According to the law firm press release, Apollo Education Group Incorporated ("Apollo") is a publicly traded, for-profit education company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Apollo employs approximately 15,000 non-faculty employees and approximately 29,000 faculty members, and enrolls over 250,000 students across its online and in person course offerings. The Company, through its subsidiaries, offers associate, bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees to students around the world in over 100 fields. The Company's largest reporting segment, The University of Phoenix, generates more than $4 billion in revenue.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Defendants manipulated federal student loan and grant programs in order to appear to be in compliance with new federal regulations enacted in June 2011; (ii) Defendants' predatory and deceptive recruiting and enrollment practices violated federal regulations enacted beginning in June 2011; and (iii) the Company engaged in a number of practices, including loan forbearance programs, in order to create the appearance that the Company was in compliance with relevant government regulations.
On July 30, 2012, Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, completed a two-year investigation of the for-profit college industry, and issued a report (the "Harkin Report") containing troubling statistics and findings regarding the for profit college industry, and specifically about Apollo.
After the Harkin Report was published, the Company's shares fell 4.1% or $1.17, to close at $27.22 on July 30, 2012.
On April 1, 2014, the Company disclosed that the Department of Education was conducting an investigation into the Company, and that the department had subpoenaed documents and communications related to student recruitment, attendance, completion, placement, defaults on loans, along with information on other corporate and financial matters.
On this news, Apollo shares declined $3.10 per share, or over 8.8%, to close at $32.06 per share on April 2, 2014.
On July 21, 2014, the Court issued an Order appointing lead Plaintiff and approving lead Counsel.
On November 12, 2014, the Lead Plaintiff filed a Notice voluntarily dismissing this case.