University of Phoenix to Shutter 115 Locations

New York Times ^ | October 17, 2012 | Tamar Lewin

[Zakeet]

The University of Phoenix, the nation’s largest for-profit university, is closing 115 of its brick-and-mortar locations, including 25 main campuses and 90 smaller satellite learning centers. The closings will affect some 13,000 students, about 4 percent of its student body of 328,000.

[Snip]

Enrollments at the University of Phoenix and in the for-profit sector over all have been declining in the last two years, partly because of growing competition from other online providers, including nonprofit and public universities, and a steady drumroll of negative publicity about the sector’s recruiting abuses, low graduation rates and high default rates.

Late last month, Kaplan Higher Education, a division of the Washington Post Company, announced that it was closing nine of its campuses and consolidating four others into nearby locations. The company did not give a reason, but in an August filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it disclosed that an accrediting commission had warned that its campuses in Baltimore, Indianapolis and Dayton could lose their accreditation — and with it, eligibility for the federal student aid that makes up more than 80 percent of Kaplan’s revenues — for failure to meet student achievement requirements.

As the negative publicity about for-profits mounted — including many charges that the schools enrolled students who had almost no chance of succeeding, to get their federal student aid — both Kaplan and the University of Phoenix announced new programs, offering some form of free trial, to ensure that they enrolled only students who had a reasonable likelihood of success. Those programs cut substantially into their enrollment numbers.

[Zakeet]

Another government-induced financial bubble is getting ready to pop ...

[Zakeet]

Mee-Maw's rag being forced to cut back on plundering students without a reasonable likelihood of success ... causing severe financial pressure ... ping!

[webheart]

That looks like a hockey stick. Of course, we will be told that it doesn’t work that way in economics, only in gloabal warming.

[SeaHawkFan]

I’d I was a parent with college aged kids, they’d be doing wgu.edu or paying the difference themselves.

[Eva]

The plundering was not one sided, many of the students were taking advantage of the government loan programs and never completing any course work. It was a scam, but most of the money went to the students, not the school.

The school prohibited the “enrollment councillors” from making any judgement of the seriousness or qualifications of the students who applied. They were told that they and the school would be sued a racists if they discouraged people from applying. So, they signed up anyone who wanted to apply and turned them over the financial services division, which helped them apply for student loans. When the money came through, it was tuition for a whole year, minus the funds for the first term, which went directly to the school. The students pocketed the money and never even finished the first term. No one cared.

Sometimes, it was worse than that. There were people who would sign up whole group homes full of students and apply for government loans, which would be mailed to the guy who was “helping “ them file for the financial aid. He would pay the students a small amount for co-operating and keep the rest of the money for himself. Next year, he would move to another area and sign up more group homes.

[max americana]

” So, they signed up anyone who wanted to apply and turned them over the financial services division, which helped them apply for student loans. When the money came through, it was tuition for a whole year, minus the funds for the first term, which went directly to the school. The students pocketed the money and never even finished the first term. No one cared.”

**

That’s how the scam works even here in L.A. I’m close to most Hollywood film and media schools and these clowns if you saw them, will never be responsible enough to pay for the classes by themselves. My buds work as administrators for 2 of them, and the unemployment rate is staggering right after graduation. How can you, as a student be scared of the tuition when financial aid picks up most of the tab, at tax-payer’s expense?

[GeronL]

Late last month, Kaplan Higher Education, a division of the Washington Post Company, announced that it was closing nine of its campuses and consolidating four others into nearby locations. The company did not give a reason, but in an August filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it disclosed that an accrediting commission had warned that its campuses in Baltimore, Indianapolis and Dayton could lose their accreditation — and with it, eligibility for the federal student aid that makes up more than 80 percent of Kaplan’s revenues — for failure to meet student achievement requirements. "

Kaplan's revenue is probably the only thing keeping the WASHPOST from going bankrupt too

[Buckeye McFrog]

I guess soon the Arizona Cardinals will be playing home games in Schlerczsky Brothers Plumbing and Heating Stadium?

[dfwgator]

I have talked with several HR people that basically told me, if the University of Phoenix was on their resume, it went straight into the trash can.

[subterfuge]

What the New YORk Times doesn’t mention is that many if not most of the people going to these night-school type colleges is that they are being supplemented by their employers. I have 2 degrees from UOP. Problem is that there just aren’t enough companies in business to pay employees to to all of them.
As Slow-Joe Biden says, it’s all about that THREE letter word:

J - 0 - B - S !!!

[Taxman]

Now I know why so many college-age kids are voting for Obongo Bozo — they are scamming FRee money FRom his administration — oops — the poor suffering American taxpayer!

Wonder if anyone will go to jail for this scam?

[hollywood]

With ASU’s campus sprawl that’s been going on in the Phoenix metro area, it would be rather ironic and funny if University of Phoenix Stadium was renamed ASU-West Stadium. I just love the curse of the Bidwells.

[truth_seeker]

Thanks for the distance learning tip for WGU