In 2017, Ashford University school faced the potential loss of GI Bill funding as enrollment decreased more than 50 percent from its peak in 2011. Bridgepoint Education merged Ashford with the University of the Rockies and planned to convert Ashford to a non-profit university. In 2018, the university took steps to become a nonprofit institution. According to Nolan Sundrud, a Bridgepoint spokesman, the nonprofit status would allow the University to be "...judged and measured as colleges and universities should be - on their ability to support student success." The switch required approval from both the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education. In November 2018, Ashford's accreditor, WASC, delayed allowing the school to become a non-profit.