DeVry University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
DeVry University

Type	Private for-profit university
Established	1931; 94 years ago (1931) (as DeForest Training School)
Founder	Herman A. DeVry
Parent institution	Cogswell Education
President	Elise Awwad
Provost	Shantanu Bose
Academic staff	57 full-time and 1,132 part-time
Students	27,867
Location	Lisle , Illinois , United States 41°48′00″N 88°07′35″W / 41.800010°N 88.126330°W / 41.800010; -88.126330
Campus	Multiple: 11 states in the U.S. and online

DeVry University is a private university in the United States. It mostly offers classes online. The university was started in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry. It is approved by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry University has faced some questions about its advertising and how it helps students with loans.

About DeVry University

How DeVry Started

DeVry University began in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois. It was first called the De Forest Training School. The founder, Herman A. DeVry, named the school after his friend, Lee de Forest. Herman DeVry had invented a movie projector before starting the school.

The school first taught people how to fix projectors and radios. Later, it added other electronics like televisions. After Herman DeVry passed away in 1941, the school changed its name. In 1953, it became DeVry Technical Institute. By 1957, it could give out associate degrees in electronics.

Growing and Changing Names

In 1967, a company called Bell & Howell bought DeVry Technical Institute. The next year, they bought another school, the Ohio Institute of Technology. DeVry was then renamed DeVry Institute of Technology. In 1969, it was approved to give out bachelor's degrees in electronics.

Joining with Keller Graduate School

Dennis Keller and Ronald Taylor were teachers at DeVry in the early 1970s. They learned a lot about how for-profit schools work. In 1973, they started the Keller Graduate School of Management. This school first offered special certificates.

By 1976, the Keller School became an evening program. It offered MBA degrees for adults who were working. In 1977, it became the first for-profit school to be fully approved by a group called the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

DeVry itself received full approval in 1981. In 1987, the Keller Graduate School of Management bought DeVry from Bell & Howell. The two schools joined together as DeVry Inc. Dennis Keller became the chairman and CEO. Ronald Taylor became the president.

DeVry Education Group Era

DeVry Inc. started selling its shares to the public in 1991. This meant people could buy parts of the company. In 1992, DeVry's basketball team played a very high-scoring game. They lost to Troy State University with a score of 258 to 141.

In 1995, DeVry's shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. This is a big stock market.

DeVry grew by buying other schools. In 1996, it bought Becker CPA Review. This company helped students get ready for a big accounting test. In 2003, DeVry bought Ross University, which is a medical and veterinary school. It is located in the Caribbean.

In 2005, DeVry started offering nursing programs. It bought Deaconess College of Nursing. This college offered both associate's and bachelor's degrees in nursing. It was later renamed Chamberlain College of Nursing.

DeVry also expanded to Brazil in 2009. It bought several universities there. By 2010, DeVry University had almost 90 locations. These were in 26 states and online. It had over 7,000 employees. More than 68,000 students were taking classes.

In 2012 and 2013, DeVry bought more universities in Brazil. In 2013, DeVry Inc. changed its name to DeVry Education Group. In 2017, the group changed its name again to Adtalem Global Education. In December 2017, Adtalem announced they would give DeVry University to Cogswell Education.

In December 2018, Adtalem officially handed over DeVry University to Cogswell Education.

DeVry Today

Today, DeVry University is owned by Cogswell Education, LLC. Cogswell Education is based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Bradley Palmer is a main investor.

In 2020, Tom Monahan III became the president and CEO of DeVry. In 2022, the U.S. government helped some former DeVry students. It canceled over $71 million in student loan debt for 1,800 students. This was because the government said the university had misled students when they signed up.

In 2023, Elise Awwad became the first female President and CEO of DeVry. The main campus and headquarters moved to Lisle, Illinois.

DeVry has a case in Illinois about student loan claims. More than 30,000 claims have been made against DeVry. These claims say the school misled students.

DeVry Locations

Between 2020 and 2022, all DeVry campuses closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. DeVry University now has one location at a military base in Twentynine Palms, California. Most students attend classes online.

Here are some of the places where DeVry has campuses or learning centers:

Campus Closures

In April 2015, DeVry University said it would close 14 campuses. These closures happened by 2016. Campuses closed in cities like Kansas City, Memphis, and Houston. Students at these campuses could get lower tuition if they took classes online or at other DeVry locations.

In 2018, DeVry closed eight more campuses. The U.S. Department of Education reported that five more campuses closed between 2019 and 2020. In 2021, sites in Raleigh (NC), Merrillville (IN), Paramus (NJ), and Cleveland (OH) closed. In 2022, at least 15 more campuses closed.

What DeVry Teaches

DeVry University offers programs for both undergraduate and graduate students. These programs are available online and at its locations. DeVry has six main areas of study:

• Accounting
• Business
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Liberal Arts
• Media Arts & Technology

DeVry uses a special school calendar. It has six eight-week sessions each year. Most programs offer both associate's and bachelor's degrees. The university also has different certificate programs. These are for specific areas like information technology.

DeVry has offered graduate classes online since 1998. Undergraduate classes have been available online since 2001.

Teachers at DeVry

The U.S. Department of Education reports that DeVry-Illinois has 61 full-time teachers. It also has 765 part-time teachers for its 26,384 students.

School Approval

DeVry is approved by the Higher Learning Commission. This means the school meets certain quality standards. Its engineering technology programs are approved campus by campus.

Student Success

The National Center for Education Statistics says that 28% of full-time students who started at DeVry University-Illinois in 2013 graduated within six years.

About 11.2% of DeVry students had trouble paying back their student loans within three years. A report from the Brookings Institution found that 43% of DeVry students had trouble paying back loans within five years.

The College Scorecard shows that 18% of students at DeVry University-Illinois graduate. For students who had to pay back loans, 31% had paused their payments. 29% were not making progress on their payments.

Famous People Who Went to DeVry

Here are some notable people who studied at DeVry University:

• Dave Bennett, a software engineer and CTO.
• Steve Cartwright, a video game designer.
• David Crane, founder and CTO of Appstar Games.
• Wendell Gilliard, a politician.
• Adeline Gray, a three-time world champion wrestler.
• George Weah, the President of Liberia and a retired soccer player.
• Sean Wiley, a Pennsylvania state senator.

People who went to Keller Graduate School of Management:

• Catherine Afeku, a Ghanaian politician.
• J. D. Mesnard, a politician.
• Gabriela Mosquera, a New Jersey General Assemblywoman.
• Xavier Serbiá, a financial advisor and former singer from the boy band Menudo.

Past Partnerships

In 2011, DeVry University teamed up with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). DeVry became an official education provider for U.S. Olympic teams. This partnership continued until 2020. More than 125 Team USA athletes were taking classes at DeVry.

In 2014, DeVry University was named the "official education provider" for NFL Pro Legends. This group supports players, coaches, and others who worked for NFL teams.

DeVry University was also a partner for education and career development with Minor League Baseball. DeVry and its Keller Graduate School offered higher education to players, their spouses, umpires, and employees until 2017.

See also

In Spanish: Universidad DeVry para niños

• For-profit higher education in the United States
• ITT Technical Institute
• List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Atlanta