The University of Phoenix plans to scale back more brick-and-mortar campuses across the country, according to university employees and internal communications obtained by Phoenix New Times.
The best-known for-profit university will phase out on-campus enrollment and teaching at around 20 locations, according to employees and internal discussions. The locations in question include full-fledged campuses in Detroit, Tucson, El Paso, and Albuquerque, along with smaller learning centers in San Bernardino and Woodlands, Texas.
The University of Phoenix’s external affairs department confirmed that as of Friday, the university “is instituting a teach-out phase at several of our campus and learning center locations.”
Last Friday, employees at the University of Phoenix were ushered into a meeting room and informed in a conference call that the company plans to phase out teaching at a slate of learning centers and campuses nationwide.
A University of Phoenix employee, who asked to remain anonymous in order to avoid repercussions, said the call included remarks from Peter Cohen, president of the University of Phoenix, and Gregory Cappelli, CEO of its parent company, the Apollo Education Group.
“This is huge,” the employee told New Times. “We’re talking Washington D.C., all the way over to California.”