- Corinthian Colleges
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Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCi) (NASDAQ: COCO) is a publicly-traded corporation based in Santa Ana, California, that owns and manages a collection of for-profit colleges in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1995, CCi has grown by acquiring already existing colleges and systems. According to its 2009 Annual Report, CCi's system of for-profit schools enrolls 86,088 students as of June 30, 2009.[1]
Contents
About Corinthian Colleges, Inc.
CCi's colleges offer master's, bachelor's and associate's degrees and diploma programs, with a concentration on careers in healthcare, business, criminal justice and technology.
The operational structure of CCi includes post-secondary educational divisions that prepare and place students in career-oriented jobs. Each division was developed to offer essential skills and training to students in a variety of practical fields.
In 2009 AARP listed Corinthian Colleges one of the best employers for workers over 50 years old.[2]
Everest College
Everest College campuses are located throughout the United States and Canada. These colleges offer diploma and/or Associate degree programs in health care, business, and/or computer technology. The diploma programs are short-term, and may be completed in 3 months to over 1 year. The Associate degree programs takes 2-years to complete.
Everest Institute
As of January 2008, there are 27 Everest Institute campuses located in the United States. Everest Institute campuses primarily offer diploma programs in health care and business, however several schools offer programs in computer technology, electronics, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Everest University
Everest University offers Associate, Bachelor, and Master degree programs in business, accounting, criminal justice, paralegal, and health care. Everest University also offers diploma programs in the health care field. There are ten Everest University campuses across Florida. Formerly known as Florida Metropolitan University (FMU).
Everest Online
EverestOnline.edu, (EUO) is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. EOU offers online degree programs through Everest University. Online degree programs include: Associate degrees in: Accounting, Business, Computer Information Science, Criminal Investigations, Criminal Justice, Homeland Security, and Paralegal; Bachelor degrees in: Accounting, Computer Information Science, Criminal Justice, Business, Homeland Security, Paralegal; Master's Degrees in: Business Administration and Criminal Justice.
Everest-Canada
The Everest campuses in Ontario, Canada offer students diploma programs in Business, Health Care, and Technology. Popular diploma programs include: Business Administration, Legal Administrative Assistant, Network Administration, Massage Therapy, etc. These career training programs provide students short-term diploma programs to help students prepare for their chosen career field. They have an email, chat, or phone helpdesk to provide students with technical help. Each student also is paired with a Student Coordinator to assist with problems like receiving textbooks or online harassment, to making sure you are doing well in life and in school.
Heald College
Heald offers Associate degrees in the Applied Sciences and Associate of Arts degrees, diplomas or certificate, in 34 fields. Heald College has regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.[citation needed]
In November 2009, Corinthian Colleges, Inc., purchased Heald College parent company for $395 million, simultaneously announcing plans to begin offering online-only courses in 2010, leading to degree programs based entirely on online-only coursework. However, Corinthian planned to retain the Heald name, as well as its faculty and staff.
WyoTech
WyoTech offers college-level, career-oriented education in the automotive, diesel, motorcycle, marine, HVAC, and plumbing fields. The six WyoTech campuses are located in Blairsville, Pennsylvania; Daytona Beach, Florida; Fremont, California; Laramie, Wyoming; Sacramento, California, and Long Beach, California.
Accreditations
All of the Everest campuses are nationally accredited except for Everest College Phoenix, which is a separate institution and regionally accredited.[3][4] Some regionally accredited schools are reluctant to accept nationally accredited school credits in transfer (or recognize their degrees for entry into graduate programs).[5][6][7] However, colleges that reject credits based on different accreditations are under scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.[8][9] The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a regional accreditor, used to have a policy requiring its member schools to deny credit transfer from nationally accredited schools. However, in 1997 the United States Department of Justice threatened the accreditor if it did not cease and desist this practice based solely on accreditation rather than on the quality of the credits. Since then, the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, various states, and regional accreditors have specifically admonished regionally accredited schools against denying transfer credit based on the type of accreditation held by the transferring institution.
