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Lincoln Culinary Institute Closes Suffield Location

By JESSE RIFKIN

August 15, 2012

HARTFORD – Lincoln Culinary Institute is closing its Suffield campus and will consolidate its operations with its Hartford campus.

130 students will transfer from the 1760 Mapleton Ave. location in Suffield to the 85 Sigourney St. location in Hartford.

Louis Giannelli, Executive Director of Lincoln Institute in Hartford, said the Suffield enrollment was staying level while the Hartford enrollment was actually increasing.

"The consolidation was sparked because the Suffield campus was looking to expand, which was deemed economically unfeasible given the current financial climate," Giannelli said in an interview.

"Some faculty and staff from the Suffield campus will be moving as well, although the exact number has not yet been determined," Giannelli added.

The Hartford campus currently has a little over 500 students enrolled, plus an additional 170 more starting in the fall. The consolidation of Hartford with Suffield will add another 130.

The decision was made by the Lincoln Educational Services' national Board of Directors, which runs Lincoln Culinary Institute and several other education programs, on July 31 to close seven campuses nationally. The organization – based in West Orange, N.J. – announced closings in Ohio and Florida as well.

The company explained the rationale in an August 2 message to investors.

Closings were made "to better align with the Department of Education's increased emphasis on student outcomes and our efforts to comply with the 90/10 rule," they wrote, referring to the requirement that for-profit colleges receive no more than 90% of revenues from Title IV federal student aid.

"In addition, the current economic environment and regulatory changes under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, which eliminated the ability to enroll 'ability to benefit' students, have made these campuses no longer viable," the investor letter added.

According to Lincoln's second quarter financial results released earlier this month, their $100.4 million second quarter revenue marked a 21.7% decrease from the same time the year before.

Lincoln operates eight locations in Connecticut, including Culinary Institutes in Hartford and Shelton; Technical Institutes in Hartford, Shelton, Hamden, New Britain, and East Windsor; and Lincoln College of New England in Southington.