LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Demand for vocational and career education is skyrocketing among California's growing Latino population, but the state's overcrowded community colleges will not have room for 840,000 Latino students over a decade, a new study has found.

The demand for a community college education will grow by more than 28 percent among California's Latino population over roughly 10 years, from 2008 to 2019, while demand among the state's white and African American residents will decline, according to the report. The result: Latinos will disproportionately bear the brunt of budget cuts and overcrowded classrooms in the community college system.

The study found that, more than any other group, Latinos will be denied the skills training they need to qualify for high-paying jobs and will lose billions of dollars in personal income. In Los Angeles County and Orange County alone, according to the report, more than 400,000 Latino students will be crowded out of community college classrooms over a decade. Collectively, they will lose almost $9 billion in foregone personal income.

The report, "Left Out, Left Behind: How the Workforce Training Gap Impacts the Latino Population in Los Angeles and Orange Counties," was based on research conducted by Encina Advisors LLC, a Sacramento-based economic consultancy, and was commissioned by Corinthian Colleges Inc., which is based in Santa Ana and is one of the largest post-secondary career education organizations in North America.

"California's economy suffers when we do not make career education and skills training available to every person who can benefit from it," said Steven Lindauer, National Director, Education & Workforce Development, Corinthian Colleges, Inc. "Private career colleges want to work with community colleges around the state to close this 'skills gap.' It's imperative for all Californians, especially Latinos, that we address this problem."

In March, a previous Encina-Corinthian study found that, over a decade, almost 2.5 million Californians will be crowded out of community college programs that lead to career-oriented degrees, diplomas and professional certificates. The resulting loss of professional skills will deny California workers entry into many high-paying jobs and cost them more than $50 billion in lost personal income.

The new report finds that these losses will fall hardest on the state's Latino community. According to the study:

• For the time period 2008-2019, demand for a community college education among California Latinos will grow by more than 28 percent, while it will decline almost 6 percent among whites and about 5 percent among African Americans. Demand will grow more than 11 percent among Native Americans and almost 10 percent among Asian Americans.
• For the 2012-2022 time period, about 840,000 Latino students statewide will be unable to attend community college because classroom space is unavailable.  This will lead to a loss of $17.8 billion in personal income for Latinos across California.  
• In Los Angeles County, about 378,000 Latinos will be shut out of community college classrooms from 2012-2022. The resulting lack of skills training and loss of professional opportunities will collectively cost them about $8 billion in personal income.
• In Orange County, about 33,000 Latinos would be turned away from community colleges, leading to $822 million in lost personal income from 2012-2022.

"There's no question that educational and economic losses in the Latino community affect the prosperity of the entire state," said Dr. Justin L. Adams, President and Chief Economist of Encina Advisors. "A large body of evidence documents the economic impact of the Latino community on local and state government budgets.  By making career education more available, we would not only promote social equality, but provide economic benefits to every Californian."

"Left Out, Left Behind: How the Workforce Training Gap Impacts the Latino Population in Los Angeles and Orange Counties," was released today at the annual conference of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation.

"The unemployment rate among Latinos, which always runs higher than the general unemployment rate, was even greater during the recession because of job losses in construction and manufacturing," said Martin Castro, President and CEO of MAOF. "Latinos also lag far behind others in educational attainment and achievement. However, as this report demonstrates, in the years ahead the number of Latinos who desire to enroll in community colleges will exceed other ethnicities.  We need to do more.  We need to make vocational education and career training more available to the Latino community." 

The report recommends that community colleges work closely with private career colleges to provide additional access to career education and to close the state's skills gap. "It is incumbent upon our institutions of higher learning to serve all students, including Latino populations for whom higher education is critically important for social and economic opportunity and advancement," the report said. "If California's community colleges system does not have the capacity to educate students who seek greater employment opportunities, local community colleges campuses should join with private career colleges to develop inclusive plans to meet the needs of all students." 

The entire report, "Left Out, Left Behind: How the Workforce Training Gap Impacts the Latino Population in Los Angeles and Orange Counties," is available at no charge at www.mycareercounts.org.

About Corinthian

Corinthian is one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. Our mission is to change students' lives. We offer diploma and degree programs that prepare students for careers in demand or for advancement in their chosen fields. Our program areas include health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades and information technology. We have 113 Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses, and also offer degrees online. For more information, go to www.mycareercounts.org or www.cci.edu.

CONTACT: Media:

         Kent Jenkins

         VP Public Affairs Communications

         202-682-9494

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (Nasdaq:COCO) today announced that Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, was unanimously appointed to the company's Board of Directors on April 27.

"Marc Morial is one our country's most distinguished leaders and public servants, and Corinthian will benefit tremendously from his counsel," said Jack D. Massimino, Corinthian's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Marc has visited our schools, spoken with our students and staff, and met our graduates. He shares our commitment to quality career education and will help our schools meet the needs of students and the communities we serve."

