Corinthian Colleges


Corinthian Colleges, Inc. 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. A remnant of the schools was owned by ECMC under the Altierus Career College brand until the last three campuses were closed in 2022.
At its peak, CCi operated over one hundred Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses throughout the United States and Canada. The Los Angeles Times framed Corinthian Colleges as a collection of "castoff" schools that were taken over by Wall Street investors in 1999.
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. The closure affected more than sixteen thousand students and employees. Having been extensively investigated for fraudulent behavior by several jurisdictions, Corinthian Colleges, Inc. and twenty-four of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on May 4, 2015. In June 2022, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would cancel $5.8 billion in federal student loan debt for 560,000 students who attended Corinthian.

History

Corinthian Colleges was founded in February 1995 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, expanded rapidly through acquisitions and organic growth.
;Acquired institutes and colleges
  • American Motorcycle Institute
  • Ashmead College
  • Blair College
  • Bryman College
  • Bryman Institute
  • CDI College
  • Duff's Business Institute
  • Eton Technical Institute
  • Florida Metropolitan University
  • Georgia Medical Institute
  • Kee Business College
  • Las Vegas College
  • National Institute of Technology
  • National School of Technology
  • Olympia Career Training Institute
  • Olympia College
  • Parks College
  • Phillips Colleges
  • *Rutledge College
  • Rochester Business Institute
  • Sequoia College
  • Tampa College
  • Western Business College
Corinthian Colleges faced numerous investigations and lawsuits, including a federal criminal investigation. 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."
On July 3, 2014, Corinthian Colleges agreed to execute a shutdown of twelve schools and sell off eighty-five other schools. On February 19, 2015, the government of Ontario suspended the company's operation license, resulting in the immediate closure of all Canadian campuses.
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.
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.
On May 4, 2015, Corinthian filed for bankruptcy in Delaware.

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.
Everest Institute offered diploma programs. Everest College offered diploma and associate degree programs. Everest University offered diploma, associate, bachelor's, and master's degree programs. There were ten Everest University campuses across Florida, which were formerly known as Florida Metropolitan University.
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. CCi has since filed for bankruptcy in Canada due to the closures.

Everest University Online

Everest University Online, a division of Everest University, offered online degree programs. EUO was headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Everest College Phoenix

Everest College Phoenix offered bachelor's degree, associate degree, and diploma programs. Everest College Phoenix had campuses in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, as well as an online learning center.
Everest College Phoenix was regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Heald College

was one of the nation's oldest business career colleges in the Western United States, with roots extending back to 1863. Heald offered associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs.
Heald College was regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. Heald College had campuses in California, Oregon, and Hawaii, as well as an online learning center.
In November 2009, it was announced that CCi was purchasing Heald's parent company for $395 million. In January 2010, CCi announced that it had completed the acquisition. CCi retained the Heald name, and it was reported that it also retained its faculty and staff.

WyoTech

offered career-oriented training for mechanical and technical occupations. WyoTech had campuses in Pennsylvania, Florida, California, and Wyoming. 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.

Accreditation

Everest College Phoenix campuses were regionally institutionally accredited by Higher Learning Commission. Heald College campuses are regionally institutionally accredited by the Senior College and University Commission – Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Everest Institute, Everest College, Everest University, and Wyotech campuses are nationally institutionally accredited by one of two national accrediting agencies: Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges ; or Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.

Leadership

Corinthian CEO Jack Massimino earned $3 million in 2010, and four other executives made over $1 million that year. Eeva Deshon, the president and CEO of Heald College initiated a petition on Change.org to collect positive testimonials about the college, despite the largely negative evaluations by students.

Faculty and students

As of December 31, 2013, CCi's total student population was 77,584. As with the entire education sector, CCi had faced a decrease in enrollment and a corresponding depressed stock price. CCi's top mutual fund holder was Wells Fargo Advantage Small Cap Value Fund.
As of June 30, 2013, CCi had approximately 15,200 employees in North America, including 6,000 full-time and part-time faculty members. For five consecutive years, CCi had been named a Top Workplace in Orange County, California where its headquarters are located.
In 2014, a librarian at the southern California campus of Everest College quit her position when she learned a student she was assisting could only read at the third-grade level, may have a developmental disability, and was unlikely to find work in his chosen field. She stated that the student was unlikely to understand the financial burdens of the enrollment documents he signed. The librarian resigned out of principle after an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the issue with administration.

Financial aid

The Higher Education Act provides that a private, for-profit institution, such as CCi's institutions, may derive no more than 90% of its revenue from the Title IV federal student aid programs. In 2010, CCi reported that it received 81.9% of revenue from Title IV federal student aid programs.
Corinthian Colleges acquired QuickStart Intelligence in summer 2012, an Irvine, California-based, privately held technology training company. As a B2B revenue stream; CCI acquired QuickStart Intelligence to leverage the 10%, non-government funding essential to back the additional student loans for CCi's core adult learning programs.
;Student loan default rate
A significant requirement imposed by Congress is a limitation on participation in Title IV programs by institutions whose former students default on the repayment of federal student loans in excess of specified rates. On March 25, 2013, CCi received a draft three-year Cohort Default Rates from the U.S. Department of Education for students who entered repayment during the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, measured over three federal fiscal years of borrower repayment. The weighted average of CCi's institutions was 19.0%, a 9.0 percentage point decrease from the 28.0% weighted average for the three-year cohort default rate for students who entered repayment during the prior fiscal year. For the 2010 Cohort, none of CCi's institutions exceeded the default threshold set by the U.S. Department of Education.
;Loan forgiveness
On June 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would forgive $5.8 billion in federal student loans made to Corinthian College students between 1995 and 2015, which forgiveness would impact 560,000 borrowers and would be the single largest discharge of student loans in history according to the department.