ITT Tech shuts campuses after federal aid sanctions
The for-profit college chain ITT Educational Services is shutting down its campuses days after the U.S. Department of Education banned it from enrolling new students who use federal financial aid.
The company, which operates vocational schools, announced “with profound regret” in a statement Tuesday that it is ending academic operations at all of its more than 130 campuses across 38 states.
The company, based in Carmel, Indiana, says its move will have an impact on hundreds of thousands of students and alumni as well as more than 8,000 employees.
ITT Educational Services says it was forced to take the action after the U.S. Department of Education issued sanctions Aug. 25, including a ban on enrolling new students who rely on federal financial aid.
U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released a statement about the institution closing saying,
“The closure of ITT Tech means the nearly 7,000 student veterans using their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to finance their education cannot complete their degree, even if they’re just a few credits short. ITT Tech now headlines a shameful list of for-profit college chains that have spent years and millions of dollars aggressively recruiting and enrolling veterans with generous federal benefits, only to close abruptly and leave students and taxpayers in the lurch. This is grossly unfair to our nation’s veterans and their families.”
“The Department of Veterans Affairs must now work closely with the Department of Education to ensure that ITT Tech’s student veterans have the resources and guidance they need to transfer and continue their studies at a high-quality institution of higher learning. Congress has work to do, too. While not every for-profit college is a bad actor, the predatory recruitment practices employed by some of these businesses to exploit the 90/10 loophole are well documented. Enough is enough. Too many taxpayer dollars have been wasted, and too many veterans have been robbed of their time and hard-earned GI Bill benefits. Congress can take meaningful steps to prevent the next ITT Tech from reaching the point of financial collapse, and chief among them should be closing the 90/10 loophole.”
