Career Education Corporation Acquires Pennsylvania Culinary Institute.

Business Editors/Education Writers

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2001

Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ:CECO) today announced it has acquired the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute located in Pittsburgh, Pa. for approximately $44 million in cash. The acquisition, which is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2002, positions CEC as the world's largest provider of culinary arts education.

Founded in 1986, the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute has approximately 900 students and $26 million in annual net revenue. The Pennsylvania Culinary Institute is one of the largest culinary and hospitality colleges in the United States and offers associate degree programs in culinary arts, hotel/restaurant management and pastry arts. The college draws its student population from more than 25 states and places students in more than 30 states.

"The Pennsylvania Culinary Institute is an outstanding strategic fit with CEC," said John M. Larson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CEC. "With the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, CEC's culinary arts student population will approach 6,000 students, providing us with a global leadership position and further enhancing our status among the world's top culinary education providers.

"More than simply its size, the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute provides CEC with a number of important benefits, including its strong reputation among national food service and hospitality organizations, its dedicated faculty and staff and its deep reach into the high school market. High school graduates are the fastest growing segment of potential students and the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute reaches more than 3,100 high schools and generates more than 110,000 leads annually through its recruitment programs. This is an ideal complement to CEC's current culinary arts programs, which primarily draw young adults and older students," Mr. Larson said.

"With its innovative brand, Le Cordon Bleu culinary program, Career Education Corporation is the leader in culinary arts education," said Nicholas B. Hoban, president of Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. "By joining with CEC, we are looking to build on our success by introducing the Le Cordon Bleu program into our curriculum and dramatically expanding our growth plans."

Mr. Larson noted that Mr. Hoban will assume a broader role in CEC's culinary division as a consultant to all of CEC's culinary colleges where he will have an opportunity to contribute the extensive knowledge that enabled him to build one of the largest and most respected culinary schools in the nation.

"The demand for quality culinary education is soaring as consumers spend more than $1 billion a day at the nation's 844,000 restaurants," Mr. Larson said. "The lead flow for our culinary schools is up 50 percent over last year and the momentum from students in culinary is growing. During October lead flow increased 60 percent over last year. The growth of our current culinary arts student population, from fewer than 1,000 students when we first introduced the Le Cordon Bleu program in 1999 to nearly 6,000 students today, demonstrates the enormous potential of our culinary programs."

Mr. Larson noted that, to date in 2001, CEC's culinary division has exceeded the company's systemwide growth metrics in leads, enrollments, starts, population, student retention, revenue and profits. Additionally, Mr. Larson noted that the number of students expected to start in CEC's culinary programs in 2002 is at an all-time high.

"By virtue of our prestigious Le Cordon Bleu program, broad geographic reach and marketing savvy, CEC is positioned to be the dominant force in culinary arts education," Mr. Larson said. "We will build upon these strategic and competitive strengths and accelerate the pace of our growth in culinary by opening new branch campuses and continuing expansions at our current campuses."

Including the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, CEC currently operates 10 culinary arts colleges with nearly 6,000 students. The company also recently announced plans to open a branch Le Cordon Bleu campus in Orlando, Fla. in mid-2002. CEC's other culinary arts colleges include: Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, N.H.; California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Calif.; California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, Calif.; The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Ill.; International Culinary Academy in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program at Brown Institute in Mendota Heights, Minn.; Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Texas Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas; and Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore.

Career Education Corporation (www.careered.com) is one of the world's largest providers of private, for-profit postsecondary education in the career-oriented disciplines of visual communication and design technologies, information technology, business studies and culinary arts. CEC operates 40 campuses throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, and offers a full online program through AIU Online, its E-learning division. Total student population as of October 31, 2001 exceeded 41,000 students. CEC colleges enjoy long operating histories and offer a wide variety of master's degree, bachelor's degree, associate degree and diploma programs. The CEC family includes American InterContinental University (six campuses), the International Academy of Design & Technology (eight campuses), the Katharine Gibbs Schools (nine campuses), Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program North America (seven campuses) and other well-known educational institutions.

The forward-looking statements contained in this release are based upon various assumptions, and certain risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated. Factors that could cause such differences include costs and difficulties associated with opening new campuses and in integrating acquisitions, costs associated with the Distance Learning Division, changes in the regulatory environment and those matters disclosed in Career Education Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Career Education Corporation assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements.