Career Education To Report Earnings on Tuesday February 3, 2004; Earnings Call Scheduled for Wednesday, February 4, 2004.

Business Editors

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2004

Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ:CECO) will report its fourth quarter and year-end 2003 financial results and January 31st population data on Tuesday, February 3, 2004 after the market close. CEC will host a conference call the following day on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 at 9:30 AM (Eastern Time).

Interested parties can access a live Webcast of the conference call at www.careered.com. Participants can also listen to the conference call by dialing [phone] or [phone] and citing code 44245407. Please log in or dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the start time of the call to ensure connection. An archived version of the Webcast will be accessible for 90 days at www.careered.com. A replay of the conference call will also be available for seven days by calling [phone] or [phone] and citing code 66024461 on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 after 12:30 PM (Eastern Time).

Career Education Corporation (www.careered.com) is the world's largest on-campus provider of private, for-profit postsecondary education and has a rapidly-growing presence in online education. CEC's Colleges, Schools and Universities Group operates 78 campuses in the U.S., Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates and offers doctoral degree, master's degree, bachelor's degree, associate degree and diploma programs in the career-oriented disciplines of visual communication and design technologies, information technology, business studies, culinary arts and health education. The Online Education Group operates American InterContinental University Online and Colorado Technical University Online and offers a variety of degrees in information technology, business, visual communication and education. CEC's total student population on October 31, 2003 was approximately 79,500 students.