TAMPA -- Under the leadership of a new president, the International Academy of Design and Technology is phasing out its three campuses and consolidating facilities in the former PricewaterhouseCoopers training center near the Veterans Expressway. The academy has a 10-year lease -- a deal valued at $10 million -- on the four-story building.

After renovations, the 134,000-square-foot center will have about 50 classrooms plus labs, said Edmund Gross, who was named the academy's president several months ago,

Students are moving to the new center in phases. The relocation will be completed by the end of the year.

Current enrollment at the industry-focused academy is about 2,300, Gross said. About 63 percent of the students are women. Most students are in bachelor's degree programs, although the academy offers associate degrees. The cost of a four-year degree from the academy averages $60,000.

The academy, which is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, is expanding its offerings.

In July, the academy is adding a bachelor's degree program in merchandising and marketing, Gross said. A master's degree in fine arts is expected to begin in January 2005.

Career-specific programs now include animation, interior design, graphic design, Web design and development, fashion design, digital photography and digital production.

The academy is closely integrated with the Tampa Bay area business community and offers some career-specific degree programs unavailable elsewhere. A full-service video editing and composing suite and an audio recording, mastering and encoding suite are among the technological amenities available for students.

Instructors are required to have degrees in their fields and must have industry experience; many are adjunct teachers.

"We want people in the industry teaching our students," Gross said. "Our whole purpose is to prepare people for employment. Over 80 percent of our graduates are placed in jobs." Some of the graduates create their own jobs. Alyssa Black, who has a bachelor's degree in fashion design and marketing, and Ally Berc, who has an associate's degree from the academy, plan to open a clothing boutique on Harbour Island on April 16. The shop, called Berc Black, will feature New York-style clothing for men and women. "The academy has the best programs for what I want to do," Berc said. "Thank God, we did go there because it helped us open our own business. They definitely go over things like buying and trade shows. The professors have been involved in the industry, so they've been there and know about it."

In fact, three people who attended this year's Academy Awards presentation wore designs by Tom Mazas, one of the academy's fashion design instructors.

Chris Shindelbower, vice president at Blue Reef Creative in St. Petersburg, is an adjunct teacher at the academy and a graduate of the two-year program. He has found teaching helps his business.

While he imparts experience-based knowledge to students, teaching helps him professionally by keeping him on top of industry and technological advances. He is able to see trends and apply that knowledge in his business.

Shindelbower has a degree in interactive media from the academy and teaches video special effects.

"I found from my experience there that you bring more insight by working in your field," Shindelbower said. "A lot of my students will be starting their own businesses. They need to know about dealing with clients and how to market themselves."

It has also been good business for Career Education Corp., the academy's for-profit parent company in Illinois. The company provides post-secondary education at about 75 campuses.

Career Education reported in February that its fourth-quarter profits increased 72 percent. The company's net income rose to $53.5 million, or 51 cents per share, from $31 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier.

For the full year, Career Education's net income was $119.2 million or $1.19 per diluted share.