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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As most colleges start the fall term, ITT Technical Institute made an announcement Tuesday stating that it will be shutting down its 137 campuses in 38 states. Just last month, the U.S. Department of Education stopped ITT Tech from enrolling new students who receive federal aid.
The Department of Education has set up a website to further assist students affected by the closing.
U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said Tuesday that his agency did not take its action lightly and that federal officials were committed to helping ITT’s students.
ITT’s sudden closure now leaves students with large student loans, no degree and a lot of uncertainty.
ITT Tech says these actions are unwarranted, having not been provided a hearing or an appeal, and alternatives it feels would have better served students, employees and taxpayers were rejected.
The Sylmar and Oxnard branches of ITT Tech offered bachelor’s and associate’s degree programs in business, graphic design, criminal justice and performing arts, among others.
As for the students ITT Tech left behind, they are left with student loans and credits that most likely will not transfer.
ITT’s closure followed the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to suspend federal aid to new students enrolling since ITT failed to meet its accreditor’s standards.
The Department of Education said ITT’s creditor, Accrediting Counselor for Independent Colleges and Schools, ACICS, said ITT is not in compliance with criteria to stay accredited.
Hundreds of students will no longer have a college to go to this fall.
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In a Big Bang solution to an intractable problem, ITT Educational Services, parent of ITT Tech, shut down all of its 130 campuses over the Labor Day weekend. If a student was now enrolled and unable to complete their program, then they would be eligible for a loan pay off.
