Two years ago, the University of Idaho shocked students, faculty and alumni when it announced that it planned to create a nonprofit to acquire the University of Phoenix, a for-profit, online school with a checkered past.

Now, the deal is dead.

The two universities have agreed to end negotiations for the $550 million purchase asset agreement , according to a news release Tuesday. The deal would have had Four Three Education, a nonprofit affiliated with the U of I, buy the University of Phoenix from its hedge fund owner, Apollo Global Management.

The U of I plans to seek formal approval to terminate the agreement at a special State Board of Education meeting scheduled Thursday.

“Since the extension of the asset purchase agreement in June 2024, University of Phoenix has actively explo

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