AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INC

A copy of our 2023 Annual Report has been posted on the Internet along with this Proxy Statement to all stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting. The Annual Report is not incorporated into this Proxy Statement and is not considered proxy-soliciting material. Upon written request, we will mail without charge a copy of the Annual Report, including exhibits. Please send a written request to our Corporate Secretary at:

American Public Education, Inc.

303 West 3 rd Avenue,

Ranson, West Virginia 25438

Attention: Corporate Secretary

The charters for our Audit, MDC, and NCG Committees, as well as the Guidelines and the Code of Ethics, are in the Governance section of our corporate website, www.apei.com, and are also available in print without charge upon written request to our Corporate Secretary at the address above. The information on our corporate website is not incorporated by reference into this Proxy Statement.

Stockholders residing in the same household who hold their stock through a bank or broker may receive only one set of proxy materials in accordance with a notice sent earlier by their bank or broker. This practice will continue unless instructions to the contrary are received by the bank or broker from one or more of the stockholders within the household. We will promptly deliver a separate copy of the proxy materials to such stockholders upon receipt of a written or oral request to our Corporate Secretary at the address above, by e-mailing corpsecretary@apei.com, or by calling (304) 724-3730.

If you hold your shares in “street name” and reside in a household that received only one copy of the proxy materials, you can request to receive a separate copy in the future by following the instructions sent by your bank or broker. If your household is receiving multiple copies of the proxy materials, you may request that only a single set of materials be sent by following the instructions sent by your bank or broker.