DeVry University
For-profit online university offering IT, business, and healthcare degrees.
On the record
Checkpoint: Ninth Circuit ruling aftermath in Sweet v. McMahon, where DeVry is named Exhibit C, plus PE owner's acquisition push under its new Chief Strategy Officer
The call
DeVry keeps its federal aid lifeline and a new AI-training product, but enrollment and AI-search visibility keep slipping behind cheaper nonprofit rivals while a major lawsuit and a PE owner's acquisition plans loom.
DeVry University is an online college that charges students tuition for degrees and certificates. Three bigger competitors, Southern New Hampshire University, Western Governors University, and Arizona State University Online, are winning because they cost less and show up more often when students search for colleges online using artificial intelligence. What could change the picture: a major legal settlement involving student loan forgiveness could force DeVry to pay out money it may not have, or the private equity owner might sell the school to another company in the next few years.
Why
01
AI pressure: AI-mediated college search (students asking ChatGPT/AI tools where to enroll). DeVry shows up in under 0.5% of AI college-search citations while WGU gets 14% and SNHU 10%, cutting off a growing enrollment funnel. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Western Governors University, Southern New Hampshire University, Arizona State University Online. Nonprofit online rivals with lower sticker prices and no for-profit stigma keep pulling adult learners while DeVry revenue has fallen from $1.46B in 2011 to $333M in 2022. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Title IV eligibility and regional accreditation let DeVry keep enrolling federal-aid students, a bar new entrants can't clear quickly.
What would change this call
Ninth Circuit ruling on Sweet v. McMahon appeal (post July 22-23, 2026 hearing) naming DeVry as Exhibit C. Would show mounting legal/financial liability tied to pre-2018 loan discharge claims.
DeVry's next audited annual financial statement release (FY2024 or FY2025). Would show whether the multi-year revenue collapse from its 2011 peak has stabilized or worsened.
Any acquisition, merger, or sale announcement involving DeVry's PE owner Cogswell Education following its 2025 CSO hire. Would confirm a distressed roll-up or exit is underway rather than organic recovery.
DeVry's next audited annual financial statement release (FY2024 or FY2025). Would show whether the multi-year revenue collapse from its 2011 peak has stabilized or worsened.
Any acquisition, merger, or sale announcement involving DeVry's PE owner Cogswell Education following its 2025 CSO hire. Would confirm a distressed roll-up or exit is underway rather than organic recovery.
Key numbers
- Revenue down to $333M in FY2022 from $1.46B in 2011
- AI search citation share under 0.5% vs WGU's 14%
- DeVryPro AI upskilling platform launched April 2025
Named risks
- Sweet v McMahon liability naming DeVry as Exhibit C amid largest ever US government settlement.
- Near total absence from AI mediated college search (under 0.5% citation share) as discovery channel grows to 46% of students.
- California BPPE citation order, December 29, 2025, for failing to maintain required performance data.
- No audited financials published since FY2022, obscuring true post-2022 revenue trajectory.
- PE ownership with CSO explicitly tasked toward acquisitions could presage distressed sale or roll-up.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Western Governors University | losing to | WGU holds 14% AI search citation share vs DeVry's under 0.5% as of June 2026 |
| Southern New Hampshire University | losing to | SNHU holds 10% AI search citation share vs DeVry's under 0.5%, June 2026; SNHU grad rate ~53% |
| Arizona State University Online | losing to | ASU Online holds 10% AI search citation share vs DeVry's under 0.5%, June 2026 |
| University of Phoenix | contesting | Both near-invisible in AI search, but Phoenix's bachelor's grad rate is only ~18% as of 2026-07-16 |
Questions people ask
- Is DeVry University profitable in 2026?
- No current audited profit figures are public. DeVry's tuition revenue was $332.66 million for fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, down from a historical peak of about $1.46 billion in 2011 under prior ownership, with no more recent audited results disclosed.
- Who owns DeVry University now?
- DeVry University Inc has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Cogswell Education LLC, under private equity backed Cogswell Capital LLC, since the Stock Purchase Agreement closed December 11, 2018, when Adtalem Global Education sold it.
- Is DeVry University losing students to WGU or SNHU?
- DeVry captures under 0.5% of AI search citation share versus WGU at 14%, SNHU at 10%, and ASU Online at 10%, per a June 16, 2026 industry report, as AI mediated college search grew from 26% to 46% of students in eight months.
- Could AI replace DeVry University?
- Not outright: accreditation and Title IV federal aid eligibility protect DeVry from direct AI replacement. But AI is eroding its enrollment funnel and instruction value; DeVry launched its own AI upskilling platform, DeVryPro, on April 28, 2025 to respond.
- Is DeVry University facing legal trouble in 2026?
- Yes. In Sweet v McMahon, the Ninth Circuit on July 17, 2026 rejected the Department of Education's bid to delay relief for 170,000-plus post-class borrowers; DeVry is named among 'Exhibit C' schools, with over 20,000 borrower defense applications tied to it.
- Who is DeVry University's biggest competitor?
- Southern New Hampshire University, Western Governors University, and Arizona State University Online are DeVry's main threats, each far outperforming DeVry in AI search visibility (10-14% citation share versus DeVry's under 0.5% as of June 2026) and in price and reputation.
Timeline
- 2026-07-17Ninth Circuit rejects DOE bid to delay Sweet v McMahon relief for 170,000+ borrowers
- 2026-03-02DeVry marks its 95th anniversary
- 2026-01-21DeVry announces plan to embed AI literacy into every course by end of 2026
- 2025-12-29California BPPE issues Citation Order against DeVry for data compliance failures
- 2025-10-09DeVryPro AI learning course lineup expanded
- 2025-09-15BS Software Development program redesigned with AI and Data Analytics track
- 2025-09-09Jason B. Horne named Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer to pursue acquisitions
- 2025-04-28DeVryPro AI upskilling platform launched with Praxis AI
- 2025-01-27Graduate Certificate in Innovation launched with startup hub 1871
- 2018-12-11Stock Purchase Agreement completed, DeVry sold to Cogswell Education LLC
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- DeVry University financial statements FY2022
- DeVry Statement of Facts
- DeVry University-Illinois Enrollment Trends
- DeVry 2025 Impact Report announcement (2025-02-05)
- DeVry 95th anniversary release (2026-03-02)
- Adtalem Closes Sale of DeVry University & Carrington College (2018-12-12)
- WGU Tuition Comparison (2026-07-08)
- DeVryPro Launch (2025-04-28)
- DeVryPro Expansion (2025-10-09)
- DeVry to Embed AI Literacy (2026-01-21)
- BSD Program Redesign (2025-09-15)
- New Graduate Certificate in Innovation (2025-01-27)