SEC Takes No Action on Corinthian

Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc., which specializes in schools for healthcare professionals, said Monday that the Securities and Exchange Commission ended an informal inquiry without recommending action.

Corinthian shares rose $1.74 to $18.86 on Nasdaq, their biggest gain in four months.

The SEC was reviewing the company’s projections, financial statements and communications with analysts and investors during the fiscal year ended June 30 and for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

The investigation also included a review of the company’s Bryman College in San Jose by the Department of Education. The review found that Bryman wasn’t complying with financial aid rules and wasn’t eligible for advance tuition payments. The payments resumed in September, Corinthian said.

“To have Corinthian Colleges cleared is very good news,” said Robinson Humphrey Capital Management analyst Mark Hughes. He rates the stock “neutral” and doesn’t own any.

He said he expected other inquiries into for-profit education companies to be resolved favorably.

Corinthian Colleges spokeswoman Anna Marie Dunlap said the company was pleased to have the SEC inquiry behind it.

Herschel Elkins, chief of the California attorney general’s consumer protection unit, said last March that the office was investigating allegations that a number of for-profit education companies’ vocational schools misrepresent programs and employment opportunities for graduates. That probe continues, a spokesman said Monday.