Phoenix University

University of Phoenix

Motto	We Rise
Type	For-profit college
Established	1976
President	Peter Cohen.
Academic staff	16,000
Administrative staff	69
Students	142,500
Location	Phoenix, Arizona (headquarters), Arizona, United States
Campus	Urban
Campus locations	91 campuses and online John Sperling
Website	phoenix.edu

Founded in 1976, The University of Phoenix (UOPX) is a private for-profit college, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The university has an open-enrollment admission policy, requiring a high-school diploma, GED, or its equivalent as its criterion for admissions. The university confers degrees in over 100 degree programs at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree levels. In 2017, it was acquired by Apollo Global Management.

The university was founded by John Sperling in 1976, where the first class consisted of eight students. In 1980, the school expanded to San Jose, California, and in 1989, the university launched its online program.

In 1994, University of Phoenix leaders made the decision to take the parent company, Apollo Group, public. Phoenix had more than 100,000 students within the first five years of going public. Growth in the company made John Sperling a billionaire. According to Senator Tom Harkin, who chaired hearings on for-profit colleges, "I think what really turned this company is when they started going to Wall Street."

Between 2010 and 2016, enrollment declined more than 70 percent amid multiple investigations, lawsuits and controversies.

In February 2016, the Apollo Group announced it would be sold to a private investment group, made up Apollo Global Management, the Vistria Group, and the Najafi Companies, for $1 billion. Former U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary Anthony W. Miller, partner and chief operating officer of Vistria, would become chairman. The sale will have to be approved by both the U.S. Department of Education and the accreditation group the Higher Learning Commission in order to go forward.