 The school was licensed by the Kansas Board of Regents to grant associate degrees in 1986.Between the 1930s and 1990s the school in Salina, and other schools that would later carry the Brown Mackie name, were managed by several different organizations before being purchased by American Education Centers (AEC) in 1993.In 2003, Education Management Corporation (EDMC) acquired eighteen schools from AEC, including the original Brown Mackie College.