The University of Phoenix, a for-profit institution, is a subsidiary of Apollo Group, based in Phoenix (and thus the name). Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange.
Founded in 1973, the university is the brainchild of John G. Sperling, a former professor of economics at the University of California - Berkeley.Having tried unsuccessfully in the late 1960s to implement an adult training program for adults - he found the regulatory environment in California not conducive to adult higher education - he founded the Institute for Professional Development (IPD), which contracts with private universities to provide adult education.
Sperling moved to Phoenix in the early 1970s to create his own school of higher learning for working adults and the University of Phoenix was the result. It now ranks as the nation's second-largest private university and has one of the largest business schools in the country. The university opened its Salt Lake campus in 1984 and has since expanded to Ogden and Provo.
Phoenix classes are four hours in length and average 15 students per class. It operates at more than 80 campuses in eight states and Puerto Rico. Campuses in Portland,Ore., and Seattle will open later this year.
Phoenix offers degrees in business, nursing, education, computers and counseling. The school is accredited by the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges.
The university's online delivery system allows students to complete a degree or training programs solely via the computer, communicating with faculty, study groups and classmates through the Internet and other communications networks.
Sperling, 75, is chairman, president and CEO of Apollo. The company's total revenues for fiscal 1996 totaled $214.3 million, up 31.1 percent over fiscal 1995. Net income for the year increased 69.8 percent to $21.4 million or 42 cents per share. A 29.1 percent increase in enrollments for the University of Phoenix and an 8.5 percent increase in IPD enrollments were cited for the gains.
Enrollments at the end of fiscal 1996 totaled 46,935, up 27.4 percent over the previous year.