Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bridgepoint splits company

One part will be non-profit

The U-T ran a photo of their new building with the "Bridgepoint" signage removed.
The U-T ran a photo of their new building with the "Bridgepoint" signage removed.

Bridgepoint Education, San Diego’s troubled and controversial for-profit education company, on March 13 said it will split into two parts — and one part will be non-profit. Bridgepoint’s Ashford University and University of the Rockies will merge with the expectation of going non-profit.

Bridgepoint will become a publicly-traded Online Program Management company.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Although Bridgeport now considers itself a for-profit enterprise, it has been acting more like a negative-profit one. Bridgepoint lost $70 million in 2015 and $30 million in 2016, before attaining a profit of $10.5 million last year.

In dividing the company, Bridgepoint is following industry trends. Grand Canyon University plans to become a nonprofit and Purdue University, a major nonprofit, bought the struggling Kaplan University, a for-profit. Also, there have been spectacular failures among for-profits: Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute failed ignominously in recent years, “while other big for-profits merged, went private, or concentrated more on offerings in other countries,” says Inside Higher Ed.

“The structures of for-profit conversions have been controversial,” says Inside Higher Ed. “The Century Foundation, for example, has criticized some of these moves as being attempted by for-profit owners to escape federal regulations."

Bridgepoint Education was a high-flying stock until the Obama administration cracked down on for-profits. Students paid more than at non-profits, carried inordinately high debts, and couldn’t get jobs if they graduated. (In Bridgepoint’s case, a disappointing percentage actually graduated.)

Bridgepoint has been sued by several states and is still under federal investigation. Late last year, California sued Ashford, accusing it of unlawful marketing, sales and debt collection practices. “Ashford University preyed on veterans and people of modest means. This for-profit college illegally misled students about their educational prospects and unfairly saddled them with debt,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in announcing the charges.

In a sense, the big changes among the for-profits is a surprise. When Donald Trump was elected, the stocks of the for-profit companies soared. Both Trump and his Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are sympathetic to for-profit universities, which were expected to thrive iin the Trump years.

Bridgepoint’s plans of a split have to be approved by state and federal regulators and Ashford’s accreditation operation.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
The U-T ran a photo of their new building with the "Bridgepoint" signage removed.
The U-T ran a photo of their new building with the "Bridgepoint" signage removed.

Bridgepoint Education, San Diego’s troubled and controversial for-profit education company, on March 13 said it will split into two parts — and one part will be non-profit. Bridgepoint’s Ashford University and University of the Rockies will merge with the expectation of going non-profit.

Bridgepoint will become a publicly-traded Online Program Management company.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Although Bridgeport now considers itself a for-profit enterprise, it has been acting more like a negative-profit one. Bridgepoint lost $70 million in 2015 and $30 million in 2016, before attaining a profit of $10.5 million last year.

In dividing the company, Bridgepoint is following industry trends. Grand Canyon University plans to become a nonprofit and Purdue University, a major nonprofit, bought the struggling Kaplan University, a for-profit. Also, there have been spectacular failures among for-profits: Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute failed ignominously in recent years, “while other big for-profits merged, went private, or concentrated more on offerings in other countries,” says Inside Higher Ed.

“The structures of for-profit conversions have been controversial,” says Inside Higher Ed. “The Century Foundation, for example, has criticized some of these moves as being attempted by for-profit owners to escape federal regulations."

Bridgepoint Education was a high-flying stock until the Obama administration cracked down on for-profits. Students paid more than at non-profits, carried inordinately high debts, and couldn’t get jobs if they graduated. (In Bridgepoint’s case, a disappointing percentage actually graduated.)

Bridgepoint has been sued by several states and is still under federal investigation. Late last year, California sued Ashford, accusing it of unlawful marketing, sales and debt collection practices. “Ashford University preyed on veterans and people of modest means. This for-profit college illegally misled students about their educational prospects and unfairly saddled them with debt,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in announcing the charges.

In a sense, the big changes among the for-profits is a surprise. When Donald Trump was elected, the stocks of the for-profit companies soared. Both Trump and his Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are sympathetic to for-profit universities, which were expected to thrive iin the Trump years.

Bridgepoint’s plans of a split have to be approved by state and federal regulators and Ashford’s accreditation operation.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Next Article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader