Western Career College - History

History

Western Career College (WCC) was founded in 1967 in Sacramento, California, as the Northwest College of Medical Assistants and Dental Assistants. The college was established to meet the education needs of the local healthcare community.

In 1969, the College was purchased and underwent its first name change, to "Western College of Allied Health Careers – A Bryman School." The Education Corporation of America (“EdCOA, Inc.”) purchased the college in 1983 and changed its name to "Western Career College." In 1986, WCC opened a second campus in the Bayfair Center in San Leandro, California. The third campus opened in 1997 in Pleasant Hill, California.

WCC earned accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in June 2001. ACCJC-WASC approved a change of ownership in January 2003. The following February, the U.S. Education Corporation’s purchase of WCC was finalized. The College then opened two additional campuses, one in Citrus Heights and one in Stockton. After submitting a substantive change report to ACCJC-WASC, both locations were approved in December 2003.

The College expanded in August 2005 by merging the operations and programs of Silicon Valley College (SVC) with Western Career College. SVC was owned by U.S. Education and was nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). This merger expanded college locations to Antioch (originally in Walnut Creek), Emeryville and San Jose. The Fremont location of SVC was merged with the WCC San Jose location shortly after the college merger. The ACCJC-WASC re-accreditation process was completed in March 2007 and accreditation was reaffirmed in June 2008.

George Montgomery, the U.S. Education Corporation's president and chief executive officer, brokered a deal under which the company was acquired by DeVry Inc. in September 2008.

In 2010, Western Career College changed its name to Carrington College California. This was a rebranding intended to align it with Apollo College, also owned by DeVry, which was simultaneously rebranded as Carrington College. DeVry announced the name changes in March 2010; they took effect on June 30, 2010.

The enrollment of new students in the Carrington Colleges declined in 2010 by 19 percent – more than DeVry had anticipated. The total enrollment in the college group also fell, with the number of total students placed at 10,942 in December 2010.

Montgomery is retiring at the end of 2011; he will be succeeded as president of the Carrington Colleges Group by Robert Paul, DeVry University's vice president for metro operations.