CEDU Educational Services, Inc., commonly known as CEDU (pronounced “see-doo”) was an education provider founded in 1967 in Palm Springs, California by Mel Wasserman. The company became associated with the early development of the troubled teen industry and operated a network of therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, and behavior modification facilities in California and Idaho. Over the years, CEDU and its programs attracted numerous allegations of abuse and manslaughter. In 1998, the company was acquired by Brown Schools Inc. of Texas, which later filed for bankruptcy in 2005 amid legal challenges and regulatory actions.

CEDU originates from Synanon, a new religious movement within the Human Potential Movement. Founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by Charles E. Dederich. Mel Wasserman, founder of CEDU, was a former Synanon member. According to Maia Szalavitz, author of Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, "Synanon sold itself as a cure for hardcore heroin addicts who could help each other by 'breaking' new initiates with isolation, humiliation, hard labor, and sleep deprivation." The troubled teen industry has continued to be associated with Synanon and CEDU spin-offs. Former students have made the assertion that CEDU is an acronym for Charles E. Dederich University, while CEDU marketing materials claim that it stands for "See Yourself As You Are and Do Something About It".

CEDU was founded by Merle "Mel" Wassermann and his wife Brigette Wasserman, in their Palm Springs home. Wasserman was a furniture salesman and had been involved with sponsoring people undertaking the Synanon program. CEDU was initially based in Reche Canyon on a working ranch. In 1968, there were 28 people living on the ranch under the guidance of Wassermann, ranging from 13 to 24 years old. However, despite the fact that they were working on the ranch, they were not receiving any payment for their labor. CEDU had been given non-profit status and actively solicited donations.

In September 1968, CEDU faced a setback when county planners denied their ranch a permit for public use. This decision meant that the program would have to find a new location to continue its operations.

In 1969, CEDU bought a town house in San Bernardino and was also operating a gasoline station in Loma Linda. Contemporaneous newspaper reports cited allegations of "sex orgies" and "brainwashing," based on statements from parents, claims that were at the time rebutted at length by CEDU. CEDU was later accused by a critic of telling problematic students that they may end up at California Youth Authority, Juvenile Hall or Patton state hospital if they left prior to completing the program. CEDU moved into the property in Running Springs that had previously owned by Walter Houston and turned it into the Running Springs campus.

In a 1973 news article titled "Center a beacon light leading addicts out of world of drugs", it was reported that students were being assigned jobs such as construction, kitchen duties, landscaping, and plumbing. Including digging out tree stumps.

In 1982, a small group of staff and residents known as the "original seven" left the Running Springs, California campus for Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to open Rocky Mountain Academy (RMA). RMA's curriculum and philosophy were identical to the original school, CEDU Running Springs.

CEDU also ran another program called Hilltop that was established in 1984. Its ages ranged from 17+1⁄2 to 27+1⁄2.