John Glen Sperling was an American billionaire businessman who is credited with having led the contemporary for-profit education movement in the United States The fortune he amassed was based on his founding of the for-profit University of Phoenix for working adults in 1976,which became part of the publicly traded Apollo Group. Sperling brought the business model of higher education to the forefront,a model that employed the scientific management of higher education to the forefront:diminishing the power and importance of labor,increasing the importance of technology,marketing and advertising,and as University of Phoenix cofounder John D. Murphy explained,maximizing profit. For ventures ranging from pet cloning to green energy,he has widely been described as an "eccentric" self-made man by The Washington Post and other media.
University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix,Arizona. Founded in 1976,the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate,associate,bachelor's,master's,and doctoral degree levels. It is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has an open enrollment admissions policy,accepting all applicants with a high-school diploma,GED,or equivalent as sufficient for admission. The school is owned by Apollo Global Management,an American private-equity firm. UoPX was ranked 386th out of 391 schools in the 2021 Washington Monthly list of national universities.
Eugene Benton Sperling is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to serve as national economic advisor under two presidents. Outside of government,he founded the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in 2002.
David Plouffe is an American political and business strategist best known as the campaign manager for Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign. A long-time Democratic Party campaign consultant,he was a partner at the party-aligned campaign consulting firm AKPD Message and Media,which he joined in 2000.
Apollo Education Group,Inc. is an American corporation based in the South Phoenix area of Phoenix,Arizona,with an additional corporate office in Chicago,Illinois.
The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration is a United States space advocacy organization for space industry businesses and non-profit groups supporting continued government investment in space exploration.
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is a Washington,D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1983,consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic gubernatorial candidates. To carry out this mission,the DGA will support right-wing extremist candidates in Republican primaries,in a cynical strategy to ensure the opposition has the worst candidate in general elections. The DGA's Republican counterpart is the Republican Governors Association. The DGA is not directly affiliated with the non-partisan National Governors Association. Noam Lee is currently the executive director of the DGA,while Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina is the current chair.
Penn Foster High School is a U.S. for-profit high school for distance learning. It was founded in 1890 as the International Correspondence Schools (ICS) Penn Foster High School is the largest high school in the United States with over 60,000 students currently enrolled across all 50 states. Programs are self-paced. The school is regionally and nationally accredited. It is headquartered in Scranton,Pennsylvania. It offers a high school diploma program and several high school concentration programs including an early college program for students looking to get a head start on their college education and vocational concentrations in carpentry,plumbing,electrical,health care,or information technology.
Mona K. Sutphen was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. She is currently a partner and Head of Investment Strategies at The Vistria Group,a Chicago-based private equity firm founded by Marty Nesbitt. From 2013 to 2019,she was a partner in Macro Advisory Partners LLP and from 2011 to 2013 was a managing director at UBS AG,covering geopolitical risk,macro-policy trends and their impact on the global economy. She held a diplomatic position in the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration.
Neal Steven Wolin is the CEO of the corporate advisory firm Brunswick Group,an equity partner of Data Collective,a board partner of Social Capital,and a limited partner advisor of Nyca Partners. He is the longest-serving Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and also served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury in early 2013.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that,Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013,and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps;Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014,he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense,he went on to serve on the Board of Raytheon.
Lisa Oudens Monaco is an American attorney,former federal prosecutor and national security official who has served as the 39th deputy attorney general of the United States since April 2021.
Martin Hughes Nesbitt is an American businessman and public figure. Nesbit is co-CEO of the Vistria Group,a Chicago-based private equity firm. Nesbitt is on the boards of directors of publicly traded companies CenterPoint Energy,Norfolk Southern Corporation,and American Airlines Group. Nesbitt was the founder and former CEO of The Parking Spot,an airport parking company. He was on the board of the Chicago Housing Authority.
For-profit higher education in the United States refers to the commercialization and privatization of American higher education institutions. For-profit colleges have been the most recognizable for-profit institutions,but commercialization has been a part of US higher education for more than a century. Privatization of public institutions has also been increasing for decades.
Gregory W. Cappelli is an American business executive who specializes in national education policy. He is the CEO of Apollo Education Group,a Fortune 1000 company and the parent company of the University of Phoenix,as well as chairman of Apollo Global,a subsidiary company that invests money in educational institutions.
Jesse H. Ruiz is an American politician,lawyer,and businessman. He has previously held the positions of deputy governor of Illinois for education,chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education,president of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners,vice president of the Chicago Board of Education,and interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools.. He currently works in the private sector as chief compliance officer and general counsel to the Vistria Group.
Elizabeth Marie "Liz" Allen is an American political advisor who serves as acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs and as White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration.
Todd S. Nelson is an American businessman who has been the CEO of three of America's largest for-profit college chains:Apollo Group,Education Management Corporation,and Career Education Corporation. He is currently the CEO of Perdoceo Education Corporation,the parent company of Colorado Technical University,American Intercontinental University,and Trident University International.
Academic Partnerships(AP) is a major for-profit online program manager (OPM) owned by Vistria Group,a private equity firm. Established in 2007 by entrepreneur Randy Best,it claims to serve more than 50 colleges and universities,providing technology,marketing services,and student support services to mid-level brands. Because of its early start as an OPM,it has been considered "a pioneer" in the business. APs clients,which are mostly regional public universities,are lower in price than elite colleges,but face significant financial and enrollment challenges. According to Academic Partnerships,the company has served 270,000 students and converted more than 4000 campus-based classes to online courses.
