The 11 USD students formed four teams to analyze four different publicly traded for-profit education firms, Capella University, DeVry University, ITT Education Services and Strayer Education, the winner of the competition. Students on the Strayer Education team were senior accounting major Rebecca Duncan of Brandon, S.D., Logan Nord of Harrisburg, S.D., a sophomore economics major, and Aaron Steele, a sophomore finance major from Vermillion. They received a prize of $1,500 while second place in the competition (and $1,000 in prize money) was awarded to ITT Educational Services, which included M.B.A. student Tyler Stewart of Sioux City, Iowa, and Nicholas Gates of Mitchell, S.D., who graduated with his M.B.A. from USD last summer. Third place Capella University researchers Alex C. Johnson, a senior finance major from Spencer, Iowa, Aaron Oestmann, a senior finance major from Rapid City, S.D., and junior finance major Howard Schmidt of Loveland, Colo., received $500. Brandon Flynn, Matthew Hicks and Joseph Jares, all senior finance majors from Sioux Falls, S.D., finished in fourth place and received $250 for their analysis of DeVry University.

The competition, which began with a kickoff event in February, also included a 10-page research report and a 20-minute presentation, and it was judged by Glen Herrick, senior vice president, Corporate Finance and Treasury at Wells Fargo, Jason Engman, C.F.A., assistant vice president at Wells Fargo, and Jarrod Edelen, C.F.A., a small/midcap portfolio manager at the South Dakota Investment Council. The research presentations, all open to the public, were held on the morning of April 13 at Beacom Hall on the USD campus.

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