SANTA ANA, Calif., – Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (Nasdaq: COCO) today announced that the Company has ceased substantially all operations and discontinued instruction at its remaining 28 ground campuses. The company is working with other schools to provide continuing educational opportunities for its approximately 16,000 students. Corinthian said those efforts depend to a great degree on cooperation with partnering institutions and regulatory authorities.
Campuses closed include Corinthian’s 13 remaining Everest and WyoTech campuses in California, Everest College Phoenix and Everest Online Tempe in Arizona, the Everest Institute in New York, and 150-year-old Heald College–including its 10 locations in California, one in Hawaii and one in Oregon.
Since signing an operating agreement with the U.S. Department of Education in July 2014, the Company has been focused on completing the orderly sale or wind-down of all of its schools. In November 2014, the Company announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell 56 Everest and WyoTech campuses to Zenith Education Group, Inc., a subsidiary of ECMC Group. As part of that sale, Zenith also agreed to conclude the teach-out process at 12 additional schools that were being closed. That transaction was completed in February of this year for all but three locations, the Everest College Phoenix campuses in Phoenix and Mesa, AZ, and Everest Institute in Rochester, NY. As a result of the sale, nearly forty thousand students were able to continue their studies and thousands of employees kept their jobs. Zenith has recently advised Corinthian that it will not consummate the purchase of Everest College Phoenix, and the closing conditions have not been satisfied for Everest Institute Rochester.
In parallel, the Company had been in advanced negotiations with several parties to both sell the 150-year-old Heald College and to arrange for teach-out partners to allow its Everest College and WyoTech students in California to continue their education. The Company said these efforts were unsuccessful largely as a result of federal and state regulators seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions on buyers and teach-out partners.
”We believe that we have attempted to do everything within our power to provide a quality education and an opportunity for a better future for our students,“ said Jack Massimino, Chief Executive Officer of Corinthian. ”Unfortunately the current regulatory environment would not allow us to complete a transaction with several interested parties that would have allowed for a seamless transition for our students. I would like to thank our employees for their selfless dedication and commitment to fulfilling the educational and career goals of all of our students.“
The Company said that its historic graduation rate and job placement rates compared favorably with community colleges. Corinthian also said that approximately 40 percent of its students previously attended a traditional higher education institution where their needs had not been met before attending a Corinthian school.
”Colleges like ours fill an important role in the broader education system and address a critical need that remains largely unmet by community colleges and other public sector schools,“ Massimino said. ”Overall, our schools did a good job for the students they served. We made every effort to address regulators’ concerns in good faith. Neither our Board of Directors, our management, our faculty, nor our students believe these schools deserved to be forced to close.“
One Response to “Corinthian Colleges Announce Cessation of Effectively All Operations – All Campuses Closed Effective Monday, April 27”
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May 14th, 2015 at 7:09 pm
My comment is Corinthians closing all of these schools without properly preparing or informing the staff members students was a total travesty. However, based on the track record of these schools these campuses should have been closed a long time ago.
Yes, Corinthians left the staff and students emotionally drained, stunned, and to some degree exploited. In my humble opinion, I believe these students were scammed from jump street and the Corinthians closing the schools have done the educational system a big favor.
Much of the instruction was given on software that was as much as (10) years out of date, textbooks were delivered late and school officials misled students on the availability of grant funding for their tuition.
Should Corinthians be allowed to walk away from this dilemma without great repercussion? My answer to this question is, “No!” Do they deserve to be forced to close? My answer is definitely, absolutely, “Yes!” These people were defrauded and preyed on the educational dreams of vulnerable people such as low-income, single mothers and veterans. Corinthians should be held accountable by whatever means deem necessary.
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