PR Web: Imagine America Foundation Honors Michael Platt, CEO and Founder of PlattForm, with Lifetime Achievement Award

The annual Imagine America Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes career college founders, owners or operators who have provided exceptional leadership and support to the sector.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) June 13, 2013

Some executives own a talent for setting new courses in their fields. Michael Platt, the visionary CEO and Founder of PlattForm, is at the forefront of that group. This year, his dedication to higher education and career colleges has earned him another distinction: The Board of Directors of the Imagine America Foundation has announced that Platt is the recipient of its 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. Platt accepted the honor at the 2013 Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities Convention in Orlando on June 7.

Guiding the development of the trend-setting creative agency that provides enrollment marketing and admissions support solutions, Platt has provided innovative marketing services for all types of higher education institutions for more than 20 years. Platt founded PlattForm as a media placement agency in 1989. It has since become one of the largest providers of digital media, search engine marketing, interactive lead generation, online marketing, traditional media placement and creative services.

Platt’s inimitable and indomitable determination grew the nearly $200 million business, which works each day to help people improve their lives through education.

With the acquisitions of several thriving online businesses, Platt has continued to help shape the education marketing landscape and see his company evolve in service offerings as well as influence. But at the heart of his job, Platt most loves mentoring dedicated, committed team members. His own dedication and experience serve as a model for success.

“There are pioneers in higher education, and then there are individuals like Michael, who set the standards for other leaders to compare with,” said Robert L. Martin, Foundation President and CEO. “He has made a tremendous impact on career education. But perhaps even greater than that, he has been influential on the front lines of all the critical issues to face our sector.”

The annual Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes career college founders, owners or operators who have provided exceptional leadership and support to the sector. Previous awardees have distinguished themselves through the management of their institutions, their high ethical standards and devotion to innovation.

The Imagine America Foundation would like to thank Maxknowledge, Inc. for sponsoring the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award and Lincoln Educational Services for producing the Lifetime Achievement Award video.

For more information about Imagine America Foundation, contact Robert L. Martin, President/CEO of the Imagine America Foundation at 571-267-3012 or bobm(at)imagine-america(dot)org.

About the Imagine America Foundation
The Imagine America Foundation (IAF), established in 1982, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing scholarships for education, research and training support for the career college sector. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided more than $75 million in scholarship and award support for graduating high school seniors, adult learners and U.S. military personnel attending career colleges nationwide through its award-winning Imagine America programs. The Foundation also publishes vital research publications for the higher education sector, honors achievement in career education and offers comprehensive employee development programs through its Center for Excellence in Education. For more information about the Imagine America Foundation's programs, please visit http://www.imagine-america.org.

Direct link to article: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10827073.htm

AL.Com: Education Corp. of America, parent of Virginia College, hires president, COO

By Stan Diel | sdiel@al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Education Corp. of America, the Birmingham-based parent of Virginia College, Golf Academy of America and Ecotech Institute, has appointed Deb Lenart president and chief operating officer.

Lenart previously was senior vice president of Illinois-based Career Education Corp., which operates private institutions including Colorado Technical University and International Academy of Design & Technology.

In her role at Career Education Corp. Lenart was responsible for growing enrollment and improvements in academic integrity, ECA president Tom Moore said in a prepared statement.

“Her values strongly mirror our own and we look forward to implementation of her expertise," Moore said.

Lenart holds a bachelors degree in marketing from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Loyola University.

ECA has a current enrollment of about 19,000 students attending classes in person or online.

Direct link to article: http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/06/education_corp_of_america_pare.html

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Education Dept. Seeks Members for Panel on 'Gainful Employment' Rules

By Cory Weinberg

Washington

The U.S. Department of Education announced on Wednesday that it would renew its flagging efforts to devise stricter standards for career-focused higher-education programs.

The department's call for a negotiated rule-making committee to debate new "gainful employment" regulations this fall is only the agency's latest effort to clamp down on vocational programs, which can advertise big employment rewards but end up saddling student with unsupportable debt.

The announcement of the formation of the rule-making committee, scheduled for publication in Wednesday's Federal Register, flies in the face of a group of lawmakers who prodded Education Secretary Arne Duncan to drop the regulatory efforts in April.

A federal judge previously blocked aspects of the proposed 2011 rule, which would have pulled federal student aid from vocational programs whose graduates had high debt-to-income ratios and slow loan repayments. An Education Department appeal of the judge's ruling was denied in March, and the department declined further appeals.

