Brooks Institute, possibly the premier photography trade school in the U.S., has announced that after 70 years of training media and visual arts students it will close its doors on October 31. Students, faculty, and staff were informed of the closing at a meeting with school representatives on the morning of August 12, 2016.
“Although we had hoped that we could reinvigorate Brooks Institute, recent changes in economic and regulatory conditions have had a significant, prolonged negative impact on the institution,” said Kristen Howard, Brooks Institute, Transition Officer. “Our tireless attempts to mitigate this impact through contraction, strategic planning and innovation were sadly unsuccessful.”
Brooks will cease enrolling new students immediately and will not resume teaching classes this fall. However, Brooks will continue to offer administrative and student services support through October 31.
Brooks has offered degree programs in film, graphic design and photography that required 8 semesters of study for graduation. Total cost in tuition and fees for the 8 semesters was about $81,330. Brooks had about 250 students enrolled during the regular school year.
The decision to close follows years of declining enrollment, tighter federal rules on for-profit schools and a last-ditch effort to move the school to downtown Ventura, CA in the hopes of becoming what President Edward Clift called a "modern urban campus."
Donna Granata, a professional photographer and 1993 graduate of the school told the Ventura County Star that when she graduated, "The alumni association was so strong that if you were a graduate of Brooks you were guaranteed a job. The fact that you held the degree meant you had tremendous tenacity, tremendous skill, that you knew your stuff.”
In 1999 the Brooks family sold the school to Career Education Corp. and from that point on the school began to struggle with dwindling enrollment. Granata said, “When you put profits ahead of education, it's a bad formula."
In 2015 Career Education Corp. sold all of its for-profit campuses to Massachusetts-based GPhomestay, an organization that specializes in providing international students with high-quality host families within a school’s host community.
Attorney Aaron Lacey said enrollment was only part of the problem. The school's accreditor risked losing its ability to accredit, a move that could have affected a student's ability to get federal financial aid. Federal guidelines that went into effect on July 1, 2015 look at how much debt a graduate carries compared to his or her salary two years after graduation.
According to Lacey, based on these guidelines Brooks seemed unlikely to hit necessary benchmarks to keep that funding source open.
He attributed the problem to the fact that many Brooks graduates tend to operate independently rather than getting a salaried position and that they may be under reporting earnings. (
Editors Note: Under reporting earnings may not have been the problem. Earnings of independent freelance photographers may actually have been as low as those reported.)
Brooks has had a number of notable graduates, including Robert Legato, who earned Academy Awards for his work on "Titanic" and "Hugo"; and Javier Manzano, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for his photos of Syrian rebel soldiers.
Lacey said management made the decision to close Brooks on August 10th, a day after school officials ousted President Edward Clift. A majority of the board of directors also resigned during that week.
Other articles that might be of interest to those seeking a photography education.
Want A Photography Career: Do Your Due Diligence (2015)
http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/what-a-photography-career-do-your-due-diligen
Changing Photography Business (2013)
http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/changing-photography-business
Seeking A Career in Photography (2013)
http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/seeking-a-career-in-photography