N.J. firm agrees to buy closed Henderson computer school

Kevin Ferguson

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 11:37 a.m.

A New Jersey company that runs 14 vocational schools nationwide hopes to acquire the Henderson campus of the bankrupt Computer Learning Centers Inc., and plans to resume the training of more than 150 students that were left in limbo when classes were abruptly halted in late January.

Lincoln Technical Institute's $3 million bid for the Computer Learning Center campuses in Green Valley and another in Georgia hinges on a Wednesday ruling by a bankruptcy court judge in McLean, Va.

David Pearlman, administrator of Nevada's Commission on Postsecondary Education, said he was informed through a brief phone conversation with a Lincoln school administrator that it plans to resume the computer training courses that were halted by the closure.

Lincoln Technical Institute's West Orange-N.J. headquarters was closed Monday and this morning due to a snow storm. Attempts to reach its chairman and chief executive, Dave Carney, for comment were unsucessful.

The two-year old Green Valley campus of Computer Learning Centers closed Jan. 22 when it had 212 students, resulting from financial troubles the publicly traded company was facing. Pearlman and others familiar with the local campus at 2290 Corporate Circle Drive say it was doing well.

"(The school) was owned by a company that had problems and technicalities on how (it) managed its loans program, and if one school closes, it's like a domino effect. They all close," Pearlman said.

Since the CLC opened in Green Valley in January 1999, some 350 to 400 students had gone through the program, receiving certifications in Microsoft applications, data administration, network engineering and computer repair, said Dave Evans, director of CLC's local campus.

Students were on a seven-to-10 month graduating schedule and tuition ranged from $10,000 to $15,000 depending on the type of program.

Jason Gold, a bankruptcy lawyer and court-appointed trustee of the CLC case, is encouraging students to file claims for tuition and for training they have paid for, but have not received. The deadline to file is June 3, Gold said.

If students paid for tuition through federally backed student loans, some payments will be deferred or forgiven, Gold said.

"Students need to check with their individual lenders if that's the case in their situation," Gold said.

About 15 to 20 students were able to complete their computer training when the school reopened for the last week in January under the direction of Ogden, Utah-based Stevens-Henager College.

But CLC's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, which requires the CLC to liquidate all assets, put a halt to the Stevens-Henager programs. Vicky Dewsneup, president of the Utah private school operator, could not be reached for comment on whether it still plans to open a school in the Las Vegas Valley.

Some of the other local CLC students refused to wait on the Green Valley campus' future, enrolling in other vocational programs in the Las Vegas Valley. The Learning Center, a training school with a 16-year history in Las Vegas, began offering scholarships to the CLC students who fell short of earning their certificates due to the CLC bankruptcy.

The Learning Center has a campus at 3291 N. Buffalo Dr. near Cheyenne Avenue, and opened a second program two weeks ago at Amigo Street near Warm Springs Road and Interstate 215.

Linda Montgomery, president of The Learning Center, could not give a specific number of how many CLC students transferred into its program, but she said CLC's troubles led to the speed in which The Learning Center expanded to the southeast of the valley.

TechSkills, a computer training company based in Brown Deer, Wis., also plans to offer courses to Southern Nevadans. Administrators have scheduled a grand opening from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday at its East Flamingo Road training center.

Pearlman said Techskills has yet to receive a license from the Nevada Commission on Postsecondary Education, noting its facility still needs to be reviewed by the commission.

The Jan. 25 CLC bankruptcy also led to the closure of 24 other CLC campuses across the nation affecting 9,500 students. Also, about 2,000 employees were suddenly left without work. The Green Valley campus had a staff of 27 that received its last paycheck in December.