Helms Career Institute campuses consolidating

The Macon and Milledgeville campuses of Helms Career Institute are preparing to consolidate.

The schools have suspended enrollment of new students and will complete current students’ educational programs in preparation for the merger, according to a release. Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia operates the programs.

Created in 2013 with the purchase of a portion of assets owned by American Professional Institute, HCI offers health care and spa service programs accredited through the Council on Occupational Education.

Goodwill Industries also operates Helms College and its two campuses in Macon and Augusta that are accredited through the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training.

HCI programs have been offered in leased space where the API programs previously had been held. Goodwill is pursuing funding to establish a School of Health Sciences under Helms College on Goodwill’s 18-acre campus on Eisenhower Parkway.

“Since its purchase in 2013, our Helms Career Institute programs have helped students across Middle Georgia earn the credentials they need to pursue employment in middle skills health care and spa service career fields,” Jim Stiff, Goodwill’s president, said in the statement. “We believe the future growth of these vital educational programs will best be served with the consolidation of all Helms programs onto our central Macon campus on Eisenhower Parkway and streamlining our accreditation through a single accrediting body.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Helms Career Institute campuses consolidating ."