Career Education tumbles after accreditor launches probe

For-profit education company Career Education (CECO) is falling after the company announced that one of its accreditors had ordered ten of the company's colleges to show why they should not lose their accreditation. Colleges must be accredited in order to accept students who use federal aid to pay tuition. The accreditor - the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, or ACCSC - took the action after Career Education divulged in November 2011 that it had misrepresented alumni job placement rates at a number of its schools. Last month, another one of the school's accreditors, Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools, or ACICS, announced following an investigation that it would not strip any of Career Education's institutions of their accreditation. Nine of the ten schools identified by ACCSC today are also accredited by ACICS, Career Education said. In early afternoon trading, Career Education tumbled 42c, or 6.76%, to $5.79.