ITT Tech shuts down all its schools; many students eligible for loan forgiv

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > ITT Tech shuts down all its schools; many students eligible for loan forgiv

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Dr. Killjoy: Oct 9, 2012

loving Obama, now I'll never graduate from a scummy internet scam college!

quote:

Leon Wiggins II was looking forward to the start of classes next week as he closed in on a degree in ITT Technical Institute in Torrance and what he hoped would be a future in cybersecurity.

But on Tuesday, the 30-year-old from Long Beach and thousands of other students nationwide discovered that they would never receive an ITT diploma.

The company that operates the for-profit chain, one of the country�s largest, announced that it was permanently closing all its campuses nationwide. It blamed the shutdown on the recent move by the U.S. Education Department to ban ITT from enrolling new students who use federal financial aid.

"Two quarters ago there were rumors about the school having problems, but they told us that anyone who was already a student would be allowed to finish,� said Wiggins, who works as the assistant manager for a family-run auto parts business and went to ITT to open new opportunities.

�Am I angry?� he said. �I'm like angry times 10 million."

The shutdown will affect about 35,000 students who were preparing for the start of classes this month. It will also cost more than 8,000 employees their jobs.

Those students and others who left the school within the last 120 days would be eligible to have federal loans for their ITT education forgiven if they want to start over at another school, Education Department officials said.

And students in California could apply to for relief from private student loans and for refunds of cash they paid to ITT through the state�s Student Tuition Recovery Fund.

The U.S. Education Department has begun reaching out to students as well as community colleges near ITT campuses, which are being encouraged to be flexible in allowing ITT students to transfer their credits.

ITT Educational Services Inc. said it would focus on helping its students obtain their records and pursue their educations elsewhere.

�We reached this decision only after having exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a nonprofit or public institution,� ITT said in a statement.

The company has operated vocational schools on more than 130 campuses in 38 states, often under the ITT Technical Institute name. Last year, it enrolled 45,000 students and reported $850 million in revenue.

But like many other for-profit college operators, ITT has faced federal and state investigations of its recruiting and accounting practices.

ITT�s closure comes after Corinthian Colleges Inc. shut the doors of its schools and filed for bankruptcy last year. The Education Department agreed to forgive $171 million in loans owed by former students, most of them in California.

�Both Corinthian and ITT made the same bad decision, which was to guarantee third-party private loans� while pushing out more students into a weak jobs market after the Great Recession, said Trace Urdan, a Credit Suisse research analyst who follows the for-profit education sector.

Many smaller for-profit schools that focus on vocational education are feeling squeezed but aren�t in danger of failing, he said.

The day after the U.S. Education Department�s August decision, California imposed further restrictions on ITT. Citing concerns about the company�s financial viability, the state Department of Consumer Affairs� Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education issued an emergency decision banning ITT from accepting new students at its 15 California locations.

The state also planned to seek to revoke ITT�s approval to operate in California.

ITT blamed its closure on what it called unwarranted federal action.

�The damage done to our students and employees, as well as to our shareholders and the American taxpayers, is irrevocable,� ITT said.

�We believe the government�s action was inappropriate and unconstitutional, however, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it will now likely rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to attempt to prevent this from happening again,� the company said.

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.

�The school�s decisions have put its students and millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal student aid at risk,� King said in a blog post.

�We made a difficult choice to pursue additional oversight in order to protect you, other students and taxpayers from potentially worse educational and financial damage in the future if ITT was allowed to continue operating without increased oversight and assurances to better serve students,� he said.

At ITT�s campus on W. 190th Street in Torrance, a terse note taped to the main office door told anyone who might show up to refer to their email for more information. Students were angry and bewildered.

"It's starting to feel like maybe I wasted the last four years," said Nancy Valdez, 27, of Long Beach.

She hoped that her bachelor�s degree in information systems and cybersecurity would help her protect hospitals and other important infrastructure from hackers.

A cashier at Disneyland, Valdez lives with her parents to save money. She owes $10,000 in student loans.

"We decided one of us should go to the school and that was me," she said. "I'm just really scared and I don't know why this is happening."

King said current or recently enrolled students could be eligible to have their student loan debt forgiven and might be able to transfer ITT credits to another school.

The Education Department on Tuesday sent an email to ITT�s 35,000 enrolled students to alert them of the closure and options available to them, said Ted Mitchell, the undersecretary of education.

The department has a team of employees ready to answer telephone questions at 800-4FEDAID, he said. It also has a special website for ITT students and is planning a series of webinars to help them figure out their options.

�We think that it is important for students to continue what they started,� Mitchell told reporters on a conference call. �There�s nothing more important than a college degree in today�s economy.�

Students who were enrolled or had withdrawn from ITT within the last 120 days have two options, Mitchell said.

They could apply to have their federal student loans forgiven. Information is available at the Education Department�s ITT website or by calling the loan servicer.

Students also could try to transfer their ITT credits to another school. But if those credits are transferred to the same program of studies at another school, the loans for the ITT credits would not be eligible to be forgiven, Mitchell said.

Any students who feel they were defrauded can apply to have their federal student loans forgiven, Mitchell said.

