National Education Corp., which operates vocational schools...

National Education Corp., which operates vocational schools around the country and which provides technical training for corporations and governments, said its 1987 net income was $3.6 million, down 78% from net income of $16.6 million in 1986. NEC, based in Irvine, reported 1987 sales of $378 million, a 23% increase from the $307 million reported in 1986. Despite the higher revenues, net income was depressed significantly by one-time expenses associated with the $250-million acquisition of Advanced Systems, a Chicago-based technical training company, according to David H. Bright, president and chief executive of NEC. Those expenses included a charge of $20.4 million resulting from the merging of Advanced Systems with Deltak Training Corp, a NEC subsidiary, said Jerry Cwiertnia, executive vice president, finance.