Penn Foster Career School
Penn Foster Career School is a U.S. for-profit,[1] regionally and nationally-accredited[2][3] online career school. The school was founded in 1890, and was known as International Correspondence Schools, or ICS. It is headquartered in Scranton, PA. Students of Penn Foster Career School can study online at a pace that is right for them. Penn Foster Career School offers over 50 Career Diploma Programs and over 30 Certificate Programs.
Penn Foster Career School | |
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Address | |
925 Oak Street , 18515 United States | |
Information | |
Type | Private vocational school, Distance education |
Established | 1890 |
Enrollment | Approx. 140,000 |
Accreditation | Regional: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools National: Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) |
Website | Official Site |
History
In 1890, a newspaper editor named Thomas J. Foster founded the school to provide coal miners with the education they needed to advance in their careers and increase worker safety. At the turn of the century, the school was officially known as the International Correspondence Schools (ICS), and one out of every 27 adults in the US had taken an ICS course.
ICS was renamed Penn Foster in 2005.[4] Wicks Group, a private equity firm, had bought the school from Thomson Corporation in 2007.[5] In December 2009, Penn Foster Career School was purchased by test preparation and educational support company The Princeton Review, the On May 18, 2012, the Princeton Review brand name and operations were bought for $33 million by Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private-equity firm. The parent company was renamed Education Holdings 1, Inc.[6] In 2013, Education Holdings 1 filed for bankruptcy; it exited two months later.[7][8] In December 2015, Penn Foster acquired the self-paced, competency-based learning platform built by UniversityNow[9].
Academics
Penn Foster Career School provides students with the opportunity to earn certificates and career diplomas at their own pace through online courses and instruction. Penn Foster Career School offers over 80 different programs in Automotive, Business, Creative/Design, Drafting, Education, Health Services, Legal Studies, Natural Health, Technology, and Trades areas.
References
- "BBB Business Review: Penn Foster Career School". BBB serving Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania. Better Business Bureau. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- "Penn Foster Career School DEAC Accreditation". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-06-14.
- "PA Dept of Education Institution Program Search". Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
- Anonymous (2007-08-07). "After 117 Years, One of the World's Largest Distance Education Institutions Finds a New Name, a New Mission and a New Owner: Renamed as Penn Foster, this one-time correspondence school giant, has evolved into a global online education provider.; Today one out of every 1,410 Americans is actively enrolled in a Penn Foster program - and there are plans for more". PR Newswire; New York. New York, United States, New York. ProQuest 447136623.
- Falchek, David (2007-04-11). "Thomson Education Direct sold". The Times - Tribune; Scranton, Pa. Scranton, Pa., United States, Scranton, Pa. pp. –1. ISSN 1062-5844. ProQuest 275796478.
- "Princeton Review to sell test prep business name". Associated Press. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- Penn Foster parent seeks bankruptcy protection
- Ex-Princeton Review Owner Wins OK For Ch. 11 Exit Plan