Stevens–Henager College

History

Stevens–Henager, one of the oldest colleges in Utah, was opened September 1891 by Professor James Ayers Smith, an educator from Nebraska, as the Inter-Mountain Business College with an enrollment of 7 pupils. It began teaching commercial subjects and placed graduates in business positions. Paul Kenneth Smith, son of James Ayers Smith, began as the typewriter machinist and later served as an instructor at the college. For about 19 years, Stevens–Henager College was known as Intermountain Business College. A Biennial Catalogue for enrollment 1908-09 shows the schools name as The Smithsonian Business College and Shorthand School, 258 Twenty Fourth Street, Ogden, Utah. The faculty and staff were James A. Smith, President, Lecturer in Commercial Law and Political Economy, Instructor in Commercial Arithmetic, Theory of Accounts and Practical Business. Anna L. Smith-Moore, Principal of the Shorthand Department and Instruction of English. Mrs. T. C. Gordon, Associate Principal in Shorthand and Type Writing Department. Mabel Wells-Smith, Instructor of Shorthand and Type Writing. Catherine G. Carnahan Assistant Principal in Commercial and Business Departments. Jennie V. Olsen, Assistant Instructor, Nigh School and Paul Kenneth Smith. In 1910, Professor J. A. Smith retired and sold the school to Mr. C. S. Springer, who changed the name to the Smithsonian Business School. In 1938, the college was purchased by Dr. David B. Moench, son of Louis F. Moench, a Utah educator and the first principal of Weber Stake Academy, which later became Weber State College. It then became known as the Moench University of Business and operated as such until 1940, when it was purchased by I. W. Stevens and renamed Ogden Business College. The name was changed to Stevens–Henager College in 1959.

Stevens-Henager has its main campus in Ogden, Utah. In 1978, the college established a campus in Provo. Other campuses followed including Salt Lake City Campus in Utah in 1999, Logan Campus in Utah in 2001, and Boise Campus in 2004 in Idaho.

Non-profit status

In 2012, the college announced its intent to transfer to non-profit status for Title IV financial aid purposes (not to be confused with their non-profit Internal Revenue Service status) through its affiliation with the CEHE. However, a whistelblower suit was filed in Idaho against the CEHE collective of schools by two former recruiters alleging they were paid "bonuses, commissions, and other forms of incentive compensation in violation of the federal ban on such compensation." In May 2014 the U.S. Department of Justice joined the suit, stating that from its point-of-view the CEHE "directly or indirectly encouraged its recruiters to enroll anyone who was willing to apply for federal funds regardless of the students’ likelihood of success or ability to benefit" from the associated schools' educational programs. The Colorado Attorney General filed a similar lawsuit in December 2014, though it alleged "staff consistently misled and lied to students about the selectivity of the school, the transferability of credits, the jobs they could obtain, the salaries they could earn, and more," though CEHE denied the allegations as "full of distortions [and] half-truths."

On August 11, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education rejected the college chain's attempt to make its schools non-profit for Title IV financial aid purposes, leaving the schools for-profit for Title IV. In the Department of Education's statement, they said "non-profit institutions must be owned and operated by a non-profit where no part of the net earnings benefit any private shareholder or individual," and it had found, in its review, this was not the case. The CEHE filed suit against the Department of Education on August 30, calling its decision "arbitrary and capricious and inconsistent with the treatment of similarly situated nonprofit schools."

Campuses

Stevens–Henager College has seven campuses and three satellite locations across Utah and Idaho. The main campus is in Ogden, Utah. Branch campuses are in Provo, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; Layton, Utah; Logan, Utah; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Boise, Idaho; and St. George, Utah.

Accreditation

Stevens-Henager is an accredited member of Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). College Degree Programs are accredited by national accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education providing accreditation to non-university postsecondary colleges. Stevens-Henager's Medical Specialties Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants Endowment (CRB-AAMAE) recommendation. Accreditation Review Committee on Education in Surgical Technology (ARC-ST) and Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) have recommended the accreditation of Surgical Technology Program and Respiratory Therapy Program, currently offered by the College.

Stevens-Henager is not regionally accredited.

Courses and costs

The college offers assorted degree courses in the fields of medicine, healthcare, accounting, computers, business, and graphic arts. An associate's degree is estimated to cost $42,430, a bachelor's degree is estimated to cost $74,790 and master's degrees are estimated to cost $28,482, not including any interest on loans. Unlike other schools, these costs include all books, tuition, computer for student to use while in school and keep when they graduate. The school practices a policy of "never bring unwelcome surprises". This means that as an all-inclusive program a student can fully understand the true costs of the school instead of find out they are in much more debt than necessary or anticipated.