Description: The University of Idaho plans to acquire the University of Phoenix for $550 million via a not-for-profit entity it has created. The proposal is up for approval by the Idaho State Board of Education at a special meeting Thursday at 1 p.m. Mountain time. According to a news release from the State Board on Wednesday, the University of Phoenix would move from a for-profit to a not-for-profit institution after receiving various regulatory approvals. The request from U of I comes less than a month after the University of Arkansas System board of trustees voted to reject a similar measure to acquire the University of Phoenix, Inside Higher Ed reported in April. The University of Phoenix is a predominantly online school with about 85,000 students, according to a page about the acquisition on U of I’s website. The university, started in 1976, once had many physical locations across the country, but they have mostly shuttered, including one that used to be in Meridian.