Capella Education Company Receives 2012 Jefferson Award for Corporate Philanthropy

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Capella Education Company a provider of online post-secondary education through its wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, has been named a honoree for the 2012 Jefferson Awards for its corporate philanthropic efforts. Capella will be honored at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's 5^th-annual Celebrate Giving event on Nov. 29 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

“We are proud to be recognized as an honoree of the Jefferson Award,” said Kevin Gilligan, Chief Executive Officer of Capella. “This recognition is a reflection of the generous and giving spirit of the Capella community.”

Capella was selected as an honoree for its volunteer contributions in several employee-led campaigns. The annual Together for Good employee giving campaign - benefiting the United Way, Community Health Charities of Minnesota, and the American Heart Association - raised the most money in the history of Capella, totaling $219,150.55. The Capella Community Connection (C3) is an employee-led volunteer initiative that organizes and plans volunteer activities that supports the community, and provides a means for Capella employees to be involved. A few of the organizations include: the power lunch elementary school reading program Everybody Wins! MN, and the Jeremiah Program, which helps single mothers and their children break the cycle of generational poverty.

One of the 12 honorees will be chosen at the event as the national winner and will be invited to the national award ceremonies in Washington D.C.

Other Jefferson Award honorees include: KARE 11, Deluxe Corp., and Carlson.

About Capella Education Company

Founded in 1991, Capella Education Company is a leader in online education, primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, a regionally accredited online university*. In addition, Capella Education Company offers online education through Resource Development International Ltd. (RDI), an independent provider of United Kingdom (UK) university distance learning qualifications; and owns Sophia, a first-of-its-kind social education platform that offers students many ways to learn by making free, credible, academic content available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

Capella University offers online graduate degree programs in business, counseling, education, health administration, homeland security, human resource management, human services, information technology, nonprofit management and leadership, nursing, psychology, public administration, public health, public safety, and social work; and bachelor's degree programs in business, information technology, nursing, psychology, and public safety. These academic programs are designed to meet the needs of working adults, combining high quality, competency-based curricula with the convenience and flexibility of an online learning format. Currently, Capella University offers 148 graduate and undergraduate specializations and 22 certificate programs. Nearly 35,000 learners were enrolled as of Sept. 30, 2012. For more information about Capella Education Company, please visit http://www.capellaeducation.com. For more information about Capella University, please visit http://www.capella.edu or call 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552).

* Capella University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), www.ncahlc.org.
Capella University, Capella Tower, 225 South Sixth Street, Ninth Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402, 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552), www.capella.edu.