The United States Department of Defense has banned the University of Phoenix from recruiting on military basis. The Defense Department has also forbidden troops from using federal money to attend classes at the largely online university.
The for-profit university has been under scrutiny regarding its recruitment efforts for months.
More than 200,000 people are enrolled in the university’s system. It is a major provider of classes to troops on active duty, reserve troops, and members of the National Guard. The University is widely recognized for its online classes.
Leader of the Defense Department’s Voluntary Education program Dawn Bilodeau said of the ban, “The institution will not be authorized access to DoD installations for the purposes of participating in any recruitment-type activities. Further, no new or transfer students at the institution will be permitted to receive DoD tuition assistance.”
The recently-enacted ban does not affect the enrollment of veterans, and troops that are currently enrolled in the university, who will be permitted to continue receiving federal funding.
Representatives from the University have stated that they will continue to work with federal authorities.
University of Phoenix President Tim Slottow said in a statement, “The University intends to continue its cooperation with federal and state agencies to respond to their requests. University representatives have been working closely with DoD leaders, and we all expected a different response from DoD. At this time, the university will not accept new students who wish to use tuition assistance program funds.”
Slottow says that he will appeal the decision, but for now, the university will comply with the ban that was issued by the Department of Defense.
Many experts speculate that the decision to limit the university’s recruitment efforts was based on the school’s low graduation rate and excessive defaults on loans by its students.
The university has been trying to improve itself by increasing its monitoring for financial-aid fraud and establishing new student orientation programs.
Enrollment at the University of Phoenix has fallen by 14.5% in the previous year.
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