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 Randy Best is an American education entrepreneur and conservative political donor. Early life Best was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, the son of a hardware store owner and a teacher. In 1967, Best graduated from Lamar University, where he ma ...

, 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.

History

In 2007, Academic Partnerships was created by entrepreneur

as Higher Ed Holdings. In 2007, Education Holdings helped

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, t ...

establish online programs, and quickly expanded to other universities including the

University of Texas system The University of Texas System (UT System) is an American government entity of the state of Texas that includes 13 higher educational institutions throughout the state including eight universities and five independent health institutions. The UT& ...

and

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...

. An article in Forbes characterized the company's efforts as "using the Web to turn struggling midlevel U.S. universities into global education brands." In 2011, Randy Best hired former Florida Governor

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

as an adviser to Higher Ed Holdings. Bush was also an investor. Using his connections, Bush was able to broker an education deal for AP with

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

In 2013,

Clayton Christensen Clayton Magleby Christensen (April 6, 1952January 23, 2020) was an American academic and business consultant who developed the theory of "disruptive innovation", which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century. ...

, a Harvard Business School professor and creator of the theory of disruptive innovation became a senior advisor to Academic Partnerships. Former executives at Academic Partnerships, Paxton Riter and Whitney Kilgore, helped found another OPM, . In March 2014, the firm paid

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

$225,000 to deliver a speech. In his June 2014 speech to the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, Bush called President Barack Obama's

gainful employment Broadly gainful employment refers to an employment situation where the employee receives steady work, payment from the employer and that allows for self-sufficiency. In psychology, gainful employment is a positive psychology concept that explores ...

regulations, “a sledgehammer to the entire field of higher education.” In December of that same year, Jeb Bush resigned from his position at AP in preparation for his bid for a 2016 presidential run. In 2014, AP was characterized as a "profit machine" that could reduce the cost of educating an undergraduate by about 85 percent. By 2015, AP had annual sales of $100 million and contracts with 40 U.S. colleges and universities. At some point, AP was owned by

Insight Partners Insight Partners (previously Insight Venture Partners) is an American venture capital and private equity firm based in New York City. The firm invests in growth-stage technology, software and Internet businesses. History Insight Partners was fo ...

, a venture capital and private equity firm. In 2017, the firm appointed

Dan Branch Dan H. Branch (born March 5, 1958) is an American politician who served as the Texas State Representative for the 108th district from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he represented part of Dallas.Edmentum, Vanta Education, FullBloom Education, MSI Information Services, Apollo Education Group, and Unitek Learning. In 2020, University of Texas-Arlington President Vistasp Karbhari resigned after taking two international trips paid by Academic Partnerships. The school paid AP "more than $178 million over about a five-year period." In 2020, Academic Partnerships was one of five online program managers that Senators

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

and

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...

targeted for scrutiny. The senators said that online program managers were typically not transparent and that they were concerned that these OPMs might be violating rules meant to rein in for-profit colleges.

Business model

Academic Partnerships operates as an online program manager (OPM) and receives an undisclosed portion of the revenues. It is not directly involved in instruction and it does not confer degrees. Instead, it provides its clients with marketing, mentoring, instructional design, technology, and other services. The firm works with faculty and staff to design and deliver online programs; it uses digital, traditional and field sales channels to market and enroll students; and it provides outreach to assist students with the application process, communicate with students, refer students to university services, and provide outreach to inactive students. One criticism of this model is that college and university staff see this as a form of privatization. Another criticism is that Academic Partnerships and other online program managers work in the shadows, with limited oversight and with little knowledge by faculty or students.

University partners

Avila University Avila University is a private Roman Catholic university in Kansas City, Missouri. It is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and offers bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Its 13 buildings are situated on a campus of in Ka ...

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

* Eastern Washington University *

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

Louisiana State University Shreveport Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSU Shreveport or LSUS) is a public university in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is part of the Louisiana State University System. Initially, a two-year college, LSUS has expanded into a university with 21 ...

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It is primarily an undergraduate institution with over 14,000 students; over 12,000 are undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 are graduate students. Northern ...

* Radford University * St. Cloud State University *

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern, SE, or SOSU) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had an undergraduate enrollment of 4,824 in 2019. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an ac ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

(International University) *

University of Illinois Springfield The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The university was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the Illinois General Assembly and became a part of the University of Illinois ...

University of Maine at Presque Isle The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMaine Presque Isle or UMPI) is a public college in Presque Isle, Maine. It is part of the University of Maine System and one of two University of Maine System schools in Aroostook County (the other bein ...

* University of North Carolina Pembroke *

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of ...

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...

William Paterson University William Paterson University, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 and was named after American ju ...

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges a ...

Data Raven

Data Raven is a technology that uses

algorithms In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

to improve recruitment and retention.

References

{{Reflist

External links