| Career Education Colleges and Universities | |
| Formation: | 1991 |
| Type: | Trade association |
| Purpose: | Representing for-profit colleges |
| Headquarters: | Washington, DC |
| Membership: | 600+ for-profit colleges[1] |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Jason Altmire |
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association that represents for-profit colleges.
CECU as it is organized today was created in 1991 following a merger of the Association for Independent Colleges and Schools (AICS) and the National Association of Trade and Technical Schools (NATTS). The combined association was called the Career College Association (CCA).[2] In 2010, the association changed its name to the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU),[3] but today is known as CECU.
During the administration of President Barack Obama, a series of federal investigations and lawsuits were initiated against for-profit education companies. APSCU waged an extensive lobbying campaign[4] and filed a 2012 lawsuit against the United States Department of Education seeking to halt the department's regulations targeting for-profit colleges.[5] Judge Rudolph Contreras struck down the regulations, which he called "arbitrary and capricious".[6] In 2014, the association filed a second lawsuit challenging similar regulations,[7] but this time the regulations were implemented.
By 2015, some of APSCU's largest members were under federal and state investigation[8] and several subsequently left the association.[9] [10] Some of the largest companies in the sector collapsed under the weight of the regulations, charges of impropriety, and related legal actions.[11] In 2016, APSCU changed its name to Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU), a move association leaders said better reflected the evolving membership of the organization.[12]
President Donald Trump and his Education Secretary Betsy DeVos dismantled many of Obama's actions targeting for-profit colleges.[13] [14] After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, CECU named former Democratic congressman Jason Altmire as its president.[15]