Corinthian Colleges — BrandWiki

Corinthian Colleges

Overview

Corinthian Colleges, Inc.

type	Public
industry	Education
fate	Ceased operations
founded	February 1995
founders	David Moore Paul St. Pierre Frank McCord Dennis Devereux Lloyd Holland
defunct	April 27, 2015
areas served	United States, Canada

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCi) was a for-profit post-secondary education company in North America. Its subsidiaries offered career-oriented diploma and degree programs in health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades, and information technology.[1] A remnant of the schools was owned by ECMC under the Altierus Career College brand until the last three campuses were closed in 2022. [2]

At its peak, CCi operated over one hundred Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses throughout the United States and Canada.[3] The Los Angeles Times framed Corinthian Colleges as a collection of "castoff" schools that were taken over by Wall Street investors in 1999.[4]

Corinthian closed their campuses in Canada on February 19, 2015, after the Ontario government suspended their operating license. On April 26, 2015, following a series of legal challenges by state and federal agencies, Corinthian Colleges announced that they would cease operations at all remaining United States locations.

History

Corinthian Colleges was founded in February 1995[9] by David Moore, Paul St. Pierre, Frank McCord, Dennis Devereux, and Lloyd Holland of National Education Centers, Inc., a for-profit operator of vocational schools based in Irvine, California. The company, whose business model was predicated on acquiring schools that were fundamentally sound but performing below their potential,[10] expanded rapidly through acquisitions and organic growth.[9]

Corinthian Colleges faced numerous investigations and lawsuits, including a federal criminal investigation.[14] California Attorney General Kamala Harris alleged that Corinthian Colleges targeted single parents living close to the poverty level, a demographic that its internal documents described as "composed of "isolated," 'impatient,' individuals with 'low self-esteem,' who have 'few people in their lives who care about them' and who are "stuck" and "unable to see and plan well for future," through aggressive and persistent internet and telemarketing campaigns and through television ads on daytime shows like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich."[15]

On July 3, 2014, Corinthian Colleges agreed to execute a shutdown of twelve schools and sell off eighty-five other schools.[16][17] On February 19, 2015, the government of Ontario suspended the company's operation license, resulting in the immediate closure of all Canadian campuses.[18]

In February 2015, the nonprofit Educational Credit Management Corporation took ownership of more than half of Corinthian Colleges campuses, agreeing to forgive student debt on Corinthian College's Genesis loans.[19][20]

On April 26, 2015, Corinthian Colleges announced that they would cease operations at all remaining locations effective April 27, a move affecting more than sixteen thousand students and employees.[21]

On May 4, 2015, Corinthian filed for bankruptcy in Delaware.[22][23]

Acquired institutes and colleges[11]

American Motorcycle Institute
Ashmead College (Oregon and Washington)
Blair College (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Bryman College
Bryman Institute
CDI College
Duff's Business Institute (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Eton Technical Institute (Port Orchard, Washington)
Florida Metropolitan University
Georgia Medical Institute
Kee Business College
Las Vegas College
National Institute of Technology (NIT)
National School of Technology (NST)
Olympia Career Training Institute
Olympia College
Parks College

Schools

Everest

CCi operated Everest campuses in the United States and Canada, although all US campuses were to be sold or closed beginning on July 3, 2014, leaving only the Canadian campuses under CCi's control.[16][17]

Everest Institute offered diploma programs.[24] Everest College offered diploma and associate degree programs. Everest University offered diploma, associate, bachelor's, and master's degree programs.[24] There were ten Everest University campuses across Florida, which were formerly known as Florida Metropolitan University.[25]

On February 19, 2015, all 14 Everest campuses in Ontario, Canada were shut down. 2300 students and over 500 staff were affected by the closures.[26][27] CCi has since filed for bankruptcy in Canada due to the closures.

