Vocational college to close in acquisition
The Vatterott College campus at 5537 Northwest Expressway will close at the end of the fall 2018 term, it was announced Tuesday.
“The difficult decision has been made to close the Vatterott College-OKC campus in October of 2018,” spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said in an email.
The 67 students currently enrolled will have the opportunity to graduate by the October closure, Bishop-Cross said. The campus employs 11 fulltime and 20 part-time staff and instructors, she said.
After closure, student records will be transferred to Vatterott’s headquarters in St. Louis and can be requested by calling 314264-1500.
The closure is a result of a planned acquisition by Birmingham, Alabamabased Education Corporation of America. ECA has entered into an agreement to acquire most campuses and other selected assets of Vatterott Education Centers (VEC), according to a news release issued Tuesday.
This acquisition represents 94 percent of VEC’s current student population. Students at the Oklahoma City campus are among the other 6 percent.
The transaction will expand ECA’s operations into key new markets in the Midwest where ECA does not currently operate, according to the announcement.
Nora House, director of the Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools, said right now the plan includes the purchase and continued operation of the only other Oklahoma campus of Vatterott College at 4343 S 118th E Ave. in Tulsa.
ECA currently operates one other school in Tulsa, a
Virginia College campus at 5124 S Peoria Ave.
ECA has a good track record, House said.
“ECA is committed to being the premier provider of post-secondary education with a career focus, and the purchase of the majority of VEC campuses helps us realize that goal,” CEO Stu Reed said in the announcement.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2018. It will give ECA more than 80 career-oriented campuses and online programs across 22 states, serving more than 25,000 students, the news release states. Financial terms were not disclosed.