Sabrina founded California Design College in 1991 and sold it to Education Management Corporation in 2003. She received her MBA at the University of Southern California and Master of Science in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a doctoral candidate in Work-Based Learning Leadership at the Wharton School of Business and the Graduate School of Education at UPenn.
What opportunity exists at this time in California
for two year schools?
As the state shrinks the number of students accepted into the Cal State system, where will those students go? Most of them don't want to attend community colleges, because of the time it will take to a degree. Career colleges will be competing for the attention of those students. Those who can prepare them for a career quickly and affordably will experience great success.
Who are your students and what curricula are they pursuing?
The Fremont student is a 28-year-old career-changer with some college, about 60 percent of whom are female. They live within 25 miles of our urban campus building. They are pursuing one of three curricula: paralegal, business, wellness. They are evenly divided between day students and evening students.
How did you come to own this school?
After I sold California Design College I went back to college to learn how I did it all. Three degrees later I wanted another school as a laboratory to put my ideas and what I learned into practice. My very dear friend Bill Clohan told me one of his 19 schools was for sale. I reinvested some of my earlier proceeds, and Fremont College was under new ownership shortly after our discussion. Instrumental in the sale was my mother's advice to make sure the person from whom you buy a used car or a school is a close friend. She was right. Bill Clohan's reputation was excellent, though challenging, there were no unanticipated challenges.
What alternatives may have existed for you at the time?
In 2006 I had several opportunities inside and outside higher education. I was a member of twenty boards, I owned a successful apparel company that's now licensed in Korea and Shanghai. I had co-founded Premier Business Bank with two branches in Los Angeles. Incidentally it has no bad loans today and needs no bailout. I was close to opening a gallery for Chinese contemporary art. And I was a commissioner on the Los Angeles City Planning Commission. I was and still am Chairman of the Board of After School All-Stars, a charity that's very important to me.
Do you have school ownership experience prior to
Fremont College?
I founded California Design College in 1991. It was one of the first colleges to offer computer technology instruction for the fashion industry. It grew from six students to 500 students over ten years, and became a one of the top four fashion design colleges ranked by California Apparel News.
To be continued
