Apollo Group, Inc

APOLLO GROUP, INC. 2011 ANNUal REporT be... engaged focused committed accountable dedicated educated innovative informed connected supported empowered inquisitive valued effective impactful Since 1973, Apollo Group has been creating opportunities for students and employees to reach their full potential, while enriching society as a whole. Today, Apollo Group continues to strengthen its position as a leading provider of high quality, accessible education for individuals around the world. Apollo Group has estab- lished itself as a leading be engaged provider of quality academic offerings by Apollo Group’s institutions offer both online engaging, educating and campus-based classroom settings, flexible and empowering today’s course scheduling, small class sizes and an innovative academic atmosphere that is chal- workforce, one graduate lenging, rewarding and industry-focused. at a time. Personalized attention from instructors and interactive classroom participation between students and faculty facilitates a collaborative, professional learning environment that draws upon the experiences of others with rich and varied backgrounds. University of Phoenix’s mobile application enables participation in classroom activities to students “on-the-go” from virtually anywhere. In addition, PhoenixConnectSM, a private, academically-focused social network, provides students, alumni and faculty tools for greater collaboration, discussion and learning support beyond the classroom. be educated be empowered Our degree programs are designed in collabo- We are committed to helping individuals ration with academic and industry professionals achieve their educational, professional and to ensure quality, relevance and rigor. We offer personal objectives through our quality aca- degree programs across a range of high-demand demic programs, engaging instruction and fields at the associate, bachelor and graduate innovative content delivery. Our institutions levels. Course curriculum is developed and are focused on aligning our degree programs continuously updated to reflect the latest with the needs of the workforce and equipping standards and practices in today’s industries. students with skills relevant in a globally competitive economy. Students are taught by a team of more than 35,000 talented faculty members and sup- Apollo Group’s flagship institution, University ported by a network of committed academic of Phoenix, graduated more than 100,000 advisors. Our faculty hold advanced degrees in students in fiscal 2011 in the critical areas of and have experience working in the fields they teaching, nursing, criminal justice, information teach, providing our students a balanced edu- technology and business, among others. These cation that includes theory and application. graduates join an alumni network of nearly 700,000 individuals. We are empowering our students to compete in today’s workforce. Apollo Group, Inc. was founded in response to a continuing shift in higher education demographics from a student population dominated by youth to a more diverse population. It began with the belief that the era of lifelong employment with a single employer was ending, and workers would have to become lifelong learners to stay competitive in a global economy. Lifelong learning requires an institution dedicated to meeting the educational needs of the working learner. p.2 APOLLO GROUP, INC. // 2011 Annual Report Letter to Our Shareholders Fiscal 2011 was a year of unprecedented change for Apollo Group, and was also a year in which we made significant strides in advancing our long-term strategic plan and positioning our organi- zation for continued success. Our commitment is to provide a high-quality education to our students to help them attain the skills needed to succeed in today’s competitive workforce. We believe that delivering superior experiences, achieved by doing the right thing for the student, is key to building value for our shareholders. AT THE BEGINNING OF FISCAL 2011 WE SET OUT TO: 1) Implement additional leading-edge student protections that enable students to make better informed decisions regarding their education options so that they have a higher likelihood of academic success; 2) Differentiate University of Phoenix, our flagship institution, within the U.S. higher education landscape through innovative technology advancements, engaging instruction and curriculum, and industry-relevant academic programs; and 3) Expand our growth opportunities intelligently beyond University of Phoenix. We are pleased with the progress we have made in each of these areas during the past year. Our accomplishments include enhancing our student-centric approach to admissions, launching University Orientation, investing in our learning platform and adaptive learning capabilities, and further aligning our educational offerings to the needs of today’s workforce. In addition, we continue to build the foundation for a global education network through the educational institutions of Apollo Global. 2011 Annual Report // APOLLO GROUP, INC. p.3 A year in review.5 In fiscal 2011, we committed to the implementationDiluted EPSof several from Continuing key strategic Revenue ($ in billions) initiatives aimed at enhancing the student experience and improvingOperations student Attributable outcomes. to Apollo These ($) initiatives were the right things to do—both for our students and for our business—but they did $ have an impact on student enrollment at University of Phoenix. 4.02 $4.9 4 $3.85 $ 5 $3.72 4.7 While these initiatives have resulted in a period of transition for our business, we believe they have positioned us for more sustainable growth over time. $4.0 4 3 $2.94 For the year, Apollo Group delivered consolidated revenue of $4.7 billion, a 4 percent decrease $3.1 from the prior year. At the same time, we focused on managing our$2.38 cost structure to appropriately $2.7 3 align it with the needs of the business. Net income from continuing operations attributable to Apollo was $569.9 million,2 or $4.02 per diluted share, representing an 8 percent increase from the prior year on a per share basis. 2 1 Implementing leading-edge student protections. One of our primary areas of 1 focus has been on cultivating an organizational culture that is, first and foremost, centered around always doing what’s right for our students. 0 0 We have encouraged our advisors to develop relationships with prospective’07 ’08 ’09 and’10 current2011 students ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 2011 to more effectively support them. At the beginning of the year, we aligned our admissions practices to better support our students’ success by eliminating enrollment measures as a factor in the evaluation and compensation of our admissions advisory teams. We have better empowered our advisors to provide high-quality service and to make decisions that are in the best interests of students. To further support this student-centric approach, we implemented additional tools University of Phoenix is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning and procedures to help ensure that prospective students can make informed decisions Commission and is a member of the North Central Association, one of as they pursue their edu cational goals. At six regional accrediting bodies considered to be the gold standard of University of Phoenix, we introduced the accreditation. In addition, University of Phoenix holds programmatic Phoenix Prep Center to provide prospective accreditations in nursing, counseling, business and education. Other students with self awareness and assessment schools and institutions within Apollo Global are also accredited or resources that help them understand their authorized by various local accrediting bodies within their respective individual learning style and academic geographic or programmatic areas of instruction. strengths, which we believe facilitates improved student readiness in the classroom. University of Phoenix also launched a free, three-week program called University Orientation. This program is mandatory for students with limited college experience and is designed to help them understand the commitment required for success in our academic programs. Importantly, University Orientation has enabled prospective students to experience the University of Phoenix learning environment and determine if our offering is right for them prior to enrolling and taking on debt. Together, these efforts are focused on helping students make better informed decisions regarding their education options so they have a higher likelihood of success. Differentiating University of Phoenix. During fiscal 2011, we continued to invest in areas we believe will further distinguish the academic quality and learning experience provided at University of Phoenix. Innovation is a driving force in our efforts to enhance our learning platform. Over the past year, we rolled out our new academically-focused social network, PhoenixConnectSM, to all of the colleges within University of Phoenix. PhoenixConnectSM creates an online community that con- nects students, faculty and alumni and fosters enhanced academic collaboration. We also developed and introduced mobile applications to expand access opportunities for students “on-the-go.” p.4 APOLLO GROUP, INC. // 2011 Annual Report We augmented our curriculum with the introduction of the Phoenix Lecture Series, which provides unique course content from highly distinguished academicians and guest lecturers. We further inte- grated industry-relevant skills and competencies into our degree

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