Business I
Majoring
In Careers
DeVry aims to spread
the wealth of earning
a university degree.
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
T
he campus usually is an office
building. There are no varsity
football or basketball teams to root
for, no fraternities and sororities to join or
raucous protest parties to attend.
But DeVry University is quietly going
about its business as one of the largest
degree-granting higher education systems
in North America, offering undergraduate
and master's degrees in business, technol-
ogy; business and management and health
care technology. Probably most importantly,
more than 93 percent of DeVry graduates
get jobs in their chosen fields within six
months of graduation at companies like
Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and other top
employers.
There are nearly 100,000 students at 89
DeVry campuses nationwide, with about
3,000 full- and part-time faculty. Included
is a campus that opened recently on Central
Park Blvd. in the Southfield Civic Center
office complex, with 100 students. Charging
$500 per credit hour, DeVry has achieved $1
billion per year in national revenue — and a
native Oak Park man is making a significant
contribution to the university's success.
Local Ties
Daniel Hamburger, 44, now of Glencoe,
Ill., has risen quickly through the school's
administrative ranks to become the presi-
dent and CEO of DeVry Inc. the holding
company for its other educational institu-
tions. He joined the company in 2002 as
an executive vice president. Besides DeVry
University, DeVry, Inc., consists of Ross
University, a medical and veterinary medi-
cine school; Chamberlain College of Nursing,
and Becker Professional Review, an interna-
tional training firm for future certified public
accountants. DeVry University also operates
the Keller Graduate School of Management,
one of the largest part-time graduate schools
in the U.S.
"We're market-driven; we reach out and
focus on the working adult;' explained
Hamburger. "There are about 75 million
people in this country without any kind of
degree, and we're trying to help them in the
working world. Many of our students just
want a different career or are forced into a
new career by the layoffs and buyouts in the
automotive industry. Opening our campus
here is especially important to help people in
view of the lagging Michigan economy"
Accounting, law and technical manage-
ment are among the most popular courses in
the school's 133-page catalog; but students
can keep up with modern times by taking
classes in video games, Web site design,
Internet marketing and global issues in
general.
Hamburger is happy to be offering degrees
to Detroit-area students in his home state,
where his own education and career began.
The son of Dr. Joel Hamburger and Hilda
Hamburger, a retired teacher, he graduated
from Oak Park High School and obtained
bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial
engineering from the University of Michigan,
then got an MBA at Harvard. Hamburger
held management positions at several inter-
net commerce firms, and W.W. Grainger Inc.
of Illinois, a service equipment distributor,
whose revenues shot from $10 million to
more than $100 million in one year dur-
ing his tenure. He and his wife, Denise
(Franklin), have three sons.
"With my computer industry background,
I'm glad that about 50 percent of our stu-
dents take courses on-line with a high
graduation rate,' said Hamburger. "We call
this our blended learning method, offering
courses in-person and over the Internet.
Either way, for those who may have started
college at some point in their lives but made
other choices before completing work for a
degree, DeVry gives them the opportunity to
complete their education and move on to a
new career."
Student Recruitment
Since most of the DeVry students have full-
or part-time jobs, classes are available from 6
to 9:30 p.m. daily, throughout the year. Under
an accelerated program, students can get a
B.S. degree in three years. They must meet
the usual college admission standards and
can even take DeDry's own entrance exam;
high-tech counseling and advice always are
available to students and counselors "reach
out" to the surrounding communities, visit-
ing thousands of high schools to explain the
university's services.
"We have a very large minority student
DeVry's Daniel Hamburger:
"Our purpose is simple. It's
to help people begin the
career of their dreams or
advance the one they've
already started."
enrollment, and we're ranked among the top
10 colleges in awarding degrees to minori-
ties — number one for Hispanic Americans
specifically:' said DeVry Group Vice President
Terri Johnson.
Arkadi Tsitlishvili, 41, is a Jewish student,
who hails from the republic of Georgia-
USSR. Working full time, he now lives in
Skokie, Ill., and attends DeVry's Chicago
campus, studying for a technology degree he
hopes to complete in August, then continu-
ing at DeVry for a master's degree.
"I chose DeVry because I heard a lot of
good things from people who went there,
plus I can finish faster because they have
trimesters," said Tsitlishvili."The teachers are
very knowledgeable. You can talk to them
and get answers that aren't just from books.
The programs are well done; everyone can
select something they need. Also, I've met
students from many different ethnic and
social groups, which makes the whole school
experience very interesting"
Founder's Ways
DeVry's founder, in 1931, was Dr. Herman
DeVry, who was an inventor as well as
an educator. More than 250,000 students
have graduated from the school since that
time. DeVry developed the portable movie
projector, in conjunction with the Bell and
Howell Co.
Two of the company's executives, Dennis
Keller and Ross Taylor, then bought DeVry
University in 1973 and took it public in 1991
— the first educational institution of any
kind to go public; its stock now trades at
about $50 a share. Keller and Taylor are still
on the DeVry board.
"Our purpose is simple,' said Hamburger.
"It's to help people begin the career of their
dreams, or advance the one they've already
started. When times get tough, the solution is
always education" ❑
June 12 • 2008
A29