Idaho acquiring University of Phoenix

From what I've seen with the other buyouts, the schools have maintained autonomy, and their discount and alternative credit programs haven't changed.

 

Every time I post research on the strong correlation between 4-year for-profits and poor outcomes, no one rebuts with research that has found the opposite to be true. Of course, one can always point to exceptions, but the exception doesn't make the rule. Do you have research showing that for-profits and nonprofits spend their revenues similarly? There's research showing that they don't.

 

Depends on what is meant by outcomes. Usually, this term is confused with the proper one: outputs. Also, what is really ignored is another factor: inputs. For-profits tend to be much more flexible in terms of enrollments, accepting a lot of people that might not be accepted elsewhere. You could see this as deceptive--taking people's money who aren't going to succeed. But many do, rendering another interpretation: open opportunity.

Here are the 4 main components of a production:

Inputs-->Processes-->Outputs-->Outcomes-->

Accreditation is an examination of the second stage: Processes. Yes, it's worth examining the other three, but it is the academic process that matters most when evaluating a school, not the other elements over which they have much lower control. We can argue all day long about open admissions (Inputs), graduation rates (Outputs) and graduates' salaries (Outcomes). But we can certainly hold schools responsible for how they educate (Processes).

 

I shared research a couple of times that looked at students with similar socioeconomic backgrounds and how they fared at for-profits vs public and not-for-profit universities.

When students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds go to public universities, they tend to attend universities with very high acceptance rates. There was also a study that compared the outcomes of Black students at HBCUs vs for-profits. Black students had higher graduation rates at HBCUs.

 

The proposed sale of the University of Phoenix to become an affiliate owned by the University of Idaho has stalled, and the private equity group that owns the University of Phoenix is now considering an initial public offering to make the University of Phoenix a publicly-traded company.

The University of Phoenix was the largest subsidiary of the Apollo Education Group, which was publicly traded from 1994 to 2017. It was taken private in 2017 by a private equity consortium (which included Apollo Global Management; that both companies have "Apollo" in their names is coincidental).

The private equity group could also sell the University of Phoenix to some unspecified other buyer, as the University of Idaho no longer has exclusivity in their sale negotiation.

More: Bloomberg: Phoenix ownership groups are considering an IPO (Kevin Richert, Idaho Education News, March 10, 2025)

 

They need to shut it down.

 

I worked for UoP full-time for a year, and taught as an adjunct for two more. I was responsible for undergraduate general education at the Norther Virginia campuses, and I also taught in several graduate programs. I was also responsible for faculty training and I conducted many faculty evaluations.

There has never been anything wrong with course content and delivery at UoP. They're continuously updating course and curricular content, and are aggressive about maintaining faculty quality. When you walk across the stage (virtually or in person) to accept your UoP degree, you've earned it.

The one complaint about UoP--and it's a big one--is their high-pressure sales tactics. Other complaints have included high tuition prices (fueled by student loans) and its wide-open admissions process (resulting in higher-than-necessary dropout rates).

My experience with UoP is now more than two decades in the past. I cannot account for what the school is today, but there was no reason to believe back then that it might someday deteriorate to the point of needing to be closed. And I've never heard anything since to indicate that it has.

 

Education News">

Phoenix, University of Idaho pull the plug on $685 million purchase (Kevin Richert, Idaho Education News, June 3, 2025)

 

In any large acquistion, the respective cultures have to be considered. It's not just about programs, processes, etc. And I can't think of two more juxtaposed cultures than a public, not-for-profit, campus-based university and a for-profit business that functions, essentially, as a largely online corporate training program that awards degrees. What they have in common--degree programs, teaching, etc.--is miniscule to the wide gulf between those two cultures.

In such a transaction, the acquiring culture will crush the acquired culture. That may be fine if the culture is an impediment and not what was actually being acquired. And maybe that's what the acquiring school had in mind: obtain the degree programs, processes, market penetration, etc., while shedding all those for-profit trappings. But that's a HUGE pull.

For example, a traditional university is run by the academics and scholars. Research, publication, symposia, as well as teaching, are all part of it. But a school like the University of Phoenix engages in almost no scholarship--they're teaching institutions. No one from UoP is going to fit in, not even the adjuncts. A traditional university is faculty-centered. A for-profit school is administration-centered. At the traditional school, adjuncts are just that: additional. But at UoP they are the central delivery force. It's different.

In short, culture eats strategy and leadership for lunch. It often cannot be overcome (see McDonalds v. Boston Market or v. Chipotle). And even if it can, what's left? But what will NOT happen: the acquiring culture leaving the acquired culture alone. If this had gone through, the University of Phoenix would have (eventually) ceased to exist not just in the brand, but in any meaningful way at all.

(NB: I speak from first-hand experience in both of these cultures, including 4 years at UoP with one of those full-time as a program director.)

 

I mean, a bunch of other formerly for-profit schools managed to merge into Universities and worked. Look at Purdue Global, UAGC, UMass Global, etc.