From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: U. of Phoenix Reports 22% Rise in Enrollment (Chron of Hi
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 09:45:55 -0500
U. of Phoenix Reports 22% Rise in Enrollment
By SCOTT CARLSON
The University of Phoenix said this week that enrollment at its campuses had
grown by more than 13,000 students this year, an increase of almost 22 per
cent.
The for-profit university saw a significant increase in its on-line
distance-education enrollment, which jumped almost 60 per cent in fiscal
1999; 10,382 students are enrolled in on-line degree programs this year,
compared with 6,512 in 1998.
Enrollment grew by 19 per cent at campuses and learning centers that Phoenix
established prior to the 1995 fiscal year, to a total of 55,471 students, up
from 46,693 in 1998. Campuses established since 1995 have grown by 72 per
cent, from 6,556 students to 11,312.
Kenda B. Gonzales, chief financial officer of Apollo Group, which operates
the university, couldn't point to a single cause for the spurt in
enrollment. "We really haven't changed what we do," she said, adding that
the university, which specializes in adult education, attracts students
mainly through referrals from other students and employers.
Scott L. Soffen, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker who follows the Apollo
Group, said that the 19-per-cent growth on the "mature" campuses was
"impressive," and makes Phoenix probably "one of the fastest-growing
educational institutions in the United States."
Mr. Soffen called the 60-per-cent growth in the university's on-line program
"incredible."
"It really shows the very large underlying demand for distance education in
this country, a market that until recently has been virtually untapped," he
said.
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Copyright 1999 by The Chronicle of Higher Education