Financial reports filed by Bridgepoint Education estimate the company will have 49-million to 55-million dollars in restructuring and asset impairment charges related to the closing the Clinton Ashford University Campus.
The form called am ‘8-K’ is filed with the Security and Exchange Commission. (link included)
That form states Bridgepoint Education committed to the implementation of a plan to close the Clinton campus after the 2015-2016 school year on July 7th with a news release issued on July 9th. The form cited the company’s best efforts to maintain and operate the campus but could not meet campus enrollment requirements.
The financial form cites a non-cash impairment of asset charge of about $40 million on the company books.
Cash expenditures related to the closing are cited as about $8-million in student transfer agreements costs. Another $3-million in severance and retention charges and one million dollars in other contract cancellations are specified.
Those figures are cited as estimates that may vary.
Link: Bridgepoint financial K8 form (pdf)
Bridgepoint officials tell KROS NEWS their current focus is on the students and staff at the Clinton campus and they can’t address other questions at this time and would at a later time.
In other news articles-such as the Chronicle of Higher Education – related to the closure of the Clinton Ashford campus – Bridgepoint Executive Doctor Robert Pattendaude is quoted as saying – without more paying students, Pattenaude said, the campus needed an annual subsidy of more than $10 millon, which came from the students paying for online courses.
Other information in the article included comments that the company had spent some $40 million on campus improvements, including refurbished classrooms and science labs, a local hotel converted to a dormitory, the purchase of a golf course and indoor tennis courts, and construction of an all-season athletic field.
The Bridgepoint executive is also quoted about the future of the property with the article stating – Even the fate of the campus buildings is uncertain. As a publicly held company, Ashford has a duty to try to sell the campus, Mr. Pattenaude said, or to consider philanthropic opportunities.
