DeVry (ticker: DV, exchange: New York Stock Exchange) News Release - 3/19/2003
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DeVry Inc. to Acquire Leading Medical and Veterinary School

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill., Mar 19, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ --
Acquisition Expands Education Platform Into Medicine and Health Sciences

DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV), an international higher education company, announced today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ross University, the operator of Ross University School of Medicine and Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. Ross University is one of the world's largest providers of medical and veterinary education with more than 2,500 students enrolled.
Ross University's medical and veterinary campuses are located in the Caribbean countries of Dominica and St. Kitts/Nevis. Students of Ross University are almost all citizens or permanent residents of the United States, who are eligible for financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Ross' curricula follow the models used in U.S. medical and veterinary schools.

While pursuing their doctor of medicine (M.D.) or doctor of veterinary medicine (D.V.M.) degrees, students complete their basic science curricula at Ross campuses, and complete their clinical rotations at teaching hospitals and veterinary schools in the United States. The University currently employs 90 permanent faculty members, recruited primarily from U.S. medical and veterinary schools. Ross graduates include over 4,500 practicing physicians and veterinarians in the United States.

Consideration for the acquisition will be approximately $310 million in cash. At current operating levels, this acquisition will be immediately accretive to earnings per share and have a positive impact on operating margins and cash flow. Subject to completion of customary regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close during DeVry's fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30, 2003.

For the year ended December 31, 2002, Ross had revenues of approximately $62 million, EBITDA of approximately $25 million, and net income of approximately $18 million. Ross is currently owned by affiliates of Leeds, Weld & Co. and J.W. Childs Associates, private equity investment firms located in New York and Boston, respectively.

"We are very excited about the opportunities that this key acquisition presents for DeVry. The acquisition of Ross University gives the company entry into an attractive and growing sector of the higher education market -- medicine and health sciences," said Dennis J. Keller, DeVry Inc. chairman and co-chief executive officer. "Diversification of our curricula in this manner will help us maintain our leadership position in career-focused education. Most importantly, Ross brings a strong institutional focus on educational quality, and its students reflect the passion for excellence and desire to excel that we believe defines all DeVry students."

Ross University will become the third division of DeVry Inc., joining DeVry University and Becker Conviser Professional Review.

Ronald L. Taylor, president and co-chief executive officer of DeVry Inc., said, "Ross University fits our acquisition criteria with its quality programs and faculty along with excellent financial performance. In the 25 years since its founding, Ross University has enjoyed a strong history of growth to earn its position today as one of the largest providers of medical and veterinary education. Ross also generates excellent free cash flow and operates in a market with very favorable dynamics."

The Council on Graduate Medical Education has estimated that by 2010, there will be a shortage in the United States of 50,000 physicians. With only 16,500 U.S. medical school graduates available for the 24,500 new residency positions in the United States each year, Ross University helps to meet the demand for highly-skilled medical school graduates.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), approximately 34,000 individuals applied to medical schools in the United States in 2002. Because of the limited number of openings at U.S. schools, only about half of those who applied were accepted. The AAMC expects medical school applications to grow by 4 percent to 6 percent in 2003.

Timothy E. Foster, chairman and chief executive officer of Ross University, said, "We view this as an excellent fit, as both DeVry and Ross provide career-focused education and share a fundamental commitment to quality education. We believe our leading medical programs are very complementary to DeVry's focus, particularly its professional-level offerings in business, technology and management. We are very pleased to become a part of this well- respected organization."

Bank of America, N.A. will provide financing for the acquisition. Credit Suisse First Boston acted as the exclusive financial advisor to DeVry in the transaction. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Ross University. For more information about Ross University visit http://www.rossmed.edu and http://www.rossvet.edu .

DeVry will hold a conference call on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 7:30 a.m. central time to discuss this announcement. To participate, please dial 800- 937-6814 (domestic) or 706-634-1136 (international) several minutes prior to start time. A replay of this call is available until April 2, 2003 by dialing 800-642-1687 (domestic) or 706- 645-9291; Conference ID 9263186. In addition, DeVry will broadcast this call live via web cast through its investor relations website. To participate using the web cast, log on to http://investor.devry.com


DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) is the holding company for DeVry University and Becker Conviser Professional Review. DeVry University offers associate, bachelor's and master's degree programs in technology, business and management. Becker Conviser Professional Review is a leading provider of preparatory coursework for the certified public accountant, certified management accountant and chartered financial analyst exams. DeVry Inc. and its divisions are based in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. For more information about DeVry Inc., visit http://www.devry.com


Certain information contained in this release may constitute forward- looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, dependence on student financial aid, state and provincial approval and licensing requirements, and the other factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-22457) filed with the SEC.

SOURCE DeVry Inc.



CONTACT: Investor Relations, Joan Bates, +1-630-574-1949, or Media
Relations, Jonelle Niffenegger, +1-630-706-3212, both of DeVry Inc.

URL: http://www.devry.com
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Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.

Honest opinion everyone, do you think this will go thru 100%, and if it does, do you guys honestly that this is a good thing or a negative thing and why. I appreciate some intelligent feedback.
Thanks!

Will the name change ?

To either DeVry-Ross University

or even

DeVry University - School of Medicine ?

