ITT Tech Closing all Campuses Immediately

[Fish]

Leaving all current students SOL weeks into the fall session. Ouch....



ITT Tech Is Officially Closing

ITT Technical Institute is officially closing all of its campuses following federal sanctions imposed against the company. The for-profit college announced the changes in a statement:

“It is with profound regret that we must report that ITT Educational Services, Inc. will discontinue academic operations at all of its ITT Technical Institutes permanently after approximately 50 years of continuous service. With what we believe is a complete disregard by the U.S. Department of Education for due process to the company, hundreds of thousands of current students and alumni and more than 8,000 employees will be negatively affected.”

The announcement comes just one week after ITT Tech stopped enrolling students following a federal crackdown. ITT Tech and other for-profit colleges have been widely criticized for accepting billions of dollars in government grants and loans while failing to provide adequate job training for its students. Last year, ITT Tech received an estimated $580 million in federal money (aka taxpayer dollars), according to the Department of Education.

One week after ITT Tech was prohibited from accepting federal aid, the whole company shut down. The swift closure of all of its campuses should indicate exactly how far the company went to recruit students using federal aid. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with providing federal loans to students who are seeking higher education, but ITT Tech often went a step further: The company’s recruiters preyed on students who didn’t understand the lifelong burden of debt and shouldn’t have been seeking a technical degree.

A report from The Atlantic recently revealed that “students pursuing bachelor’s and associate’s degrees at for-profit colleges saw their earnings drop, compared to before they started the program.” The reason is because students at for-profit colleges are less likely to finish their degrees, have a higher risk of living in poverty, and students often become burdened by debt without learning any new technical skills.

The sanctions imposed against ITT Technical Institute last week were described by many experts as a “death sentence.” The sanctions prevented ITT Tech from receiving any federal aid for tuition and also required ITT Tech to increase its cash reserves from $94.4 million to $247.3 million. The cash reserves were created to help support students in case the company closed. Now that ITT Tech is officially closed, the company is not saying how it will use its reserves. In an email to Gizmodo, a company spokesperson said, “Please see today’s press release. This will be our only comment.”

ITT Tech’s decision to close down its campuses comes after Labor Day weekend, during which many of the faculty members and students at the company’s campuses felt completely out of the loop. “Labor Day gives us a time to pause and spend time with our family,” said ITT Tech CEO Kevin Modany an internal email sent on Friday. “As we close out the end of our June quarter, we’d like to extend that time by giving all employees Tuesday, September 6th off as an extra comp holiday.”

In the same email, Modany also indicated that the company’s demise could happen at any moment. “As you may know, we have contacted the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to request their consideration of possible alternatives to ED’s additional requirements,” he said. “However, we cannot provide any assurance that the ED will respond to our requests in a favorable manner. There is a possibility that we could hear something at any time. As such, we ask that you check your email regularly for updates. If you do not have access to email, please check with your Supervisor.”

ITT Technical Institute employees and students have been confused by the company’s opaque emails and lack of communication. During the holiday weekend, my inbox was filled with messages from faculty and students pleading for more information. “No one knows what’s going on,” said one faculty member. “There is no communication to the staff,” said another.

Students also wrote to Gizmodo, saying they were scared about their future. For example, we received this message on Friday, after our story was published. Here’s what the individual said:

I am a current student at ITT. Went to campus today to study and was kicked out. The dean stated they were closing campus early for the holiday. I sat in the parking lot and watched staff go in and clear out personal affects. Boxes, shopping bags full of things. One instructor brought lunch to campus and several people just left upset. Word is some people were let go to save money towards the 100 million the school has to put in escrow to stay open, other rumor is its prep for the shut down. Not sure what’s happening and have tried calling the CEO of corporate to get answers because I am one of several students that are suppose to graduate 9/29. Scared to death we won’t get to before graduation.

If you’re a student who currently or formerly attended ITT Tech, not all hope is lost. The Department of Education has provided resources to current and former students in a blog post that may answer some of the immediate questions you have. The DOE is also directing students to this Federal Student Aid announcement page, where its providing information to current and former students who have Title IV-related questions.

