks and supporting materials for teachers, developed by the Core-Plus Mathematics Project (CPMP) at Western Michigan Un ...
. In 2020, the company became a distributor for Illustrative Mathematics.
McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.
Corporate organization
Operating segments of McGraw Hill include:
* McGraw Hill PreK–12, which develops curriculum and content for
early childhood education
Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivale ...
,
K-12 learners, and
adult education
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...
.
* McGraw Hill Higher Ed, which focuses on
post-secondary
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
education.
* McGraw Hill Global Professional, focused on
post-graduate
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
and professional learners globally.
* McGraw Hill International, which focuses on learners and institutions outside of the United States.
McGraw Hill is also established in Asia, Australia, Canada, (as McGraw-Hill Ryerson) Europe, India, and
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
(as McGraw-Hill Interamericana). In 2013, McGraw-Hill Education acquired the entirety of shares in Tata McGraw-Hill Education Private Limited, the company's long-existing joint venture with Tata Group in India. The company is now known as McGraw-Hill in India as well.
Acquisitions
During the course of its history, the McGraw Hill Companies expanded significantly through acquisition, not just within the publishing industry but also into other areas such as financial services (the purchase of
Standard & Poor's
S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...
in 1966) and broadcasting (the 1972 acquisition of
Time-Life Broadcasting). Many of these acquisitions stayed with McGraw Hill after their acquisition by Apollo Global Management in 2013.
Presidents
* John A. Hill (1909-1917)
*
James H. McGraw James Herbert McGraw (December 17, 1860 in Harmony, New York
Harmony is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,108 at the 2020 census. The town is on the south border of the county and southwest of Jamestown.
...
(1917–1928)
* Johnathan Heflin (1928–1948)
* James McGraw Jr. (1948–1950)
* Curtis W. McGraw (1950–1953)
*
Donald C. McGraw
Donald Cushing McGraw (21 May 1897 - 7 February 1974) was an American President of McGraw-Hill from 1953 to 1966. During his time as president, he expanded the company beyond publishing and acquired three industry reference sources: Standard & Poor ...
(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)
* Dr. Nana Banerjee (2018–2019)
* Simon Allen (2019-)
Controversies
In 1980, McGraw-Hill paid the African American writer and civil rights activist
James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...
a $200,000 advance for his unfinished book ''Remember This House'', a memoir of his personal recollections of civil rights leaders
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...
,
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
and
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
["McGraw-Hill Drops Baldwin Suit"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', May 19, 1990. Following his death, the company sued his estate to recover the advance they had paid him for the unfinished book. The lawsuit was dropped by the company 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
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sla ...
as "
workers
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...
". The company quickly apologized, 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
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States. .
See also
*
*
Books in the United States
*
Discovery Education
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chann ...
*
Google for Education
Google for Education is a service from Google that provides independently customizable versions of several Google products using a domain name provided by the customer. It features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditiona ...
*
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...
*
Pearson Education
Pearson Education is a British-owned education publishing and assessment service to schools and corporations, as well for students directly. Pearson owns educational media brands including Addison–Wesley, Peachpit, Prentice Hall, eCollege, ...
*
S&P Global
S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...
*
Scholastic Corporation
Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...
References
Further reading
* Roger Burlingame, ''Endless Frontiers: The Story of McGraw-Hill'', New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959.
External links
No More Pencils, No More Books , SlateMcGraw Hill says digital sales beat print for the first time , Chicago Sun Times
{{Authority control
2013 mergers and acquisitions
American companies established in 1888
Apollo Global Management companies
Education companies established in 1888
Educational publishing companies
Educational publishing companies of the United States
Gerald Loeb Special Award winners
Publishing companies based in New York City
Publishing companies established in 1888
Textbook publishing companies