| Type | Campus-based career school; hybrid format with lectures online and labs on campus twice a week, day or evening |
|---|---|
| Campuses | 22 in 7 states: California 13, Arizona 2, Georgia 2, Texas 2, Nevada 1, New Mexico 1, Washington 1. Called United Education Institute outside California and Arizona |
| Credentials | Diplomas only |
| Program length | 34–36 weeks (UEI says “as few as 10 months”); 720–810 clock hours on Arizona listings |
| Accreditation | Split by campus: ACCET (12 campuses; grant ran to 31 Aug 2026, renewal decision not yet published) and ACCSC (10 campuses) |
| Federal aid | Yes (Pell Grants, Direct Loans); Cal Grant in California; VA education benefits at approved campuses |
| Founded / owner | 1982 as United Electronics Institute, Los Angeles County. Owner: International Education Corporation (IEC), Irvine, CA, since 1996; ACCET approved a change of ownership in August 2026 and we found no announcement naming a new owner |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
About UEI College
UEI College is a for-profit career school that began in 1982 as United Electronics Institute in Los Angeles County. It has 22 campuses: 13 in California and nine in six other states, where most operate as United Education Institute. Six campuses have opened since 2021, most recently Albuquerque, Dallas and Houston.
Every program is a diploma of about 34 to 36 weeks in a hybrid format: lectures online, labs on campus twice a week, day or evening. Programs split between building and vehicle trades (electrician, HVAC, automotive) and allied health (medical and dental assisting, billing and coding, medical office, pharmacy technician), plus criminal justice in California.
UEI’s parent company since 1996 has been International Education Corporation (IEC), which settled with the U.S. Department of Education in 2024 (see below). In August 2026 UEI’s accreditor ACCET approved a change of ownership; we found no announcement naming a new owner.
Programs and where they are taught
Not every campus teaches every program, so check your campus. Clock hours come from Arizona’s training-provider listings for Mesa and Phoenix; week counts from UEI’s California fact sheets. Costs are total charges for the whole program (tuition, books and supplies), not per year.
| Program | Length | Campuses | Externship | Prepares for | Sample total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Assistant | 810 hours, 36 weeks | All 22 | 250 hours | NCCT NCMA, AAMA CMA, AMT RMA; NHA CCMA (optional, Arizona) | $19,900 (Huntington Park, 2025–26) |
| Dental Assistant | 800 hours, 34 weeks | All 22 | 170 hours | RDA route in California; DANB CDA in Arizona | $19,900 (Huntington Park, 2025–26) |
| Medical Billing & Insurance Coding | 810 hours, 36 weeks | 15 | 250 hours | NCCT NCICS, NHA CBCS, AAPC CPC/CPB | $19,900 (Tacoma, 2024–25) |
| Medical Office Specialist | 36 weeks | 5 in California | Yes (unpaid) | No exam named; front-office jobs | $19,900 (California, 2024) |
| Pharmacy Technician | About 10 months | Fresno only | 120 hours | No exam named | $19,900 (California, 2024) |
| HVAC | 720 hours, 36 weeks | All 22 | None listed | EPA Section 608 (required to graduate), ESCO R-410A | $21,500 (Huntington Park, 2025–26) |
| Electrician Technician | 720 hours, 36 weeks | 21 (not Tacoma) | None | No certification named | $21,500 (Huntington Park, 2025–26) |
| Automotive Technician | 720 hours, 36 weeks | 12 | None listed | ASE named on Arizona listing only | $21,500 (Tacoma, 2024–25) |
| Criminal Justice | 36 weeks | 8 in California | – | Security officer, loss prevention, dispatcher | $19,900 (California, 2024) |
Health programs end in an unpaid externship at an approved local facility; UEI lists no externship for the trade programs; their practical work is done in campus labs. Welding, business office administration, IT, massage therapy, vocational nursing and online health services administration no longer appear on UEI’s program list.
What the main programs cover
Medical Assistant
The 810-hour program is seven 80-hour modules and then the 250-hour externship. The modules are administrative medical assisting; anatomy and physiology; infection control and laboratory procedures; psychology and the special senses; medical office management; clinical duties; and pharmacology with office emergencies. Theory is online, and clinical and lab skills are practised in the twice-weekly campus labs. The externship is unpaid and takes place at a local facility UEI has approved. Applicants must be 17 or older with a high school diploma or equivalent.
Dental Assistant
Seven 90-hour modules cover dental science and emergencies, dental anatomy and physiology, dental radiography, dental materials, preventive dentistry, dental specialties, and prosthodontics with front-office work, followed by a 170-hour externship at an approved local facility. In California the course is built around the state’s Registered Dental Assistant route, including radiography and coronal polish; in Arizona UEI points students to DANB’s Certified Dental Assistant exam.
