Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
For-Profit Colleges

U. of Phoenix Looks to Shrink Itself With New Admissions Requirements and Deep Cuts

By Goldie Blumenstyk June 30, 2015

The University of Phoenix, losing profitability because of falling enrollments and high dropout rates, announced on Monday that it would eliminate most of its associate-degree programs, close even more of its physical campuses, and, for the first time, establish academic admissions requirements.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

The University of Phoenix, losing profitability because of falling enrollments and high dropout rates, announced on Monday that it would eliminate most of its associate-degree programs, close even more of its physical campuses, and, for the first time, establish academic admissions requirements.

Those moves are likely to leave the university, which in 2010 had an enrollment of 460,000, with about 150,000 students by 2016. Phoenix is not all that far from that point now. For the period ending May 31, its enrollment was 206,900, compared with 241,900 a year earlier. The planned changes and enrollment figures were announced on Monday by the university’s parent company, the Apollo Education Group.

Apollo also disclosed that in June it bought a controlling interest in the Iron Yard, a so-called coding boot camp that offers nondegree training. Last year Kaplan Inc., a large for-profit education company that’s owned by Graham Holdings, bought a similar company, called Dev Bootcamp. Such boot camps are ineligible to receive federal student aid, but as they gain in popularity, many observers speculate that they soon might be in some way.

Gregory W. Cappelli, Apollo’s chief executive, said on Monday that the moves at Phoenix were designed to solve retention problems that have been “plaguing” the university since the mid-2000s, when it created an associate-level college called Axia, lowered the minimum age requirement for admission, and eliminated the requirement that students be employed.

Those moves, coupled with the expansion of online education and relentless marketing, helped to fuel years of booming enrollments at the university, but its graduation rate declined and increasing numbers of students defaulted on their student loans. Mr. Cappelli said changes the university had made over the past few years, including a mandatory orientation course, had helped to reverse some of those problems. But they weren’t enough to raise academic quality, and they still left the university with a cost structure that ate into profits.

We want to improve the university, said Mr. Cappelli, “its brand, its reputation, its ability to recruit at a lower cost.” He said he also hoped the moves would eventually relieve some of the political, legal, and regulatory pressure that Phoenix has faced over the past five years, as public scrutiny of the entire for-profit-college industry has intensified.

‘Not Just a Test’

Mr. Cappelli, who discussed the changes during a conference call with stock analysts, offered little information on the nature of the admissions requirements. The company said they would involve a “diagnostic” of some sort, but Mr. Cappelli said, “It’s absolutely not just a test.”

He said he expected most of the 50,000-student reduction in the university’s size would come from its elimination of associate-degree programs, a notable change considering that, at one point, Axia students accounted for 50 to 60 percent of the university’s overall enrollment.

Only a few career-focused programs at the associate-degree level will remain, he said, but both Phoenix and Apollo plan to increase their number of certificate programs, “some of which can stack into degrees.” Company officials didn’t say which campuses they would close, but said they hoped to retain a physical presence in major metropolitan areas. The university will also offer fewer start times; currently, new students can start nearly every week of the year.

And after spending years and untold millions on developing its own digital course platform that it said would revolutionize online learning, Mr. Cappelli said the university would drop its proprietary learning systems in favor of commercially available products. Many Apollo watchers had long expected that it would try to license its system to other colleges, but that never came to pass.

Goldie Blumenstyk writes about the intersection of business and higher education. Check out www.goldieblumenstyk.com for information on her new book about the higher-education crisis; follow her on Twitter @GoldieStandard; or email her at goldie@chronicle.com.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Online Learning
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
Blumenstyk_Goldie.jpg
About the Author
Goldie Blumenstyk
The veteran reporter Goldie Blumenstyk writes a weekly newsletter, The Edge, about the people, ideas, and trends changing higher education. Find her on Twitter @GoldieStandard. She is also the author of the bestselling book American Higher Education in Crisis? What Everyone Needs to Know.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Pro-Palestinian student protesters demonstrate outside Barnard College in New York on February 27, 2025, the morning after pro-Palestinian student protesters stormed a Barnard College building to protest the expulsion last month of two students who interrupted a university class on Israel. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Campus Activism
A College Vows to Stop Engaging With Some Student Activists to Settle a Lawsuit Brought by Jewish Students
LeeNIHGhosting-0709
Stuck in limbo
The Scientists Who Got Ghosted by the NIH
Protesters attend a demonstration in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, March 10, 2025, in New York.
First-Amendment Rights
Noncitizen Professors Testify About Chilling Effect of Others’ Detentions
Photo-based illustration of a rock preciously suspended by a rope over three beakers.
Broken Promise
U.S. Policy Made America’s Research Engine the Envy of the World. One President Could End That.

From The Review

Vector illustration of a suited man with a pair of scissors for a tie and an American flag button on his lapel.
The Review | Opinion
A Damaging Endowment Tax Crosses the Finish Line
By Phillip Levine
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan keeps his emotions in check during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Charlottesville. Va. Authorities say three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia and a student is in custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The Review | Opinion
Jim Ryan’s Resignation Is a Warning
By Robert Zaretsky
Photo-based illustration depicting a close-up image of a mouth of a young woman with the letter A over the lips and grades in the background
The Review | Opinion
When Students Want You to Change Their Grades
By James K. Beggan

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin