Students who attended the University of Phoenix since April 2023 have until Nov. 5, 2026, to claim a $25 payment from an $8.75 million privacy class action settlement. The University of Phoenix settlement resolves claims that the school's websites used tracking tools to share students' personal information with Meta and other third parties. The case is Brand, et al. v. The University of Phoenix, Inc., No. 2026LA000170, in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, Illinois. The university denies breaking any law.

As of Oct. 14, 2026, claims are open on the official site, UOPPixelSettlement.com, which is run by the settlement administrator, Simpluris. According to the site's important dates page, Judge Gail L. Noll granted preliminary approval on Sept. 22, 2026, and notice emails went out Oct. 6. The court will decide whether to give the deal final approval at a hearing on Nov. 20, 2026. Nobody gets paid unless it does.

What the University of Phoenix Settlement Is About

The lawsuit claims the university disclosed students' personally identifiable information to Meta Platforms and other third parties without consent. According to the court-authorized notice, that conduct allegedly violated the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Illinois Eavesdropping Act. The release in the settlement agreement covers claims involving "cookies, pixels, code, analytics tools, and/or tracking technologies, including, but not limited to the Meta Pixel" on the university's websites.

The dispute began earlier, in federal court. In a quarterly report filed July 14, 2026, Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE: PXED), the university's parent company, said Janielle Dawson filed a class action in the Northern District of Illinois on April 1, 2025. A motion to dismiss was granted in part and denied in part, and a June 2026 mediation ended without a deal before talks continued. The settlement agreement says the Sangamon County case was filed July 21, 2026. Dawson and Lauren Brand are the class representatives.

Besides the cash, the university agreed to tell people who enroll through phoenix.edu that the website uses cookies and similar tools, through a banner and its privacy policy.

Who Is Eligible for the University of Phoenix Settlement

The settlement class has two groups:

Nationwide: anyone in the United States who was enrolled at the University of Phoenix at any time from April 1, 2023, to Oct. 6, 2026.
Illinois: anyone in Illinois who was enrolled at any time from April 1, 2020, to Oct. 6, 2026.

Eligibility depends on enrollment, not on major, so students in the university's nursing and health programs qualify on the same terms as everyone else. Excluded are entities the university controls, its officers and directors, and the presiding judge and immediate family.

Enrollment alone does not guarantee a payment. On the claim form, claimants must declare under penalty of perjury that they visited a University of Phoenix website during the class period, that their browser was not set to block cookies or tracking, that they did not use privacy extensions to block them, and that they took no other steps to block cookies or tracking.

How Much Students Could Receive

Each valid claim in the University of Phoenix settlement is worth $25. That amount can be reduced pro rata if total costs reach the settlement's $8,750,000 cap, which the agreement calls the "Gross Maximum Funding." The cap covers everything the university pays: student claims, notice and administration costs, attorneys' fees and service awards.

Attorneys' fees: class counsel will ask for no more than 35% of the $8.75 million, or up to about $3.06 million. The court can award less.
Service awards: the two class representatives will seek no more than $5,000 each.
Class size adjustment: the agreement uses 350,000 people as a baseline. If the class turns out to include 385,000 people or more, the cap rises by $25 for each class member above 350,000.

The notice says approved claimants will be paid about 100 days after final approval and the end of any appeals. Checks are the default. Claimants can also choose Zelle, Venmo, PayPal or a similar electronic method. Under the agreement, checks not cashed within 180 days are void, and that money goes back to the university.

How to File a University of Phoenix Settlement Claim

Find your Login ID and PIN. They appear at the top left of the notice email sent in early October.
Request them if you have no email. Write to info@UOPPixelSettlement.com with your full name and mailing address, or call the administrator at 1-866-675-2696.
File online by Nov. 5, 2026, at UOPPixelSettlement.com, or mail a paper claim form postmarked by Nov. 5 to University of Phoenix Pixel Settlement, c/o Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 25191, Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958.
Pick a payment method on the form if you prefer an electronic payment to a check.

The court-approved notice points class members to UOPPixelSettlement.com. Third-party sites that list settlements are not run by the administrator.

Opting Out or Objecting by Nov. 5

Class members who do nothing get no money from the University of Phoenix settlement and still give up the right to sue the university over the claims this settlement releases. The other options share the same Nov. 5, 2026, deadline:

Exclude yourself. Mail or deliver a signed letter to University of Phoenix Pixel Settlement, ATTN: Exclusion Requests, P.O. Box 25191, Santa Ana, CA 92799. It must include your name, address, the case name and number, and a statement that you want to be excluded. People who opt out receive nothing but keep their right to bring their own claims.
Object. File a written objection with the Sangamon County Circuit Court and mail copies to class counsel and the university's lawyers. To speak at the hearing, the objection must include a "Notice of Intent to Appear."

How This Differs From Earlier University of Phoenix Cases

The University of Phoenix pixel settlement is separate from the school's best-known legal settlement. On Dec. 10, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission announced a $191 million settlement over advertising that the agency said falsely suggested ties to major employers. That deal included $50 million in cash and about $141 million in canceled debts owed to the school. The FTC's refund page says it has sent more than $49 million in refunds. In September 2023, the FTC said the Education Department would forgive nearly $37 million in federal loans for more than 1,200 former students through borrower defense.

It is also separate from lawsuits over the university's 2025 data breach tied to Oracle software. The parent company's July filing says those cases were consolidated as In re Oracle Corporation Data Breach Litigation in federal court in Texas, with motions to dismiss pending. The pixel settlement's release is limited to claims about cookies, pixels and similar tracking technology. Former students with federal loans who are tracking other deadlines this fall can see our report on the student loan autopay discount.

Key Dates

Sept. 22, 2026: preliminary approval granted.
Oct. 6, 2026: notice emails sent. The class period ends this day.
Nov. 5, 2026: deadline to file a claim online or by postmark, to opt out and to object.
Nov. 20, 2026, 9:30 a.m.: final approval hearing before Judge Noll, held by Zoom. The court can move it without notice, so check the settlement website.
About 100 days after final approval: payments go out if the court approves the deal and no appeals are pending.

Figures and dates in this report come from the court-approved notice, the settlement agreement and the settlement website as of Oct. 14, 2026.