Two more for-profit education companies are closing or selling off dozens of campuses, including two locations in metro Atlanta.
Sanford-Brown’s Atlanta campus and the Decatur location of the Art Institute of Atlanta are expected to close within the next few years, according to their parent companies. Officials said students currently enrolled at both locations will be allowed to complete their programs.
Career Education Corporation plans to close all 14 branches of its Sanford-Brown college and Sanford-Brown Institute campuses, and sell its Briarcliffe College, Brooks Institute and Missouri College brands.
The decision was made after several years of declining enrollment and financial losses, company spokesman Mark Spencer said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about last week’s announcement.
The Atlanta campus, which enrolls about 320 students, is expected to remain open until August 2016. Under the company’s restructuring, CEC plans to focus on its universities, including American InterContinental. An Atlanta American InterContinental location will continue to operate normally.
Career Education Corporation, which also owns Le Cordon Bleu culinary colleges, announced late last year plans to sale the chain of cooking schools, including the location in Tucker, where about 1,000 students were enrolled.
Education Management Corporation also announced last week that 15 of its 51 Art Institute campuses, including the Decatur location which enrolls about 400 students, would be closed.
In Georgia, both institutions are regulated by the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission. The agency has been notified of the closures and plans for students, agency director Corinna Robinson said.
Messages on websites of Atlanta’s Sanford Brown campus and the Art Institute campus in Decatur explained that the schools were no longer accepting new students.
The additional closures come as the troubled for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges recently filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to sell off its remaining campuses.
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