UPDATE (1/14): ECMC Group reached out to Education Dive today with a statement from President and CEO Dave Hawn:

"While we continue to make good progress, the enormity of the transaction and the regulatory approvals needed prior to close have extended our target closing date to early in February. We are pleased with all we’ve been able to accomplish over the last several weeks, especially given the holiday timing, and are continuing to move full steam ahead with our plans to make a difference as a nonprofit provider of career school education driven to promote the long-term success of our graduates."

Dive Brief:

• Corinthian Colleges says its proposed sale of 56 campuses to ECMC, the loan guarantor, has been put off until next month, Inside Higher Ed reported.
• The controversial deal between the for-profit Corinthian and not-for-profit ECMC was scheduled to close this month.
• No reason was given for the postponement.

Dive Insight:

The deal has actually been delayed twice, as disclosed by Corinthian in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but the company didn’t say why. The U.S. Department of Education brokered the deal and must sign off on it. About 50 advocacy groups petitioned the department and two other federal agencies last month, asking for strict conditions to be imposed on the deal before approving it, to assuage their “grave” concerns about protecting students. Considering the opposition to the sale, it seems likely that the Department of Education is trying to negotiate some conditions into the sale that the buyer and seller can agree to.