Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

2. BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, the financial statements do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, including normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2015.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented herein include the accounts of CEC and our wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, “CEC”). All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

As of March 31, 2015, we organized our business across four reporting segments: CTU, AIU (comprises University Group); Career Colleges and Transitional Group. Campuses included in our Transitional Group segment are currently being taught out and no longer enroll new students. These campuses employ a gradual teach-out process, enabling them to continue to operate while current students complete their course of study. On March 31, 2015, the Company announced the teach-out of one additional Career College campus, Harrington College of Design. This campus is reported within our Career Colleges segment as of March 31, 2015 in accordance with ASC Topic 280 – Segment Reporting.

Effective January 1, 2015, ASC Topic 360 — Property, Plant and Equipment, limits discontinued operations reporting and thus as campuses cease teach-out operations going forward, the results of operations for these campuses will remain within the results of continuing operations. Historically, campuses met the criteria for discontinued operations upon completion of the teach-out. During the first quarter of 2015, the Company completed the teach-out of one Transitional Group campus, Sanford-Brown White Plains, which continues to be reported under the Transitional Group as of March 31, 2015. As a result of this change, no prior period recast was made in our reporting and our results of operations for this campus are recorded within continuing operations for all periods presented.

During the first quarter of 2015, the Company made the decision to sell one of its campuses reported within the Career Colleges segment. As a result of this decision, the assets and liabilities of this campus are classified as held for sale within continuing operations as of March 31, 2015.