Downsizing
After seeking unsuccessfully to sell several of its campuses, in June 2007 Career Education announced that it would close the Brooks College campuses in Sunnyvale and Long Beach, California, and the Pittsburgh branch of the International Academy of Design and Technology. No new enrollments would be accepted, and the final graduation dates would be September 2008 at the Sunnyvale campus, December 2008 in Pittsburgh, and March 2009 in Long Beach.
On February 2008 Career Education Corporation announced that it would also phase out operations of nine money-losing colleges, including several Gibbs College campuses, Lehigh Valley College, and McIntosh College in New Hampshire and to seek permission to convert two Gibbs college locations to Sanford-Brown College campuses.
On February 18, 2008 CEC's American InterContinental University announced plans to gradually close down its Los Angeles campus. Current students would have the opportunity to complete their programs, but no new students would be enrolled. Dr. George Miller, CEO of American InterContinental University, said “the impact of a two-year probation, coupled with the current market for AIU’s programs in Los Angeles, is such that the student population at the campus has decreased significantly, and likely will not reach the sustainable level necessary to support the addition of new programs and necessary resources.”
Due to declining enrollment, additional plans to lay off as much as 7% of CEC's workforce (900 jobs) and close 23 schools were announced on November 8, 2012. The corporation made the announcement as it reported a $33.1 million net loss for the third quarter of 2012, as well a 23 percent decline in enrollment from a year ago. The Chicago Sun Times explained that "a U.S. Senate committee report last summer criticized for-profit schools for focusing on their own profits above their students’ job-readiness and for burdening students with loan debt at taxpayers’ expense. The scrutiny has hurt for-profit college enrollment."
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