The University of Phoenix campus in Merrillville is no longer accepting new enrollees, and operations will wind down once current students complete their programs.
On-site instruction will continue at the facility at 8401 Ohio St., but the eventual closure of the campus is part of a larger restructuring of the University of Phoenix by its corporate parent, the Phoenix-based Apollo Group Inc.
University of Phoenix will close 115 locations, including 90 smaller satellite sites and 25 campuses, according to an Oct. 16 earnings release filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The realignment includes the reduction of about 800 employees.
About 200 students attend classes at the Merrillville campus in a range of associate, bachelor's and master's degree programs, said University of Phoenix spokesman Ryan Rauzon. Thirteen people in Indiana will lose their jobs within the next year as a result position eliminations, but it's difficult to determine the impact on faculty with students who are continuing their coursework, he said.
"Every student will work with their academic counselor and plot their course schedule," Rauzon said.
In determining which facilities to close, campuses such as Merrillville weren't as busy with activity and didn't have as many students using the facilities, Rauzon said. The for-profit institution will continue to operate 112 locations in 36 states.
The closest physical campus to Merrillville remaining open is in the Chicago Loop. Online student enrollment in programs will continue, but if the school wanted to set up classroom-based instruction at a temporarily facility, it would need approval from a state regulator and its regional accreditation body, the Higher Learning Commission.
Rauzon said the University of Phoenix will boost online and mobile support services for students in its restructuring efforts.
With the campus closures, the University of Phoenix will shed costs as it copes with declining enrollment. In the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, average enrollment in degree programs fell nearly 15 percent for the institution from a year earlier and net revenue was down nearly 10 percent.
The Apollo Group expects overall net revenue for the 2013 fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31, 2013, to fall between 11 and 21 percent from the 2012 fiscal year.
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