Legal proceedings
In 2006, an arbitration process ruled in favor of Florida Metropolitan University / Everest, and a lawsuit regarding transfer of credits dating back to 2004 was dismissed.[10][11] The lawsuit was ultimately sent to arbitration and dismissed.[12] In August 2007, an investigation of company practices was closed by the State of Florida with no fines, penalties or findings of wrongdoing. An Act of Voluntary Compliance was issued that found that FMU/Everest does participate in the Florida Statewide Course Numbering System to facilitate the transfer of eligible credits to other institutions.[13]
Bryman College was sued in April 2005 by fourteen of its students at its Tacoma, Washington campus. They claimed they did not receive proper training for their careers in medical assistant program, 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.[14]
A class action suit has been filed against Corinthian Colleges, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Corinthian Schools, Inc. in Santa Clara Superior Court on behalf of graduates of the Medical Assistant vocational programs offered by Bryman College, which was renamed Everest College. The lawsuit alleges Bryman staff made deceptive statements to prospective and current students related to employment success, in order to induce them to enroll and stay enrolled in their medical training programs.[15]
Settlement with State of California, 2007
In July 2007, Corinthian Colleges agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the chain engaged in unlawful business practices by exaggerating its record of placing students in well-paying jobs; the amount included $5.8 million in restitution to students as well as $500,000 in civil damages and $200,000 in court costs.[16]
Federal investigation in the United States
In October 2007, U.S. Department of Education investigators seized records at several Florida campuses of for-profit colleges, including Corinthian's National School of Technology in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as Florida Career College in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida and Pembroke Pines, Florida. A spokesperson for the Department of Education's inspector general told news media the agency was seeking to "identify waste, fraud and abuse of federal education dollars."[17][18][19]
High student loan default rate
A February 2011 Los Angeles Times article details numerous instances where Corinthian College graduates were lead into going deeply in debt with student loans for coursework that didn't lead to high paying careers promised by the college's career counselors. Corinthian College graduates have a 40% student default rate, one of the highest in the nation.[20]
Historic names
- American Motorcycle Institute
- Ashmead College (Oregon and Washington)
- Blair College (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
- Bryman College
- Bryman Institute
- CDI College
- Las Vegas College
- Duff's Business Institute (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
- Georgia Medical Institute
- Kee Business College
- National Institute of Technology (NIT)
- National School of Technology (NST)
- Olympia Career Training Institute
- Olympia College
- Parks College
- Rochester Business Institute
- Tampa College
References
- ^ CCi Annual Report, 2009
- ^ Norman, Jan (September 11, 2009). "Corinthian Colleges makes AARP list". The Orange County Register: p. Business 3.
- ^ Everest College Phoenix Accreditation
- ^ List of Everest Campus Accreditations
- ^ Demanding Credit, Inside Higher Education website, dated Oct. 19, 2005 by Scott Jaschik
- ^ Tussling Over Transfer of Credit, Inside Higher Education website, February 26, 2007 by Doug Lederman
- ^ What is the Difference Between Regional and National Accreditation, Yahoo! Education website
- ^ United States Department of Justice
- ^ Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
- ^ A Battle Over Standards At For-Profit Colleges Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2005 by John Hechinger
- ^ Bad Education Orlando Weekly, April 4, 2005 by Jeffrey C. Billman
- ^ Corinthian Colleges Reports Favorable Arbitration Award in Satz Case - Arbitrator Finds in Favor of Company on All Counts, U.S. News and Reports, January 23, 2006, Edited by Christopher Simmons
- ^ State Looking Into FMU Practices Tampa Bay Tribune, by Thomas W. Krause, December 30, 2005.
- ^ Students sue Bryman College, The News Tribune, April 12th, 2005]
- ^ "Class Action Suit Filed Against Corinthian Colleges, Inc. on Behalf of Medical Assistant Program Students Suit Alleges Unfair Business Practices Including Misleading Statements About Employment Opportunities and Potential Starting Salaries". CBS Market Watch. March 12, 2008. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/class-action-suit-filed-against/story.aspx?guid=%7B1B8E4F9F%2DADF0%2D40B1%2DAD58%2D18FBCB32142E%7D&dist=pfbetaurl=. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
- ^ Corinthian to pay $6.5 million
- ^ Corinthian Colleges School Is Latest Florida Campus to Be Scene of Federal Raid, The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 17, 2007
- ^ Colleges Raided In Federal Investigation, Local6.com (TV news), October 18, 2007
- ^ 3 Fla. College Campuses Raided in Probe, Associated Press, Brian Skoloff, October 18, 2007
- ^ Hamilton, Walter (February 6, 2011). "For-profit colleges face federal crackdown". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-for-profit-colleges-20110206,0,1109616.story?page=1.
External links
Categories:- Companies listed on NASDAQ
- Companies established in 1995
- For-profit universities and colleges in the United States
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