Eliot Spitzer, New York’s attorney general and the state’s leading Democratic nominee for governor, has said no thanks to campaign contributions from John G. Sperling, the founder of the University of Phoenix’s parent company, according to an article in The Arizona Republic.

Mr. Spitzer returned $2,000 in contributions from Mr. Sperling, who founded the Apollo Group, after the attorney general’s campaign officials learned that the U.S. Department of Education had investigated Apollo in 2004, according to the newspaper.

In September 2004 the Education Department released a report that said the fast-growing University of Phoenix had fostered a high-pressure sales culture that rewarded recruiters who put the most “asses in classes,” intimidated those who fell short, and encouraged the enrollment of unqualified students (The Chronicle, October 1, 2004). Officials at the Apollo Group have called the report misleading.