Career Education Corp (CECO) SEC Filing 10-K Annual report for the fiscal year ending Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Exhibit 99.1

CAREER EDUCATION CORPORATION REPORTS

RESULTS FOR FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2013

Schaumburg, Ill. (February 27, 2014) – Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ: CECO) today reported operating and financial results for the fourth quarter of 2013, posting its fourth consecutive quarter of sequential improvement in the decline of new enrollments and total enrollment across its family of ongoing schools.

Non-financial metrics indicating positive trends for the fourth quarter of 2013 as compared to fourth quarter of 2012, excluding Transitional Schools, include:

“We continue to make solid operational progress in the turnaround of the Company,” said President and CEO Scott W. Steffey. “We had new student enrollment growth in the last part of the fourth quarter at CTU, Design & Technology, and Health Education and the early results in 2014 are encouraging, which I will speak to in more detail on the earnings call. Furthermore, we expect Culinary Arts’ total enrollments to improve as we mark the one year anniversary, in April, of the re-introduction of the associates program.”

The Company disclosed that operating expenses dropped by $59.0 million in the fourth quarter and by more than $200.0 million for the full year (excluding significant items disclosed in the non-GAAP reconciliation referred to below). Net cash used in operating activities dropped to $8.0 million in the fourth quarter versus $10.9 million in the third quarter and $52.8 million in the second quarter.

“We significantly reduced operating expenses, completed the sale of our International operations and continued winding down campuses in our Transitional Schools segment during 2013,” said Steffey. “There is still more room for operating expense reduction in 2014, without negatively impacting our improving results, over and above the Transitional School closures.”

Career Education reported total revenue of $247.1 million, and net loss of $30.6 million, or -$0.46 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to total revenue of $303.3 million and net loss of $61.5 million, or -$0.93 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2012. For the full year 2013, total revenue of $1.06 billion, and net loss of $164.3 million, or -$2.46 per diluted share decreased from total revenue of $1.34 billion and net loss of $142.8 million, or -$2.15 per diluted share, for the full year 2012.

The Company believes it is useful to present non-GAAP financial measures, which exclude certain significant items, as a means to understand the performance of its core business. On a non-GAAP basis, the loss per diluted share from continuing operations was -$0.29 for the fourth quarter of 2013 as compared to a loss per diluted share of -$0.54 for the fourth quarter of 2012. For the year ended December 31, 2013, on a non-GAAP basis, the loss per diluted share from continuing operations was -$1.41 as compared to a loss per diluted share of -$0.67 for the year ended December 31, 2012. (See tables below and the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation attached to this press release for further details.)