Henderson computer school sold, to reopen

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001 | 11:26 a.m.

A Utah private school operator is buying the Las Vegas-area campus of Computer Learning Centers and will reopen its classrooms for 212 students Monday.

The corporation that owns 25 CLC schools nationwide abruptly closed Monday, but the campus in Henderson was acquired Wednesday by Stevens-Henager College, a 109-year-old school based in Ogden, Utah. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The school will reopen Monday under the Stevens-Henager name and will resume the classes offered by CLC. Stevens-Henager has retained all of the Henderson school's 27 full- and part-time employees.

Dave Evans, CLC's local administrator, said today the school would retain the existing computer curricula and eventually will seek certification to offer the Stevens-Henager bachelor's degree programs. Currently, the school offers programs in business administration and accounting as well as computer science.

"It ended up working out better than we could have possibly imagined," Evans said today. CLC suspended classes at its schools and told employees not to report to work Monday morning while the Manassas, Va., parent company started considering its options, including the possible filing of a bankruptcy petition.

Last week, the publicly traded company reported that it was notified by the U.S. Department of Education that the school was not meeting financial responsibility standards and that its lenders would not provide additional funding.

In addition, the school was accused in December of illegally paying commissions to recruiters. The company acknowledged the allegation in a December press release, saying that the Department of Education was requiring the return of $187 million in funds received by the school and its students since July 1, 1994, under Title IV federal student aid programs.

David Perlman, administrator of Nevada's Commission on Postsecondary Education, said since the school is being sold, licenses are being transferred and Stevens-Henager won't have to apply as a new applicant. The process will take about 15 days, but instruction can continue for existing students.

Perlman said he is now in the midst of contacting students to inform them that their instruction will resume next week.

Stevens-Henager is in a growth mode, with owners in the process of opening campuses in Bountiful and Logan, Utah. The school already has branch campuses in Salt Lake City and Provo as well as Denver.