SAN ANTONIO – The future of thousands of students at ITT Technical Institutes are now in limbo, after the for-profit college shut down across the country on Tuesday.
The move comes after the U.S. Department of Education banned ITT Tech from enrolling students who use federal financial aid. The government has previously stated that the college was “out of compliance," and the subject of state and federal investigations.
“I kind of feel lost,” said ITT student, Shawn Miller. “You get so close to the end, and you get the rug pulled out from underneath you, and you don't know what to do. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way.”
Miller, who says he was just a few months away from graduating with a degree in cybersecurity, said he had a feeling the school would shut down.
“I had an idea when they said they were going to ban all new students, from coming in, so I kind of had that notion,” Miller said “But I was hoping.”
ITT Technical Institutes operates 130 campuses in 38 states, including two campuses in San Antonio. Nearly 8,000 employees nationwide are also without a job, as a result of the closings.
In a statement sent to KSAT 12 News, Nicole Elam, a spokeswoman for ITT Technical Institutes said:
Our focus and our priority is on helping students during this transition. We communicated with all students this morning informing them of key information including how to receive grades and transcripts, articulation agreements, what other schools are near them that may offer similar programs of study. We will continue to communicate directly to students via email and an internal portal. Remaining staff will be focused on helping students during this process.
The Department of Education has set up a website to further assist students affected by the closing. On its website, they state that any student who was attending ITT when it announced its closure on Sept. 6, 2016, or withdrew within a period of 120 days prior to this date, has two primary options: apply for a closed school loan discharge or transfer credits to another institution.
Affected students can call the Department of Education hotline at (800) 4FED-AID for further assistance.