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Chairman & CEO
Education Management Corporation
January 2002
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How long have you been managing steady growth, and with what results?
Thirty years ago we began with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and 600 students. There are now 23 Art Institutes in which 32,000 students are pursuing associates and bachelors degrees. In addition to growth by acquisition and the start-up of new schools, we’ve added numerous academic programs. For example, some 4,000 students are studying culinary arts at 13 of the Art Institutes. Our newest bachelor’s degree program is titled Visual Effects & Motion Graphics. We’re excited about our pending merger with Argosy Education Group. With Argosy University’s accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, we’ll be operating a new national university with 12 campuses where students pursue postgraduate degrees in clinical psychology, education and business, and undergraduate degrees in business psychology and health sciences. |
To what do you attribute your success?
It’s clearly due to having good people, good management information systems, and the ability to keep our curricula in tune with what employers want nationally and regionally. We also operate in some commercial sweet spots. The U.S. economy has opened wide to people with design and graphics skills and technical abilities. Art & design now touch just about every area of the economy. The restaurant and food preparation industry has been growing steadily. |
How involved is EDMC in adult education?
Very. About a quarter of the Art Institute students are 25 or older. At Argosy University the percentage of adult students is greater than 75%. We also offer short courses for employed professionals, on-line or on-campus. Most of our ‘virtual’ students at The Art Institute Online are also adults. |
Are you concerned about the availability of financing for students?
Not really. Though only 17% of Art Institute students pay all cash, for the rest there is ample financing available. We’re involved in all the major financial aid programs. For student loans, we carefully choose the lenders we’re involved with, and we make very good use of Sallie Mae’s offerings. |
Education Management Corporation trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol EDMC. |
TOPICS: Executive Briefing, Leadership, Management
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