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Three months ago, the Pentagon placed the University of Phoenix on probation and would not allow the for-profit school to recruit on military bases or receive financial aid from the military program.

The for-profit college had been violating an executive order when they chose to pay the military for exclusive access to the bases and didn’t use the military logos properly, according to a Reveal investigation. When Reveal shared this information with the Department of Defense in October, the college was immediately placed on probation.

The college will be allowed to start participating in the military’s tuition assistance program again, but will be strictly monitored by the Pentagon until the end of 2017. An official at the Department of Defense states that the college will have a “heightened compliance review” during this time and will be placed on probation again if it is found that they are not complying with all of the rules.

The University Of Phoenix has received $20 million from the military tuition assistance program back in 2014, so the lift of the ban was welcome news for the institution.

In a statement to the media from University of Phoenix’s President, Timothy P. Slottow says, “Our commitment to compliance, transparency and continuous improvement remains constant and we are grateful to leaders at the Department of Defense and in Congress for supporting a clear process and high standards from all educational institutions, and for ensuring military students are able to use their educational benefits for career-relevant programs at University of Phoenix.”

Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, is one of the leading congressman who asked the Pentagon to investigate the university. He says that the Pentagon’s “swift action sent a strong message of enforcement to the entire for-profit college industry.” He has also asked the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Veterans Affairs to review the reports in order to protect other government funding. The University of Phoenix has received over $1.2 billion from the GI Bill since 2009.

The parent group of the university, Apollo Education Group, is currently looking into other options for the future, including the possibility of selling off the university or the entire company.
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