The University of Phoenix says it is still “committed” to partnering with the University of Idaho.

The State Board of Education on Friday gave the U of I and Phoenix more time to pursue a purchase — and find a plan that the Legislature can support. But the State Board gave Phoenix a set of choices. The for-profit online university and its owner can talk to other buyers. Or it can look at going public, by setting up an initial purchase offering.

But these options are just options, Phoenix said in a statement issued to Idaho Education News Tuesday.

“We want to emphasize that we are committed to working with the University of Idaho and leaders in the state to complete our affiliation with the University of Idaho,” the university’s statement said, in part.

The State Board-approved extension keeps the U of I-Phoenix affiliation on the table, perhaps until June. That is, if Phoenix remains on the market.

As part of the extension — which yielded the U of I an immediate $5 million payment — Phoenix has the go-ahead to negotiate with other bidders.

But on Tuesday, Phoenix said it wants to focus on closing a deal in Idaho.

“This extension provides time for important collaboration with important stakeholders and leaders in Idaho, including the Idaho Legislature, to reach consensus on an affiliation that serves students of both institutions and the citizens of Idaho,” Phoenix said in its statement.

The 2024 Legislature put a halt to the $685 million Phoenix acquisition. After the House passed a resolution urging the State Board to reconsider its support of the Phoenix purchase, the Senate killed a late-session compromise bill designed to revive the deal.

During last week’s State Board meeting, U of I President C. Scott Green said supporters “simply ran out of time” to address all the questions raised during the 2024 session.

“We’re asking for this extension to give us the ability to finish the conversations we started with our legislators during the last session, and work toward a legislative solution that could allow the transaction to close,” he said.

Finding a solution next session might not be easy — after opponents raised a variety of concerns during the 2024 session. They raised constitutional questions about the relationship between the State Board, the U of I, and any governing body created to oversee Phoenix. They questioned whether the deal would leave Idaho on the hook for Phoenix’s liabilities, jeopardizing the state’s credit rating.

Those questions still linger, a key legislative skeptic said Monday.

“I’m always willing to sit down and listen,” said Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, the co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. “I don’t see what that path is at this point in time.”

Horman also had questions about another piece of the extension: Phoenix’s willingness to pay $5 million to help offset the U of I’s due diligence costs, consulting bills racked up while reviewing a possible purchase. “I will be curious to hear about more of the details of that transaction.”

EdNews asked Phoenix officials for an explanation of the payment. The university did not directly address it in its statement Tuesday.

But this $5 million could be the first of two payments to the U of I. Phoenix has promised to pay an additional $5 million if the June deadline passes without a sale to the U of I — or an additional $15 million if Phoenix makes a deal with another buyer or pursues an IPO.

In addition to the Legislature’s questions from the 2024 session — and new questions about the extension — politics could make for some strained discussions.

During the spring Republican primary, Green took the unusual step of contributing more than $7,000 to 11 legislators and candidates — including Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, the sponsor of the U of I-backed Senate bill supporting the Phoenix purchase. Winder lost. In all, seven of the 11 Green-backed candidates lost in the primary.

And in a recent interview — conducted after the primary, and before the State Board voted to extend the negotiations — a powerful House opponent said Green had thwarted his own cause.

“I don’t believe they will get there next year, with what President Green did with his donations,” said House State Affairs Committee Chairman Brent Crane, R-Nampa, who co-sponsored the House resolution to sidetrack the Phoenix purchase. “That was absolutely poor advice.”

Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, was one of the Green-supported candidates who won in May’s primaries. She declined to comment on the extension, saying she hasn’t yet read the agreement in detail.

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