Three Inland region campuses and 10 others in the state owned by embattled for-profit education giant Corinthian Colleges must stop enrolling new students this week under an emergency order from California consumer protection officials.

Citing concerns over the school’s financial resources, mounting legal pressures and inadequate regulatory disclosures, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education ordered Corinthian to cease enrollment at its Everest and WyoTech campuses after Thursday.

Bureau chief Joanne Wenzel said in a statement Tuesday that the order was necessary to “protect individuals who may have been thinking about enrolling at these schools.” However, it does not require the campuses to cease operations altogether.

Corinthian has been trying to sell its California campuses since June under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education and has previously argued that continuing to enroll students was necessary to maintain its financial viability and prevent school closures.

The agreement with the U.S. Department of Education followed years of increasing scrutiny by state and federal regulators over the accuracy of Corinthian’s job placement statistics and loan practices, and marked the beginning of the company’s slow unraveling.

A group of Corinthian students is pushing the federal government to discharge $1 billion in loan debt, arguing that the company engaged in predatory practices. Nine state attorneys general have supported the effort, including California’s Kamala Harris.

Corinthian officials maintain that regulators have unfairly targeted them for isolated incidents of employee misconduct. They say the company’s business model performs a valuable role in educating students who are underserved by more traditional institutions.

Corinthian had until 5 p.m. Tuesday to request an appeal hearing with consumer protection officials before the order became effective. But shortly before the deadline, agency officials said Corinthian disclosed that it would not seek the hearing.

A Corinthian spokesman did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Corinthian operates two Everest campuses in Ontario and a third in San Bernardino.

Contact the writer: kkyle@ocregister.com or on Twitter @keegankyle