Post job

South University company history timeline

1899

South University was founded in Savannah, Georgia, in 1899 as Draughan's Practical Business College.

1974

The South family acquired the institution in 1974, and changed its name to Draughan's Junior College.

2002

The institution's name change to South College resulted in a 2002 legal dispute with Sewanee: The University of the South, which had registered the name "The University of the South" with the United States Patent Office.

2003

In 2003, Education Management Corporation (EDMC) acquired South University.

2004

The following year, the university expanded from its main campus in Savannah, Georgia, to include eleven other campus locations across the United States and began offering online courses in 2004.

2015

In 2015, EDMC, South University's former parent company, agreed to forgive more than $100.8 million in student loan debt held by more than 80,000 former students.

2017

South University's Savannah campus (which includes its online students) celebrated its largest graduating class in the institution's history in June 2017, when more than 3,500 students received degrees.

On October 17, 2017, the university's former parent company, Education Management Corporation, reported that it had sold its schools to the Los Angeles-based Dream Center Foundation, a non-profit organization.

2019

The court appointed receiver, Studio Enterprise, and the university had until April 11, 2019 to negotiate to separate South & remaining Art Institute schools from the Dream Center Education IT Platform by September 11, 2019.

In 2019 South University fired a large majority of their workforce including the online support staff located in Chandler, Arizona, closing the site.

2020

In 2020, South University received $7,726,170 in federal funding under the CARES Act.

Work at South University?
Share your experience
Founded
1899
Company founded
Headquarters
Savannah, GA
Company headquarter
Get updates for jobs and news

Rate how well South University lives up to its initial vision.

Zippia waving zebra

South University jobs

Do you work at South University?

Is South University's vision a big part of strategic planning?

South University history FAQs

Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of South University, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about South University. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at South University. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by South University. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of South University and its employees or that of Zippia.

South University may also be known as or be related to Art Institute of Dallas and South University, South University, South University, Columbia and South University-Savannah.