For-Profit College Phasing Out Enrollment at Physical Campuses

The Center for Excellence in Higher Education, a for-profit college chain based in Salt Lake City, is halting enrollment of new students at physical locations as it looks to shift to mostly online instruction.

"We're going through a reevaluation of what is the right model for delivery of higher education," said Eric Juhlin, the company's CEO.

CEHE, which operates Stevens-Henager College and College America, has about 2,100 students attending classes at its campuses. Another 10,000 are enrolled in online programs.

Juhlin said the company isn't planning to close any campuses, but will experiment with a model where some student services and lab or clinical work happens on campuses and most instruction takes place online.

The company has seen a decline in its in-person enrollment in recent years. Other for-profit college companies facing enrollment dropoffs have responded by shifting to a mostly online model.

One of those companies, National American University, took out an $8.5 million loan from CEHE in May after the Education Department requested a letter of credit and imposed new financial restrictions. The company had raised doubts in SEC filings about its ability to continue operating.

CEHE has had recent troubles of its own besides declining enrollment on campus. Last year, its accreditor, the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, placed the entire chain on probation after identifying issues with academic outcomes and misleading advertising. The commission hasn't published any updates since an August board meeting, but Juhlin said he was confident CEHE had addressed the majority of issues raised by the accreditor.