Everest University Online

Everest University Online (EUO), a division of Everest University, offered online degree programs.[28] EUO was headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Everest College Phoenix

Everest College Phoenix offered bachelor's degree, associate degree, and diploma programs.[29] Everest College Phoenix had campuses in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, as well as an online learning center.[30]

Everest College Phoenix was regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.[31]

Heald College

Heald College was one of the nation's oldest business career colleges in the Western United States, with roots extending back to 1863.[32] Heald offered associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs.[33]

Heald College was regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission.[34] Heald College had campuses in California, Oregon, and Hawaii, as well as an online learning center.[35]

In November 2009, it was announced that CCi was purchasing Heald's parent company for $395 million.[36] In January 2010, CCi announced that it had completed the acquisition.[37]

WyoTech

WyoTech offered career-oriented training for mechanical and technical occupations.[32] WyoTech had campuses in Pennsylvania, Florida, California, and Wyoming.[38] As of November 2018, all the campuses except the Laramie, Wyoming campus were closed; the remaining Laramie campus came under new ownership, providing solely automotive-related training.[39]

Legal proceedings

Corinthian Colleges was investigated in Canada and by federal authorities in the United States, and by several states attorneys general for deceptive advertising and other fraudulent acts.

California

In 2008, a class action suit was filed against CCI and a wholly owned subsidiary in Santa Clara Superior Court on behalf of graduates of Bryman College's medical assistant vocational programs. The lawsuit alleged that Bryman made untrue or misleading statements to students related to employment success, in order to induce them to enroll and stay enrolled in their medical training programs.[54] This case was ultimately dismissed.[55]

In July 2007, the California Attorney General threatened to file suit against Corinthian Colleges. Corinthian issued a statement saying: "We disagree with the Attorney General's conclusions, but we are pleased to have this matter behind us. The agreement is not evidence of wrongdoing, and the company specifically denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. We are fully committed to providing quality education and job placement services for students and to being in compliance with state law and regulation."[56]

In October 2013, the State of California again sued CCi alleging "false and predatory advertising, intentional misrepresentations to students, securities fraud and unlawful use of military seals in advertisements".[57][58] According to the Sacramento Bee, fourteen Everest College campuses registered three-year default rates on student loans of more than 20 percent; eight were more than 30 percent.[59]

In November 2013, CCi issued a statement asserting that the California Attorney General's complaint was "a document built on a foundation of misquoted, deceptively excerpted and—at best—misunderstood materials."[60] It went on to say that the California Attorney General was "wrongly accusing our schools of inflating job placement statistics for our graduates".[60] CCi indicated that it planned to "vigorously defend the integrity of the work we do for our students and graduates".[60]

California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a complaint alleging that CCI had engaged in a predatory marketing campaign targeting job seekers and single parents with incomes near the federal poverty level. [61] The Department of Justice obtained internal company documents in which CCI employees described the company's target demographic as "isolated", "impatient", individuals with "low self-esteem", who have "few people in their lives who care about them" and who are "unable to see and plan well for future". The complaint alleged that CCI had used aggressive Internet and telemarketing campaigns, as well as television ads on daytime shows like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich to reach these individuals.[62][63]

Federal investigation in the United States

On October 17, 2007, U.S. Department of Education investigators seized records at Florida campuses of for-profit colleges, including CCi's former National School of Technology in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Florida Career College (a division of Anthem Education Group) in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida and Pembroke Pines, Florida.[64] The school reported that it was not informed why the records were seized or why similar actions had been taken against other institutions in the area.[65] The campus reopened the next day.[65]

In June 2013, CCi disclosed that it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).[66] CCi is cooperating with the SEC in its investigation. The SEC did not file any actions against CCi in connection with this investigation.

In November 2013, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Other state investigations

In 2004, a former student from Florida Metropolitan University initiated an action against CCi, claiming he was misled with respect to the school's accreditation and his ability to transfer credits.[74] The lawsuit proceeded in arbitration pursuant to the agreement between the parties. After hearing all of the evidence, the arbitrator found in favor of CCi on all counts and dismissed the lawsuit.[75]

In April 2005, fourteen students from Bryman College's Tacoma, Washington campus filed an action against CCi in the Superior Court of the State of Washington. The students claimed they did not receive proper training for their careers in medical assisting, that they were misled about the program's accreditation status, their eligibility to take a national certification exam, the transferability of their credits, and the availability of internships. The case was moved to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington and was ultimately dismissed.

In August 2007, the State of Florida closed an investigation into Florida Metropolitan University with no fines, penalties or findings of wrongdoing.[76] The Florida Office of the Attorney General and Florida Metropolitan University entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance acknowledging that Florida Metropolitan University participates in the Florida Statewide Course Numbering System to facilitate the transfer of eligible credits to other institutions.