Dive Brief:
- For-profit Apollo Education Group says its administration of federal financial aid programs for its University of Phoenix will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education starting Aug. 4.
- The review will initially cover the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years, and will additionally consider the university’s compliance with laws about campus security, crime statistics, and drug policy.
- Apollo, which announced the review Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, described the education department’s action as “an ordinary course program review.”
Dive Insight:
It isn’t clear whether this review could be a significant problem for Apollo. With Corinthian Colleges Inc. essentially forced out of business recently by the Department of Education, in this environment, any federal scrutiny directed at a for-profit education company—no matter how routine—has to raise concerns. While Corinthian Colleges has more than 70,000 students, the University of Phoenix has about 241,900 enrolled. The Department of Education was not commenting on the story to the Associated Press.