Education Affiliates (EA) is an American parent company of

for-profit colleges Proprietary colleges are for-profit colleges and universities. They are operated by their owners or investors, rather than a not-for-profit institution, religious organization, or government. Because they are not funded by tax money, their long ...

, with its headquarters in Nottingham, Maryland. It has been an investment of

JLL Partners JLL Partners is an American private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions and leveraged recapitalizations of middle-market companies. The firm is headquartered in New York City, and was founded in 1987. Since its founding JLL Part ...

since 2004. According to

D&B Hoovers D&B Hoovers was founded by Gary Hoover and Patrick Spain in 1990Solomon, Steve.The Dynamic Duo" '' Inc.''. October 15, 1997. Retrieved on April 7, 2014. as an American business research company that provided information on companies and indus ...

, EA has annual sales of $202 million. Education Affiliates owns approximately 50 campuses and learning centers. Education Affiliates' schools include

Fortis College Fortis College (also Fortis Institute and Fortis College of Nursing in some locations) is a Private for-profit college with multiple campuses throughout the United States. It was established in 2008 and is operated by Education Affiliates and owne ...

and Fortis Institute, ASPE Training, All-State Career School, DriveCo CDL Learning Center,

Saint Paul's School of Nursing In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, Georgia Driving Academy, and the Denver School of Nursing.

History

1984-2004 (Origins)

The Baltimore-based company was first incorporated in 1984 as The Marco Group, Inc. and changed its name to Education Affiliates Inc. in 2004.

2005-2013 (Growth)

In November 2004,

, a New York-based private equity firm, paid $52 million for Baltimore-based Marco Group, which owned 10 vocational schools. In 2005, the Baltimore Business Journal reported on the "buying spree" that Education Affiliates was engaging in, with the financial support of JLL.

Corinthian Colleges Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

and

Career Education Corporation Perdoceo Education Corporation (PRDO) is a private company that currently owns four for-profit universities, including American Intercontinental University, Colorado Technical University, California Southern University, and Trident University I ...

were its larger competitors.

2013-present (Downsizing)

Since 2013, EA has faced declining enrollments and has closed some of its Fortis brand campuses.

Leadership

Duncan M. Anderson is the CEO and co-founder of Education Affiliates. Stephen J. Budosh is the chief financial officer.

Locations (and student enrollment)

All-State Career School

*Baltimore, MD (561 students) *Essington, PA-Allied Health Campus (355 students) *Lester, PA (306 students) *Pittsburgh, PA (189 students) *Kearneysville, WV (not reported) *Wheeling, WV (not reported) The schools are accredited by the

Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States that provides national accreditation to private post-secondary educational institutions. It is recognized by the ...

Denver College of Nursing

*Denver, CO (796 students) Denver College of Nursing is regionally accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

. The school has program accreditation from

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing The National League for Nursing (NLN) is a national organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nurse education. It offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiative ...

, Inc.

DriveCo CDL Learning Center

*Gary, IN (not reported)

Fortis College

*Dothan, AL (165 students) *Foley, AL (87 students) *Mobile, AL (375 students) *Montgomery, AL (311 students) *Cutler Bay, FL (388 students) *Orange Park, FL (489 students) *Smyrna, GA (678 students) *Indianapolis, IN (416 students) *Baton Rouge, LA (408 students) *Landover, MD (712 students) *Centerville, OH (559 students) *Cincinnati, OH (587 students) *Columbus, OH (1,042 students) *Cuyahoga Falls, OH (575 students) *Columbia, SC (569 students) *Houston, TX (394 students) *Salt Lake City, UT (539 students) *Norfolk, VA (454 students) *Richmond, VA (507 students)

Fortis Institute

*Birmingham, AL (551 students) *Pensacola, FL (705 students) *Port St. Lucie, FL (474 students) *Towson, MD (558 students) *Lawrenceville, NJ (314 students) *Wayne, NJ (521 students) *Forty Fort, PA (182 students) *Scranton, PA (279 students) *Cookeville, TN (302 students) *Nashville, TN (475 students) *Houston, TX (390 students)

Georgia Driving Academy

*Conyers, GA (not reported)

St. Paul’s School of Nursing

*Queens, NY (550 students) *Staten Island, NY

Financial difficulties

Several Fortis Institute schools are under Department of Education ''

heightened cash monitoring Higher education in the United States is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. Higher education is also referred as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to ...

''. Nineteen schools in the EA chain had the lowest financial responsibility score. As of February 2021, Fortis owes $2.37 million to the US Department of Education.

Lawsuits and settlements

In 2014, two former All-State admissions representatives and a former test administrator were sentenced in Maryland federal court for conspiring in a test-cheating scheme that gave ineligible students access to federal

Title IV Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) covers the administration of the United States federal student financial aid programs. American colleges and universities are generally classified with regard to their inclusion under Title IV, ...

education funds. In 2015, Education Affiliates agreed to pay the US government $13 million to resolve allegations it violated the

False Claims Act The False Claims Act (FCA), also called the "Lincoln Law", is an American federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies (typically federal contractors) who defraud governmental programs. It is the federal government's primary litigat ...

. According to the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

, the company had submitted false claims to the

US Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

for federal student aid for students enrolled in its programs. The settlements were the result of a joint effort by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in Maryland, the Southern District of Texas, the Northern District of Alabama, Southern District of Ohio, Middle District of Tennessee, and the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and the Department of Education and its OIG. The settlement also resolved allegations related to Education Affiliates schools in Birmingham, Alabama, Houston and Cincinnati, "including violations of the ban on incentive compensation for enrollment personnel, misrepresentations of graduation and job placement rates, alteration of attendance records and enrollment of unqualified students." {{Cite web, url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/profit-education-company-pay-13-million-resolve-several-cases-alleging-submission-false, title=For-Profit Education Company to Pay $13 Million to Resolve Several Cases Alleging Submission of False Claims for Federal Student Aid, date=June 24, 2015, website=www.justice.gov

References

Education companies of the United States Companies based in Baltimore County, Maryland