Santa Ana-based for-profit schools operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. said it will sell 56 campuses of its Everest College and WyoTech to Zenith Education Group Inc., an affiliate of Oakdale, Minn.-based student loan guarantor agency ECMC Group.
The purchase price is $24 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The U.S. Department of Education has to approve the sale under an operating agreement it recently struck with Corinthian, which drew scrutiny for its lending and promotional practices.
The Department of Education expressed its support for the sale.
The sale is expected to close in January.
The programs include all of Corinthian’s U.S.-based Everest and WyoTech campuses outside of California, which combine for 39,000 students. The sites are in 17 states, and all but three are Everest campuses.
Corinthian said the deal includes 12 additional campuses that are being “taught-out” and set to close. It said the buyer will finish teaching the current programs.
The company said it’s still seeking buyers for 39 other campuses with about 20,000 students at its Heald College, 13 Everest and WyoTech campuses in California, and 14 Everest campuses in Ontario, Canada.
ECMC Group is a nonprofit and said in a statement that it would convert the schools to nonprofit status.
Half of the purchase price will go to the education department, and one-third will be placed in an escrow account against liabilities and for working capital, the filings said.
