Predating the typewriter, the rotary printing press and the telephone, Sanford-Brown College was founded in 1866 by Mr. Rufus C. Crampton, a professor at Illinois College, to meet the demands of post-Civil War America. Originally known as Jacksonville Business College, the College was joined with Illinois College in 1868. Mr. Crampton and Professor George W. Brown served as principals. In 1878 Mr. Brown purchased the College from Illinois College and started a chain of modern business colleges bearing his name. By 1911, Mr. Brown had opened 29 Brown's Business Schools across the United States. In 1920, Mr. W.S. Sanford, a teacher and principal at one of the schools, purchased one of the St. Louis schools and renamed the facility the Sanford-Brown Business College.
In 1944, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Gassaway and Mr. Arthur Gassaway purchased the College and began promoting it as a specialized career preparation institution. In 1972, the College was moved to St. Ann, Missouri. Mr. James L. Combs purchased the College in 1981. In August 1983, Sanford-Brown opened its second campus located in Des Peres, Missouri. Throughout the next decade, the school continued to grow. To accommodate this growth, the St. Ann campus was moved to Hazelwood, Missouri. By 1992, Sanford-Brown had established additional campuses in Granite City, Illinois; St. Charles, Missouri; and North Kansas City, Missouri.
As the College continued to expand, so did its curriculum. In 1992, the name of the College was changed to Sanford-Brown College to reflect this curriculum expansion. In December 1994, SBC was purchased by Whitman Education Group, Incorporated.
In July 2003, Career Education Corporation (CEC) purchased Sanford-Brown College. CEC is one of North America's largest providers of private, postsecondary education. CEC schools offer a variety of bachelor and associate degrees and non-degree programs in career-oriented disciplines including computer technologies, visual communication and design technologies, business studies, culinary arts, and healthcare education. All CEC programs emphasize hands-on learning and expose students to the latest technologies and expert faculty. |
