Career Education Corp. (Nasdaq: CECO)
Hoffman Estates, Ill.
http://www.careered.com/

52-week low / high: $22.02 / $36.68
Shares Outstanding: 91.07 million
Market Capitalization: $2.02 billion

With the unending conveniences the Internet bestows on us, it’s easy to forget how readily accessible higher education is. For many, a daunting roadblock to postsecondary education is merely getting to and sitting in class, especially once family, careers and other everyday facets of life are thrown into the mix. Career Education Corp. (Nasdaq: CECO) wants to make sure you never have to play hooky again.

The company, founded in 1994, is the world’s largest on-campus provider of private, for-profit postsecondary education. With 94 global campuses under its belt, Career Education offers master’s, bachelor’s, associate degrees and non-degree certificate and diploma programs. The five core curricula the company focuses on include information technology, health education, business studies, culinary arts, and visual communication and design technologies.

Aside from accessibility around the globe, Career Education also has a rapidly growing presence in online education: approximately one third of the more than 95,000 students enrolled with the company attend Web-based campuses.

Thus far, Career Education’s report card has shown mixed results.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2007, consolidated revenue was $404.4 million, a 5.6% decrease from consolidated revenue of $428.6 million during the third quarter of 2006. Revenue by the University segment's fully online platforms decreased 16.7% to $128.8 million during the third quarter of 2007, from $154.7 million during the third quarter of 2006.

Consolidated net income from continuing operations during the third quarter of 2007 was $19.8 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared with consolidated net income from continuing operations of $27 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, during the third quarter of 2006.

As of Oct. 31, 2007, the total student population for Career Education was up 8% to 96,200, from 89,400 a year earlier. New student starts were up 11% to 30,050 in the third quarter of 2007, from 27,020 in the comparable 2006 quarter.

Growth is a given with a company that acknowledges the fact that the world is becoming increasingly mobile. Pair that with about 75 million baby boomers in the United States on the cusp of retirement — along with the growing trend of boomers heading back to school in their golden years — and now may be the perfect time to educate yourself on Career Education.

Note: Career Education Corp. (Nasdaq: CECO) is on the “Watch List” of Rising Star Stocks, a subscription investment newsletter from Business Financial Publishing, which also publishes SmallCapInvestor.com. As a Watch List company, Career Education displays many characteristics found in successful stock winners, and is being closely monitored for possible inclusion in the Rising Star Stocks portfolio at a later date.