HVAC
The 720-hour program starts with electricity, motors and controls, then moves through refrigeration principles, air conditioning and heat pumps, heating, duct design with blueprint reading and load calculations, commercial refrigeration, building automation and troubleshooting. Students must pass the EPA Section 608 refrigerant-handling exam to graduate, and UEI also prepares them for ESCO’s Universal R-410A certification and recommends low-GWP refrigerant safety training. UEI lists no work placement; practical work is done on equipment in the campus lab.
Electrician Technician
Nine 80-hour courses: basic safety (OSHA 10 content and CPR), electrical theory, conduit bending and raceways, residential wiring, commercial wiring, low-voltage systems, motor controls, programmable logic controllers and solar electric systems. Practice is on lab mock-ups, with no externship. UEI names no certification for the program. In Arizona, the state listing notes that the contractor licence exam requires four years of work experience. The program is taught at every UEI campus except Tacoma.
Automotive Technician
The 720-hour program covers engine theory, electrical diagnosis, engine performance and ignition, fuel and emissions systems, steering, suspension and comfort systems, brakes, manual and automatic transmissions, and maintenance and hybrid vehicles. Practical work is done in the campus shop; UEI lists no dealership or shop placement. Arizona’s training-provider listing names ASE certification, while UEI’s own program page names none. Only 12 of the 22 campuses teach it, none of them in Texas or New Mexico.
Medical Billing and Insurance Coding
Courses cover insurance billing, coding principles, medical law and ethics, documentation and medical records, billing and collections, insurance practices and medical office procedures, followed by a 250-hour externship. UEI and Arizona’s listing name four exams: NCCT’s NCICS, NHA’s CBCS, and AAPC’s Certified Professional Coder and Certified Professional Biller. Lectures are online with campus sessions twice a week. Fifteen campuses teach it, including every campus outside California except Morrow, Georgia.
Cost and paying for it
UEI does not publish a tuition sheet on its website; it links a net price calculator instead. State and federal filings give the totals. On UEI’s 2024 California fact sheets, every trade program (automotive, electrician, HVAC) cost $21,500 in total and every health and criminal justice program $19,900, the same figures federal data show for Huntington Park in 2025–26. Arizona’s training-provider listing for Mesa and Phoenix (checked October 2026) shows $20,900 for medical and dental assisting; its HVAC breakdown is $20,572.48 tuition, $107.87 books and $819.65 supplies and tools. Tacoma’s Medical Assistant program was $18,500 in 2024–25.
Federal figures for average net price after grants (2023–24, for each campus’s largest program) were $28,684 at Gardena, $29,129 at Huntington Park, $35,002 at Mesa and $36,662 at Tacoma (2023–24).
UEI is eligible for federal aid: Pell Grants, FSEOG, Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, PLUS loans and Federal Work-Study, plus Cal Grant in California. In UEI’s 2024 California reports, 89% to 94% of students took out federal loans. Veterans can use GI Bill Chapters 30, 33 and 35 and Chapter 31 (Veteran Readiness and Employment); UEI is approved by the California, Arizona and Georgia veterans agencies but says not all campuses and programs are eligible for VA funding.
Admissions and schedule
Applicants must be at least 17 (18 for Pharmacy Technician) and have a high school diploma or equivalent; there is no application fee, and applicants meet an admissions representative. Under its 2024 settlement with the Education Department, UEI may not admit students without a diploma through ability-to-benefit tests. Programs start roughly monthly. Lectures are online and labs are on campus twice a week, with day and evening options.
Accreditation, the 2024 settlement and results
UEI’s campuses are split between two accreditors. The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) covers Huntington Park, the main campus, and 11 branches: Chula Vista, Garden Grove, Oceanside, Ontario, Reseda, Stockton, West Covina, Mesa, Phoenix, Morrow and Dallas. The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) covers Gardena, Riverside, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Tacoma, Stone Mountain, Albuquerque and Houston. ACCET’s May 2026 status letter shows accreditation running to 31 August 2026; its published August 2026 actions list the change of ownership but no renewal decision, so ask UEI for the current grant.
In May 2023 ACCSC put 10 UEI campuses on warning, citing federal compliance, management capacity, financial structure, student services and student outcomes. It reaffirmed the warning in March 2024 and lifted it in May 2024, and in November 2024 renewed Gardena, Riverside, Sacramento and Las Vegas for five years.
In February 2024 the U.S. Department of Education reached a settlement with IEC after finding that its sister school Florida Career College “routinely broke the rules” on ability-to-benefit testing. Florida Career College lost federal aid and closed; IEC’s CEO and CFO had to step down; IEC posted a letter of credit of more than $6 million; and UEI accepted three years of conditions, including the ban on ability-to-benefit admissions.
