Penn Foster Career School
| Company type | For-profit |
|---|---|
| Industry | Education |
| Founded | 1890 |
| Founder | Thomas J. Foster |
| Headquarters | Scranton, Pennsylvania , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Distance education programs, career diplomas, certificates |
| Owner | Bain Capital |
| Website | www |
Penn Foster Career School is a for-profit educational institution in the United States that provides regionally and nationally accredited distance education programs, including career diplomas and certificates. Established in 1890 under the name International Correspondence Schools (ICS), its main office is located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
History
The school was created by Thomas J. Foster, a newspaper editor, with the goal of offering educational opportunities to coal miners to improve their career prospects and enhance workplace safety. By the early twentieth century, ICS had enrolled approximately one out of every 27 adults in the United States. Expansion into the United Kingdom occurred in 1904, where it now operates independently as ICS Learn.
In 1979, Intext, the parent company of ICS, was acquired by National Education. During the 1980s, the institution gained widespread recognition through television advertisements featuring spokesperson Sally Struthers, who promoted career advancement with the memorable slogan "Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do!"
Ownership changed hands multiple times: Harcourt General acquired National Education in 1997; subsequently, Reed Elsevier purchased Harcourt in 2001 and divested its higher education division to Thomson Corporation. The institution was rebranded as Penn Foster in 2005. In 2007, private equity firm Wicks Group took ownership from Thomson Corporation.
Penn Foster Career School was acquired by The Princeton Review in December 2009. Later, in 2012, private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners purchased The Princeton Review for $33 million and renamed it Education Holdings 1, Inc. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013 but emerged two months afterward. The following year, Vistria Group, led by Martin Nesbitt, became the new owner of Penn Foster.
In late 2015, Penn Foster expanded its offerings by acquiring a competency-based learning platform originally developed by UniversityNow. Subsequently, Bain Capital purchased Penn Foster in 2018.
Penn Foster High School offers an accredited online education platform designed to accommodate a wide range of student requirements with flexibility.
Notable alumni
- Rudolph Belarski (1900–1983), illustrator and graphic artist
- D. Emmert Brumbaugh (1894–1977), political figure
- Benito T. de Leon (born 1960), former military leader from the Philippines
- DeWitt Sanford Dykes Sr. (1903–1991), architect and Methodist clergyman; earned certificate in 1965
- Ralph Flanders (1880–1970), inventor, business executive, and United States Senator
- Henry K. Fluck (1912–1989), major general in the U.S. Army
- Samuel Juster (1896–1982), Romanian-born American architect; certificate awarded in 1918
- Francisco Valinés-Cofresí (1878–1949), Puerto Rican architect; received certificate in 1912