Brightwood trade school to close its Downtown campus in Sept. 2019
The Downtown campus of Brightwood Career Institute has stopped accepting new students and will close its doors on Sept. 1, 2019, the latest for-profit trade school to close or downsize in recent years.
In a statement on Thursday, Education Corporation of America, the Birmingham, Ala.-based owner of Brightwood and other for-profit college chains, blamed “insufficient demand for its programs” for the closure. Pittsburgh’s Brightwood location is one of 26 campuses spanning several of its brands nationwide the company plans to shutter by early 2020.
On Thursday, Diane Worthington, a spokeswoman for Education Corporation of America, said the four other Brightwood locations in Pennsylvania — Harrisburg, Delaware County and two in Philadelphia — would remain open.
Of the 181 students enrolled at the Penn Avenue school, the “vast majority” of them will be able to complete their coursework and earn diplomas as planned, Ms. Worthington said.
As for the rest, “We will work closely with those students who will be unable to complete their programs at the campus prior to the closure date to either transfer to another school, or they may choose to receive a full refund,” Ms. Worthington wrote in an email.
The company is also pursuing an option that would allow those students to complete their program at the Pittsburgh location, but Ms. Worthington said she would not be able to discuss those details until next week.
It was not that long ago that Brightwood looked as if might survive the onslaught of federal scrutiny into recruiting practices that soured attitudes toward the broader for-profit education industry.
Formerly called Kaplan Career Institute, Brightwood was purchased by Education Corporation of America in 2015.
While companies like Education Management Corp., the Pittsburgh-based owner of the Art Institutes and other brands, and ITT Technical Institute headed for bankruptcy, Brightwood school officials unveiled the new name and invited guests to eat and drink with faculty and staff at a January 2016 open house.
“The Brightwood Career Institute name represents a cornerstone for opportunity and growth for our students and the entire company,” Hunter Hopkins, Pittsburgh’s campus president, said in a statement at the time. “We are delighted to host an open house for the business community to showcase the new possibilities.”