Apollo Education Group CEO: 'None Of Us Are Happy With The Performance'
Despite losing $430 million in revenue, Apollo Education Group CEO Greg Cappelli told KJZZ that the parent company of the University of Phoenix is on the right track.
After the company's annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, Cappelli sat down with KJZZ.
“We’ve made a whole host of changes," he said. "It’s absolutely putting pressure on the near term results as well as the financial results, and I’m okay with that because I believe it’s absolutely going to enhance value for all our stakeholders going forward.”
Cappelli said changes include making sure students better understand the time and costs involved before taking out loans, tailoring courses to better meet employers needs and closing several physical locations across the country while investing in the best performing major metro markets.
“We’ve put our money where our mouth is," he said. "We have brought enrollment down very, very significantly at the University of Phoenix because we’re serious about having success and good outcomes for our students and the employers.”
Increased competition and federal oversight have led to what Cappelli and other executives call a "transformation." The new University of Phoenix, they say, will be judged by graduation rates and job placements, not its size.
Cappelli said the company is also focused on growing its global footprint. They boast operations on six continents and just announced plans to partner with one of China’s biggest providers of rehabilitation therapy to train future workers.
Earlier this month, the Board of Directors released a statement saying it’s exploring ‘strategic alternatives’ which could potentially lead to a change of control of the company. Cappelli said he could not comment beyond the statement issued in the news release.
Below is the list of 24 locations to be closed and nearly 70 that will see investments in this August 2015 letter that University of Phoenix President Timothy Slottow sent to employees:
