On March 6, 2025, Apollo and Vistria publicly announced a possible IPO or sale of the University of Phoenix. These companies have been trying to sell the University of Phoenix since 2021, but there have been no takers. The owners claim the school is worth $1.5M to $1.7M, but we (and experts we know) are skeptical, given the financials we have seen so far. The University of Phoenix was previously on sale for about $500M-$700M but the University of Arkansas System, the State of Idaho, and apparently other colleges declined the offers.
The University of Phoenix offers subprime education to folks,
historically targeting servicemembers, veterans, and people of color. While some students may profit from these robocollege credentials, one wonders what
these workers actually learn. The current student-teacher ratio at the
University of Phoenix, according to the US Department of Education, is
132 to 1.
In 2023 we made a Freedom of Action (FOIA) request to the US Department of Education (ED) to get Phoenix’s most recent audited financials. In March 2025, more than 20 months later, we were provided with a 35-page report, audited by Deloitte, with numbers from 2021 and 2022.
This month the Higher Education Inquirer followed up with a Freedom of Information request with the ED to obtain more up-to-date financial numbers for the University of Phoenix. We hope they will be responsive and timely enough to get the word out to the public.