Brooks, AIU Accrediation Under Review
Two Los Angeles–area fashion colleges, Brooks College and American InterContinental University (AIU), are under review by their respective governing agencies for operational and procedural shortcomings that could jeopardize their accreditation status.
The Hoffman Estates, Ill.–based Career Education Corp. (CEC), a public company traded on the NASDAQ exchange, owns both campuses as well as 79 others in the United States, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.
AIU, which has nine campuses, including one in Los Angeles, was placed on warning status by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2002, the SACS required that the college provide additional information on several compliance matters related to “institutional effectiveness” within two years. The school has until December 2004 to meet those standards. School officials would not disclose further details.
Long Beach, Calif.–based Brooks College, which also has a campus in Sunnyvale, Calif., was recently placed on probation by its accreditation body, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. A panel of college administrators working for the ACCJC visited the Brooks campus and the student fashion show in March to review operations as part of the accreditation renewal process. Brooks recently released the commission’s findings, which recommended that the college make a number of improvements to its operations and procedures. The commission was especially concerned about how the school communicated costs of attending the college as well as how it reported its job-placement rate and addressed academic assessment.
Despite costs being spelled out on the college enrollment agreement, a number of students interviewed by commission members were not clear on fees. Brooks officials said it trains its financial aid and admissions staff to go over costs with prospective students during orientations.
The commission had issues with how the college reports the job-placement rates of its graduates. Brooks boasts a placement rate of more than 90 percent within six months of graduation. The school, however, does not disclose that only about 35 percent of students complete the program or mention the number of graduates who have chosen other career paths. The commission had issue with this, but Brooks officials said their reporting criteria meet guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Education.
The panel also found student misconceptions about the transferability of credits to four-year programs. While Brooks states in its student catalog that not all of its credits are transferable, several students interviewed by the panel thought otherwise. To mitigate this concern, school officials said it will address the issue before students during orientation meetings.
The panel was concerned about an absence of an academic assessment for incoming students who lack skills such as math and English abilities. Brooks administrators said it is launching a new assessment program next month in addition to establishing faculty committees that will conduct regular reviews of academic assessment. The school is also reviewing prerequisites for students to ensure they understand subjects before progressing to the upper levels of their programs.
The commission also found below-par facilities around the campus dormitories, which the college will address during an upcoming $1.7 million renovation.
A spokesman for the CEC said the college has until Oct. 15 to address the issues in question.
“We’ve made lots of changes. We intend to show progress,” said Sean Murphy of the CEC, adding that the accreditation process is voluntary and is not intended to be adversarial.
“It’s a peer review, and it’s good for the institution and everyone involved,” he said. “All of our schools are accredited, and we’ve never lost accreditation.”
Accredited schools usually gain more marketability and give graduates and attendees more clout when seeking a job or transferring to a four-year school. Brooks offers programs in fashion design and merchandising, interior design, multimedia, graphic arts, animation, and network technology. The school has graduated a number of notable designers, including Cornell Collins. —Robert McAllister
