McGraw Hill is an American publishing company for educational content, software, and services for
pre-K through
postgraduate education. It is one of the "big three" educational publishers along with
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and
Pearson Education.[2][3] McGraw Hill also publishes reference and
trade publications for the medical, business, and engineering professions. Formerly a division of The McGraw Hill Companies (later renamed McGraw Hill Financial, now
S&P Global), McGraw Hill Education was divested and acquired by
Apollo Global Management in March 2013 for $2.4 billion in cash.[4][5][6][7][8] McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to
Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.[9]
Corporate history
McGraw Hill was founded in 1888, when
James H. McGraw, co-founder of McGraw Hill, 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, had also produced several technical and trade publications and in 1902 formed his own business, The Hill Publishing Company.[10]
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.[10] 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.[11]
In 1946, McGraw-Hill founded an international division of the company.[10] 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.[12]
In 1979, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company purchased
Byte from its owner/publisher
Virginia Williamson, 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.[13]
In 1988, Harold McGraw became chairman emeritus of McGraw Hill.[10]
In 1989, McGraw-Hill formed a joint partnership with
Robert Maxwell, forming second largest textbook publisher in the United States.[14] McGraw-Hill took full ownership of the venture in 1993.
In 2004, The McGraw-Hill Companies sold its children's publishing unit to School Specialty.[15] In 2007, The McGraw-Hill Companies launched an online student study network,
GradeGuru.com. This offering gave McGraw-Hill an opportunity to connect directly with its end users, the students. It allowed students to share notes and materials for cash or gift cards in return.[16] The site closed on April 29, 2012.[citation needed]
On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing all seven television stations owned by
The McGraw-Hill Companies' 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.[17] This deal was approved by the
FTC on October 31[18] and the
FCC on November 29.[19] The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.[20]
On November 26, 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies announced it was selling its entire education division to
Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion.[21] On March 22, 2013, McGraw Hill Education announced it had completed the sale and the proceeds were for $2.4 billion in cash.[22] In 2012, McGraw Hill acquired Redbird Learning[23] and in 2013, McGraw Hill acquired
ALEKS.[24] In 2014, McGraw Hill Education India partnered with GreyCampus to promote
Online Learning Courses among
University Grants Commission- National eligibility Test Aspirants.[25]
In 2014, McGraw Hill acquired
Engrade.
On June 30, 2015, McGraw-Hill Education announced that Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) had agreed to acquire "key assets" of the
CTB/McGraw-Hill assessment business.[26] In 2016, McGraw Hill acquired
Everyday Mathematics. In 2017, McGraw Hill acquired My Math.
On May 11, 2017, McGraw-Hill Education announced the sale of the business holdings of McGraw-Hill Ryerson (
Ryerson Press) to Canadian educational publisher Nelson.[27] In 2018, McGraw-Hill launches textbook rental program, adding to affordable options available for college students.[28]
On January 17, 2019, McGraw Hill Education announced Reveal Math and Inspire Science, new curricula for
K–12.[29]
On May 1, 2019, McGraw-Hill Education announced an agreement to merge with
Cengage. The merged company was expected to retain McGraw Hill as the corporate name.[30][31] The merger was called off on May 1, 2020.[32] In 2019, McGraw Hill acquired
Core-Plus Mathematics Project. In 2020, McGraw Hill became a distributor for Illustrative Mathematics. In 2021, McGraw Hill acquired
Kidaptive.
McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.[9]
Acquisitions
The McGraw Hill Companies expanded significantly through acquisition, including financial services and broadcasting. Many acquisitions continued with McGraw Hill after their acquisition by Apollo Global Management in 2013.
In 1980, McGraw Hill paid the African American writer and civil rights activist
James Baldwin a $200,000 advance for his unfinished book Remember This House, a memoir of his personal recollections of civil rights leaders
Medgar Evers,
Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King Jr.[55] Following his death, McGraw Hill sued his estate to recover the advance they had paid him for the unfinished book. The lawsuit was dropped by McGraw Hill in 1990, citing a desire not to cause distress to Baldwin's family.[55]
In October 2015, McGraw-Hill Education was accused of
whitewashing history after it published a caption in a geography textbook referring to
American slaves as "workers".[56] McGraw Hill issued an apology, updated the digital version of the materials, and offered schools replacement texts at no charge.[57] It has been linked to broader controversies about texts at the
Texas Education Agency.[58]
Pricing
McGraw Hill has been accused of using online access codes included with texts to prevent students from reselling used books.[59] During the
COVID-19 pandemic, when many students were studying remotely, McGraw Hill was accused of
price gouging, in charging several times more for
ebooks than for print texts.[60]
Works
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (December 2023)
^Mcafee, Melonyce (October 4, 2015).
"McGraw-Hill to rewrite textbook after mom's complaint".
CNN.
Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2015. Texas has been a battleground in the fight over changes to textbooks that some say concede too much ground to conservative viewpoints on subjects such as climate change, religious liberty and slavery.