NEW YORK, April 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (“Bridgepoint” or the “Company”) (NYSE:  BPI) and certain of its officers.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of California, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Bridgepoint securities between March 8, 2016 and March 7, 2019, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Bridgepoint securities between March 8, 2016, and March 7, 2019, both dates inclusive, you have until May 10, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com .  To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. 

[Click here to join this class action]

Bridgepoint, together with its subsidiaries, provides postsecondary education services in the United States.  The Company was formerly known as TeleUniversity, Inc. and changed its name to Bridgepoint Education, Inc. in February 2004.  Bridgepoint’s academic institutions, Ashford University and University of the Rockies, offer associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in the disciplines of business, education, psychology, social sciences, and health sciences.  Bridgepoint offers its programs primarily through online, and also at its campuses.  As of December 31, 2017, its institutions offered approximately 1,200 courses and 80-degree programs, with 45,730 students enrolled.

As a means of increasing enrollment, the Company formed various corporate partnerships with employers to offer their employees a way to pursue and complete a college degree without incurring any student debt, referred to as the Corporate Full Tuition Grant (“FTG”) program.  In 2017, enrollments in the Company’s FTG program accounted for approximately 10% of its total enrollment.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies.  Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:  (i) Bridgepoint’s processes for recording revenue for its FTG program were inaccurate; (ii) Bridgepoint maintained deficient internal controls; (iii) due to the foregoing deficiencies, Bridgepoint was prone to and did commit material accounting errors related to revenue, provision for bad debts, accounts receivable and deferred revenue, which resulted in the overstatement of revenue and expenses; and (iv) as a result, Bridgepoint’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On March 7, 2019, Bridgepoint announced that it had “determined to restate the Company’s previously issued unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, and advised that those financial statements should not be relied upon, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.”  Bridgepoint stated that the processes used for recording revenue for the FTG program portion of its student contracts “were not designed with sufficient precision,” leading to “material” accounting errors related to revenue, provision for bad debts, accounts receivable and deferred revenue, which resulted in the overstatement of revenue and expenses.  Bridgepoint also identified weaknesses in internal controls. 

On this news, Bridgepoint’s stock price plummeted by $3.21 per share, or over 34%, to close at $6.22 per share on March 7, 2019, on unusually heavy trading volume.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com