Lehigh Valley College was a college owned by

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 Int ...

, a for-profit educational company. The college was located near

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

, in Center Valley and offered

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

programs in a variety of vocational areas, including

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

and

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

History

Lehigh Valley College, formerly known as Allentown Business School, was founded in 1869 as primarily a secretarial school. Since opening, it expanded and moved four times to accommodate a larger student body and greater selection of programs. The school operated under at least five owners.

bought it in 1995 and added programs, doubled enrollment and raised tuition.Lehigh Valley College website, Our History
/ref> In July 2003 it moved to a campus in

Center Valley, Pennsylvania Center Valley is an unincorporated community located one mile north of Coopersburg, at the intersection of Pennsylvania State Routes 309 and 378 in Upper Saucon Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had ...

with of facility space which included 40 classrooms, 2 art studios, a photo/video studio, 4 Mac labs, 5 PC labs, library, and wireless internet. In November 2006,

announced plans to sell several of its schools including Lehigh Valley College. On March 20, 2009, the Board of Trustees of

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

approved the purchase of the property for $12 million. The purchase did not affect a state attorney general probe into the Lehigh Valley College school.

Programs

Similar to other CEC owned institutions, Lehigh Valley College offered

programs in

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

;

Fashion Merchandising Fashion merchandising can be defined as the planning and promotion of sales by presenting a product to the right market at the proper time, by carrying out organized, skillful advertising, using attractive displays, etc. Merchandising, within fashio ...

;

Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

; Health Information Technology; Internet Technologies;

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

;

Massage Therapy Massage is the manipulation of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In Eu ...

; Medical Assisting; Network Support; and

Visual Communications Visual Communications (also known as VC) –– is a community-based non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1970 by independent filmmakers Robert Nakamura, Alan Ohashi, Eddie Wong, and Duane Kubo, who were st ...

. No new students were accepted after February, 2008, although students enrolled at that time were allowed to complete their programs.

Controversy

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office demanded records from the school covering its financial aid policies, recruitment practices and student complaints in July 2005 in connection with a probe of the school by its consumer protection division.''School company finds misconduct, but probe by Lehigh Valley College's parent clears senior management'', May 10, 2005
/ref>''Lehigh Valley College facing state probe State attorney general's consumer protection bureau wants details on school's financial aid policies, recruitment practices'' Allentown Morning Call, by Christina Gostomski, August 3, 2005
/ref> In August 2005, the Allentown '' Morning Call'' newspaper published the results of its investigation of Lehigh Valley College, which cited several alleged issues with the school including misleading and aggressive admission tactics, comparably high tuition costs, minimal transferability of credits, deceptive job placement statistics, inadequate job placement assistance, and weak quality of instruction.''School's pursuit of profit leaves students behind - Former Allentown Business Schools uses hard-sell admission tactics that lead to crushing debt, unfulfilled dreams, some say.'' Allentown Morning Call, by Sam Kennedy, April 24, 2005
/ref> In 2008, Lehigh Valley College reached a settlement with then-Pennsylvania Attorney General

Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 ...

for $200,000. This followed a 2-year investigation into the school's practices and communications related to student loans, job placement and the ability to transfer credits.

References

External links

Lehigh Valley College Official Web Site
{{authority control Universities and colleges established in 1869 Universities and colleges in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Defunct private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania Graphic design schools in the United States Former for-profit universities and colleges in the United States Buildings and structures in Allentown, Pennsylvania 1869 establishments in Pennsylvania Career Education Corporation Educational institutions disestablished in 2009