The Career Education Corporation, which operates American InterContinental University and dozens of other for-profit colleges, has come out swinging against a dissident shareholder. In a letter to shareholders released this week and included in a company news release, Career Education’s president, John M. Larson, says that the shareholder, Steven Bostic, “has a record of significant mismanagement” and asserts that shareholders should question the idea of electing “Mr. Bostic and his cohorts” to the company’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Bostic was the chief executive officer of the company that owned American InterContinental before Career Education bought it, in 2000. Over the past 18 months, Mr. Bostic has criticized Career Education, in proxy statements and in news articles (The Chronicle, January 13).

In a proxy filing today, Mr. Bostic asserted that Career Education still has “significant problems to resolve,” including pending litigation, its probationary status with its regional accreditor, and investigations by the U.S. Department of Education. Mr. Bostic said he and his proposed slate for the board could “solve many of the problems” and “create stockholder value.”