The story
Founding (1999)
Zovio was first incorporated in Delaware in May 1999 under the name TeleUniversity, Inc. The company changed its name to Bridgepoint Education, Inc. in February 2004.
Bridgepoint Education (2004–2019)
Bridgepoint Education purchased The Franciscan University of the Prairies in Clinton, Iowa in 2005 and changed its name to Ashford University. In September 2007 Bridgepoint purchased the Colorado School of Professional Psychology, and changed that institution's name to University of the Rockies. In 2008, Bridgepoint Education was named the fastest-growing private education company in the United States, as well as the fastest-growing private company in San Diego by Inc. magazine. In April 2009, Bridgepoint Education went public, and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BPI. Bridgepoint's Ashford University had an estimated economic impact on state of Iowa of $40.9 million in business output, 782 jobs, $12.6 million in employee earnings, and $18.6 million in total value added to the state's GDP.
From 2010 through 2013, Bridgepoint Education was the title sponsor of the Holiday Bowl postseason college football game in San Diego. In 2013, Bridgepoint Education helped generate over $1 billion in income and 4,505 outside jobs in San Diego. In 2013, Bridgepoint Education's Ashford University announced an alliance with business publisher Forbes Media. Under the terms of the alliance, Ashford's College of Business and Professional Studies was renamed the Forbes School of Business at Ashford University.
On December 22, 2015, an agreement was made that Clinton Catalyst, LLC would buy the Ashford University campus properties for $1.6 million, according to the Clinton Herald. For the subsequent 12 months, Ashford University planned to lease the campus from Clinton Catalyst to make sure that the spring semester classes could continue, according to the Clinton Herald's report. In March 2017, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appointed Robert Eitel, a vice president at Bridgepoint, as an advisor. At the end of 2018, its last full year of operation under the Bridgepoint name, Bridgepoint enrollment stood at 38,153. On March 12, 2019, Bridgepoint Education reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had made unreliable statements about its earnings and losses. The company estimated an operating loss of $13.6–14.0 million loss for the quarter ending in December 2018.
The same day, Bridgepoint announced the acquisition of the coding boot camp Fullstack Academy for approximately US$20 million.
Charitable organizations and programs Bridgepoint partnered with included After-School All-Stars, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, Computers 2 SD Kids, the Homefront Heroes Scholarship Program, the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, Junior Achievement, Make-A-Wish Foundation, A Salute to Teachers, the San Diego Office of Education, the Teacher Appreciation Scholarship Program, United Way of San Diego, and Warrior Foundation-Freedom Station. The Bridgepoint Heroes program brought Bridgepoint employees together for large-scale volunteer efforts. Past Bridgepoint Heroes initiatives included cleaning Chollas Lake Park, cleaning Balboa Park, cleaning the San Diego River Garden, revitalizing the Mary Fay Pendleton School on Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, and restoring Ruffin Canyon.
Zovio (2019–2022)
In April 2019, Bridgepoint changed its name to Zovio and moved its stock listing to the NASDAQ, where it trades under the ticker symbol ZVO. On April 4, 2019, Zovio acquired on-demand tutoring provider TutorMe. In August 2020, the company announced that it would sell Ashford University to the University of Arizona. The company reported an annual loss of $61 million for 2020.
In 2021, co-founder and CEO Andrew Clark left Zovio and two new board members were appointed, John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., former Morehouse College President, and Ron Huberman, former superintendent of Chicago's public schools. Zovio continued to lose more money as enrollment at the newly branded University of Arizona Global Campus declined. Zovio agreed to pay the Massachusetts Attorney General $295,120 and to stop collecting written off balances owed to Ashford University by students both enrolled in Ashford and Massachusetts residents from 2011 to 2014.
Read the full text
In November 2021, the California Attorney General case filed in 2017 against Ashford University began its trial phase. California Judge Eddie C. Sturgeon found for the plaintiffs on March 3, 2022, his 49-page opinion citing evidence that Zovio deceived students about their ability to become teachers, nurses, social workers, drug and alcohol counselors using their degrees; and misled students about how much financial aid they would receive; misrepresented federal financial aid rules, understated costs of attendance, the time needed to complete degree requirements, their ability to transfer credits, and evidence of deception within the admissions department, and Zovio's tolerance for repeat compliance offenders. Zovio was fined $22,375,282. The Board of Directors officially closed the business on September 11, 2022. Following the liquidation, Zovio plans to sell Fullstack Academy for an amount estimated between $34 and $55 million, according to the mentioned filing to the SEC. Stockholders would receive only a portion of it, probably below $20 million. It sold its final asset in November 2022 before closing down.
From Wikipedia’s article on Zovio, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6