The Career Education Corporation announced this morning that it planned to sell 13 of its colleges, including the Katherine Gibbs colleges, the onetime secretarial schools that trained thousands of women to enter the work force. On the block are the nine colleges — each known as either Gibbs College or Katherine Gibbs School, and all located in the northeastern United States — as well as the two campuses of Brooks College, in California; Lehigh Valley College, in Pennsylvania; and McIntosh College, in New Hampshire.
Collectively, the colleges lost about $30.4-million in the first nine months of 2006, on $121.3-million in revenue, according to figures released by the company. The colleges enrolled a total of 9,600 students as of October 31, the company said.
By shedding the colleges, “we will be better targeting our business strategy, and concentrating our resources on those areas where we have the greatest competitive advantage, the highest levels of expertise, and proven success,” said Bob Dowdell, the company’s interim president and chief executive officer, in a written statement.
Without the 13 colleges, the company will have 76 campuses with 90,000 students. Career Education is the second-largest for-profit education company in the United States, with slightly more than $2-billion in revenue last year. Its other holdings include American InterContinental University, the International Academy of Design & Technology, Sanford-Brown College, and a number of culinary schools.
