Three U.S. senators asked U of I to drop U of Phoenix deal. Were Idaho’s among them?
Three U.S. senators sent a letter to University of Idaho President Scott Green urging the school to abandon its plans to buy the University of Phoenix.
The letter, sent Monday, was not signed by either of Idaho’s two senators, Republicans Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, a U of I alum. It was penned by three Democratic colleagues: Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; Dick Durbin, D-Illinois; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut.
A spokesperson for Risch did not immediately respond to an email from the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday seeking comment, and a spokesperson for Crapo said the senator saw the letter but does not have a response.
“We are concerned that U of I’s acquisition will allow Phoenix to continue to abuse students under the guise of a trusted, public university,” the letter from Warren, Durbin and Blumenthal stated.
U of I announced in May its plan to purchase the University of Phoenix, an Arizona-based for-profit university, for $685 million. Shortly after, the deal was approved by the Idaho State Board of Education. The proposal has faced public criticism and a lawsuit from Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador about possible open-meeting violations by the board.
The letter from the three senators said the acquisition could harm students and taxpayers — not only in Idaho, but across the country. It also noted the University of Phoenix’s history of “predatory and abusive behavior.”
In 2019, the school had a lawsuit settlement over deceptive advertising that totaled $191 million — the largest settlement ever between the Federal Trade Commission and a for-profit college. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense temporarily suspended the school from receiving tuition assistance funds because of alleged illegal recruiting practices aimed at military members.
“Many for-profit colleges have a long history of preying on vulnerable students — including veterans, low-income students and students of color,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Phoenix is no exception.”
The senators also detailed concerns that U of I would be on the hook for the University of Phoenix’s discharged federal student loans, including thousands of claims that are still pending. That happened to the University of Arizona when it acquired the online, for-profit Ashford University in 2020.
The letter asked Green whether he had a plan to cover those potential liabilities.
It also asked for more details on how the University of Idaho plans to finance the deal. The university has said it will pay for the University of Phoenix through a nonprofit entity with both nontaxable and taxable bonds, separate from the money used to fund U of I’s budgets.
The senators asked Green to provide a response to their questions, of which there were several, by Sept. 30.