The new round of rule making has drawn criticism already from the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which represents many career-oriented for-profit higher-education companies. Steve Gunderson, the association's president and chief executive, said in a written statement that the department should delay taking up gainful-employment regulations again until Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act, which is up for renewal this year but probably will be punted to 2014.

"The department's decision to announce this as their first solitary rule-making initiative," Mr. Gunderson said, "creates all the fears of a repeated, faulty, and confrontational process when we should all be working together to provide the career education that leads to real jobs, with real incomes."

The department wrote in the Federal Register notice that it was seeking "key stakeholders" on the issue, including students, consumer-advocacy groups, and university leaders, to serve on the rule-making committee. The negotiation sessions are scheduled to begin here in September.

Direct link to article: http://chronicle.com/article/Education-Dept-Seeks-Members/139725/







Los Angeles Times | Letters: Public servants at Corinthian Colleges

June 05, 2013

By:  Jack Massimino, chairman and chief executive of Corinthian Colleges Inc.

Michael Hiltzik asked why two of our country's most distinguished public servants — former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and National Urban League Chairman and President Marc Morial — recently joined the board of directors of my company, Corinthian Colleges Inc.

The answer is clear: Every year, Corinthian schools graduate tens of thousands of low-income, nontraditional students, connecting them to good jobs at local businesses and major national corporations.

Panetta and Morial have seen what we do firsthand, by visiting our schools and talking with students and faculty. They know that Corinthian, like many business and educational organizations, has had its challenges. But they also know that we work hard to serve our students well. Their knowledge and experience will help us progress even further.

Regrettably, Hiltzik recycled a list of shopworn criticisms of our company and suggested, without any evidence, that there may be something untoward about our association with Panetta and Morial. This is baseless and offensive.

Instead of relying on tired political sound bites, Panetta and Morial have discovered the facts about Corinthian that our successful graduates have discovered as well.

Jack Massimino

Santa Ana

The writer is the chairman and chief executive of Corinthian Colleges Inc.

Direct link to letter: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-0605-wednesday-corinthian-colleges-20130605,0,7179924.story

PRWeb: WyoTech Graduate Lands Dream Job on Television Show

Santa Ana, Calif. (PRWEB) May 31, 2013

Ian Van Scoyk graduated from WyoTech – Laramie in October 2012. He was an outstanding student, graduating in the top of his class with a diploma in automotive and motorsports chassis fabrication. His hard work paid off when he and three other WyoTech graduates were selected to appear as participants on Velocity’s hit series Overhaulin’. The show features a team of highly skilled automotive mechanics that “overhaul” a deserving person’s vehicle without their knowledge in a very short period of time. Van Scoyk’s performance on the project was so valuable that he was hired full-time after just one episode where they transformed a 1967 Mustang for a Chino Hills, Calif. resident.

“Ian had perfect attendance and worked hard during his time here at Laramie,” said Guy Warpness, president of the WyoTech – Laramie campus. “His desire to do the job right the first time, his attitude and his dedication made him the perfect candidate for the project. We had a lot of talented graduates to choose from, but Ian stood out as one of the best.”

Born in Orange, Calif., Van Scoyk became interested in cars at a young age. He remembers his father and grandfather working on cars in the family’s garage. This do-it-yourself attitude inspired him to work on his own 1952 Chevy pick-up truck, which was given to him as a gift when he turned 16. After graduating high school, Van Scoyk landed a job in an off-road shop where he continued to hone his skills on the company’s rock crawlers and other four-wheel drive projects. However, Van Scoyk knew that to succeed in an automotive career he needed additional skills. As a result, he chose WyoTech – Laramie due to the variety of programs and the amount of hands-on training that was available there.

“WyoTech taught me everything that I needed to land a job,” said Van Scoyk. “Knowledge of the entire car building process such as welding, chassis design, engine building and especially fabrication. And they also taught me to give 100% and work hard. Without the right attitude, I couldn’t have kept up with the talented Overhaulin’ team.”

Overhaulin’ airs on Velocity on Sunday nights at 8p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time. For more information, please visit http://velocity.discovery.com/tv-shows/overhaulin.

About WyoTech:
WyoTech is a division of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. With five campuses located throughout the United States, WyoTech offers degree and diploma programs in the fields of automotive, diesel, collision/refinishing, motorcycle, marine and construction trades. In addition, WyoTech offers advanced training programs in applied service management; advanced diesel; light duty diesel; advanced automotive diagnostics; street rod and custom fabrication; motorsports chassis fabrication; high performance power trains; and trim and upholstery technology. Programs and schedules vary by campus. For more information about WyoTech, go to http://www.wyotech.edu. For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website at http://www.wyotech.edu/disclosures.