August 5, 2020

Questions About the University of Arizona-Zovio Deal

University of Arizona faculty and others are already asking tough questions about the deal, announced Monday to the campus community via a 3:00 am email, for the school to acquire Ashford University from the for-profit education company Zovio. Professors are asking why many of the faculty were not consulted or even notified in advance about the
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August 3, 2020

Do Arizona Taxpayers Want to Buy This For-Profit College?

For-profit company Zovio has just announced it is selling Ashford University to public University of Arizona for $1, but Zovio gets a lucrative 15-year contract to “service” the school. The arrangement looks eerily similar to the dubious deal where Indiana state university Purdue bought for-profit Kaplan, which had a record of abusing students, to create
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August 21, 2019

Why Is Delta Air Lines Steering Its Employees to Predatory Ashford University?

For-profit education provider Zovio recently announced it has partnered with Delta Air Lines in a deal that “allows eligible Delta employees to pursue associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Ashford University at a discounted rate.”  Sounds generous. Except that Ashford University, which is tied to Zovio, has a long record of deceiving, overcharging, and abusing
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November 20, 2018

Accreditor Stalls Bridgepoint Education Plan To Become Non-Profit

In a filing this morning with the Securities and Exchange Commission, predatory for-profit college business Bridgepoint Education discloses that on Monday the accreditor WASC Senior College and University Commission told Bridgepoint’s Ashford University that “pending the receipt and review of additional documents, they are deferring any action on the change of control application filed by
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October 6, 2015

For-Profit Colleges Appear to Use Random WASP College Name Generator

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Yesterday, Birmingham, Alabama-based for-profit college company Education Corporation of America (ECA) announced the new name for the campuses, until now called Kaplan College, that it recently bought from Graham Holdings Company. The schools will henceforth be known as “Brightwood College.” Are the schools to be named after New England education pioneer Jebediah Brightwood?  Nope. It appears that there
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