The University of Arizona has reached a $2.6 million settlement to end a lawsuit from employees who claim they were paid less because of their gender.
From 2022 to 2026, the plaintiffs argued that women working in enrollment services at the University of Arizona Global Campus were paid less than the men in those same roles. Up to 185 people could see payouts from the settlement approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in a unanimous vote Oct. 1.
The university will foot the bill for $1.05 million. The rest will be paid out by the state’s Department of Risk Management through a self-insurance program. All settlements over $250,000 involving Arizona's major public universities must be approved by the Board of Regents.
The Equal Pay Act, created in
1963, prohibits sex-based wage discrimination. UAGC is an online university at UA, separate from its existing online courses at the University of Arizona Online.
UA officials deny the accusations, saying the settlement was in the best interests of the school.
The workers contend the university paid senior enrollment services providers who were women $14,425 less on average, according to court documents. Other, more senior providers were paid $4,745 less, they said. UAGC had been basing starting salary on prior pay, which attorneys argued could have contributed to the problem but did not fully explain the large discrepancies.
Some men were being paid upwards of $50,000 more than one of the women named in the lawsuit, who earned roughly $81,000 per year. They had "substantially equal jobs," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit contends UAGC didn’t take action to correct the pay differences, with some women not receiving a raise over a three-year period.
Those involved in the lawsuit attempted to mediate the issue in March but ultimately failed.
University officials declined to comment further on the settlement.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2025 in a the Southern California District Court, which includes San Diego, were most of the employees lived.
UA fully acquired UAGC, formerly known as Ashford University, from the for-profit contractor Zovio in 2022. UA paid $1 in exchange for all of Zovio's technology and assets needed for the school's management and for a leased office in Chandler.
Zovio had been fined $22 million by a California judge earlier that year for aggressive tactics used to get students to enroll in the online school. At the time, UA officials brushed off concerns surrounding the school's reputation from faculty and alumni, arguing that bringing the operations into UA would benefit the students attending.
In 2022, UAGC enrolled 27,000 students. That number has since fallen to roughly 18,600 students.
The university has also faced allegations of misleading students on the value of its degrees and the likelihood of finding work after graduation. Many students were saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and in many cases were unable to pay them back.
Helen Rummel covers state politics and higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @helenrummel.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: University of Arizona settles multimillion-dollar gender pay dispute