For the past decade, Morial has headed the National Urban League, one of the nation's largest and most influential civil rights and urban advocacy organizations. He has been one of America's leading voices on social justice issues and has built upon the National Urban League's century of service, focusing on educational and economic empowerment for the African American community.

Morial previously served as mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002. Making economic development, government reform, public safety and education his top priorities, Morial boosted New Orleans' tourism and convention sector, revitalized neighborhoods and housing programs, and significantly reduced violent crime. Morial also served as president of the bipartisan United State Conference of Mayors and was a Louisiana state senator.

All members of Corinthian's Board of Directors serve one-year terms and will stand for election at the company's annual shareholders meeting in November, 2013.

About Corinthian

Corinthian is one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. Our mission is to change students' lives. We offer diploma and degree programs that prepare students for careers in demand or for advancement in their chosen fields. Our program areas include health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades and information technology. We have 113 Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses, and also offer degrees online. For more information, go to http://www.cci.edu.

CONTACT: Investors:

         Anna Marie Dunlap

         SVP Investor Relations

         714-424-2678

         

         Media:

         Kent Jenkins

         VP Public Affairs Communications

         202-682-9494

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (Nasdaq:COCO) today announced that the Honorable Leon Panetta, a former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was unanimously appointed to the company's Board of Directors April 27.

"We are pleased and honored to welcome Leon back to our Board," said Jack D. Massimino, Corinthian's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "He knows Corinthian and has seen first-hand our commitment to quality career education. During three decades of public service, Leon has demonstrated extraordinary intelligence, judgment and character. We are proud that Corinthian can once again call upon his experience and insight."

Secretary Panetta, 74, served in the Obama Administration as U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013 and as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011, a time of numerous military and foreign policy challenges. Previously, he was White House Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Bill Clinton. For 16 years, from 1977 to 1993, Secretary Panetta was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing California's 16^th district, which included Monterey, San Benito, and parts of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz. 

Secretary Panetta and his wife Sylvia founded and currently co-direct the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, located at California State University, Monterey Bay. He has served as a Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of the CSU system, and as a member of the Board of Trustees and a Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University. Secretary Panetta previously served on the Corinthian Colleges Board of Directors from 2008 to 2009.

All members of Corinthian's Board of Directors serve one-year terms and will stand for election at the company's annual shareholders meeting in November, 2013.

About Corinthian

Corinthian is one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. Our mission is to change students' lives. We offer diploma and degree programs that prepare students for careers in demand or for advancement in their chosen fields. Our program areas include health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades and information technology. We have 113 Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses, and also offer degrees online. For more information, go to http://www.cci.edu.

CONTACT: Investors:

         Anna Marie Dunlap

         SVP Investor Relations

         714-424-2678

         

         Media:

         Kent Jenkins

         VP Public Affairs Communications

         202-682-9494

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corinthian Colleges,Inc. (Nasdaq:COCO) reported financial results today for the third quarter ended March 31, 2013. Results for the quarter were within the company's previous guidance ranges for revenue, earnings per share, and new student enrollment.

"During the third quarter we continued to focus on student outcomes and initiatives to increase our student population, improve operational efficiency, and diversify revenue," said Jack Massimino, Corinthian's chairman and chief executive officer. "Excluding the impact of losing Ability-to-Benefit (ATB) students, our new enrollments were up slightly in the quarter and our student population has been stabilizing relative to our peers over the last few quarters."

"Total new student enrollment was down 5.7%, primarily due to the loss of ATB students in the Everest ground schools," Massimino said. "In addition, new Online Learning student enrollments declined slightly quarter over quarter, as we continue to work through staffing, technology and workflow process issues in Online admissions and student finance."

"We are pursuing a number of initiatives to achieve more consistent growth," Massimino said. "We implemented 42 new programs at 20 campuses during the quarter, and our GED program enrollment continues to grow. We believe the GED program will benefit the communities we serve and has the potential to help increase our campus enrollments over time. In addition, in recent months there have been a substantial number of competitor school closures in our service areas. Given macroeconomic and other factors, we expect to see more industry consolidation in the months ahead. We will continue to work with regulators and school companies to accept and serve transfer students related to such closures."

Comparing the third quarter of fiscal 2013 with the same quarter of the prior year (Note: results for continuing operations only):

• Net revenue was $400.2 million versus $407.9 million, a decrease of 1.9%.
• Total student population at March 31, 2013 was 87,776 versus 93,620 at March 31, 2012, a decrease of 6.2%.
• New student enrollments totaled 26,738 versus 28,355, a decrease of 5.7%.
• Non-ATB new student enrollments totaled 26,374 versus 26,042, an increase of 1.3%.
• Operating income was $12.6 million, compared with operating income of $27.5 million, which excludes $1.3 million and $3.2 million in impairment and severance charges in Q3 13and Q3 12, respectively.
• Income from continuing operations (after tax) was $3.1 million, compared with $13.6 million, excluding impairment and severance charges in both periods. 
• Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.04, versus diluted earnings per share of $0.16, excluding impairment and severance charges in both periods.

