Apollo Group Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income tumbled 60 percent, hurt by higher costs and declining enrollment at the University of Phoenix. To cope, the for-profit education company plans to close 115 of the university’s locations, a move that will affect 13,000 students.
Shares in the Phoenix-based company tumbled nearly 8 percent in after-hours trading.
The closings include 25 main campuses and 90 smaller satellite learning centers. At least one location in 30 states is slated to be shuttered.
The roughly 4 percent of Apollo students affected by the closures will be given the option of transferring to online programs or moving their course work to other sites, said University of Phoenix President Bill Pepicello.
If no other center is nearby, the company will continue courses at other space near the closed facility until students complete their degrees, he added.
The university, which also recently announced a tuition freeze, is in the process of notifying students.
The University of Phoenix currently has about 328,000 students, down from a peak of more than 400,000. Following the closures, it will be left with 112 locations in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
