The closure has impacted 35,000 students throughout the United States, including two locations in MA and three in NY. Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell said in a statement on Monday that they are working around the clock to make sure the former ITT students will remain to be inspired to pursue finishing their higher education. The school is recommending any former ITT Tech students reach out to LCC’s entry center to meet with a counselor and come up with a plan to finish their education. Last week, the U.S. Secretary of Education published an open letter to ITT students explaining the regulatory action, outlining their loan forgiveness and transfer options, and urging them not to give up on their education. While it’s up to each student to decide the path best for them, we are doing everything we can to ensure they are well-informed about their options and opportunities. Transferring credits to complete the same degree at another institution, however, makes students ineligible for this form of loan forgiveness.
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Beyond 12 CEO Alexandra Bernadotte said in the release that the organization is helping launch the program because of an “urgent need” to support students affected by the closure.
For the students who have attended classes in the ITT schools, they recently talked to Consumerist to comment about their experiences with the institution. “We’re not changing the process for ITT Tech students or creating something new”. Ashford University, for instance, must refund and discharge millions of dollars in debt tied to an in-house loan program the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers deceptive. Ivy Tech said more locations may be added.
ITT has been the subject of several state and federal investigations in recent years for its recruiting and accounting practices. They want the department to extend the window for the closed-school discharge from 120 days to on or after March 1, 2014, around the time when state and federal investigations and lawsuits against ITT started mounting.
ITT Tech had faced criticism for its marketing strategies and for leaving students with high levels of debt upon graduation. But Mitchell said community colleges or schools can not use the fact ITT Tech’s accrediting body is under scrutiny as the sole reason not to allow students to transfer credits to their institution. As of September 3, 10 of those 47 students had completed the requirements to graduate, leaving at least 37 students eligible for the loan discharge or credit transfer options.
After Corinthian collapsed, education officials expedited the forgiveness process for groups of students based on findings that the school lied about the number of graduates who landed jobs.
Tom Miller, Iowa’s attorney general, said in a news conference call Monday that education department officials had taken appropriate steps when addressing the longstanding concerns over ITT Tech.
Students enrolled in ITT Technical Institute before the closure have two primary options now that finishing their ITT degree is out of the question.
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LCC did not have a standing agreement with ITT Tech, meaning that the school will not accept any credits earned through the program.
