TCF research fellow Kevin Miller’s analysis of Ashford University outcomes and spending data compared to other similar institutions.An analysis by TCF fellow Yan Cao of issues that may be important to the relevant accreditor, the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).Financial analyses of the past and planned operation of Ashford and UAGC by Kolari Consulting, including an estimate of Zovio’s share of UAGC’s future revenue and a sample financial model of UAGC.An analysis of the governance and control of UAGC and related entities, by the Perlman & Perlman law firm, which specializes in nonprofit law. 9 The Century Foundation has arranged for a variety of analyses that provide a more complete picture of the UAGC deal, including the following: In August, the University of Arizona announced a deal to acquire the for-profit Ashford University from its current owner, Zovio, Inc., in exchange for a long-term contract under which Zovio-for a fee-would help to run the school as a “nonprofit” carrying the public institution’s name, the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC). This unique, world-renowned model for higher education is increasingly being invaded by clever profiteers. Whether an entity has gone too far may be obvious at times but ultimately depends on the specific facts and circumstances involved, as the IRS says in much of its guidance. Instead, it can be intricate and nuanced, like assessing good parenting. As a result, determining whether an arrangement crosses the line into profiteering is not like enforcing a speed limit. With billions of dollars flowing through these enterprises, however, the opportunities and temptations for profiting are enormous and multifaceted. 7 No spoils are distributed to private parties, hence the “nonprofit” moniker. To be legitimate, a charity (the type of nonprofit we are discussing here, an organization to which donations are tax deductible) must reinvest all of its net revenue-the money it makes beyond the expenses it incurs-into its educational, charitable, or religious mission. 6 Much of the reason for the reverence is that nonprofit colleges have been able to focus on their educational missions. 5 Public colleges have benefited from the academic independence norm established by private colleges, using their example to argue against excessive political intrusion and building protections into accrediting bodies. 4 Nonprofit colleges have carved out a unique space for themselves, and, in so doing, for public colleges as well: court opinions have prevented excessive political interference into private colleges’ operations by affirming the role of private trustees in nonprofit pursuit of public interest missions. nonprofit colleges has played a key role in America’s dominance in higher education. 3 No other country has a multitude of independent, private, nonprofit colleges like those in the United States. In the rest of the world, there are really just two types of colleges: those under government control, 1 and those associated with a for-profit owner, 2 even if labeled nonprofit. While colleges in the United States are commonly thought of as being divided into three categories-public, nonprofit, and for-profit, with each model being quite distinct in its structure, behavior, and outcomes-it is that middle category that sets the U.S. The existence of a private, nonprofit college model-free from both government control and the predatory impulses of profiteers-is a distinctly American institution.
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