Education Corporation of America Announces New President and Chief Operating Officer Deb Lenart

BIRMINGHAM, Ala
Education Corporation of America (ECA) is pleased to announce that Deb Lenart has been selected as President and Chief Operating Officer. Lenart, formerly the Senior Vice President of Career Education Corporation, assumes her new role with operations responsibility for Virginia College, Golf Academy of America, Ecotech Institute and Virginia College Online.

"We are delighted to welcome Ms. Lenart aboard," says ECA's CEO Tom Moore. "At Career Education Corporation, Lenart led the teams that designed award-winning systems to increase operational excellence, enrollment, and academic integrity. Her values strongly mirror our own and we look forward to implementation of her expertise."

As Senior Vice President, Lenart managed the $1.2B University division of Career Education Corporation, serving over 66,000 online and ground campus students in over 30 locations throughout the United States and London. While there, she led development of an award-winning online adaptive learning system as well as numerous innovation and technology imperatives driving student success.

Of her new position Lenart says, "I am excited to join ECA and put my technology and services experience to work in a dynamic environment that is committed to growth and excellence. I look forward to building upon ECA's exceptional passion for student success and in helping this great team develop innovative strategies for the career education industry."

Lenart comes to ECA with more than 25 years of experience in consumer and business-to-business services companies including EDS' Global Communications, Media & Entertainment Group. She also served for six years as a CEO and Board Member in two premier private equity firms with $2B+ under management. Prior to her CEO roles in private equity, Lenart was president of Ameritech Custom Business Services and Ameritech New Media. She has been involved with key legislative and regulatory policies and has testified as a subject matter expert before the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on complex regulatory issues involving telecommunications and media. Lenart earned a BS degree in Marketing from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Loyola University. She has served on the Board of Directors with TeleDanmark in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Governing Boards of Trustees of Colorado Technical University and AIU.

About Education Corporation of America

Birmingham, Ala.-based Education Corporation of America is a leader in the post-secondary career school market with current enrollment of over 19,000 students. Holdings include Virginia College, founded in 1983, a private institution of higher education that offers non-degree and associate's, bachelor's and master's degree programs in the areas of Health and Medical, Business, Information Technology, Interior Design, Computer Design, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts and more with locations in 25 different cities in the following states: Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Virginia College also offers classes online via www.vconline.edu and operates Culinard, the Culinary Institute of Virginia College. ECA also owns and operates the New England College of Business and Finance, in Massachusetts, Golf Academy of America schools in California, Arizona, South Carolina, Texas and Florida as well as Ecotech Institute in Colorado, which is the first and only college focused on preparing students for careers in renewable energy and sustainable design.

ECA schools are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) which is listed as a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).