NO, the name of the University will not change. Ross University School of Medicine is not becoming part of Devry University. Ross Unversity will be owned by Devry, Inc which owns Devry University and Becker CPA prep - two VERY large companies. For example, Kraft foods is owned by Phillip Morris (the cigarette GIANT), but the cheese isn't addictive (to most). Please see the Ross University press release I posted.

What's great is that Devry University is regionally ACCREDITED. This is HUGE. Very few proprietary schools are accredited as such and Devry has already accomplished this. This has been the hurdle for Ross University - becoming accredited. Now we are affiliated with a University that is regionally accredited in the United States - like NO OTHER Caribbean or foreign school anywhere.

I think this is good news!

MitchDC

__________________
MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate

i agree, the University's name will not change.

It should be good for RUSM to be associated with a US accredited university. Overall, I think only time will tell whether becoming a part of Devry University will be good for us or not. As long as they keep pumping money into improving RUSM, I think RUSM will become great. On the other hand, if they begin to reduce the operating budget.......

Hello-

The acquisition of Ross by DeVry seems to be good news. The money flow into Ross can be seen as a positive. However, I have some questions and concerns about the acquisition. I am not a businessman or a part of the university board, so I wonder about the effects of how acquisitions by businesses for Ross University affects Ross' stability.

I don't know if on-shore medical schools are affiliated with businesses that pump in revenue to their schools. I believe that most medical schools run by a university budget. Therefore, I would think that these schools are fairly stable. I am concerned about the ownership of Ross by businesses and the whole intermixing of education and business. As we all know, businesses are unstable institutions and whether that may reflect on Ross, I am not sure.

Also, is it possible if someone could provide a transcript of the meeting that Tim Foster, members of the Ross administration and DeVry will be holding? I am not on the island and would like to know what was covered.

Ross was previously acquired by another business...and now, DeVry...why were we looking into DeVry, while we were already affiliated with this "other" business?

If someone could list some pros- and cons- of this deal that would be great.

Thanks

Hi TK, your concern about the mixing of business and education is a very common one. However, what most do not realize, is that even not-for profit education institutions are very business oriented. They need to have enough students to pay their own salaries and maintain the operating budget of the school. IN fact, this os one of the reason that way have some of the professors that was have. Many US medical schools are strapped for cash and really can't support to provide the level of education these long time educators would like to provide. So when they are recruited to Ross, they are happy to come. Ross has this "luxury" because of the fact that they have do have investors. When not-for-profit educational institutions have problems, they cut back on faculty, staff, and programs. IF Ross were to struggle, it has more options. But honestly, this place gets so many applications, it will exist for many many years. Now its not all that Rosey, but I think both the for-profit and not-for-profit institutions have their issues and struggles.

The meeting that Tim Foster and Mr. Keller will give hasn't happened yet and won't happen until late this month. I'm not sure that we can post transcripts, but I'm sure students will discuss what happens.

The fact is, we don't yet know all the pros and cons, but it is interesting to talk about. More funding will open up more opportunity to the University in the States. More academics contacts in the US will give us more recognition and respect. Our relation to an accredited University may open the door for accreditation in the future - first regional accreditation (depending on how they work the system) and maybe someday down the line LCME status.

The previous comany (Leeds Equity) purchased the University as an investment. It wasn't a publically traded company on the stock market and thus any money they invested is stuck in the endeavor until they sell. They had an idea as to how much profit they want to make off it and how much money they wanted to pump into it, and now that they were confident that they could make their money, they did. When the board annouced this, the University decided that they would only market the University to an US educational institution that was extremely stable and respected in the States.

Any other ideas?

MitchDC

__________________
MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate

Please explain what you mean by
DeVry being "regionaly accredited"
I wasn't able to find a explanation of that on their website.

Did you mean DeVry is accredited as a medical school ?

I assume their CPA and MBA schools are accredited.
How does that help Ross's medical accrediation ?


regards

MitchDC,

Do you know what the asking price is ???

Regional Accreditation in the United States means that the school upholds certain high standards written by the regional accrediting body. Every several years, a site visit is made to each college or university by a team of academic professionals to assure that the academic standards are being followed, that the school is financially stable, and that academic goals are being set and accomplished. For example, in California, we had the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. They made California schools follow strict guidelines in order to keep their accreditation status. These are the groups that accredit schools and assure the student that the education there is on par with other such schools. As Devry University has its headquarters in Illinois, I think, they look to the accrediting body of that area (as do all other colleges and universities in that "region".

No, Devry is not an accredited medical school. They, thus far, have never ventured into the medical arena.

Ross University is also accredited, and has always been accredited, by the Domincan Ministry of Health. The US department of education has decided that the standards of the Domican Ministry of Health is comparable to the standards of the Liason Committee for Medical Education (LCME) of the American Medical Association. It does not need US medical accreditation, although students would love to see that happen. Its not even something the University would take up as a project unless they thought it was possible. The AMA (LCME) will not accredit a school that has classes outside the US, so until they change their policies, that small point makes it tough for US medical accreditation.

But, regional accreditation (not medical, but academic) may be possible through our new association. This would be a step in the right direction. I'm no expert on this topic, so I'm just brainstorming. But, having help student leadership positions in undergrad and grad school, I know about the accreditation process to some degree.

Hope this helps.

MitchDC

__________________
MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate