Bryman Colleges, a California for-profit education chain with four campuses, and sister school BioHealth College permanently shut their doors Friday evening, leaving nearly 300 students in the lurch.
Students received notice over the weekend that their school wouldn’t be reopening on Monday morning and all of the school’s employees found out Friday they were being laid off, according to reports from students and employees.
The parent company of these schools, BioHealth Colleges Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week—a foreboding sign for the schools that meant their ability to accept federal student loan funding would likely be revoked. Most schools can’t survive without this funding.
The California Bureau of Consumer Affairs was on the campuses Monday, helping students understand their options, according to bureau spokesman Russ Heimerich. The 278 students who attended these schools will be eligible for reimbursement through California’s Student Tuition Recovery Fund—a pot of money set aside from California students’ tuition that’s help in the event of a shutdown.
The students can also apply for a federal student loan discharge. This would wipe away any federal loan debt the student took on as a result of their attendance at Bryman or BioHealth.
Additionally, Mr. Heimerich said, the schools have been cooperating in helping the students get their transcripts.
“Our goal is to make sure [the students] don’t lose money, even though they won’t get back the time they’ve invested,” Mr. Heimerich said.
The phone lines at all the Bryman and Biotech campuses were disconnected as of Monday afternoon and the company’s bankruptcy lawyer didn’t immediately return request for comment.
Bryman Colleges, located in San Jose, San Francisco, Hayward and Los Angeles, were acquired in January 2013 by BioHealth College Inc. from Corinthian Colleges Inc.—a for-profit college operator with more than 100 schools that is now in the process of winding down its own operations. They had previously been operating under the Everest College name. Corinthian paid BioHealth $2.3 million in January 2013 to take over these schools, according to filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The four Bryman campuses offered programs including dental assistant, massage therapy, medical assistant and medical insurance billing and coding. Tuition for these diploma programs ranged from $16,000 to $18,000 in 2013.
Prior to the Bryman deal, BioHealth operated one for-profit medical-training school in San Jose, which bears its name. That school launched in 2003, specializing in pharmacy technician and biotechnology technician courses.
According to bankruptcy-court filings, the parent company of these schools has under $50,000 in assets and between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities.
Write to Stephanie Gleason at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @stephgleason.
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