U of Arizona finalizes Ashford acquisition. What’s next?

Education Dive

Hallie Busta

December 1, 2020

Dive Brief:

• The University of Arizona announced Tuesday that it completed its acquisition of Ashford University, a for-profit online college with some 35,000 students.

• Craig Swenson, previously Ashford’s president, will lead the new entity, which will be called the University of Arizona Global Campus.

• The U.S. Department of Education is expected to review the deal after closing.

Dive Insight:

Although the deal has cleared several regulatory hurdles, a perhaps bigger challenge will be reconciling Global Campus and UA Online, the university’s online degree platform.

Critics of the deal have highlighted overlap between some Global Campus and UA Online programs. They’ve also noted that the new entity’s name could be confused with U of Arizona Global, which handles the university’s international offerings.

During a faculty senate meeting on the eve of the deal’s close, a committee established to examine the acquisition shared recommendations for the administration’s work with Global Campus. Several of them concern distinguishing Global Campus’ programs from UA Online’s.

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