A month after the USA government banned ITT Technical Institute from taking any more students with federal loans, the for-profit college closed more than 130 campuses across 38 states.
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The company, which operates vocational schools, announced “with profound regret” in a statement that it is ending academic operations at all of its more than 130 campuses across 38 states. “Ultimately, we made a hard choice to pursue additional oversight in order to protect you, other students, and taxpayers from potentially worse educational and financial damage in the future if ITT was allowed to continue operating without increased oversight and assurances to better serve students”. In 2015, ITT revenue reached $850 million, with around $580 million coming from federal student loans.
Students can apply to have their federal loans discharged, or forgiven, if they can prove that the school used illegal or deceptive tactics in violation of state law to persuade them to borrow money for college. “I king of would assume there would be more communication”, said Scott Wooten, a student in Memphis. We will continue to communicate directly to students via email and an internal portal.
ITT also has a campus in Baton Rouge.
The company said its focus and priority will be using the remaining staff to help the tens of thousands of displaced students with their records and future educational options.
School won’t start this fall quarter for thousands of college students nationwide after ITT Technical Institute closed its doors Tuesday. ITT Tech said in a statement that the loss of federal aid left it no other option but to immediately close its doors after more than 50 years in business.
A big question among students will be about financial aid and if loans will be paid off. Students may be eligible for their loan to be paid off depending on when they attended ITT Tech.
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It also means that taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars in student loans.
