Friday Follow Up
Anthology bankruptcy near completion, and insights into formal proposed rules for student loan limits
Phil Hill
January 30, 2026
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Anthology on Track to Become Blackboard Soon
At this point, Anthology’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case is in the execution phase. The Ellucian transaction has closed as planned, and all signals from the docket suggest the Encoura acquisition of the CRM and student success businesses is on track to close shortly. Importantly, there is nothing in the recent filings to indicate a deviation from the original Day 1 framework. The reorganization around Blackboard teaching and learning remains intact, financing terms are settled, and there is no sign of any alternate deals or changes to the plan.
The next visible milestone should be leadership clarity for the reorganized Blackboard business. Matt Pittinsky has been announced as incoming Executive Chairman, but the Plan Supplement filings still leave open questions about day-to-day executive leadership. I expect we will see confirmation soon, either of a newly named CEO or a defined interim structure, along with clearer articulation of Pittinsky’s operational role and timing. For customers and partners, this governance clarity matters more than the legal mechanics of emergence.
What stands out most, however, is how smooth this bankruptcy has been. Asset sales are closing on schedule, the core business continues operating, and there has been no sign of a mass client panic or disorderly market reaction. Once distressed-debt investors took control, the process appeared to shift from uncertainty to predictability, and Anthology has largely delivered on the plan it put before the court. Given how chaotic this process could have gone, that is no small accomplishment.
It appears that the new Blackboard will come out this bankruptcy better than I expected, according to plan and without mass defections.
Stay tuned.
ED Releases Formal Draft Rules on Student Loan Limits: What Matters Now
As expected, the Department of Education (ED) today released the formal Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) implementing new federal student loan limits, and the core policy choices largely track the consensus reached during fall negotiated rulemaking. That part is not the news.
The news is in two places:
