the educational services company . for the private equity firm see apollo management . for the group of near earth asteroids see list of apollo asteroids . apollo education group inc. type public traded as nasdaq apol s & p 400 component industry for profit education founded 1973 founder john sperling headquarters phoenix arizona u.s. key people peter sperling chairman gregory cappelli ceo mitch bowling coo revenue 3.6 billion fy 2013 1 operating income 427 million fy 2013 1 net income 249 million fy 2013 1 total assets 3.0 billion fy 2013 1 total equity 1.1 billion fy 2013 1 number of employees 44 000 part and full time august 2013 1 subsidiaries apollo global axia college bpp holdings carnegie learning college for financial planning institute for professional development meritus university university for the arts sciences and communication universidad latinoamericana university of phoenix western international university website www.apollo.edu apollo education group inc. is an s & p 400 corporation based in the south phoenix area of phoenix arizona . apollo group inc. through its subsidiaries owns several for profit educational institutions . the company owns and operates four higher learning institutions the university of phoenix western international university axia college and the college for financial planning . as of november 2013 the combined enrollment of all the universities was approximately 269 000 students . 1 of these nearly 90 % attend the university of phoenix which apollo describes as the nation s largest regionally accredited private university . 2 additionally apollo education group inc. is the owner of bpp holdings in the united kingdom . it formed a joint venture with carlyle group called apollo global to make international acquisitions . 3 apollo also purchased uniacc college in santiago chile and ula college in mexico . 4 on may 8 2016 the company announced its sale to a group of private investors for 1.14 billion contents 1 founding 2 financial performance 3 schools and subsidiaries 3.1 university of phoenix 3.2 western international university 3.3 apollo global 3.3.1 bpp holdings 3.3.2 meritus university 3.3.3 universidad de artes ciencias y comunicacion 3.3.4 universidad latinoamericana mexico 3.3.5 open colleges australia 3.3.6 bridge school of management 3.3.7 milpark education 3.4 carnegie learning 3.5 insight schools 3.6 aptimus marketing 3.7 orange lutheran online 3.8 the iron yard 4 lawsuits and financial reporting 5 references 6 external links founding edit apollo education group inc. was founded in 1973 by john sperling . 5 financial performance edit corporate revenues for the year ending august 31 2005 were 2.251 billion . 6 as of 5 october 2011 apollo group had a market capitalization of 5.36 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 13.22 . 7 the apollo group announced quarterly results on 30 june 2011 . the company reported 1.45 in earnings per share for the previous quarter exceeding the thomson reuters estimate of 1.33 by 0.12 . apollo group s quarterly revenue was down 7.6 % on a year over year basis . 8 in march 2011 the apollo group sold its corporate headquarters in arizona and leased it back in order to raise 170 million in cash . the deal with cole real estate investments included a 20 year lease requiring apollo to remain in the complex . 9 in our view it does not change the view of the company . apollo isn t hungry for cash it carries little debt but generates 4 billion in revenue and has 650 million in net income and 1.5 billion in cash on its balance sheet commented peter wahlstrom of morningstar an investment research company . 10 however the revenue of the company continued to fall in the fiscal year ending in august 31 2011 the net revenue was 4.7 billion ; in 2012 4.2 billion ; in 2013 3.6 billion . 1 the operating income during this period fell from 956 million in 2011 to 676 million in 2012 to 427 million in 2013 . the company attributed this to a decline in enrollment with degreed enrollment declining from 380 000 in 2011 to 328 000 in 2012 to 269 000 in 2013 . 11 on may 6 2016 the sharreholders of the company approved the sale of the firm for 1.14 billion to a group of private investors 12 najafi companies a phoenix firm the new york based apollo global management and the vistria group of chicago . 13 the offer amounted to 10 per share compared to its high of 89 share in 2009 . schools and subsidiaries edit university of phoenix edit main article university of phoenix the university of phoenix is a wholly owned subsidiary of the apollo education group . the university of phoenix is one of the largest higher education providers in north america . 14 the university has more than 200 campuses worldwide and confers degrees in over 100 degree programs at the associate bachelor s master s and doctoral levels . 15 the university of phoenix has an open enrollment admission policy only requiring a high school diploma ged or an equivalent qualification . 16 the school also provides associate or bachelor s degree applicants opportunity for advanced placement through its prior learning assessment through which aside from previous coursework college credit can come from experiential learning essays corporate training and certificates or licenses . 17 according to usa today the university of phoenix s detroit campus has a graduation rate of 10 % but a student loan default rate of 26.4 % . 18 western international university edit western international university west is a university offering online programs for adult learners . founded in 1978 west offers associate bachelor and master degree programs to approximately 1 374 students fall 2014 . west s mission is to provide a broad educational foundation with a focus on business and technology designed to prepare students for leadership positions in a dynamic global marketplace . west is located in tempe arizona and offers online education through its virtual campus . apollo global edit apollo group has formed apollo global to manage and form subsidiaries assets and holdings overseas . as part of their first acquisitions apollo global acquired universidad de artes ciencias y comunicacion uniacc in chile as well as the now defunct meritus university in canada . 