Posts published on May 7, 2015

For Profit Colleges Announce Large Cutbacks

On Wednesday two of the largest publicly traded for-profits announced substantial cuts, Inside Higher Ed reports. Education Management Corporation (EDMC) said it would gradually phase out 15 of 52 campus locations of the Art Institutes, which is one of the better known brands among for-profits. Roughly 5,400 students attend the closing campuses. Likewise, Career Education Corp. unveiled a broader restructuring. It’s winding down all 14 Sanford Brown College and Institute campuses and online programs over the next 18 months or so. It is also seeking to sell Briarcliffe College, Brooks Institute and Missouri College. Collectively, those institutions enroll about 8,600 students.

Corinthian filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Monday, along with two dozen affiliates. Its petition lists more than $100 million in debt owed to its secured lenders and at least $100 million more in unsecured debt. Its liabilities include $1.25 million in “trade debt” owed to Barclays Capital, most likely connected to Barclays’s attempts to sell the company, and hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to a host of law firms, which have handled an onslaught of litigation, The New York Times reports. Corinthian also owes an “unknown” amount to the Department of Education. It listed assets of $19.2 million. It has been a long slide for Corinthian, once a Wall Street darling. The company, founded in 1995, bought more than a dozen struggling vocational colleges and by 2010 enrolled more than 110,000 students online and at 100 Everest College, Heald College and WyoTech campuses nationwide.
From Real Clear Education