Ariz. Business School Sells Campus to For-Profit Company

The Thunderbird School of Global Management, struggling with a long-term decline in enrollment and a $4-million budget deficit, is selling its campus to a commercial education firm, a move that has sown discord among alumni and board members, according to The Wall Street Journal and Poets & Quants, a news Web site covering business higher education.

Glendale, Ariz.-based Thunderbird, one of the world’s top-ranked business schools, struck the $52-million sale-leaseback deal with Laureate Education in March but only recently disclosed details to alumni. Laureate will also support a joint venture allowing Thunderbird to host programs at the company’s 71 campuses worldwide, potentially yielding significant revenues for the struggling school.

Thunderbird’s 28-member board overwhelmingly approved the partnership in late June, but two directors have resigned over the deal, with one departing board member calling it “the end of Thunderbird as we have known it.” Some alumni have complained that aligning with a for-profit company will damage the school’s reputation.