Online university fined $22M for misleading students

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California judge has ordered an online, for-profit university and its former parent company to pay $22 million in penalties, saying they misled students. The San Diego Superior Court ruled Thursday in favor of the state of California in its lawsuit against Ashford University and its then-parent company Zovio, Inc. The University of Arizona has since acquired the university and rebranded the online school, the University of Arizona Global Campus. It is an independent university that is operated in affiliation with the University of Arizona. The court said Ashford gave false or misleading information about the school’s cost, financial aid, pace of degrees, among other things. Zovio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.