Thomson Prometric, the Baltimore-based educational testing company that was once part of the former Sylvan Learning Systems, has been sold again - this time to Educational Testing Service, administrator of the SAT, for $435 million.
ETS is Prometric's largest customer, a partnership that began nearly 20 years ago, ETS officials said yesterday. Prometric delivers the TOEFL, GRE and Praxis teaching licensing exams for the Princeton, N.J.-based educational assessment and research company.
Once the sale is completed, expected in the third quarter pending regulatory approval, Prometric will become a for-profit subsidiary of nonprofit ETS. Prometric's operations and management will remain in Baltimore, ETS chief executive Kurt Landgraf said yesterday. Prometric had $317 million in revenue last year, according to ETS.
Prometric has 3,000 employees worldwide, including 400 in Baltimore. ETS officials don't expect any changes to the work force.
"Prometric is one of our most important delivery channels, so it's an extension of what we've been doing for a long time," Landgraf said. He added that Prometric will expand ETS' international presence in delivering technology-based testing and assessment services.
Prometric develops and delivers paper-and-pencil, Internet and computer-based assessment services through testing centers in 132 countries.
"ETS really seems to be filling out their suite of assessment products and services," said Nicole Engelbert, a senior education analyst at research firm Datamonitor. "They have their high-stakes and promotional exams at the K-12 level, college entrance exams and college-level achievement-type tests."
"Prometric adds an additional component to their full suite," Engelbert said.
The marketplace is growing for testing and assessment services for occupational licensing and certification as well as education, particularly standardized testing related to the No Child Left Behind Act, said Thomas Toch, co-director of Education Sector, a Washington think tank. Last year, the competitive U.S. education testing industry - which encompasses kindergarten-through-12th grade to college-entrance assessments, testing and preparation services - was valued at $2.3 billion, Toch said.
ETS, traditionally known for administering college admissions and other specialty tests, has been aggressively pursuing business related to the No Child legislation in recent years, Toch said. Prometric's online expertise "could provide valuable leverage in the NCLB market," he said.