Federal data for full-time students who started in 2021–22 show graduation within 150% of normal time of 70% at Huntington Park, 60% at Gardena, 58% at Tacoma and 50% at Mesa. California requires UEI to report in-field job placement, meaning graduates working in the field among those available for work. UEI’s 2024 annual reports to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) show, by campus group:
| California campus group (BPPE 2024) | HVAC | Electrician | Medical Assistant | Dental Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntington Park, Chula Vista, Garden Grove, Oceanside, Ontario, Reseda, Stockton, West Covina | 39.8% | 44.5% | 54.1% | 71.0% |
| Gardena, Riverside, Sacramento | 13.3% | 15.8% | 37.3% | 50.8% |
| Fresno, Bakersfield | 12.5% | 19.5% | 39.6% | 58.1% |
We found no comparable placement figures for UEI’s campuses outside California.
Before you enroll
- In-field placement for the trade programs is low at several California campuses. In UEI’s 2024 BPPE reports, 13.3% of HVAC and 15.8% of electrician graduates of the Gardena, Riverside and Sacramento group, and 12.5% of HVAC and 19.5% of electrician graduates of the Fresno and Bakersfield group, were working in the field. Gardena’s own fact sheet shows 2% of its 2023 electrician graduates and 17% of its 2024 graduates placed in the field. Ask your campus for its latest figures for your program.
- ACCET approved a change of ownership for UEI in August 2026. We found no announcement naming a new owner or saying when the change takes effect. UEI is also still under the three years of federal conditions agreed in February 2024. Ask UEI who owns the school and whether anything changes for your program.
- Program names can overstate the job. The Electrician Technician diploma does not make you a licensed electrician, and California’s Criminal Justice program trains security officers, loss-prevention staff and dispatchers, not police officers.
- A diploma costs about $19,900 to $21,500 for under a year, and in California 89% to 94% of UEI students borrow federal loans. Federal figures put the average net price after grants at $28,684 to $36,662 at the four campuses we checked (2023–24).
- Check that your campus teaches your program. Anaheim and San Marcos were replaced in 2020 by Garden Grove and Oceanside, Tacoma has no electrician program, and pharmacy technician is taught only in Fresno.
Externships and career help
Medical assisting and billing and coding include a 250-hour externship, dental assisting 170 hours and pharmacy technician 120 hours; medical office specialist also ends in one. Externships are unpaid and at facilities UEI approves. Career services offer resume help, interview practice, career fairs and job-search help, and UEI states that it “does not promise or guarantee employment”.
What students say
UEI has no school-wide review page with enough reviews, so we looked at its campus pages on Niche. Three campuses have 25 or more reviews: Huntington Park (4.07 out of 5, 135 reviews), Fresno (4.25, 56) and Gardena (4.26, 47), checked October 2026. Most Huntington Park reviews date from 2017 to 2023, so they say little about the school today, and Gardena’s include a cluster posted between August and December 2023.
- Praised: hands-on labs, approachable instructors and welcoming staff, the hybrid schedule and finishing in under a year.
- Criticized: slow or unhelpful career services and low starting pay, trouble getting externship placements, instructor turnover and a fast pace, and billing or financial-aid mistakes.
Sources
UEI programs · BPPE 2024 annual report (Huntington Park group) · BPPE 2024 annual report (Gardena group) · BPPE 2024 annual report (Fresno group) · College Navigator (Huntington Park) · Arizona training-provider listing · ACCET August 2026 actions · ACCSC May 2024 notice
Programs & Courses
Skilled Trades
- Electrician Technician
- Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Automotive Technician
Healthcare
- Medical Assistant
- Dental Assistant
- Medical Billing and Insurance Coding
- Medical Office Specialist (California)
- Pharmacy Technician (Fresno only)
Criminal Justice
- Criminal Justice: security, loss prevention and dispatch (California)
Campus Locations
Mesa, AZ 1420 W. Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ 85202
Phoenix, AZ 9215 N. Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix, AZ 85021
Bakersfield, CA 3737 Rosedale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93308
Chula Vista, CA 1261 3rd Ave, Ste A, Chula Vista, CA 91911
Fresno, CA 3602 N. Blackstone Ave, Ste 0268, Fresno, CA 93726
Garden Grove, CA 10870 Katella Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92840
Gardena, CA 661 W. Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247
Huntington Park, CA 6055 Pacific Blvd, Huntington Park, CA 90255
Oceanside, CA 2027 Mission Ave, Oceanside, CA 92058
Ontario, CA 4730 Ontario Mills Pkwy, Ontario, CA 91764
Reseda, CA 18040 Sherman Way, Reseda, CA 91335
Riverside, CA 1860 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92507
Sacramento, CA 4424 Florin Rd, Ste D & E, Sacramento, CA 95823
Stockton, CA 4994 Claremont Ave, Stockton, CA 95207
West Covina, CA 339 N. Azusa Ave, West Covina, CA 91791
Morrow, GA 1564 Southlake Pkwy, Morrow, GA 30260
Stone Mountain, GA 971 N. Hairston Rd, Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Albuquerque, NM 885 Sunset Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105
Las Vegas, NV 3450 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Dallas, TX 1050 N. Westmoreland Rd, Ste 200, Dallas, TX 75211
Houston, TX 9945 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX 77036
Tacoma, WA 1415 E. 72nd St, Tacoma, WA 98404