Meanwhile, Apollo Group, the University of Phoenix owner, attacked Harkin and Hagan for offering "misleading rhetoric." The Senators had singled out Apollo for employing more than 8,000 recruiters in 2010. Advertising Age recognized Apollo as one of the top 100 spenders on U.S. advertising in 2009 — $377 million, more than Apple. But instead of thanking Senators Harkin and Hagan for authorizing — and taxpayers for providing — most of the money to pay for these ads (and for sponsorships of everything from New Yorker magazine education panels to Good magazine's education website to Arizona's University of Phoenix Stadium), Apollo, too, lashed out. (Apollo may be in a bad mood because, as it disclosed on Thursday, the SEC is investigating the company regarding insider trading; Apollo said it would cooperate with the SEC.)