Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI), a provider of postsecondary education services focused on providing higher access to higher education, has notified the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions that, while the Company continues to review and comply with the Committee's various information requests, at this time it could not accept the Committee's request to provide witnesses for the March 10, 2011 hearing. 

To preserve its right to due process and avoid compromising the integrity of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) proceedings related to Ashford University's recent audit by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education, Bridgepoint Education could not make individuals available or respond publicly to questions concerning a matter in which it is engaged in non-public discussions and negotiations with FSA.

About Bridgepoint Education

Bridgepoint Education's postsecondary education services focus on offering associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in such disciplines as business, education, psychology, social sciences and health sciences. Bridgepoint Education's regionally accredited academic institutions – Ashford University and University of the Rockies – deliver their programs online as well as at traditional campuses located in Clinton, Iowa, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information about Bridgepoint Education, visit www.bridgepointeducation.com or call Shari Rodriguez, associate vice president of Public Relations, at 858.668.2580.