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Friday, September 04, 2009

Bridgepoint Shares Tumble After DoE Audit Update

By Joanna Ossinger

FOXBusiness

Bridgepoint Education (BPI) shares tumbled 15% on Friday, the day after the company announced that it expects the Department of Education to find one of its schools noncompliant with regulations amid an audit.

Ashford University, which is in Clinton, Iowa, and is one of Bridgepoint’s two regionally accredited institutions, has been subject to a DoE audit since May 2008. Bridgepoint said it expects preliminary findings from the DoE’s Office of the Inspector General to include recommendations for fines and corrective action at the school.

Bridgepoint said the OIG is looking into the following areas: “compensation policies and practices relating to enrollment advisors; calculation of returns of Title IV program funds; timeliness of returns of Title IV program funds; student authorizations to retain credit balances; disbursements of unearned Title IV program funds; and maintenance of supporting documentation for students' leaves of absence.”

Bridgepoint, which is based in San Diego, said it believes Ashford is “in substantial compliance” with the regulations, it “expects that this report will assert findings of noncompliance.”

Bridgepoint shares closed Friday at $15.57 each. The 52-week high is $21.90, while the 52-week low is $9.56.

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