Penn Foster Career School is a U.S. for-profit,[1] regionally and nationally-accredited[2][3]distance education school offering career diploma programs and certificate programs. It was founded in 1890 as International Correspondence Schools, or ICS. Penn Foster is headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
In 1890, Thomas J. Foster, a newspaper editor, founded the school to provide coal miners with education needed to advance in their careers and improve worker safety. At the turn of the century, the school was officially known as the International Correspondence Schools (ICS), and one out of every 27 adults in the U.S. had taken an ICS course. In 1904, Foster expanded his school to the UK; this is now a separate distance education school called ICS Learn.
ICS was renamed Penn Foster in 2005.[11] Wicks Group, a private equity firm, purchased the school from Thomson Corporation in 2007.[12] In December 2009, Penn Foster Career School was purchased by test preparation and educational support company The Princeton Review, and in 2012 the Princeton Review brand name and operations were bought for $33 million by Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private-equity firm. The parent company was renamed Education Holdings 1, Inc.[13] In 2013, Education Holdings 1 filed for bankruptcy; it exited two months later.[14][15] In 2014 Vistria Group, led by Martin Nesbitt, acquired Penn Foster.[16][17]
^"The Thomson Corporation to Acquire Select Harcourt Business Units From Reed Elsevier". Business Wire. New York, United States. October 27, 2000. p. 1. ProQuest445856898.
^Anonymous (2007-08-07). "After 117 Years, One of the World's Largest Distance Education Institutions Finds a New Name, a New Mission and a New Owner: Renamed as Penn Foster, this one-time correspondence school giant, has evolved into a global online education provider.; Today one out of every 1,410 Americans is actively enrolled in a Penn Foster program - and there are plans for more". PR Newswire; New York. New York, United States, New York. ProQuest447136623.
^Falchek, David (2007-04-11). "Thomson Education Direct sold". The Times - Tribune; Scranton, Pa. Scranton, Pa., United States, Scranton, Pa. pp. –1. ISSN1062-5844. ProQuest275796478.
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