Following a challenging legislative session for the University of Idaho’s planned purchase of a private online university, the school’s president remains committed to the purchase and is seeking an extension to have more time to negotiate.

University President C. Scott Green told the Idaho Statesman in an interview this month that he hopes to negotiate an extension with Apollo Global Management, the hedge fund owner of the University of Phoenix, which has more than 85,000 students. The existing arrangement had a deadline to finalize the sale, and acquire needed bonding, by May 30.

Green said he hopes to extend the deadline some months, potentially to allow for legislative action next spring, when the Idaho Legislature reconvenes.

“We think we had a bill that was pretty close to what people wanted,” Green said, referring to a bill lawmakers narrowly voted down in the waning days of the session. “The sellers are still very interested, as are we,” he said, adding that the private university’s profits, which are currently about $800 million a year in gross revenue, “are probably more compelling than ever.”

But at least one key lawmaker bridled at campaign donations the president made for this month’s GOP primary.

When asked about Green’s contributions, Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, who chairs the powerful House State Affairs Committee, was taken aback by the university president’s involvement in Republican politics. The committee held a two-day hearing in which lawmakers grilled University of Idaho officials about the planned purchase.

“He just hurt his cause significantly,” Crane said, adding that he doesn’t know of any other college president previously getting involved in political races. “Scott Green obviously doesn’t understand politics; he should be focusing his time on education, not on political races.”

“So no, his issue will be dead,” he said.

Green pursues extension on deal

For now, Green and the University of Phoenix told the Statesman they’ll continue to pursue an extension of the deal.

Despite the May 31 deadline, the negotiators have agreed that neither will terminate the deal at least through June, while discussions continue, university spokesperson Jodi Walker told the Statesman by email. Any amendments to the purchase agreement would have to be approved by the university’s Board of Regents in a public meeting.

“We are optimistic that we can find a path forward with the University of Idaho and look forward to continuing discussions with leaders in the state,” Phoenix spokesperson Andrea Smiley told the Statesman by email.

Green acknowledged that Phoenix has received offers from other buyers, which likely means an extension will not be exclusive until the deal proceeds to the bond market. And he said the university would “just walk away” if the school, Apollo and government officials are unable to get on the same page.

“We think we’re all pretty close to being aligned,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of, do we think we have a transaction that can be supported by everybody?”

The University of Idaho’s planned $550 million purchase, which university administrators and the Idaho State Board of Education maintain would allow for innovation needed to meet shifting college demographics, was stymied by a skeptical Legislature this year, whose attorney argued the arrangement violated the state Constitution.

Idaho’s land grant university in Moscow had planned to purchase the University of Phoenix through a nonprofit corporation, Four Three Education. The school expects the private university’s hefty profits will bring in millions in profits for the state over and above up to $60 million in annual funds needed to service the bond debt.

But Phoenix has a blemished reputation from past scandals, which prompted the school to settle with federal regulators for hundreds of millions after it was accused of deceptive advertising. The Legislature’s skepticism was backed up by Attorney General Raul Labrador, who similarly concluded the arrangement was illegal in a legal analysis.

The scrutiny of the deal that was arranged last spring prompted university officials to shift their focus and work to craft an arrangement that would satisfy lawmakers.

In the final days of the session, Senate leadership tried to put together a deal that would alter the structure of the university’s proposed purchase to appease concerns from some lawmakers that the deal was illegally structured, or could result in taxpayer liability for hundreds of millions in bonding. The bill would have also added legislative oversight to the operations of the newly purchased university.

But the deal, which was sponsored by Senate Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, failed in a 14-19 vote, as lawmakers looked with alarm at letters from Labrador and Treasurer Julie Ellsworth that instilled doubt about the deal hours before the vote was called. Green said he was still optimistic such a bill or resolution could return in the next session.

Green pours money into GOP races

As hundreds of thousands of dollars flowed into Republican legislative races this spring, Green and his wife entered the fray to support more moderate Republican candidates around the state.

Green donated more than $7,500 to candidates, along with a $10,000 donation last fall to New Horizons, a political action committee run by Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, who was ousted her role as House Majority Leader in a fight within her caucus during the session, and who lost her reelection bid this month to a more conservative challenger. Blanksma told the Statesman who PAC was inactive this year; it has not filed any expenditures since last year, according to state records.

Green gave maximum $1,000 donations to Lori Bishop, Reps. Lori McCann and Britt Raybould, Winder, and former Rep. Jim Woodward. He gave more than $750 to Geoff Schroeder; more than $500 each to Jeff Agenbroad and Take Back Idaho PAC, a group of establishment Republicans who have banded together to combat “extremism” in Idaho politics; and $250 donations or more to Scott Syme and Reps. Matt Bundy, Mark Sauter and Julie Yamamoto.

Green’s wife, Gabriella Green, gave $25,000 to a PAC called Idaho Deserves Better, which campaigned against Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, a far-right senator who represents Latah County. The North Idaho county includes Moscow, where the land grant university is based.

Of the candidates Green and his wife backed, eight of the 12 lost, and Foreman won his re-election bid.

Green and his wife have “the same rights as any other citizen,” Walker told the Statesman in an email.

“Any political contributions made by Scott or Gabriella Green are from their own resources and are not associated with any university dollars,” Walker said.

Backlash over the donations extended to the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a powerful player in Republican politics.

The group’s lobbyist, Fred Birnbaum, penned a column before the elections this month criticizing Green’s activities. Though he didn’t mention the Phoenix purchase, Birnbaum said Green’s efforts were to “defeat conservative legislative candidates and promote liberal ones” who support funding the state’s public universities and what he calls “woke” diversity, equity and inclusion programming.

IFF’s aligned candidates had a largely favorable election night this month. Primary elections will send half a dozen more far-right lawmakers to the Legislature, which could make the potential for a deal next year even more difficult. The group has broadly opposed publicly funded education in the state, including working against efforts in local school districts to pay for renovations of dilapidated classrooms.

Would lawmakers entertain further negotiations?

Winder, perhaps the most outspoken supporter of the deal in the Senate, lost his primary bid in a major upset after 16 years in the Senate. His demise was part of a trend that has sent a number of more moderate lawmakers packing.

Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, told the Statesman by text that he thought the primary election’s effects on the deal were unclear.

“These kinds of complex agreements require a lot of due diligence,” he said. “So to the extent that the Legislature wants to continue evaluating the proposal, an extension seems to be logical.”

Lawmakers will select new leaders after the November elections.

It may be even more difficult for such a proposal to get through the House, which saw hard-line conservatives pick up nearly half a dozen seats from more moderate incumbents. House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Gov. Brad Little, who has supported the deal, did not respond to a request for comment. The State Board of Education, which is largely appointed by Little, has “not had a chance yet to meet and discuss latest developments,” spokesperson Mike Keckler told the Statesman by email.

“It’s going to be much more difficult for the University of Idaho to get something off the House floor and the Senate floor and the governor to sign it based on the results of the election,” said Crane.

Crane has been skeptical about the benefits such a deal would bring to the state for months, and wary of the risks if taxpayers could become liable if the college defaults on its bonds.

In addition to Ellsworth’s concerns, Crane’s father, Ron Crane, who was the Idaho treasurer for nearly 20 years, has also worried taxpayers could be liable for default payments.

Brent Crane told the Statesman he is willing to meet with university officials but will need to be convinced the deal is in the interest of the state to move forward.

“They’re still wanting to make it happen, and sometimes you have to accept reality, and I don’t know that they’re there yet,” he said.

Reporter Kevin Fixler contributed.