Gold Coast Schools in Tamarac {yellowpages}
By: Sharon Aron Baron
Tamarac-based Gold Coast Schools, one of the country’s largest providers of real estate, appraisal, mortgage, insurance, and construction education, has acquired an Orlando real estate school.
The Institute of Florida Careers (IFREC), a provider of classroom and distance education for real estate professionals, has now merged with Gold Coast Schools. This merger joins two of Florida’s leading family-owned educational providers.
John Greer, Ed.D., Director of Gold Coast Schools, said the acquisition of IFREC allows Gold Coast to expand its central Florida presence with operations in Orlando, Kissimmee, and Stuart.
“This is a great opportunity for the IFREC team to join a larger organization. Combining with IFREC Schools allows us to pool resources and provide the best educational offerings in Florida to an expanded audience,” said Greer.
John Greer, Director of Gold Coast Schools.
Gold Coast Schools offers classroom and online-based education in Orlando, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Tamarac, North Miami, and South Dade.
The merger allows Gold Coast to increase its classroom, online and continuing education components while students of IFREC will have access to a broader range of courses at Gold Coast Schools including Spanish real estate courses, insurance, contractors, mortgage and appraisal.
The Institute of Florida Careers (IFREC), founded in 1983 by Dick and Judy Fryer, has become the Central Florida leader in real estate and mortgage education.
“After 37 years of owning and operating this business, we realized we have some other dreams,” said Dick Fryer, who will remain on as a consultant and who currently serves as a Governor-appointee on the Florida Real Estate Commission, where he also is a past chair and currently serves as the vice-chair.
“I have known the Greer’s for more than 30 years and have great respect for them personally and for their organization. They have a bold, powerful vision for growth. I couldn’t imagine better owners to take care of the brand that my wife and I spent more than 37 years of building.”
The Greer and Fryer families share a mutual respect and a passion for excellence and customer service. Both businesses have focused on providing a superior student experience. They are dedicated to helping people start new careers, ensuring the continuing education needed to maintain their licenses, and professional training to help them succeed in their careers.
“As we expand our offerings into different geographic areas and new lines of business, this acquisition allows us to continue to work together and pool our resources to provide high-quality courses and superior student experience,” said Greer.
“This merger is another step in a continual plan for expansion by Gold Coast Schools. We continue to grow and expand to serve students throughout Florida and beyond.”
Together the schools will serve nearly 100,000 students annually and have combined to help more than two million students. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.
In 2016, Gold Coast Schools acquired Bert Rodgers Schools of Real Estate, a leading provider of distance education for real estate professionals headquartered in Sarasota.
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