In a final public and perfunctory act, the State Board of Education closed the books on the University of Idaho’s bid to acquire the University of Phoenix.

With little discussion — and acting on the U of I’s request — the board terminated an “asset purchase agreement,” the legal framework for the potential $685 million purchase.

The board vote came as no surprise. On Tuesday, Phoenix and the U of I both said they were breaking off talks.

“We’ve been unable to achieve a closing,” said Kent Nelson, the U of I special counsel who has been one of the university’s point persons on Phoenix. “We wish them well.”

Thursday’s unanimous vote came 749 days after the State Board gave the U of I the go-ahead to pursue Phoenix, a for-profit online school serving more than 80,000 students nationwide.

But much has changed since that May 2023 board meeting.

In June 2023, Attorney General Raúl Labrador challenged the closed-door meetings leading up to the State Board’s endorsement of the purchase. The lawsuit brought the purchase nearly to a standstill. And even though the Phoenix deal is dead, the open meetings lawsuit remains unresolved, with an Ada County District Court hearing scheduled for June 23.

In 2024, legislators pushed back against the U of I and the State Board — questioning the merits of the purchase and complaining that they had been cut out of the process. Lawmakers blocked the sale, and the U of I and Phoenix never came back to the 2025 Legislature with a reworked plan.

Meanwhile, Phoenix has pursued other potential buyers, and is reportedly pursuing the idea of going on the market through an initial public offering.

While all sides describe the end of the talks as amicable, a State Board staff report indicates that both the U of I and Phoenix were ready to move on. Phoenix wanted to pursue a partnership that would net more than the U of I could offer, the report said, although it hasn’t been able to close a deal with another buyer.

“While the (U of I) continues to see the value of a collaboration with Phoenix, and (Phoenix’s owners) would like to see the (U of I) continuing to wait on the sidelines, doing so has become cost-prohibitive for both,” the report said.

The board’s vote provides a one-time windfall for the U of I.

Phoenix will pay an additional $12.2 million to the U of I, to cover its consulting and due diligence costs. That’s on top of the $5 million Phoenix shelled out nearly a year ago, when the parties agreed on an extension to continue negotiations.

That final payment also reflects a compromise, according to the staff report. The extension could have allowed the U of I to seek $20 million in so-called “breakup fees.” But the U of I says the $17.2 million will wholly cover its due diligence costs.

Before Thursday’s vote, State Board president Kurt Liebich spoke briefly on the process and the future. Liebich supported a Phoenix acquisition from the outset. He believed the partnership would address some of higher ed’s biggest challenges — a looming demographic cliff that will leave universities competing for a shrinking pool of 18- to 22-year-old students, and Idaho’s large population of adult learners and rural students who have some college credits and no clear path to pursue a degree.

“Now that this deal’s behind us, those trends haven’t changed,” he said.

Board gives go-ahead on Boise State’s Pac-12 transition

In another quick, unanimous move, the State Board gave interim Boise State University President Jeremiah Shinn the green light to work on the Broncos’ pending move to a restructured Pac-12 conference.

The go-ahead involves Boise State’s expansion agreement to join the Pac-12 — and potentially pay exit fees to the Mountain West athletic conference — and a Pac-12 media rights deal running through 2031.

In September, Boise State announced plans to move to the Pac-12, beginning in 2026.