Career Education Corporation Names Patrick K. Pesch as CFO.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1999--

Career Education Corporation (Nasdaq: CECO) announced today that Patrick K. Pesch, 42, has been appointed chief financial officer. He succeeds William A. Klettke, who has resigned to accept a senior management position with a private equity investment firm.

Mr. Pesch has served as a member of the board of directors of Career Education Corporation since 1995 and also has been a senior vice president of Heller Financial, Inc. since 1988. He joined Heller Financial in 1985 as head of the internal audit function and served in a number of other positions that helped him to further develop his financial and leadership skills, most recently as Senior Credit Officer for Heller Corporate Finance.

Previously, he was an audit manager with Arthur Young & Company (currently Ernst & Young). Mr. Pesch graduated in 1978 from De Paul University with a B.S.C. degree and a major in accounting. He has been a CPA for more than 20 years.

"We are fortunate to have attracted a financial executive with the depth of experience that Pat Pesch brings to Career Education Corporation," said John M. Larson, president and chief executive officer. "As a board member, he has made many valuable contributions, and his in-depth knowledge of the Company will be a major asset as he assumes his new role."

Mr. Larson continued, "Bill Klettke provided strong financial guidance through CEC's first phase of growth, which included our initial public offering and our recently-completed secondary. We thank Bill for his contributions and wish him well in his new endeavors," he said.

Mr. Larson noted that Fall enrollment is expected to be up significantly over last year on a same school basis.

Career Education Corporation is one of the largest providers of private, for-profit postsecondary education in North America. The Company currently operates 25 campuses in 14 states and two Canadian provinces. CEC schools enjoy long operating histories and offer a wide variety of bachelor's degree, associate degree and diploma programs in career-oriented disciplines within the Company's core curricula of information technology, visual communication and design technologies, business studies and culinary arts.

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 those matters disclosed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Career Education Corporation assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements.