ITT Educational Services Inc said it would shut its flagship ITT Technical Institutes, following a U.S. Department of Education order, affecting thousands of students and employees.
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The company said the closure will result in more than 8,000 employees losing their jobs and thousands of students losing access to classes.
ITT Technical Institute announced today that it will close all of its academic operations after the U.S. Department of Education issued sanctions against the institute.
Please know we worked diligently to identify alternatives that would have allowed you to start or continue your education at ITT Tech, and earn your degree.
ITT Educational Services, a for-profit college chain of 130 US campuses each housing an ITT Technical Institute, announced Tuesday it would be shutting down all of its USA campuses, including one in Durham.
Federal officials cited the school for failing to meet accreditation standards. Analysts said at the time the Education Department’s move would nearly surely force the company to close many if not all of its campuses. “In response, over the last couple of years, we at the Department of Education have increased our financial oversight over ITT and required the school to boost its cash reserves to cover potential damages to taxpayers and students”.
In a statement Tuesday, the company said it was laying off the “overwhelming majority” of its roughly 8,000 employees, and it said its remaining staff would work on helping the tens of thousands of “unexpectedly displaced” students transfer their records.
In 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued ITT for predatory student lending, arguing that the college encouraged students to take out expensive private loans that they would most likely default on. It’s unclear what options exist for students now enrolled.
“In addition, in case the school’s actions cause it to close, we’re increasing the amount of cash reserves it must send us”, said the agency’s blog post on August 25. At the time, the school had been under scrutiny over its finances and the poor performance of its students on certification exams.
Students who attended these colleges are pursuing student loan forgiveness and claiming they were the victims of fraud.
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He says students have two options: they can transfer, known as a “teach out”, or a student loan discharges through the US Department of Education.
