What is American Public Education's HCN — refund liability?

American Public Education (APEI) reported HCN — refund liability of $0 in Q4 2025.

What does HCN — refund liability mean?

The estimated financial obligation to students for tuition or fees that may be returned due to withdrawals or program cancellations. This represents a potential liquidity outflow and a measure of student retention risk.

American Public Education APEI HCN — Refund liability

Similar metrics at other companies

NWN

NWNOther - NW Holdings — Contract with customer, refund liability

$0—

BKDIncrease (Decrease) In Refundable Fees And Contract With Customers, Liability

-$433K-109%

OGEContract Liabilities and Refund Liability

$55.3M+3,587%

SCICustomer Refund Liability Noncurrent

$34.25M-3.1%

EXELContract Liabilities and Refund Liability

$65.89M+13.9%

LKQContract Liabilities and Refund Liability

$126M+0.8%

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$174.7M+6.2%

Gross profit$100.1M+11.7%

Operating income$21.6M+76.7%

Net income$17.7M+99.4%

EPS (diluted)$0.94+129%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$221.0M+17.9%

Total debt$153.5M-22.8%

Total equity$306.2M-1.2%

Total assets$537.9M-7.0%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$63.3M+71.1%

CapEx$2.5M-35.2%

Free cash flow$60.8M+83.6%

Valuation

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Market cap$956.25M+82.7%

Enterprise value$888.71M+66.7%

P/E23.7×+0.9×

P/S1.5×+0.6×

Profitability

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Gross margin55%+2.0pp

Operating margin8.7%+2.4pp

Net margin6.1%+2.5pp

FCF margin9.4%—

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity13.1%+5.4pp

Debt / equity0.5×-0.1×

Current ratio3×-0.3×

Where this comes from

Reported directly by American Public Education in its filing.

Tagged under the XBRL concept us-gaap:ContractWithCustomerRefundLiability.

The official record: American Public Education’s 10-K, filed March 12, 2026, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

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What is American Public Education's HCN — refund liability?: American Public Education (APEI) reported HCN — refund liability of $0 in Q4 2025.
What does HCN — refund liability mean?: The estimated financial obligation to students for tuition or fees that may be returned due to withdrawals or program cancellations. This represents a potential liquidity outflow and a measure of student retention risk.