California Apparel News

Officials at Brooks College, which offers fashion programs at its Long Beach and Sunnyvale, Calif., campuses, said they will close down both campuses in a gradual phase-out expected to be completed in March 2009.

Executives of Brooks’ parent company, the Career Education Corp., based in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Ill., said the decision came after an effort fell through to sell the Long Beach campus last year to another educator.

The CEC has now put the Long Beach and Sunnyvale campuses, along with 10 other schools in the company’s portfolio, on the selling block.

CEC officials said in a press release that the sale is part of a strategy to “better align the company’s focus as an organization.”

A buyer may already be on board for the Long Beach campus as officials at California State University, Long Beach are in due diligence to purchase the 6.5-acre parcel to use for student housing, confirmed a CSULB spokesperson. An announcement on the deal may come as early as next week, said the spokesperson.

Brooks’ Long Beach campus was viewed as a tough sale, given its recent history. The school was on probation in 2004 and was in danger of losing its accreditation. Shortly thereafter, several former students and admissions staffers went before cameras on CBS’ “60 Minutes” and CNN, charging that school administrators exaggerated job-placement rates and expected earnings once they were placed.

Most of the complaints lodged by students were against administrators and not against instructors.

As a real estate entity, the college offers a prime location on Pacific Coast Highway. Its art moderne architecture is highly visible and within a mile of CSULB. The school has been in operation for 35 years.

Brooks’ closure will come through a “teach-out” process to allow current students to complete their studies. The schools are no longer admitting new students. The newest students anticipate a final graduation date of September 2008 for the Sunnyvale campus and March 2009 for the Long Beach campus.

“Over the past seven months, we have been engaged in a process to identify a buyer who would understand the value of Brooks College and would nurture the campuses and promote their growth,” said Gary McCullough, president and chief executive officer of the CEC in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we were not able to identify an appropriate buyer. As the company realigns its focus, we determined that it was no longer in the best position to support Brooks College in order to enable long-term future growth.”

During the teach-out period, CEC officials said the campuses will continue to operate with minimal disruption to current students, enabling students to complete their programs at the current locations.

Student services, including internships, career services and financial aid, will remain available until the last student graduates. After the final graduation date, career services will be available to graduates at two other local colleges owned by the CEC. Student records and transcripts will be available from the company’s corporate offices.

Some Brooks alumni were upset at the latest move from the CEC.

“CEC is notorious for making unconscionable decisions. Putting Brooks up for sale was yet another scandalous notch,” said alumnus Mark Pagaduan, now an art director for Lana Fuchs Couture in Las Vegas. —Robert McAllister