Dear Commons Community,

The Wall Street Journal has an article (subscription required) today describing the woes of the University of Phoenix and its parent company, Apollo.  While the once-soaring for-profit education giant isn’t in ashes, its business has shriveled. For example, enrollment in degree programs was most recently 227,400 students. While that is far more than at the largest traditional U.S. university, it is less than half Apollo’s own peak five years ago and down 13.5% from the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

“A magical rebirth isn’t in the cards. Recruiting and keeping students is the lifeblood of Apollo’s main University of Phoenix unit. Glitches in its online software led to disappointing retention last year…

With the stock down 17% in the year to date, a financial result better than the anticipated loss of 18 cents a share, or just an improved enrollment trend, could produce at least a brief fillip in Apollo’s stock. Postearnings pops and drops have been commonplace over the past seven years.”

The long-term trend for Apollo is not very bright.  The University of Phoenix is a tainted brand and it only has itself to blame for the fraudulent ways it mislead prospective students including returning veterans into signing up for federal financial aid.

Tony