University of Phoenix, a subsidiary of Apollo Education Group (Nasdaq: APOL), is saluting University of Phoenix military students and alumni this Independence Day. Today, the University recognizes former Marine Allan E. Lucas Jr. Lucas served five years in the Marine Corp as a military police officer.

“University of Phoenix is honored to serve our nation’s service members, veterans and their families in providing them both education and career resources to help them achieve their educational and professional goals,” said University of Phoenix Military Relations Vice President retired Army Col. Garland Williams. “The University is proud of Allan E. Lucas Jr., and how his hard work and dedication to obtaining his education helped him achieve his professional goals during his post- military career.”

During his military career, Lucas spent five years as a military police officer stationed at Camp Pendleton, Camp Lejeune and Iwakuni, Japan. He was also deployed to Vietnam towards the end of the war. He returned to Washington, D.C. in 1975.

After his military service Lucas held a variety of law enforcement positions including a U.S. Marshal, and a Special Operations and Firearms Instructor with the Washington, D.C. police department, responsible for training SWAT team members. Lucas also worked for the D.C. Department of Corrections as a federal corrections officer. With a lifetime of law enforcement experience, Lucas still wanted to achieve a life-long dream of earning a college degree.

“My youngest son was about to start college,” says Lucas. “How could I talk to my children about the importance of reaching their goals through education when I did not have a degree to prove to them that it was relevant?”

Lucas enrolled at University of Phoenix and eventually earned his associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice. His education experience gave him the confidence and skills to open his own private security training company, Lucas Security Services. Lucas is now well into pursuing his doctorate in Organizational Leadership at the University with the goal to cultivate both his real-world experience and education to reach a life-long dream of teaching future criminal justice professionals.

For more information on University of Phoenix degree programs for active-duty service members, veterans and their families, visit www.phoenix.edu/military or www.apollo.edu/learnmore.

For more information about our on-time completion rates, median loan debt of graduates and other important information, visit www.phoenix.edu/gainfulemployment.

About University of Phoenix Military Division

University of Phoenix Military Division works directly with active military members, their spouses, and veterans to help them balance frequent deployments, relocations, and training schedules while obtaining their degrees. University of Phoenix Military Division students can access classes online or at more than 100 University of Phoenix locations, giving military students an opportunity to choose the learning environment that is most conducive to their educational success. More information can be found at www.phoenix.edu/military.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix is constantly innovating to help working adults move efficiently from education to careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant and engaging courses, and interactive learning can help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. As a subsidiary of Apollo Education Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: APOL), University of Phoenix serves a diverse student population, offering associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs from campuses and learning centers across the U.S. as well as online throughout the world. For more information, visit www.phoenix.edu.