The University of Arizona Global Campus (formerly Ashford University) is a public online university affiliated with the University of Arizona. The university announced a deal to acquire Ashford University in 2020 and completed the deal in 2023.
It is an open enrollment institution serving working adults and offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in more than 50 degree programs online. The university consists of five colleges and is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
History Mount St. Clare College/Franciscan University (of the Prairies) (1918–2005) Seeing a need for higher education in Clinton County, Iowa, and the surrounding area, the Sisters of Saint Francis founded Mount St. Clare College in 1918. This liberal arts institution was also an approved teacher education college from 1932 to 1954. In 1942, 60 percent of the rural teachers in Clinton County and 62 percent of the teachers in the city of Clinton school system had received all their training from Mount St. Clare College. In 1950, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools first accredited Mount St. Clare College. The college acquired a convent building, new library, new gymnasium, the Science Building, and Durham Residence Hall and became coeducational in 1967. The campus was about a half mile from the Mississippi River and about a mile north of U.S. Route 30. The most notable building on campus was St. Clare Hall, which served as the Mount St. Clare Convent, Novitiate, Academy, and College. Durham and Regis Halls provided residence to on campus students. For the 1979–1980 school year, the college received approval for its first four-year degree, a bachelor's program in business administration. The same year, Mount St. Clare Academy merged with St. Mary's High School in Clinton, forming Mater Dei High School (now known as Prince of Peace Preparatory). With the space freed by the academy's merger, the school began to offer more four-year programs. In 1997, the sisters moved off campus into their new mother house, The Canticle. In 1998, the Durgin Educational Center was opened, which included new athletic facilities, including Kehl arena. In 2003, Mount St. Clare College changed its name to The Franciscan University. The university also offered its first master's degree online. In September 2004, the school modified its name to The Franciscan University of the Prairies in order to avoid confusion with similarly named schools.
Origin as TeleUniversity (1999–2001) University of Arizona Global Campus claims a history dating back to 1918, the founding year of Mount St. Clare College.Bridgepoint Education, Inc.COMPLAINT FOR CIVIL PENALTIES, PERMANENT INJUNCTION, AND OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF The school, however, has stronger roots with TeleUniversity, an online school created by entrepreneur Michael K. Clifford in 1999.
Charter Learning (2001–2003) In 2001, the company changed leadership with co-founders Wayne Clugston, Scott Turner, and David Vande Pol. TeleUniversity was renamed Charter Learning with a focus on helping working adults complete their bachelor's degree while attending their community college. Charter Learning provided American Council on Education credit-recommended upper division curriculum in Organizational Management. The Maricopa Community College system provided the lower division coursework and instruction, and Charter Oak State College granted the degree. In 2003, Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm, invested in Charter Learning and the institution's name was changed to Bridgepoint Education. In 2005, Bridgepoint Education purchased the small Franciscan University of the Prairies campus in Clinton, Iowa, retained the school's valuable accreditation, and renamed it Ashford University. Most of Ashford University's students, however, were enrolled to learn exclusively online and the campus closed in May 2016.
Ashford University (2005–2020) For-profit enrollment boom (2005–2012) Charter Learning acquired the financially failing Catholic college to gain regional accreditation and access to federal funds. After the sale, the institution's name was changed to Ashford University. In 2010, Ashford University was highlighted in College, Inc., a PBS Frontline exposé about for-profit colleges. In June 2012, WASC denied initial accreditation to Ashford University. Following WASC's denial of accreditation for being, according to Insider Higher Ed, "lacking in several areas, including low numbers of full-time faculty, high student dropout rates and questions about academic rigor," WASC demanded additional information from Ashford prior to an October site visit. Its second application was accepted in 2013. In approving accreditation, the WASC Commission Action Letter stated "The Commission found that the University has responded to Commission concerns and judges that it is now in substantial compliance with Commission standards." The WASC visiting team noted in its final report that "the team found an institution that has been fundamentally transformed and whose culture has been changed in significant ways, including a shift from a market driven approach to an institution committed to student retention and success". At its meeting June 26–28, 2019, the WASC Senior College and University Commission acted to reaffirm Ashford's accreditation through Spring 2025.
