U.S. SMALL/MIDCAPS-Stocks drop; education shares lead declines

NEW YORK Oct 19 (Reuters) - Small- and mid-capitalization stocks fell more than 1 percent on Friday, with shares of for-profit education companies among the biggest percentage decliners following a weak forecast from Apollo Group Inc earlier this week.

Apollo shares were down 3.7 percent at $20.39, while the shares of Corinthian Colleges Inc were down 8.1 percent at $2.51 and Strayer Education Inc shares were down 8.5 percent at $56.38.

Apollo's stock fell to an 11-year low earlier this week after it announced plans to cut jobs and shut 25 campuses because of lower student enrollment. The company also forecast a weak 2013.

The S&P MidCap 400 index fell 1.4 percent, while the S&P SmallCap 600 index dropped 1.7 percent. In comparison, the benchmark S&P 500 ended down 1.7 percent.

Among other big decliners, Guess Inc shares tumbled 6.2 percent to $24.96 after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the clothing maker with an underweight rating.