The University of Phoenix is rising from the ashes.
Once the largest college in the country, it saw enrollment dwindle over the past 15 years after it and several other large for-profit schools came under fire for allegedly misleading prospective students and using illegal recruitment tactics to boost enrollment.
But now the university is staging a comeback, partly with help from Washington. Executives say they have put the government investigations behind them. And the Trump administration has indicated it will stop singling out for-profit colleges for extra scrutiny, backing away from rules put in place over the past decade. The University of Phoenix’s parent company went public on the New York Stock Exchange last fall, paving the way for the school to raise money by selling stock.
And enrollment is rising again.
“They’re going to grow,” said Rob Sanderson, an analyst who follows the company for Loop Capital Markets, “and I think there is a high probability that they grow at faster rates.”
In January, the Education Department said new accountability rules will treat for-profit, nonprofit and public colleges equally. The agency said the regulations, which are still being finalized, will end “the long-standing practice of selective enforcement under the last two Democrat Administrations, based on tax status and politics.”
The Trump administration also made some technical changes that will make it easier for some private schools to comply with a rule barring for-profit colleges from relying on federal aid for more than 90 percent of their funding. The Education Department rescinded a $37.7 million fine last year for Grand Canyon University, a Christian for-profit school that converted to a nonprofit in 2018 but never cut ties with its former for-profit owner.
A group that represents many for-profit colleges praised the Trump administration’s plans to avoid holding for-profit schools to a higher standard.
“We’re not saying that we shouldn’t be scrutinized or held accountable,” said Jason Altmire, president of the Career Education Colleges and Universities, which represents 900 trade schools, most of which are for-profit. “All we’re saying is the rules should apply equally.”
Altmire acknowledged that some large for-profit colleges have been accused of misleading students, but he noted that some public and nonprofit colleges have been accused of misconduct as well. For instance, lawsuits accused some nonprofit colleges of antitrust violations because they offered binding early decision admissions and shared formulas to measure students’ financial need. And since for-profits fell on hard times, public universities and nonprofits — including Southern New Hampshire University — have helped fill the demand for online courses.
Still, some Democrats and education advocates argue for-profit schools have historically accounted for a disproportionate number of complaints and need more scrutiny. They also worry the Trump administration’s pledge to eliminate the Education Department could make it harder to investigate complaints.
“The Trump administration is making it easier for for-profit colleges to scam students,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Clare McCann of the Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center at American University said the department’s approach so far has been “to alleviate a lot of the oversight on for-profit colleges.”
The Trump administration won’t be able to adequately investigate complaints against colleges because it eliminated much of the Education Department’s staff and vowed to ultimately shut down the agency, she said.
“It puts a significant damper on the department’s ability to oversee predatory practices,” McCann said, adding that misleading marketing can be hard to spot, but particularly “if you don’t have cops on the beat.”
The Education Department, however, said for-profit colleges won’t face less oversight, but the same oversight as other colleges.
The agency is now formulating rules to cut off student loans for undergraduate programs where graduates earn wages no better than someone with a high school diploma — or graduate programs where grads earn less than people with bachelor’s degrees. The regulations build on a provision in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that applies to all types of colleges, replacing the “gainful employment” regulations aimed at career schools and for-profit universities.
“This is a commonsense, consensus-based approach that will ensure students and taxpayers are not on the hook for poor-performing programs,” Ellen Keast, an agency press secretary, said in a statement.
Some of the largest for-profit universities shut down, merged, downsized or converted to nonprofits over the past decade after facing a barrage of investigations, lawsuits and fines.
Several, including the University of Phoenix, were accused of illegally paying recruiters based on how many students they signed up. Some allegedlytargeted homeless people. Authorities also accused the University of Phoenix of violating military rules to attract students, including recruitingat career fairs and other events for service members, and displaying “official military seals.”
Corinthian Colleges and ITT Educational Services closed after they were accused of fraudulent marketing tactics and lost access to federal loans. The University of Arizona acquired Ashford University, rebranding the unit as its University of Arizona Global Campus. And Purdue University bought Kaplan University to help build Purdue University Global.
The University of Phoenix, one of the major for-profits accused of going too far to attract students in the past, says it has become a very different school over the years.
Founded in 1976, it became one of the largest colleges in the country by offering convenient classes for working adults. It opened more than 200 satellite campuses around the country and built a massive online program. It also spent heavily on marketing, including buying the naming rights for the Arizona Cardinals’ football stadium.
At its peak in 2010, it had more than 476,000 students enrolled in degree programs, more than any U.S. school. But like some other prominent for-profit schools, it also drew complaints.
In 2019, it reached a $191 million settlementwith the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that its ads falsely suggested it could help students land jobs with well-known companies like Microsoft and AT&T. And in 2024, it signed a $4.5 million pactwith the California attorney general’s office to resolve complaints it skirted federal rules to recruit military service members and veterans.
As the complaints mounted, the University of Phoenix changed its ownership, closed its satellite campuses, gave up its naming rights for the sports stadium, and reported enrollment plummeted to fewer than 80,000 students in degree programs. Last year, the University of Idaho abandoned a $685 million deal to buy the university after complaints from lawmakers and the state’s attorney general.
But university executives said they never admitted any wrongdoing in the settlements and the allegations stemmed from action that occurred years ago. They said they are working hard to retain students and improve graduation rates.
“Our satisfaction rates are very high,” said University of Phoenix president Chris Lynne. The university said a 2024 survey found 83 percent of students were satisfied or very satisfied with their online learning. They said enrollment fell in past years because they eliminated struggling programs and de-emphasized associate degrees.
Coolie Sheppard, who earned two degrees from the University of Phoenix online, said he is irked by criticism of the school on social media, some of which falsely claim the school is unaccredited.
“It’s discouraging,” said Sheppard, who lives in South Carolina, adding that he worked hard in his classes. “You read those comments and the majority of them are bad.”
Sheppard, 46, said attending the University of Phoenix helped him go from working in a gas station earning $7.50 an hour to eventually landing technology jobs paying $55 or more per hour.
“The University of Phoenix really was a tool,” he said, “to help get me to where I am in my career.”
And despite complaints from regulators in the past, Sanderson, the financial analyst, said the school has changed for the better. For instance, he noted the school now offers free trials for first-time students.
Lynne, the chief executive, said the company hopes to keep growing slowly, in part through partnerships with employers.
As of November, the university had 85,600 students in degree programs, up 4 percent over the past year, according to a filing by the company’s corporate parent, Phoenix Education Partners Inc. The number of students taking classes for credit over a full year was even higher — more than 177,000 in 2025, up 13 percent from 2024.
“Our growth has not been anything exorbitant,” he said. “It’s been very modest, disciplined growth because it’s very important that we are continuously improving retention, completion, and outcomes for our students.”
Federal education data shows only 25 percent of students graduated from the university within eight years, less than half the average for four-year schools. And former students earned less than $38,000 a year a decade after school, nearly 30 percent less than the median for four-year schools.
University of Phoenix executives say those figures are outdated and misleading. They note the university accepts virtually everyone and primarily serves nontraditional students who are often juggling family and work while attending classes, making it harder to graduate quickly.
The school expects to grow because it is focused on helping students learn skills that employers want most — and will help lead them to good paying jobs, Lynne said.
“When you deliver strong outcomes, you’re going to get growth,” he said.
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