Academic organizations included the Ashford Junior-Senior Honor Society, the Ashford Student Iowa State Education Association, the Golden Key International Honour Society, the Mu Sigma Eta math and science honor society, the Phi Beta Lambda business organization, the Psychology Club, the Scholars Institute honors program, and the Sigma Tau Delta literature and education honor society. Campus students were eligible for the Ashford Junior-Senior Honor Society, the Scholars Institute, Mu Sigma Eta math and science honor society, and Sigma Tau Delta literature and education honor society.
The Ashford athletic teams were called the Saints. The university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing as an NAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) from 2012–13 to 2015–16 (when the school closed). The Saints previously competed in the defunct Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) from 1988–89 to 2011–12.
Ashford competed in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, and volleyball.
Enrollment declines (2013–2020)
In 2013, Ashford University announced an alliance with Forbes Media, and Ashford's College of Business and Professional Studies was renamed the Forbes School of Business. It was later renamed Forbes School of Business & Technology at Ashford University. On July 9, 2015, the university announced that the Iowa campus would close in May 2016. The inability to meet campus enrollment requirements was a key factor in the Ashford University Board of Trustees' decision to call for the campus closure.
In 2017, Ashford University school faced the potential loss of GI Bill funding as enrollment decreased more than 50 percent from its peak in 2011. Bridgepoint Education merged Ashford with the University of the Rockies and planned to convert Ashford to a non-profit university. In 2018, the university took steps to become a nonprofit institution. According to Nolan Sundrud, a Bridgepoint spokesman, the nonprofit status would allow the university to be "...judged and measured as colleges and universities should be - on their ability to support student success." The switch required approval from both the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education. In November 2018, Ashford's accreditor, WASC, delayed allowing the school to become a non-profit.
In 2019, Bridgepoint bought Fullstack Academy, and moved its personnel to Chandler, Arizona, boasting that its facility would feature an open working environment, with a café, gym, and on-site health clinic. Bridgepoint then rebranded and changed its name to Zovio. On April 14, 2019, Ashford University was featured in an NBC News investigation of for-profit colleges that were targeting military veterans. In June 2019, Zovio announced a mass layoff at its headquarters in San Diego. A month later, WASC approved Ashford to become a non-profit entity. Zovio faces shareholder lawsuits related to factual misstatements and an informal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission. One such suit was dismissed by the California Superior Court on July 8, 2019, and a subsequent appeal was later dismissed with prejudice.
In October 2019, Zovio received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education stating that it would be required to post an irrevocable letter of credit of 25 percent of the Title IV funding for fiscal year 2018 upon change of ownership. In February 2020, Zovio reported a net operating loss of $56.6 million in 2019. Enrollment declined from a peak of 77,734 in 2012 to 32,620 in 2019.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashford's parent company announced that it would be hiring 200 additional enrollment advisors. In 2020, Ashford received $1 million in federal Covid relief funds.
University of Arizona Global Campus (2020–present) Criticism of acquisition In August 2020, faculty members of University of Arizona's Eller College of Management said the acquisition of Ashford University would "impair the value of the University of Arizona, expose the University of Arizona to litigation, impede our ability to compete in the high-quality online space, and harm relationships with current and prospective donors and faculty."
Gary Rhoades, professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona and former general secretary of the American Association of University Professors said, "This is a sad example of public universities' 'cynical academic capitalism,' grounded in white privilege and the exploitation of 'others' who the public universities themselves have generally have largely underserved."
According to Dave Wells of the Grand Canyon Institute, "Ashford is considered a predatory institution with a history of students dropping out or transferring with huge amounts of debt." As part of the transfer of ownership, University of Arizona Global had a service agreement with Zovio. According to the agreement, Arizona Global "will pay to the Company services fees equal to the Company's direct costs to provide the services plus an additional amount equal to 19.5% of Global Campus's tuition and fees revenue". Zovio continued to lose more money as enrollment at the newly branded University of Arizona Global Campus declined. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, "recent disclosures by Zovio also suggest enrollment struggles lie ahead for America's newest mega-university, at least in the short term."
Lawsuits and accreditation issues
In 2021, the university's parent company agreed to resolve an inquiry by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office through an Assurance of Discontinuance regarding Ashford University students. More specifically, the company agreed to pay the Massachusetts Attorney General $295,120 and to stop collecting written off balances that former Ashford University students in Massachusetts owed to the school. The university also received $564,001 from the American Rescue Plan. In July, UAGC's accreditor, WASC, notified the school that it had "strong concerns that the targets set for academic improvement” at the school “are seriously inadequate to reach levels of student outcomes that should be expected at an accredited institution.”