For-profit college operator ITT Educational Services is shutting down all of its campuses, including four locations in metro Atlanta. About 40,000 students who were taking classes on campus and online are impacted by this situation, as are about 8,000 staff members who are without jobs.
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The company said it had explored alternatives, such as transferring the schools to a nonprofit or public institution.
The company has been under investigation by government authorities for allegations of fraud and deceptive marketing tactics.
ITT’s announcement follows a decision of the U.S. Department of Education to suspend federal aid to new students enrolling at ITT on the ground that ITT failed to meet its accreditor’s standards.
The chain was banned August 25 from enrolling new students who used federal financial aid, because, Education Department officials said, the company had become a risk to students and taxpayers. It was rarely used until the 2014 collapse of for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges, which forced the Education Department address re-evaluate the standard used for reviewing appeals for debt relief. Therefore, losing its accreditation, which means it loses federal financial aid for students. The federal government is offering students two options to help.
The Department of Education has set up a website to further assist students affected by the closing.
Instead, students received an email, saying that new requirements from the Department of Education were forcing the school to discontinue operations effective immediately.
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The closure comes just a few weeks after another local for-profit school, Brooks Institute in Ventura, closed. “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”. Those students also said they are having issues accessing their completed transcripts.
