ITT Educational Services, a for-profit college that operated a campus in Clive, will close immediately the college announced Tuesday.
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The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday students now enrolled at ITT or those who withdrew within 120 days of its closure may be eligible to have their federal student loans discharged.
As ITT Technical Institutes ceases its operations, the company says it has eliminated the positions of the majority of its 8,000 employees. The company blamed the shutdown on the U.S. Department of Education, which had stepped up oversight of the school and recently imposed tough financial sanctions. The closure comes one week after the school stopped signing up new students, following accusations from the Department of Education that ITT was misusing federal funds. Closed school discharge may be an option if a student enrolls in a different program that does not accept ITT credits.
Citing increased financial risk, the Department of Education told ITT on August 25 the company needed to increase the surety requirement from the current $94 million to more than $247 million, which represented 40 percent of the federal financial aid received by its schools a year ago.
The statement reads further that they made the decision after exploring alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a non-profit or public institution. “What are our options at this point?” said Montanez.
Students who were enrolled at ITT within the last 120 days can apply to have their federal student loans erased by the education department. “We have also always worked tirelessly to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and to uphold our ethic of continuous improvement”.
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Even though the doors are shuttered, the company says they will continue working with the students who were enrolled to make sure they get their records. The California state government banned all new student admissions at the company’s 15 California schools. Jasmine Nunez was also a student at the same location.
