CHCP Data Breach Exposes Data of 70k Individuals

The College of Health Care Professions, commonly known as CHCP, disclosed a data breach that affected 70,823 individuals.

CHCP is a private, for-profit higher education institution headquartered in Houston that provides allied health career training through certificate and degree programs at nine campus locations and online. The college operates under the legal names Empowerment Schools-Healthcare Ltd. and Texas Medical Careers Ltd.

The breach was disclosed to the attorneys general offices of Maine, Massachusetts, and Texas, with two Maine residents, 15 Massachusetts residents, and 68,825 Texas residents identified as affected.

CHCP discovered the breach on Jan. 30, 2026, and began notifying consumers on Feb. 27, 2026, by U.S. Mail.

What happened in the CHCP data breach

CHCP discovered suspicious activity related to certain computer systems within its network on or about Aug. 21, 2025.

An investigation conducted with outside cybersecurity professionals found that an unauthorized third party accessed a limited portion of the college's computer network between Aug. 16 and 20, 2025. During that window, certain files within the network may have been accessed or downloaded without authorization.

CHCP then conducted an extensive review of the affected files. The review determined that personal information belonging to employees, students and the relatives or guardians of students was potentially contained in the files that may have been downloaded by the unauthorized third party.

The types of information exposed varied by individual but may have included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, government-issued identification numbers (such as passports or state ID cards), financial information (such as account numbers or credit or debit card numbers), medical information, health insurance information and dates of birth.

CHCP's response to the breach

CHCP is offering affected individuals complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection through Experian IdentityWorks. The service includes daily credit reports for online members, ongoing credit monitoring, identity restoration support and $1 million in identity theft insurance.

Affected individuals must enroll by the activation deadline listed in their notification letter for the monitoring tools to take effect.

CHCP has set up a dedicated call center for those with questions. Affected individuals can call 844-443-1772 between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. They can also contact Experian's customer care team at 866-242-0627 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday.

Steps to take if your information was exposed

• Place a credit freeze or fraud alert with Equifax (1-800-685-1111), Experian (1-888-397-3742) and TransUnion (1-800-916-8800) to help prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened.
• Review credit reports regularly by requesting free copies at AnnualCreditReport.com and checking for unfamiliar accounts or inquiries.
• Monitor financial accounts closely by reviewing bank, credit card and other financial statements for unauthorized transactions and enabling account alerts where possible.
• Check medical and insurance statements for services, prescriptions or charges not received, since medical and health insurance information was involved in this breach.
• Be cautious of phishing attempts that reference The College of Health Care Professions or this data breach, as scammers may use the incident to send fake emails, calls or letters.
• Report suspicious activity promptly to financial institutions, health insurers and the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov if any signs of identity theft or fraud appear.