SIC 8299
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED



This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in offering educational courses and services not elsewhere classified. Included in this industry are music schools, drama schools, language schools, short-term examination preparatory schools, student exchange programs, curriculum development, and vocational counseling, except rehabilitation counseling. Establishments primarily engaged in operating dance schools are classified in SIC 7911: Dance Studios, Schools, and Halls; and those providing rehabilitation counseling are classified in SIC 8331: Job Training and Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

NAICS Code(s)

611512 (Flight Training)

611692 (Automobile Driving Schools)

611710 (Educational Support Services)

611691 (Exam Preparation and Tutoring)

611610 (Fine Arts Schools)

611630 (Language Schools)

611430 (Professional and Management Development Training Schools)

611699 (All other Miscellaneous Schools and Instruction)

Industry Snapshot

Somewhere between traditional education at colleges or universities and adult enrichment classes at the local high school, there lies a vast array of schools, programs and educational services intended to educate students in areas where other schools may have left them out. Specialty schools and classes, often turning interests into careers, have enjoyed a steady following through the 1990s and into the new millennium. In the periphery is a broad stratum of support services, all intended to assist the prospective student with informational, directional, or financial resources. This industry is segmented into three broad groupings: enrichment and avocational instruction, career development programs, and educational services.

Organization and Structure

The enrichment and avocational group is the largest in the industry. It encompasses art, ceramics, and cooking schools; baton, drama, and music schools; charm, diction, finishing, modeling, personal development, public speaking, and speed reading schools; as well as schools for those who want to learn to drive an automobile, fly an airplane, study the Bible, speak foreign languages, or survive in the wilderness. The depth of instruction varies and may range from appreciation of a subject all the way to mastery of that subject.

Career development programs include continuing education programs and civil service schools. Continuing education programs provide students with opportunities to learn or improve job and professional skills through participation in seminars and workshops. Civil service schools prepare students to successfully take the examinations required for employment in government positions. Other preparatory schools offer courses intended to enhance a prospective student's chances of being accepted into graduate or post-graduate schools.

Educational services organizations develop educational curricula, offer tutoring, or provide vocational counseling. Some also operate student exchange programs or provide other networking resources to facilitate a correct match between student and school.

Current Conditions

According to the most recent statistics available from the Business & Economics Department within the Bureau of the Census, there were 33,784 establishments listed in the educational services industry in 1997, employing more than 250,000 persons. The number of establishments did not include schools and educational institutions offering traditional diploma or degree programs, excepting those incidental to educational services.

Interest in private specialty schools has remained high. In 1997, U.S. News & World Report ranked leading music, drama, and fine arts (among other specialty) schools in the nation. Competing against their university counterparts, The Julliard School (New York), the Curtis Institute of Music (Pennsylvania), and the New England Conservatory of Music (Massachusetts) were three among the top six schools of music nationally. Independent drama schools also ranked successfully against competing universities offering comparable programs. In fact, during the spring of 1998, New York City drama schools had an unusually high number of applicants for the 1998-99 school year. The 1998 Tanglewood Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts, was also particularly crowded, and prospective students clamored to gain advice and lessons from celebrity performers and musicians.

Federal funds remained generally accessible for student loan financing through 1999. However, in 1998, a federal appeals court upheld the U.S. Department of Education's criteria for determining student loan default rates, which had been challenged by the American Association of Cosmetology Schools of Phoenix. The decision could adversely affect other small specialty schools because their smaller student bodies contribute to statistical anomalies when compared to larger student bodies from two-and four-year colleges. The challenged policy cuts federally guaranteed loans to any school which has a 25 percent default rate on loans for three straight years. In small specialty schools, a mere dozen students could represent a 25 percent default rate, for example, if that school has an enrollment of 50 per program.

Industry Leaders

Leading companies offering enrichment and avocational classes include the Braille Institute, Comair Aviation Academy, and Skip Barber Racing School. New York-based Barbizon International Inc., established in 1939, leads the modeling school industry. Barbizon schools serve more than 200 markets located around the world, and many of its graduates become professional models, actors, and actresses.

Of all the specialized instructional institutions, language schools are among the fastest growing. Berlitz International leads the field in teaching foreign languages to business executives and travelers around the world. The company's enrollment has increased significantly in the 1990s as corporations recognize the importance of foreign language skills when competing in global markets.

Some establishments in the industry offer job training. Career Track Inc. and Development Dimensions International are among the companies providing services in the area of career development programs.

Leading companies offering post-secondary educational services include Wilson Learning Corporation and Sylvan Learning Systems Inc., the world's leading educational services company. Sylvan, which acquired National Education Center in March, 1997, holds chief market positions in supplemental education services for children, computer-based testing, adult professional education and training, and distance learning. In 1998, Sylvan bought out the stock of a German tutorial business and the Universidad Europea in Madrid, Spain. By the second quarter of 1999, Sylvan's earnings were up 49 percent, increasing its quarterly earnings from $99 million to $148 million.

DeVry Inc., another fast-growing post-secondary education specialist, owns and operates Corporate Educational Services, a provider of on-site technical education and training services to businesses and government agencies, and Becker CPA Review prepares candidates to pass the Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant professional certification examinations. The company's revenues for fiscal year 1998 were $308 million, with earnings of $24.2 million. In the late 1990s, DeVry planned to open three new DeVry Institutes—in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, the successful company offered stock options to reward its employees.

Further Reading

Blumenthal, Ralph. "You Want To Be a Star? Then Get In Line." The New York Times, 21 March 1998.

Holland, Bernard. "As Teachers, The Modest Are Often The Best." The New York Times, 6 September 1998.

Hughlett, Roger. "Sylvan Sets Record With 2Q Earnings." Baltimore Business Journal, 30 July 1999.

Koerner, Brendan. "Top Graduate Art Schools in the U.S., 1997." U.S. News & World Report, 10 March 1997.

Mason, Edward. "Beauty Schools Voice Concern Over Student Loan Cuts," 1998. Available from http://search.epnet.com .

Murphy, H. Lee. "Riding Learning Curve, DeVry Sets Up Growth." Crain's Chicago Business, 5 January 1998.

Wilson, Robin. "To Help Its Students Find Jobs, Eastman School Expands Its Musical Repertoire Beyond the Classical." Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 March 1997.

Wolff, Barry. "A Model Franchise." Franchising World, March/April 1998.

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