After spending half a billion dollars to keep former Corinthian Colleges campuses afloat, the nonprofit ECMC Group’s Zenith Education will close all but three.
The long wind-down of Corinthian Colleges continued today with the planned closure of all but three of the remaining campuses that the defunct for-profit chain formerly owned.
The nonprofit Zenith Education Group announced Wednesday that it will halt new student enrollments and teach-out 21 Altierus (formerly Everest) and WyoTech campuses. Zenith said it plans to expand academic offerings at its three remaining campuses, which together enroll 560 students and are located in Houston, Tampa Bay, Fla., and Norcross, Ga.
ECMC Group, the large student loan guarantee agency, created Zenith in 2015, when it spent $24 million for 56 Everest and WyoTech campuses and for online programs. The campuses were on the verge of immediate closure because the struggling Corinthian lacked the cash to withstand sanctions slapped on it by the Obama administration’s Education Department.
Since then Zenith and ECMC have spent more than $500 million to keep the former Corinthian programs running.
Zenith spent the money to help ensure continuity for students as they sought to finish their educations and to create a softer landing for the former Corinthian faculty and staff members, said Jeremy Wheaton, Zenith’s president and CEO since August.