Letter from veterans, military, civil rights, education, and consumer groups to US Education Secretary re: EDMC’s proposed merger with non-profit Dream Center Foundation

We write regarding a proposal from the Education Management Corporation (EDMC) for a change of ownership involving campuses of Argosy University, South University, and the Art Institutes. EDMC proposes to sell these schools to the Dream Center Foundation, which intends to place them in a newly-created subsidiary, Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC. The CEO of the new subsidiary, Brent Richardson, would provide a portion of the financing for the transaction through a family trust, as would Najafi Companies, the current co-owners of the University of Phoenix.