Several notes about the Wyotechs....
A review of management's phone call to investors in the later years, show that CCI was trying to sell the Wyotechs. As they said, the Wyotechs were a small part of CCI's portfolio. And, just making a safe guess here, they were far more expensive to run, compared to a medical assisting program. (Or one of the academic programs.)
There is just no comparison between buying a plastic skeleton, some stethoscopes, a few charts, etc., and buying and maintaining lifts, scan tools, motorcycle dynos, digital multimeters, lathes, tire machines, all the hand and power tools for electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, mechanics, and so on and so forth.
In addition, I suppose when you are studying to be a medical assistant, and on the subject of blood pressure, all you need is a blood pressure cuff, and other students to practice on. Temperature taking, bedpan wrangling, blood-drawing and innoculation...it can all fit in a small store front. And demo models don't have to be purchased. They are paying to be there.
If you are studying for the trades, or another highly mechanized/electonicized field, you need numerous cars, trucks, excavators, HVAC units, electrical motors, motorcycles, marine devices, places to rough out a bathroom, and on and on. (Some of these items take up a lot of square footage also. And need to be repaired/maintained/replaced, on some schedule.)
I have no idea what CCI management projected Wyotech profits to be, before they rolled them up, along with all the other (dissimilar) schools. But I suppose you would have to say they were willing to make a substantial investment in the trade schools--as some were basically built from the ground up (Wyotech West Sacramento, Daytona, Moto at Wyotech Fremont.) These schools were superbly equipped. (And as far as I know, the existing ones were too. Perhaps with the exception of "new" used vehicles, to practice on, especially at the end.)
Don't take my word for it; the fact that Mack, Mazda, Ducati, BMW, and who-all knows else, decided to run manufacturer-sponsored training courses out of the various Wyotechs, indicate that industry had great faith in the schools. (At least the part that they could set the standards for.)
This, of course, is just part of the Wyotech schools' story...but an important part. One final observation: Not ONCE did I see a news report on the CCI collapse that referenced a Wyotech trade student. My memory is that 100% of the stories were about young single mothers trying to get into the medical field--and finding out their preparation was insufficient to secure a good job. The student debt however, was nose-bleed high. (The Heald academic side was a somewhat different story--but you certainly couldn't fault the quality and effort of the teachers.)
It's a shame that CCI did not find a buyer for the trade schools, before bankruptcy was declared, and assests auctioned off. In California, of course, it was made infinitely more difficult by the Attorney General refusing to release any Wyotech buyer from CCI's potential liability. This proviso essentially made the schools unsaleable. (Though Wyotech West Sacramento failed to sell on it's own, well before the A.G.'s decision.) And after the corporate bankruptcy, the assets necessarily were auctioned off, leases broken, and staff scattered. Creating such a school anew--as opposed to buying a basically fully-amortized, functioning operation, with reasonable leasing costs, would be hugely more expensive. An argument can be made (and is), that junior colleges may well be better model for delivery of technical education. (Of course, it pays to keep in mind that costs are not insignificant in that model either...one way or the other, taxpayers foot a lot of the bill.)
It's a shame it turned out the way it did. Last I heard, they are still hiring electrical, HVAC, and auto technician apprentices. The Wyotechs could have still been part of the feeder pipeline.
Good luck in putting the whole story together.