[Msmith]

If you can flip a burger, you will make $15. You don't need a college degree.

[Demonpenz]

with my cert in VCR repair I make sure I can do the tracking while watching blade 2

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by chinaski

Why should the government and taxpayer be on the hook for your student loan debt? Nobody forced you to go to college and take out loans for a worthless degree. YOU DID THAT.

Fact is, the idea that everybody needs a college degree is a complete joke. I can understand going to college for stuff like Engineering, Doctoring or Lawyering, but the youth have been indoctrinated to believe that somehow a Basket Weaving degree or some other worthless endeavor of a degree will somehow benefit them and afford them a quality job.

Take responsibility for your own actions, crybaby.

Because it worked so well when the government didn't get involved in the housing bubble.

My parents didn't take a subprime loan, and yet their retirement was still affected.

[BigRedChief]

I checked those guys out at one time. Felt like a rip off. Didn't see any reason to go into that much debt. Decided to take classes at the local junior college and study on my own.

Paid for my college as I went and or put some on credit cards. Not a dime of assistance from the government.

[MahiMike]

Wow this is huge. I was just telling my kids how I graduated from ECPI tech school in KC and started my IT career for $2500.

I hate seeing this. My school was inferior to devry though.

[Frosty]

I remember on days I didn't have to go to class, I would be home studying (electrical engineering). Perry Mason was on at noon, so I would watch it while eating lunch. ITT commercials were on like every commercial break and I have to say there were a few times I was tempted.

[tooge]

Hmmm. I guess I'll quit waiting for the "congratulations, you've been accepted to ITT" letter.

[chinaski]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Because it worked so well when the government didn't get involved in the housing bubble.

My parents didn't take a subprime loan, and yet their retirement was still affected.

Umm. The Government WAS directly responsible for the housing bubble. Look up the Community Reinvestment Act. The Government FORCED banks to write loans to people who had no business buying a house. Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac etc.

[Amnorix]

We have created an unmitigated disaster when it comes to higher education, and the cost of it in particular, in this country.

This is merely one piece of evidence for it.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by chinaski

Umm. The Government WAS directly responsible for the housing bubble. Look up the Community Reinvestment Act. The Government FORCED banks to write loans to people who had no business buying a house. Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac etc.

Absurdly oversimplified explanation of an amazingly complicated event. Suffice to say there was more than enough blame to go around. Government, idiot borrowers, selfish/greedy mortgage brokers, idiotic mortgage companies, and investment banks. MORE THAN ENOUGH blame to go around to all of them.

[Spott]

Never did the student loan thing and just worked my way through college to pay for it. But college was a lot cheaper back then. UMKC was something like 75 dollars per credit hour so it was only a couple of grand a year in tuition to be a full time student. I didn't even know what student loans were for back then, and I'm glad I never found out.

[fan4ever]

Want to know if one of these diploma mills is legit? Call your state university and see if they accept any of the credits. Two years for a bachelor's degree? I don't know how they get away with claiming that...the government must be complicit in promoting these schools.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Spott

Never did the student loan thing and just worked my way through college to pay for it. But college was a lot cheaper back then. UMKC was something like 75 dollars per credit hour so it was only a couple of grand a year in tuition to be a full time student. I didn't even know what student loans were for back then, and I'm glad I never found out.

I mostly paid for my schooling by working (and going to a community college as much as possible) but still ended up with $11,000 in loads.

Now days, it's almost impossible to work enough to pay for school. My youngest goes to a state school and it's still more than $25,000 a year. That would be a hell of a summer job. Fortunately, he got a crapton of scholarships so he shouldn't have too much of a problem with loans but not everyone is so fortunate.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by eDave

Is that the guy who voices Lamar from GTA 5?

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Dr. Pepper

Is that the guy who voices Lamar from GTA 5?

Yes. He's Black Jesus.