Facing insolvency, Dream Center is unloading Art Institutes

Education Dive

By Ben Unglesbee

January 16, 2019

When the Dream Center bought the Art Institutes from Education Management Corporation (EDMC) out of bankruptcy, the organization described the deal as “an amazing opportunity” to “turn those systems into community focused not-for-profit educational institutions.”

The foundation — which tapped Brent Richardson, former CEO of Grand Canyon University, as DCEH’s chief (though he has since stepped down) — saw opportunities to combine them with its other charitable programs involving workforce readiness and education. But the initial opportunity Dream Center saw has unraveled in fairly short order.

In the restructuring proposal sent to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NCCC), an official with the Art Institutes cited the “vast amount of debt” that Dream Center inherited from EDMC as behind a challenge “to stabilize the institutions and improve operational efficiencies.”

Dream Center had already indicated it would… (continue reading)