Nov 8 (Reuters) – Career Education Corp will close
23 campuses and cut 900 jobs amid losses and falling student
enrollments that also threaten to affect its financial position.
The for-profit education company said its $185 million
credit agreement expired on Oct. 31 and it has still not been
able to renew it.
Career Education said it cannot predict with certainty
whether it will be able to obtain a replacement credit agreement
due to the expected decline in its operating performance and a
weak economic recovery.
“We currently expect that if we are able to obtain a
replacement agreement it will provide less credit availability
than our expired credit agreement, and it is likely to contain
more restrictive financial and non-financial covenants,” the
company said in its quarterly report with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission.
The company expects to post a loss of $140 million to $160
million for 2012, according to the filing.
Career Education, which runs the American InterContinental
University, Le Cordon Bleu North America and the Sanford-Brown
colleges among others, has been struggling along with other
for-profit colleges to attract students.
Enrollments have been hit due to new federal rules that have
forced colleges to focus on a better quality of education and
higher loan repayment rates or risk losing federal aid that
accounts for big part of the colleges’ revenue.
Career Education has also come under pressure after
investigations last year found several of its colleges reporting
false placement rates to attract students. Its stock has fallen
nearly 80 percent since then.
The company on Thursday said the job cuts, which will be
completed by January 2013, are expected to save about $45
million to $55 million.
The campuses that are to be shut are expected to contribute
about $124.3 million of revenue for the year ending Dec. 31. The
campuses will remain open to offer current students the ability
to complete their course.
Career Education posted a net loss of $33.1 million, or 50
cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with a profit of
$10.6 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 22 percent to $332.8 million. New student
sign-ups fell 23 percent.
The company’s shares closed at $3.41 on Thursday on the
Nasdaq.
