Contracts Show Universities Outsource Significant Management to Private Equity Owned Online Program Manager, Putting Students and Borrowers at Risk

October 9, 2025 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — An investigation unveiled today by Protect Borrowers, UIC United Faculty, and University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100 exposes how Illinois public universities are renting out their reputable brand names while outsourcing vital services to for-profit company, Risepoint. A review of hundreds of pages of documents obtained by WBEZ Chicago, reveals that five of the state’s public colleges and universities, including the University of Illinois system, have outsourced vital services to Risepoint, potentially misleading students and putting them at financial risk.

The investigative findings spelled out in a letter to the Illinois Attorney General and Illinois Board of Higher Education, detail how the structure of the contractual relationships between the Illinois institutions and this for-profit company poses significant risks to students. The letter calls on the officials to take immediate action to protect students and borrowers across the state.

“These Risepoint contracts are a five-alarm fire. The contracts set Risepoint up to exploit the trusted names of our public universities and give it the tools to run a predatory recruitment scheme, rake in millions, and drown students in debt,” said Protect Borrowers research and policy analyst Ella Azoulay. “We need Attorney General Raoul and the Illinois Board of Higher Education to step in now and investigate these partnerships and enforce existing consumer protection laws.”

“Illinois students are kept in the dark about the true nature of online programs that are managed by Risepoint. They enroll in what they believe is a program offered directly by a reputable and recognizable university, unaware that they have been recruited by a for-profit third party that has a heavy hand in how the program is designed and delivered and also takes a substantial cut of every tuition payment,” said Protect Borrowers fellow Stephanie Hall. “OPMs prioritize enrollment numbers over student success and wellbeing to satisfy the profit demands of their private equity owners. By contracting with Risepoint in this way, these Illinois institutions are betraying the public’s trust by preying on students’ aspirations.”

“In this moment when public universities are under intense scrutiny, it is essential that we are honest with our students about who is responsible for their education and avoid outsourcing our services to profit-driven corporations.” said UIC United Faculty president Aaron Krall.

The investigation found that the structure of the contractual relationships between Risepoint and Illinois schools poses multiple significant risks to students:

  • Giving Risepoint significant involvement in institutional decision-making including course design;
  • Allowing Risepoint to pose as its university clients;
  • Granting Risepoint access to student data without sufficient privacy safeguards; and
  • Allowing Risepoint recruiters to use titles that imply their role is to advise students on courses or financial aid, while pressuring them to enroll.

Background

Risepoint, formerly known as Academic Partnerships, is currently the largest Online Program Manager (OPM) in the market. It has at least 125 school partners—more than any other OPM. And it manages one-third of all OPM-run programs offered in the United States. OPMs tend to offer schools a variety of services, including marketing and advertising, recruitment, instruction, student support services like career counseling, and course design, and in exchange, receive a percentage of revenue dollars per student recruited by the OPM. These arrangements, known as tuition-sharing agreements, have been shown to lead to predatory tactics mirroring some of the worst practices by the for-profit college industry that disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income students. For example, OPMs have been found using inflated and false job placement data and high-pressure sales tactics, only to leave students burdened with a mountain of debt and without the success or skills they were promised.

In 2019, Academic Partnerships was acquired by a private equity firm, Vistria Group, the same company that is one of the owners of the scandal plagued for-profit college, University of Phoenix. In 2023, Academic Partnerships purchased Wiley University Services, another large OPM, and rebranded itself as Risepoint. University faculty at the University of Toledo described Academic Partnerships as a “diploma mill.” Both Academic Partnerships and Wiley have found themselves under scrutiny—the targets of a Senate oversight effort demanding transparency and data from the companies’ executives. A decade ago, Academic Partnerships was reporting annual sales of $100 million with just one of its school contracts paying out $178 million over five years. Across the documents reviewed, Risepoint’s average tuition sharing agreement allows it to keep 50 percent of students’ tuition.

Further Reading

Read the Blog: Why We’re Sounding the Alarm on Risepoint in Illinois

Read the Letter to the Illinois Attorney General and Illinois Board of Higher Education: Urgent Need to Protect Illinois Students and Borrowers from Public Institutions Outsourcing Management of Online Programs to For-Profit Third Party Risepoint (FKA Academic Partnerships)

Risepoint’s Contracts with Illinois Public Institutions, Obtained by WBEZ: Appendix

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About Protect Borrowers

Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) is a nonprofit organization led by a team of experts, lawyers, and advocates fighting to build an economy where debt doesn’t limit opportunity. We investigate financial abuses, take predatory companies to court, and push for policies to protect working people from debt traps. We aim to deliver immediate relief to families while building power, driving systemic change, and fighting for racial and economic justice.

Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow us on social @BorrowerJustice.