by Alexander John

WASHINGTON—Ashford University is one of more than a dozen for-profit colleges across the country looking to become nonprofit institutions, a change that would make them subject to less federal oversight and shed the often-maligned “for-profit” designation.

Switching “to nonprofit status will allow Ashford University to…be judged and measured as colleges and universities should be—on their ability to support student success,” said
Nolan Sundrud, a spokesman for Bridgepoint Education, Ashford’s corporate owner, which announced earlier this year that it plans to convert the school’s tax status.