Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Revenue

v3.21.2
Revenue
6 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2021
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue RevenueRevenue consists primarily of tuition and fees derived from courses taught by the Company online as well as from related educational resources that the Company provides to its students, such as access to our online materials and learning management system. The Company’s educational programs have starting and ending dates that differ from its fiscal quarters. Therefore, at the end of each fiscal quarter, a portion of revenue from these programs is not yet earned and is therefore deferred. The Company also charges students fees for library and technology costs, which are recognized over the related service period and are not considered separate performance obligations. Other services, books, and exam fees are recognized as services are provided or when goods are received by the student. The Company’s contract liabilities are reported as deferred revenue and due to students. Deferred revenue represents the amount of tuition, fees, and other student payments received in excess of the portion recognized as revenue and it is included in current liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
The following table represents our revenue disaggregated by the nature and timing of services:
Three Months Ended
October 31,
Six Months Ended
October 31,
  2021 2020 2021 2020
Tuition - recognized over period of instruction
$ 16,632,114  $ 14,974,682  $ 33,753,794  $ 28,341,990 
Course fees - recognized over period of instruction
1,982,771  1,786,364  3,986,111  3,386,057 
Book fees - recognized at a point in time
15,018  46,037  42,777  85,175 
Exam fees - recognized at a point in time
194,371  78,900  390,413  149,555 
Service fees - recognized at a point in time
115,937  85,062  198,111  173,830 
  $ 18,940,211  $ 16,971,045  $ 38,371,206  $ 32,136,607 
Contract Balances and Performance Obligations
The Company recognizes deferred revenue as a student participates in a course which continues past the consolidated balance sheet date.
The deferred revenue balance as of April 30, 2021 was $6,825,014. During the six months ended October 31, 2021, the Company recognized $5,407,735 of revenue that was included in the deferred revenue balance as of April 30, 2021.
When the Company begins providing the performance obligation by beginning instruction in a course, a contract receivable is created, resulting in accounts receivable. The Company accounts for receivables in accordance with ASC 310, Receivables. The Company uses the portfolio approach.
Cash Receipts
Our students finance costs through a variety of funding sources, including, among others, monthly payment plans, installment plans, federal loan and grant programs (Title IV), employer reimbursement, and various veterans and military funding and grants, and cash payments. Most students elect to use our monthly payment plan. This plan allows them to make continuous monthly payments during the length of their program and through the length of their payment plan. Title IV and military funding typically arrives during the period of instruction. Students who receive reimbursement from employers typically do so after completion of a course. Students who choose to pay cash for a class typically do so before beginning the class.
Significant Judgments
We analyze revenue recognition on a portfolio approach under ASC 606-10-10-4. Significant judgment is utilized in determining the appropriate portfolios to assess for meeting the criteria to recognize revenue under ASC Topic 606. We have determined that all of our students can be grouped into one portfolio. Students behave similarly, regardless of their payment method. Enrollment agreements and refund policies are similar for all of our students. We do not expect that revenue earned for the portfolio is significantly different as compared to revenue that would be earned if we were to assess each student contract separately.
The Company maintains institutional tuition refund policies, which provides for all or a portion of tuition to be refunded if a student withdraws during stated refund periods. Certain states in which students reside impose separate, mandatory refund policies, which override the Company’s policy to the extent in conflict. If a student withdraws at a time when a portion or none of the tuition is refundable, then in accordance with its revenue recognition policy, the Company recognizes as revenue the tuition that was not refunded. Since the Company recognizes revenue pro-rata over the term of the course and because, under its institutional refund policy, the amount subject to refund is never greater than the amount of the revenue that has been deferred, under the Company’s accounting policies revenue is not recognized with respect to amounts that could potentially be refunded.
The Company had revenue from students outside the United States totaling approximately 1% of consolidated revenue for each of the three and six months ended October 31, 2021 and 2020