Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract]

Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Investments

The following tables show our cash and cash equivalents, and investments’ adjusted cost, unrealized gain, unrealized loss and fair value as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):


	December 31, 2020
	Adjusted Cost		Unrealized Gain		Unrealized Loss		Fair Value
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash	$	15,054	$	—	$	—	$	15,054

Money market funds	464,799		—		—		464,799
Total cash and cash equivalents	$	479,853	$	—	$	—	$	479,853
Short-term investments:
Commercial paper	$	204,152	$	24	$	(6)	$	204,170
Corporate debt securities	459,967		1,478		(48)		461,397
Total short-term investments	$	664,119	$	1,502	$	(54)	$	665,567
Long-term investments
Corporate debt securities	$	484,275	$	605	$	(283)	$	484,597
Agency bonds	38,995		36		—		39,031
Total long-term investments	$	523,270	$	641	$	(283)	$	523,628


	December 31, 2019
	Adjusted Cost		Unrealized Gain		Unrealized Loss		Fair Value
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash	$	241,355	$	—	$	—	$	241,355
Money market funds	146,165		—		—		146,165



Total cash and cash equivalents	$	387,520	$	—	$	—	$	387,520
Short-term investments:
Commercial paper	$	7,489	$	—	$	—	$	7,489
Corporate debt securities	318,946		425		(78)		319,293
U.S. treasury securities	44,251		39		(4)		44,286
Agency bonds	10,000		6		—		10,006
Total short-term investments	$	380,686	$	470	$	(82)	$	381,074
Long-term investments
Corporate securities	$	295,103	$	533	$	(158)	$	295,478
Agency bonds	14,999		6		—		15,005
Total long-term investments	$	310,102	$	539	$	(158)	$	310,483

The adjusted cost and fair value of our cash equivalents and investments as of December 31, 2020 by contractual maturity were as follows (in thousands):


	December 31, 2020
	Cost		Fair Value
Due in 1 year or less	$	664,119	$	665,567
Due in 1-2 years	523,270		523,628
Investments not due at a single maturity date	464,799		464,799
Total	$	1,652,188	$	1,653,994

Investments not due at a single maturity date in the preceding table consist of money market funds.

As of December 31, 2020, we did not consider the declines in market value of our investment portfolio to be driven by credit related factors. When evaluating whether an investment's unrealized losses are related to credit factors, we review factors such as the extent to which fair value is below its cost basis, any changes to the credit rating of the security, adverse conditions specifically related to the security, changes in market interest rates and our intent to sell, or whether it is more likely than not we will be required to sell, before recovery of cost basis. We invest in highly-rated securities with a minimum credit rating of A- and a weighted average maturity of less than twelve months, and our investment policy limits the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer or industry sector. The policy requires investments generally to be investment grade, with the primary objective of preserving capital and maintaining liquidity. Fair values were determined for each individual security in the investment portfolio. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we did not recognize any losses on our investments due to credit related factors. During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we did not recognize any impairment charges.

Strategic Investments

In March 2020, we completed an investment of $2.0 million in TAPD, Inc., also known as Frank, a U.S.-based service that helps students access financial aid. In October 2018, we completed an investment of $10.0 million in WayUp, Inc. (WayUp), a U.S.-based job site and mobile application for college students and recent graduates. Additionally, we previously invested $3.0 million in a foreign entity to explore expanding our reach internationally. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded a $10.0 million impairment charge on our investment in WayUp included within general and administrative expense on our consolidated statements of operations. Our impairment assessment was the result of the uncertainty around WayUp's ability to raise additional funding to support their future operations. We did not record any other impairment charges on our other strategic investments during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, as there were no other significant identified events or changes in circumstances that would be considered an indicator for impairment. We considered general market conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in our impairment analysis. There were no observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or similar investments of the same issuers that resulted in an upward or downward adjustment on our strategic investments during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018.