EDITORIAL: UI president sees higher-ed phoenix rising

It’s not every day a major company spends more than half a billion dollars to create a revenue stream that could take half a century to cover the initial investment — if they’re lucky.

It’s an even rarer plunge for a land-grant university to do the same, but that’s what University of Idaho President Scott Green, with the Idaho State Board of Education’s blessing, hopes to accomplish with the proposed $550 million purchase of the privately owned, for-profit University of Phoenix online education enterprise.

Worries abound, fueled by the secrecy with which the proposed deal transpired and enough unanswered questions to fill an ivory tower. Among them: What does the Idaho Ed Board see that University of Arkansas trustees did not when they rejected a similar proposal roughly three weeks earlier?

University of Phoenix, whose peak 450,000 student enrollment has dwindled to 85,000, was once a cash cow for its owners. In 2010, for example, University of Phoenix posted profit of $553 million on $4.9 billion in revenue.

But after a $191 million settlement in 2019 for deceptive marketing practices — reportedly the largest penalty ever assessed by the Federal Trade Commission to a private school — the higher ed vehicle looked less like a Cadillac and more like a rent-a-wreck.

The secrecy with which President Green put together his proposal and the cache of unanswered questions have made community colleges across the state uncomfortable. University of Phoenix caters primarily to working adults, offering “upskilling” and “career-relevant education” online. Why weren’t community college leaders, whose mission largely mirrors that of U of P, part of the discussion?

In Moscow, students, staff and faculty were caught unawares by the planned-purchase announcement.

“That the details of the transaction are complex, there is no doubt,” President Green wrote in his op-ed. “I would not have moved forward with this transaction without full trust in the deep due diligence of professionals who do this work every day.”

Who were those professionals, wonder UI faculty who do this work of college education every day? And why weren’t faculty representatives part of the consultation process?

President Green also alienated more than a few Idaho legislators by announcing a mind-bending, wallet-contracting investment that they had no inkling was even being considered. Even though President Green’s plan would not use taxpayer dollars, legislators are wary of any commitment that could backfire and damage the state’s image or become a state institution financial liability.

The proposed deal must clear several regulatory hurdles, including an application submission to the Higher Education Commission, which next meets in November. Early 2024 is likely the soonest the deal could be consummated.

In short, the list of skeptics today is likely far longer than the list of full-steam-ahead supporters. They’re opposing teams mustered uneasily on a playing field pockmarked by holes that need to be filled by concrete information and relationship building, and soon.

On Friday, we’ll consider how this crazy idea just might work.