3 19 apollo global is a joint venture between the apollo group and the carlyle group . the two partners invested 1 billion in apollo global . the apollo group invested roughly 801 million and owns 80.1 % of the new company . carlyle invested 199 million and controls the remaining shares . apollo global replaced apollo international . 20 21 bpp holdings edit main articles bpp holdings and bpp university bpp holdings is a holding company of the united kingdom based provider of professional and academic education . the company is divided into bpp learning media bpp professional education and bpp university . bpp university is a united kingdom degree awarding body with four schools bpp business school bpp law school bpp school of health and bpp school of foundation and english language studies . apollo global acquired bpp holdings which includes bpp university in the united kingdom for 607 million in july 2009 . 22 western international university formerly a direct subsidiary of the apollo group was transferred to apollo global in april 2010 . the apollo group says that the transfer of western international university to apollo global would allow it to offer its degrees internationally on a more successful basis . the transfer included a capital contribution from apollo global s minority shareholder the carlyle group . 23 meritus university edit main article meritus university apollo group owned and operated meritus university in canada . 24 on january 24 2011 citing how enrollment will continue to be insufficient to sustain the required quality academic and student service infrastructure we and our students demand meritus university announced its closure with their last classes taking place on march 14 2011 . 25 universidad de artes ciencias y comunicacion edit main article university for the arts sciences and communication university for the arts sciences and communication chile . 26 universidad latinoamericana mexico edit main article universidad latinoamericana the universidad latinoamericana in mexico was acquired by the apollo group in 2007 . 27 open colleges australia edit main article open colleges open colleges in australia was acquired for a 70 % share agreement by the apollo group in 2013 . 28 bridge school of management edit main article bridge school of management milpark education edit main article milpark education carnegie learning edit main article carnegie learning carnegie learning logo carnegie learning is a publisher of math curricula for middle school high school and post secondary students . the company uses a blended approach with a textbook and software called cognitive tutor for each subject . the company also produces products for the homeschool and tutoring markets . based in pittsburgh pa carnegie learning was founded by cognitive science researchers from carnegie mellon university in conjunction with veteran mathematics teachers . all of the cognitive tutor curricula are based on extensive scientific research from carnegie mellon university along with field tests in schools throughout the united states . the cognitive tutors are based on the act r theory of learning memory and performance . the tutors themselves were developed using an empirical testing process . 29 apollo group announced in august 2011 a 75 million deal to buy carnegie learning along with a separate agreement to acquire related technology from cmu for 21.5 million to be paid over 10 years . 30 insight schools edit insight schools is an online high school offering classes from 9th to 12th grade . insight both ran high schools for school districts and operated online schools in several u.s. states . 31 apollo group acquired insight schools in 2007 ; in 2011 apollo group sold insight schools to kaplan inc. 32 aptimus marketing edit aptimus is a full service in house marketing agency for apollo group education institutions including the university of phoenix axia college the institute for professional development olympus high school and insight school . 33 orange lutheran online edit main article lutheran high school of orange county lutheran high school of orange county lhsoc licenses its name to the apollo group to offer online courses . 34 the iron yard edit on june 11 2015 apollo education group acquired a 62 % interest in tiy academy llc the iron yard a provider of nondegree information technology bootcamp programs in the united states for 15.9 million . 35 lawsuits and financial reporting edit see also university of phoenix governmental lawsuits and investigations after a separate investigation in 2004 the apollo group paid about 10 million in fines to the u.s. department of education which had criticised uop s admissions practices for example recruiters were paid bonuses depending on the numbers they signed up . 36 in 2004 a scathing report issued by the us department of education concluded that phoenix as the chronicle of higher education put it had a high pressure sales culture that intimidated recruiters who failed to meet targets and encouraged the enrollment of unqualified students in short that it rewarded the recruiters who put the most asses in classes . apollo illegally withheld the report but it was leaked and the group s value on the stock market crashed . a suit was brought alleging that its management had disseminated materially false and misleading financial statements in an effort to inflate its stock price and attract investors . 37 in 2006 the company s controller and chief accounting officer resigned amid allegations that the books had been cooked ; in 2007 the nasdaq listing and hearing review council threatened to withdraw apollo s listing from the stock exchange . 37 in january 2008 the above stock price suit was decided . apollo was found liable for misleading investors by failing to disclose the department of education report that criticized the university of