Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on April 14, 2025
MOSCOW, ID – Time is fast running out. And there are no visible signs of progress.
But University of Idaho and University of Phoenix officials insist they haven’t given up on the idea of a partnership.
“We continue to be excited about the proposed affiliation with the University of Idaho and the opportunity to support important educational and workforce needs in the state of Idaho,” University of Phoenix spokeswoman Andrea Smiley said in an email to Idaho Education News last week. “The two universities will continue to collaborate to find solutions.”
“We continue to see incredible value in University of Phoenix,” U of I spokeswoman Jodi Walker told EdNews in an email. “However, next steps are in the hands of Phoenix and its ownership team.”
But the State Board of Education has the U of I on a deadline to close a deal with Phoenix, a for-profit online university serving some 85,000 students. That deadline, June 10, is quickly approaching.
And what’s more, the State Board agreed to an extension in order to give the two universities time to win over skeptical legislators. And that hasn’t happened — at least not publicly.
The 2025 legislative session came and went without a Phoenix bill, a committee hearing, or any kind of vote. That silence stood in a stark contrast to the 2024 session. The Legislature stymied the $685 million Phoenix deal — with the Senate killing a bill that would have restructured the purchase — after lawmakers complained that they had been left in the dark by the parties’ closed-door negotiations.
In short, U of I and Phoenix officials now have less than two months to settle on a deal to meet the State Board’s deadline. And with the Legislature adjourned until January, it isn’t clear how lawmakers would have a chance to weigh in on a revamped deal — unless they returned to Boise for a special session.
In the meantime, as the U of I suggests, the next move belongs to Phoenix.
The State Board’s extension also gave Phoenix the latitude to talk to other would-be buyers. Phoenix is continuing to explore “other transaction opportunities,” Smiley said.
One option could involve going public.
As Bloomberg reported in March, Phoenix’s ownership groups are considering an initial public offering, perhaps as early as the third quarter of 2025.
And what about the State Board — which has the U of I on the clock?
The State Board did not respond to a request for comment.
The board meets Wednesday and Thursday at the U of I. And while U of I President C. Scott Green is expected to address the board and deliver the university’s annual report, the board has no Phoenix-related item on its agenda.
