Zovio
Zovio, formerly Bridgepoint Education, Inc., is a publicly held, American for-profit education services company. It owns one online accredited university, Ashford University, and owned the former University of the Rockies from 2007 to its merger with Ashford University in 2018. In April 2019, the company changed its name to Zovio, moving its headquarters to Chandler, Arizona.
Zovio also owns Waypoint Outcomes, Fullstack Academy, and TutorMe.
Zovio employs 3,400 faculty and 2,200 non-faculty staff. It trades on NASDAQ under the ticket symbol ZVO.
History
Founding (1999)
Zovio was first incorporated in Delaware in May 1999 under the name TeleUniversity, Inc. Under the leadership of CEO and President Andrew Clark, 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 instituion'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.
In 2009, 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.
Bridgepoint Education has faced and settled several lawsuits. It has been investigated in New York, North Carolina, California, and Massachusetts. A U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General probe is ongoing. On December 3, 2014, a lawsuit was filed in Arizona federal court charging that Bridgepoint Education is violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by robocalling sales prospects.
In March 2017, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appointed Robert Eitel, a vice president at Bridgepoint, as an advisor.
In July 2017, an Iowa District Court affirmed the withdrawal of Ashford University's online programs from GI Bill approval by the Iowa State Approving Agency. The Veterans Administration immediately sent notification to Ashford's military students about the status of their GI Bill education benefits and warned them that benefits could be interrupted. This ruling was to become final on August 16, 2017, unless Ashford University appealed the decision and the court delayed implementation.
In August 2017, the Department of Veterans Affairs warned Arizona officials about running afoul of federal law after the state approved Ashford University's ability to accept GI Bill education benefits. The VA suggests that the state's decision could put its own compliance with federal rules in jeopardy.
On November 15, 2017, Bridgepoint suspended enrolling GI Bill students for Ashford University after a controversial exposé on the school appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. On November 17, 2017, Warburg Pincus, Bridgeport Education's major underwriter, announced its complete divestment from Bridgepoint.
At the end of 2018, its last full year of operation, Bridgepoint enrollment stood at 38,153.
On March 12, 2019, Bridgepoint Education reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had made unreliable statements about its earnings and losses. The company estimated an operating loss of $13.6-$14 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.
Zovio (2019-present)
In April 2019, Bridgepoint changed its name to Zovio and moved its stock listing to the NASDAQ, where it trades under the ticker symbol ZVOOn April 4, 2019, Zovio acquired on-demand tutoring provider TutorMe.
Leadership
Andrew S. Clark co-founded Zovio and has been its CEO since 2003. In 2009, he became the Board President. Clark served on the Board of Trustees of University of the Rockies from 2007 to 2010. From 2005 to 2008, he served on the Board of Trustees of Ashford University. Prior to 2003, he worked for Career Education Corporation as Divisional Vice President of Operations and COO for American InterContinental University. From 1992 to 2001, he served in management positions for University of Phoenix, culminating his work there as Regional Vice President for the Mid-West region. Mr. Clark holds an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix and a B.A./BS from the Pacific Lutheran University.Philanthropy
Zovio directs its philanthropic efforts toward three aims: education, youth, and the military. Charitable organizations and programs Zovio has partnered with include 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.
Lawsuits, investigations, and controversies
Zovio faces numerous lawsuits, and is under investigation in New York, North Carolina, California, and Massachusetts. A US Department of Education Office of Inspector General probe is ongoing. On December 3, 2014, a lawsuit was filed in Arizona federal court charging that the company is violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by robocalling sales prospects.In 2008, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General audit services division performed a compliance audit of Ashford University for the period March 10, 2005, through June 30, 2009. The OIG audit reached the following conclusions:
| Audit focus | Audit result |
| Compensation policies and practices relating to enrollment advisers | Rewarded recruiters based on their success in securing enrollments |
| Calculation, timeliness, and disbursement accuracy of Title IV program funds | Improperly retained at least $1.1-million during the 2006-7 period and disbursed aid before students were eligible to receive the money |
| Student Authorizations to retain credit balances | Kept credit balances without the proper authorization |
| Maintenance of supporting documentation for a student's leave of absence | Took too long to return money awarded to students who withdrew or went on leave of absence |
The stock of Bridgepoint Education fell the most in almost five months when the misuse of federal student aid was first publicly disclosed in 2009. When the official results were released in 2011, Senator Tom Harkin said this audit "reveals the same troubling pattern of for-profit colleges' taking advantage of students and taxpayers." The Department of Education has not yet responded to the findings.
2011 Senate hearings
On March 10, 2011, Senator Tom Harkin chaired a hearing of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that examined a "case study" of Bridgepoint Education, Inc., which has experienced near-exponential profit growth in the last few years despite low graduation rates. Bridgepoint owns two universities that it purchased when both were near bankruptcy, Ashford University in Iowa and the University of the Rockies in Colorado.When it purchased Ashford University in 2005, Bridgepoint grew from less than 300 students to more than 78,000 students at its peak, 99% of which were online.
Senator Harkin took issue with the fact that despite such growth, student success was lacking. According to information provided by Senator Harkin, 63% of students enrolled at Ashford University during the 2008–2009 school year withdrew before completion of their programs. Senator Harkin noted that Bridgepoint recorded $216 million in profits in 2010—of which 86.5% of its revenues came from federal funds. In reference to these figures, Senator Harkin was on record as saying, "In the world of for-profit higher education, spectacular business success is possible despite an equally spectacular record of student failure. Bridgepoint is a private company, but it is almost entirely dependent upon public funds... I think this is a scam, an absolute scam."
Kathleen Tighe, Inspector General with the U.S. Department of Education, testified at the hearing that in an audit of Ashford, she discovered the university was improperly distributing federal financial aid to students. "Seventy-five percent of the improper disbursements to students in our sample were made to students who never became eligible," Tighe said. For the 2006–2007 award year during which the audit was performed, it is estimated Bridgepoint had not returned $1.1 million in improperly obtained student aid to the federal government. Tighe said on a recent report she had seen that Bridgepoint was "sitting on" $130 million in total credit balances.
Bridgepoint chose not to send executives to the HELP committee hearing while engaged in negotiations with Office of Federal Student Aid. Rather, Bridgepoint published a summary of responses called "Bridgepoint Education Transparency.
Additional lawsuits
In 2014, Bridgepoint Education settled a lawsuit with the State of Iowa for $7.25 million, denying any "wrongdoing but agreed to not use any 'unconscionable or coercive tactics' to encourage students to enroll."In 2016, a former senior vice president at Ashford University alleged that Bridgepoint falsified its financial reports by inaccurately projecting the student retention rate.
In 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action against the company for “deceiving students into taking out private student loans that cost more than advertised.” Bridgepoint paid a penalty of $8 million to the CFPB and forgave and refunded loans to students totaling $23.5 million.
In November 2017, the California Attorney General brought a lawsuit against Ashford University and its parent company Bridgepoint for engaging in "unlawful marketing, sales and debt collection practices".