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 nationwid

See Full Page