Apollo Group Recognized as One of America’s Top 50 Community-Minded Companies

  Apollo Group Recognized as One of America’s Top 50 Community-Minded
  Companies

   “The Civic 50” Published in Bloomberg Businessweek and Businessweek.com

Business Wire

PHOENIX -- November 13, 2012

Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) was recognized as one of America’s most
community-minded companies in The Civic 50 survey – the first comprehensive
ranking of S&P 500 corporations that best use their time, talent and resources
to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business. The
survey was conducted by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) and
Points of Light, the nation’s definitive experts on civic engagement, in
partnership with Bloomberg LP.

An article about The Civic 50 looking at the philanthropic efforts of some of
the top companies appeared in the November 12-18, 2012, issue of Bloomberg
Businessweek. The full Civic 50 ranking is posted on www.businessweek.com at
www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/civic_50_2012.html. Apollo Group is
proud to be ranked 23.

Apollo Group’s corporate social responsibility philosophy is built around the
cause areas of education, career readiness and sustainability. From daily
operations to its partnerships and volunteerism, Apollo Group strives to
ensure the communities where it does business are incubators for college
readiness.

In fiscal year 2011, Apollo Group partnered with 180 organizations to help
improve educational outcomes and career opportunities for all Americans.
Apollo Group employees logged more than 70,000 volunteer hours worth an
estimated $1.4 million. The company also awarded University of Phoenix
scholarships valued at $10.1 million to more than 1,500 recipients in all 50
states and around the globe. Apollo Group’s total financial contribution to
corporate social responsibility, including University of Phoenix Foundation
grants, was valued at $22 million. Additionally, Apollo provides generous
tuition assistance for its employees, which totaled more than $100 million in
2011.

“The honor of being ranked 23 on The Civic 50 is a true testament to our
organization’s commitment to education, career readiness and sustainability in
our corporate footprint,” said Pat Gottfried, vice president of corporate
social responsibility for Apollo Group. “We believe the efforts we make in our
local communities today will foster success long into the future. Apollo Group
is privileged to be recognized as a good corporate citizen.”

“NCoC is proud to be part of The Civic 50 launch," said Ilir Zherka, executive
director of NCoC. "The Civic 50 demonstrates that the best companies in
America are deeply committed to strengthening their respective communities.
Leaders of these companies are aligning the expertise of their companies and
people with the needs of their communities, and then measuring the impact of
their programs. NCoC hopes The Civic 50 will spur companies
throughout our country to do the same.”

"As a company committed to community engagement and improvement, Bloomberg is
proud to have partnered with the National Conference on Citizenship and Points
of Light on this important ranking," said Norman Pearlstine, chairman,
Bloomberg Businessweek and chief content officer, Bloomberg LP. "The Civic 50
is a pioneering addition to the Bloomberg Rankings inventory. It features a
comprehensive, transparent methodology to identify companies that have taken a
leadership role in developing and implementing civic engagement programs. We
believe it will raise awareness of the importance of a civic consciousness
through the U.S. corporate world."

Companies were evaluated on seven specific metrics: leadership, measurement
and strategy, design, employee civic health, community partnerships, cause
alignment and transparency. Winning companies employed increasingly
sophisticated tools to measure the impact of community engagement and
alignment of these programs with their business’s core competencies. More than
two-thirds of the top 50 companies say they “frequently” or “always” use the
professional skills of their workforce to address social issues and real
community challenges. Sixty-six percent of the top 50 say they have
“mission-level” alignment with the community partners, meaning they work with
them on the highest strategic level, not just on individual programs or
events.

“Today, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, we can see clearly how much
corporate America pitches in – with expertise, talent, time and money – to
help communities meet critical needs,” said Jackie Norris, executive director
of the Points of Light Corporate Institute. “In times of disaster and in
relative calm, The Civic 50’s work is transformative, innovative and
critically important.”

The full list of winners in descending order is below, and can be found online
at www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/civic_50_2012.html.

                                                            
  1.    IBM                 18.   UnitedHealth         35.   The Goldman Sachs
                                  Group                      Group
  2.    Citigroup           19.   Abbott               36.   Spectra Energy
  3.    AT&T Inc.           20.   Southwest            37.   Freeport-McMoRan
                                  Airlines                   Copper & Gold
  4.    Aetna               21.   Pacific Gas &        38.   Discovery
                                  Electric Company           Communications
        Capital One                                          Dr. Pepper
  5.    Financial           22.   Viacom Inc.          39.   Snapple Group
        Corporation
  6.    Morgan Stanley      23.   Apollo Group,        40.   Motorola
                                  Inc.                       Solutions
  7.    Campbell Soup       24.   American Express     41.   Devon Energy
        Company                   Company                    Corporation
  8.    The McGraw-Hill     25.   Cummins Inc.         42.   Baker Hughes
        Companies                                            Incorporated
  9.    General             26.   Wal-mart Stores,     43.   Starbucks Coffee
        Electric                  Inc.                       Company (tie)
  10.   Hasbro, Inc.        27.   Comerica, Inc.       43.   Ameriprise
                                                             Financial (tie)
  11.   Western Union       28.   Hewlett-Packard      45.   Harris
                                  Company                    Corporation
  12.   FedEx               29.   The Hershey          46.   Weyerhaeuser
        Corporation               Company                    Company
  13.   Allstate            30.   Altria Group,        47.   Adobe Systems
                                  Inc.                       Inc.
  14.   Microsoft           31.   McKesson             48.   Sigma-Aldrich
                                  Corporation                Corp. (tie)
                                  ConAgra Foods,             Verizon
  15.   Bank of America     32.   Inc.                 48.   Communications
                                                             (tie)
  16.   Target Corp.        33.   Raytheon Company     50.   Life Technologies
  17.   Intel               34.   H.J. Heinz
        Corporation               Company
                                                              

You can read more about Apollo Group’s corporate social responsibility
practices at http://www.apollogrp.edu/corporate-responsibility.

About Apollo Group

Apollo Group, Inc. is one of the world's largest private education providers
and has been in the education business for approximately 40 years. The Company
offers innovative and distinctive educational programs and services both
online and on-campus at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels
through its subsidiaries: University of Phoenix, Apollo Global, Institute for
Professional Development and College for Financial Planning. The Company
offers programs and services throughout the United States and in Latin America
and Europe, as well as online throughout the world.

Contact:

Apollo Group, Inc.
Media Contact:
Alyssa Aalmo, 360-790-8125
media@apollogrp.edu