Private equity-owned education companies like Houghton Mifflin and Lakeshore Learning are learning a hard lesson in the US leveraged finance market this year as their loans and bonds have tumbled to trade at discounts.

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, senior reporter Sunny Oh sat down with US managing editor Bill Weisbrod and discussed his story about how investors have taken a close look at this group of borrowers and asked what the future holds for them in a world where school districts have had to tighten belts and cut spending.

Most notably, we talked about how the expiration of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Program (ESSER) has hurt education borrowers who have struggled to fill in the hole left by the $190bn policy. Meanwhile, falling school enrollment and the global trade war has compounded issues in the sector.