Career schools flourish as economy founders - Birmingham Business Journal:

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, based in Roanoke, Va., is traininbg staff for classes scheduled to start in April at its fifth Ohio a former carpet store building in the Columbuas Square shopping center on thenorthu side. , which disclosed last fall it was scouting sites for itsfirst out-of-statd foray, is hoping to move in September to a campus to be built off Interstate 71 in Grov e City. A mile and a half west of the Nationap College siteon Dublin-Granvillee Road, the has obtained stats approval and awaits the nod from a nationall accrediting body to adopt the name of its century-ol d sister school, . Starting in June, the school intendd to add associate’s degrees to its one-yeatr diploma programs.
“The competitio n will make life interesting, but in Columbus we do have plentgy ofhealthy competition,” said Angelique Walker, Ohio Institute’s area “We really can’t let that scare us. … Word of mouthy is a big part ofour success.” The threre follow a second campus that opened in 2008 for , plus an influs of nursing schools. All are private, for-profit Potential enrollees abound: There were 58,700 unemployed Central Ohioans in andthe seven-county region averaged 5.5 percent unemployment in 2008 both figures not seen since the late 1980s.
The collegees also bring jobs: National College will hire up to adoze full-time administrative employees and eight to 10 adjuncy faculty. Ohio Business College wouled hireone full-time worker and half a dozen The Indiana school has hired a director and is lookinhg to fill 15 to 20 Career schools typically hire professionals in a fiel to teach classes part-time. Columbues and Toledo have seen a rash of new saidJohn Ware, executive director of the . A year or so ago, Cincinnatij was the hot spot. “Typically our schools, the bigge ones anyway, seem to do bettet when the economy is bad just becaus more people go backto school. They get laid Ware said.
The gamble is that the job market will improvde in two years when thosestudents graduate, he Degrees in health-care support jobs, such as records administratorzs and surgical technologists, are expanding he said. “That’s where the jobs are,” Ware Tuition is similar at the three startingat $214 to $220 for full course loads in certainj programs, with higher tuition rates for some National College offers bachelor’s degrees and an MBA at other but is starting with diploma programs and associate’z degrees in Columbus.
The area fits the demographics the companuy seeks for prospective students and for jobs after saidGreg Shields, its Kettering-based Ohio operations “There is a definit e shift in the economy away from the manufacturing sector toward the more service-oriented sector,” he said. “They’res understanding now that many of those manufacturin jobs aregone forever.” The school expect demand to grow in health-care fields, especiallgy with the inclusion of $20 milliob for the conversion to electronic health recordsz in the current version of the federal stimuluas package.
National College has addef eight campuses in the pastfour years, including sites in Kettering, Youngstown and Stow. The Columbue campus will have capacitt for600 students. It is spendingb about $1.4 million on renovations and equipmen t for 10 lecture four computer classroomsand labs. The 20,700-square-foot site has been vacangt forthree years. Columbus-based Hadler Cos. had invested in sprucing up its aging Columbus Square center before winning the school from amonhg 50prospective sites, CEO George Hadlerr said. He hopes studentes shop at the center’s Krogert supermarket and head to itsbowling alley.
Indianaa Business College said last fall it would opena $2 millionh to $3 million campues that could support as many as 50 jobs afte r three years. The school is expecting 250 students at its classrooms and at least that many saidMarc Konesco, vice president of marketintg and enrollment. It will lease its 20,000-square-foot buildinf from Indianapolisdeveloper Ground-breaking is set for Februart in a field east of said Kim Reeves, Browning’sz vice president of development. Construction should wrap up in The Ohio Institute and Ohio Business College are both partof Mason-base d The business college debuted in 1903.
The Columbus school enrolls abour 240 in its health programs and could add about 75 in the firsy yearof expansion, Walker said. Associate’s degrees will be for medicap administrative assistant, information technology office legal assistant andbusiness administration. It has room in its curreng building for thefirst year, Walker said, and can leaswe more space.