Seems so... Here's an article from a few days ago: https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2024-02-29/house-committee-digs-into-university-of-phoenix-deal
I understand why Idaho wants it -- but I think they're buying trouble. Big bucks for a bang that could easily fizzle. It would have been a better value to start the path on their own - some years ago - and import some people with requisite skills and experience. They're paying a terrible price, for being late getting in the game. New player in a huge, developed market. Better, I suppose, than being a fish in a barrel. But not by much. I see huge debt and possibly a shattered, shuttered enterprise (the former Phoenix) here. Reminds me a bit of University of Arizona Global Campus - and its defunct partner, Zovio, that went down in flames. Idaho better hope - no, make that pray, for a different series of events.
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/09/ftc-action-leads-us-dept-education-forgive-nearly-37-million-loans-students-deceived-university#:~ Would you want to buy a school that did this? And (gasp!) possibly even rename it after your own institution? Phoenix should pray, too - for Redemption. You never know...
The University of Phoenix developed a bad reputation for one reason: predatory admissions practices. Acquiring them would not bring that aspect into one's institution. Otherwise, everything about UoP's academics is sound. I was full-time at UoP for a year, then an adjunct for two more. I've seen it from the inside. Yes, as an open-enrollment institution, a lot of people get in and do not graduate. But those who do have earned their degrees, and those degree programs are just as rigorous as any others. Acquiring the intellectual capital and instructional engine that is UoP would be a coup for any institution wanting to get into DL in a big-time way. (Assuming the financials were right, which none of us here are at all privy to.)
It's a high probability scenario Look at National University, they are about 2 years ahead Another prediction, Thomas Edison State University will becomes Rutgers
Hope it turns out to be a good investment. As the article notes, University of Phoenix has a "checkered past". Its reputation isn't good. I know of a person refused credit for UofP credits at a State university and had to do the degree over. A couple of cases of school districts blacklisting graduates. And basic mirth over UofP graduates. I also know some for whom it met that checkbox degree and got them jobs.
Doing a degree at the University of Phoenix is as rigorous as any other. In some ways, because of the team learning requirements, it is even more so. UoP got pinged from two phenomena. First, their recruiting practices were under constant scrutiny...and for good reason. High-pressure sales, open admissions, and an extremely low break-even point meant that they got a reputation for being aggressive with low standards. Second, UoP became the largest university in the country, and then the largest online university in the country. As such, they became the archetype for DL, to the point where a mythology about the school (it was a diploma mill, it wasn't accredited, etc.) developed. They became the representative for everything bad anyone wanted to say about for-profit schools, DL, etc. It's like McDonalds being the archetype of the fast foo industry, even though Burger King gets a huge "pass" for doing all of the same things. Yeah, they had a well-deserved reputation for admitting just about anyone. But they also gave opportunities for a lot of people who might not otherwise do their degrees. And if you walked across the stage to receive your UoP degree, you earned that degree.
In March 2010 Governor Chris Christie's state budget called out of nowhere for Thomas Edison State College to merge into Rutgers. Reaction was terrible and by June 2010 Christie abandoned the proposal. Also, of all possible mergers of New Jersey state colleges, why that pair? By analogy, it's plausible that California could merge two public colleges, but Calbright College into UC Berkeley is among the least likely such pairings.
Look it National University and ask why? Phoenix brings best in class technology and innovation on online education (platform) I got a MA from Phoenix back in the early days on-site before the online world
National University absorbed two similar types of institutions, Northcentral University and John F. Kennedy University: Few if any traditional students, heavily or fully online, funded research a major component of few if any faculty positions. Rutgers and TESU are unlike in all these ways and more.
