UPDATE 2-Career Education Q4 results top Street view

* Q4 EPS $0.36 vs est $0.34

* Total student population up 21 pct (Adds CEO's comments)

By Amulya Nagaraj

BANGALORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Education company Career Education Corp (CECO.O) posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by growth in total student population.

The enrollment growth was partly helped by changes in the company's recruiting practices, Chief Executive Gary McCullough told Reuters.

The company plans to introduce new programs in 2010, he added.

Most education companies benefited from the weak economy last year, as people returned to school in the hope that a better degree might improve their job prospects. But investors feared that growth might slow as the economy improved.

The sector has also been plagued by several regulatory concerns. The U.S Department of Education is proposing several new rules or modifications that investors fear could impact the sector negatively.

"We believe (certain) rules as they are proposed are complex and they are flawed. We believe that as proposed they could hurt students and we are concerned about that," CEO McCullough said.

The CEO said the company, which has an internal team that is analyzing the proposals, cannot predict the impact of the rules until the final versions are set.

Q4 BEAT

The company posted fourth-quarter profit of $30.7 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $31.2 million, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 19 percent to $507.8 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 34 cents a share, on revenue of $496.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total student population rose 21 percent to 116,800. Online student population jumped 27 percent to 46,200.

Shares of the company closed at $22.87 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)