Financial Review 

Educational services expenses were 60.9% of revenue in Q3 13 versus 59.5% in Q3 12. The increase was primarily due to an increase in bad debt. Bad debt increased to 3.4% of revenue in Q3 13 versus 2.5% of revenue in Q3 12, due to systems conversion issues.   

Marketing and admissions expenses were 25.7% of revenue in Q3 13 versus 24.2% in Q3 12. The increase is primarily the result of higher advertising and lead generation expenses per new enrollment.

General and administrative expenses were 10.2% of revenue in Q3 13 versus 9.6% in Q3 12. The increase is primarily due to an increase in professional services expenses. 

The operating margin was 3.2% in Q3 13 versus 6.8% in Q3 12, excluding impairment and severance charges in both time periods.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $43.9 million at March 31, 2013, compared with $72.5 million at June 30, 2012.  The decrease in cash is primarily due to the net repayment of borrowings under our credit facility, partially offset by the timing of cash receipts and payments.

Debt and capital leases (including current portion) totaled $30.7 million at March 31, 2013, compared with $149.0 million at June 30, 2012. The decrease is due to the net repayment of borrowings under our credit facility. 

Cash flow from operations was $128.8 million in the first nine months of FY 13, versus $195.7 million in the same period of the prior year. The decrease is primarily due to the timing of cash receipts and payments. 

Capital expenditures were $28.6 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2013, versus $31.0 million in the same period last year. The decrease is primarily the result of opening fewer new campuses.

Guidance

The following guidance is for continuing operations and excludes any one-time charges.  

Conference Call Today

We will host a conference call today at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. PT), to discuss third quarter results. The call will be open to all interested investors through a live audio web cast at www.cci.edu (Investors/Events & Presentations.) The call will be archived on www.cci.edu after the call. A telephonic playback of the conference call will also be available through Monday, May 6th. The playback can be reached by dialing (855) 859-2056 and using passcode 24281088.

About Corinthian

Corinthian is one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. Our mission is to change students' lives. We offer diploma and degree programs that prepare students for careers in demand or for advancement in their chosen fields. Our program areas include health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades and information technology. We have 113 Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses, and also offer degrees online. For more information, go to http://www.cci.edu.

Certain statements in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company intends that all such statements be subject to the "safe-harbor" provisions of that Act. Such statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding our initiatives to focus on student outcomes, increase our student population, improve operational efficiency, diversify revenue and achieve more consistent growth; our belief that launching new diploma programs in ground schools and offering free GED preparation programs at some Everest campuses will help increase enrollment over time; our expectation that competitor campus closures will continue and that our enrollment will increase as a result of such closures; and the statements under the heading "Guidance" above. Many factors may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those discussed in any such forward-looking statements or elsewhere, including: potential negative effects from the loss of ATB students; the uncertain outcome of the Department of Education's ("ED's") determination related to our financial responsibility composite score; the company's effectiveness in its regulatory and accreditation compliance efforts; the outcome of ongoing reviews and inquiries by accrediting, state and federal agencies; the outcome of pending litigation against the company; risks associated with variability in the expense and effectiveness of the company's advertising and promotional efforts; potential increased competition; changes in general macroeconomic and market conditions (including credit and labor market conditions, the unemployment rate, and the rates of change of each such item); and the other risks and uncertainties described in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The historical results achieved by the company are not necessarily indicative of its future prospects. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT: Investors:

         Anna Marie Dunlap

         SVP Investor Relations

         714-424-2678

         

         Media:

         Kent Jenkins

         VP Public Affairs Communications

         202-682-9494

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 8, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (Nasdaq:COCO) will report financial results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2013, on April 30 prior to market open. The company will host a conference call at 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, April 30 to review its performance and outlook.

The conference call will be open to all interested investors through a live audio webcast via the internet at www.cci.edu (Investor Relations/Webcasts & Presentations). The call will be archived on www.cci.edu. A telephonic playback of the conference call will also be available through May 6th. The playback can be reached by dialing (855) 859-2056 and using passcode 24281088.

About Corinthian Colleges, Inc.

Corinthian is one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. Our mission is to change students' lives. We offer diploma and degree programs that prepare students for careers in demand or for advancement in their chosen fields. Our program areas include health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades and information technology. We have 113 Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses, and also offer degrees online. For more information, go to http://www.cci.edu/.

CONTACT: Investors:

         Anna Marie Dunlap

         SVP, Investor Relations

         (714) 424-2678

         

         Media:

         Kent Jenkins

         VP, Public Affairs Communications

         (202) 682-9494