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Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced talks to buy struggling education company Apollo Education Group Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal between Phoenix-based Apollo Education and Apollo Global Management, a New York private-equity firm, could be worth about $1 billion, some of the people said, with one of them adding an agreement could be reached in the next few weeks. Apollo Education had been in discussions with a number of private-equity firms since late last year, but Apollo Global Management is the only one still in the running now, this person said.

Apollo Education, which is unaffiliated with the buyout firm, said Monday that its board is in talks that “could potentially lead to a change of control of the company.” It didn’t name a possible buyer or give other details of the sales process.

Apollo Education, operator of the University of Phoenix, disclosed the talks as it reported its third loss in four quarters in the latest sign of stress in the for-profit college industry. In recent years, such institutions have seen enrollment slide amid scrutiny of their recruiting, career outcomes and student-loan default rates. Shares of a number of the companies, especially Apollo Education, have been battered as a result.

Apollo Education, which is controlled by Chairman Peter Sperling and a trust, said that a sale could boost its strategic initiatives including an international expansion and a plan to transform the University of Phoenix and improve outcomes for its students.

The value of other companies in the for-profit education sector has been tumbling. DeVry Education Group Inc.’s stock is down about 50% over the past year, for example. Last year, a bankruptcy judge approved Corinthian Colleges Inc.’s plan to liquidate its assets. In 2014, Education Management Corp. handed ownership to creditors in an out-of-court restructuring.

Apollo Global Management, founded by veterans of junk-bond pioneer Drexel Burnham Lambert, is known for a willingness to invest in struggling industries and companies. For example, last year it pursued—though never closed—a deal for property mogul Nicholas Schorsch’s troubled real-estate empire.