Heald College campuses, including Fresno location, go up for sale

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One of the Valley's oldest college campuses is officially for sale. On Monday, embattled career college giant Corinthian Colleges announced it will sell Heald College of Fresno as part of an agreement reached with the Department of Education.

Heald College in Fresno has educated students in the fields of healthcare, business, law and technology since 1906.

"It's get in, get out, get ahead. They can get their associate degree in two years and that's really the number one reason they tell us they come here," said Heald College Fresno President Carolyn Pierce.

But right now its future is uncertain after its parent company, Corinthian Colleges, put it and all other Heald College campuses on the market.

"You know we have close to 200 employees here, almost 1,500 students, so it would be a big impact to this campus and this community if Heald College Fresno were to go away," said Pierce.

Corinthian Colleges owns 107 campuses in the United States and Canada with more than 70,000 students. Its collapse came quickly after the Education Department withheld federal money -- saying the company hadn't complied with repeated requests for information as part of an investigation into its practices.

"All of the Heald College campuses are remaining intact and will be sold intact," said Pierce.

Despite its plans to sell 85 of its schools and close another 12, Pierce is confident her campus will remain a fixture in the Valley.

"Heald has been sold about three times since the time I've been here in 19 years, so we've been through this before. I have done it; we know what it's about," said Pierce.

Right now, students and staff are on break, gearing up to start a new quarter in a couple of weeks. That's when she says nearly 1,500 students will return and 300 new ones have enrolled. She says she doesn't expect news of the school's sale to have an impact on its population.

"I'm calling every single student that's enrolled in July and letting them know everything's OK, the most important thing is that you get your education," said Pierce.

This after the company agreed to stop enrolling students at schools it plans to close and disclose the status of each campus to current and prospective students.