Idaho House passes resolution asking State Ed Board to reconsider University of Phoenix purchase

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho House passed a concurrent resolution asking the State Board of Education to reconsider the purchase of The University of Phoenix for $685 million.

HCR 26 passed in a 49-21 vote. The bill, sponsored by Republican Representative Brent Crane, and Democrat Representative John Gannon, would allow the legislature to file a lawsuit to "protect the
legislative power and the people of Idaho in this matter."

At the heart of the controversy surrounding the University of Phoenix, purchase is the sudden approval by the State Board of Education at a May 2023 meeting. Idaho legislators have been seeking answers as to why they were not informed of talks to buy the university.

"But why have we not had a public process on this except when we demand appearances at two legislative hearings, why don't we have a public vote like we had on HP?" said Representative John Gannon on Tuesday, referring to Idaho's purchase of Hewlitt-Packard's Boise campus in 2017. "Many of us remember what happened when we bought the HP campus. We had a public vote."

Another issue legislators have taken issue with is the reputation of the University of Phoenix, which would be operating under the University of Idaho.

"About 10,000 students go to the University of Idaho. If they acquire the University of Phoenix, there will be 74,000 students that attend the University of Phoenix, and that's a lot of cash that's going to come into the University of Idaho. So who's going to get all the attention? The University of Idaho students, our students, locally taxpaying students, or students from out of state? The University of Phoenix doesn't have a good reputation. Been sued by the Department of Justice for $78 million, been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for $191 million," Crane said.

The bill will now head to the Senate.