BrightStar Education Group, Inc. (“BrightStar” or the “Company”) is a leading for-profit post-
secondary education company with over 3,000 students at five campuses in growing mid-
sized markets in California and Oregon. BrightStar offers career-oriented degree and diploma
programs in high-demand curricula in Allied Health, Business, Culinary and Technical fields
through 18 different program offerings. BrightStar offers programs that place students within
professions that have superior projected employment growth, particularly in Allied Health, which includes Licensed Nursing.
Arlington formed BrightStar to pursue a consolidation of for-profit post-secondary education
schools and made its initial investment in Institute of Technology, an education company
with campuses in northern and central California. Including the initial acquisition, BrightStar
has made three acquisitions to expand its footprint in geography and in program offerings.
BrightStar has made significant investments in state-of-the-art facilities and new program
development.
BrightStar is led by its Chief Executive Officer, Jim Haga, who was previously the Group Vice
President of Operations of Kaplan Higher Education. BrightStar also benefits from the insight
and experience of its independent board members: Robert Christie, formerly the President and
CEO of Thomson Learning, the second-largest global education and learning company; and the
Honorable Tony Coelho, a five-time U.S. Congressman and formerly the House Majority Whip.
