Career Education Corporation Readies July Launch of Online Degree Program in Information Technology

Business Wire, March 13, 2001

Business Editors

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2001

Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ:CECO) announced that AIU Online, its distance learning division, is launching an online bachelor's degree program in information technology, with initial classes beginning in July.

The program will offer courses in four information technology disciplines - networking, programming, data administration and Web development and business - and will prepare students for a career as a database administrator, systems analyst, computer programmer or network engineer. These will be among the fastest-growing of all job categories from 1998 to 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Students who complete the program successfully will receive the Bachelor's of Information Technology (B.I.T.) degree.

"Graduates will find a ready market for their skills, as demand for information technology professionals far exceeds supply," said Nick Fluge, senior vice president of operations for Career Education Corporation (CEC) and chief operating officer of AIU Online. "According to the Information Technology Association of America, a staggering 850,000 IT positions will stand unfilled industry-wide by mid-2001."

The online IT courses were developed and will be taught by faculty members of American InterContinental University (AIU), which operates six campuses in the U.S. and abroad. Students will access the online courses via AIU's virtual campus at www.aiu-online.com. AIU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

"More than a million students nationwide now take college courses on the Internet, and experts predict that this figure will double within two years," Fluge said. "AIU Online's programs will surmount limitations of geography and time by allowing 'anywhere, anytime' access to our career-focused educational content. We anticipate that our Internet programs will appeal strongly to working students, who need to fit coursework into their busy lives and proceed at a pace that accommodates their individual needs."

The AIU Online program in information technology is geared to students who have earned an associate degree or accumulated at least two years of college credits in general education subjects. For students who do not meet this minimum requirement, AIU Online will offer an associate degree completion program in general education, beginning in April 2001.

"This program will provide a bridge into the online B.I.T. degree program for students whose college experience was interrupted at an early stage," Fluge said. Prospective students may apply now for admission to either online program by calling (877) 701-3800 or by completing the application at www.aiu-online.com.

Career Education Corporation is one of the world's largest providers of private, for-profit postsecondary education in the career-oriented disciplines of visual communication and design technologies, information technology, business studies and culinary arts. The Company currently operates 38 campuses throughout the United States and in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, with over 33,000 students enrolled as of January 31, 2001. CEC colleges enjoy long operating histories and offer a wide variety of master's degree, bachelor's degree, associate degree and diploma programs. Major brand names operated by CEC include American InterContinental University (six campuses), the Katharine Gibbs Schools (nine campuses), the International Academy of Design & Technology (eight campuses), and Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program North America (seven campuses). CEC also operates a number of unique brand name colleges with well-known reputations.