The Art Institute of Seattle

The Art Institute of Seattle
Other name
AIS
TypeFor-profit institution
Active1946–2019
Parent institution
Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), LLC
Location
Seattle
,
Washington
,
United States
Colors    Black, red, and white
Websitewww.artinstitutes.edu/seattle
The Art Institute of Seattle

The Art Institute of Seattle was a for-profit art and culinary school in Seattle, Washington. The school was one of a number of Art Institutes, a franchise of for-profit art colleges with many branches in North America, owned and operated by Education Management Corporation. EDMC owned the college from 1982 until 2017, when, facing significant financial problems and declining enrollment, the company sold the Art Institute of Seattle, along with 30 other Art Institute schools, to Dream Center Education, a Los Angeles–based Pentecostal organization, before shuttering.[1][2][3]

The Dream Center Foundation acquired the school in 2018 and laid off ten of its thirteen full-time teachers in October 2018.[4] The Washington Student Achievement Council then suspended Ai-Seattle's license to operate, which blocked enrollment of new students.[5]

The school closed permanently on March 8, 2019, with 650 students unable to finish the winter quarter.[6] Students were forced to retrieve paper copies of their documents during the last day and were offered scholarships and classes from other nearby universities, including Seattle Pacific University.[7]

  1. ^ Douglas-Gabriel, Danielle (3 March 2017). "Art Institute campuses to be sold to foundation". Retrieved 9 June 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. ^ "Inside Higher Ed's News". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. ^ Moore, Daniel. "EDMC completes sale of schools to Dream Center". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  4. ^ Fields, Asia (October 25, 2018). "Art Institute of Seattle lays off all but 3 full-time teachers amid fears for school's future". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  5. ^ "Dream Center plans pullout from most Art Institute campuses". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  6. ^ Fields, Asia; Greenstone, Scott (March 6, 2019). "Art Institute of Seattle will close abruptly Friday, two weeks before end of quarter". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  7. ^ Sun, Deedee (March 8, 2019). "Students loot Art Institute of Seattle classrooms as school suddenly shuts down". KIRO 7. Retrieved March 10, 2019.