ITT students also could try to have private student loans forgiven and get compensated for cash tuition payments through the state�s Student Tuition Recovery Fund, said Robyn Smith, a senior attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

The organization is planning a clinic Thursday for low-income ITT students to explain their options, she said. The clinic will be held at the foundation�s west office at 1102 Crenshaw Blvd. Students can call 800-399-4529 to register.

Last month, in addition to the ban on ITT�s enrollment of new students who used federal aid, the U.S. Education Department also prohibited ITT from awarding its executives any pay raises or bonuses. It said the company must develop �teach-out� plans that would help current students finish their programs at other colleges if the chain shuts down. Current students, it said, could continue receiving federal grants and loans.

Earlier in August, a group that accredits ITT found that the chain failed to meet several basic standards and was unlikely to comply in the future.

Suzanne Martindale, a staff attorney for Consumers Union, said the advocacy group was pleased that the Education Department had increased its oversight of ITT so that �students and taxpayers will no longer subsidize this failing institution.�

�ITT Tech has a long record of making big promises to students, only to leave them in debt without delivering the kind of quality education they need to succeed,� she said.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 23:56

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 14:14

JiveHonky: May 12, 2001; by zen death robot; Grimey Drawer

the deep web changes you... tramnsforms you into something less than human, more than human.. a deep web humanzee afraid of the light... always seeking comfort in the darkness of the deep web...

# ? Sep 6, 2016 23:59

ScRoTo TuRbOtUrD: Jan 21, 2007

Dr. Killjoy posted:

loving Obama, now I'll never graduate from a scummy internet scam college!

nice news article, fuckwit

# ? Sep 6, 2016 23:59

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

im a crypto humanzee

# ? Sep 6, 2016 23:59

ScRoTo TuRbOtUrD: Jan 21, 2007

JiveHonky posted:

the deep web changes you... tramnsforms you into something less than human, more than human.. a deep web humanzee afraid of the light... always seeking comfort in the darkness of the deep web...

trust the krust brother

# ? Sep 6, 2016 23:59

DoctorStrangelove: Jun 7, 2012; IT WOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT MEIN FUHRER!

Now who will tighten up the graphics on level 3?

# ? Sep 6, 2016 23:59

JiveHonky: May 12, 2001; by zen death robot; Grimey Drawer

hth posted:

trust the krust brother

i must trust what i cannot bust

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:00

fuck the ROW: Aug 29, 2008; by zen death robot

the feds buying student loans is probably the worst investment since whatever the last lovely investment was (houses for broke people)

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:01

Kuato: Feb 25, 2005; "I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING"; Buglord

All colleges are a money making scam. Harry Truman is the last President that understood as much.

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:04

JiveHonky: May 12, 2001; by zen death robot; Grimey Drawer

im never going to get my masters in deep web physics now : (

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:11

dookifex_maximus: Aug 10, 2016; by zen death robot

Kuato posted:

All colleges are a money making scam. Harry Truman is the last President that understood as much.

the university system must be destroyed. i dont know how they ever figured out how to disguise a brick wall to look like a piece of paper

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:11

dookifex_maximus: Aug 10, 2016; by zen death robot

why yes, this is a token of my complicity in a system that does keep people in poverty, thank you for noticing

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:12

BIG PUFFY NIPS: Mar 7, 2007; College Slice

im not gonna read all that op but if someone is stupid enough to go to college in 2016 theres no college on earth that could make them any less so

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:12

Ema Nymton: Apr 26, 2008; the place where I come from
is a small town; Buglord

They're giving up, just like that?

It's almost like they never gave a poo poo about their students at all.

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:12

panascope: Mar 26, 2005

I wanna talk to somebody who attended Trump U and ITT Tech.

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:13

appropriatemetaphor: Jan 26, 2006

im a millino times angry at this

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:15

fuck the ROW: Aug 29, 2008; by zen death robot

Luckily i only had a few millions invested in the "student failures" bond packages offered by my financial advisor this year

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:16

BIG-DICK-BUTT-FUCK: Jan 26, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

Kuato posted:

All colleges are a money making scam. Harry Truman is the last President that understood as much.

Pretty much

gently caress HIGHER LEARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:18

Vastarien: Dec 20, 2012; Where I live is nightmare, thus a certain nonchalance.; Buglord

I'm working for an hourly wage
I went to high school, didn't do great
still I gotta make more cash
more education is what I'm looking at
when I get a degree
I will make a bigger salary
so now I've got to see
which college is right for me
I went on the Internet
and found Education
Con-nec-tion

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:18

dookifex_maximus: Aug 10, 2016; by zen death robot

when my great uncle died around 2008 he left me with a little money and i was gonna invest it in night school. I had already dropped out and gotten high school equivalency when the dot com bust took my college fund in 1999-2000. ITT had just announced their programming course and it had some legit languages on it, so I thought it would be a nice gently caress around to get me a paper that has the correct words on it. i mean, even if you can afford to go to harvard or yale, you then have to apply for jobs where the hiring manager conforms to your alma mater because of inscrutible alumnus nepotism. yale men don't hire harvard men and vice versa.

I signed up and got the ball rolling. They announced a Special Group Orientation for all the incoming tech students and when I attended it ended up being a little raffle followed by the bait and switch. They didn't have enough people signed up for the programming course and they weren't able to offer it after all, and we were all already signed up for the networking course. Many of us were very irate. I dropped out of the process entirely and while I'm confident I could have made a lot out of anybody's degree that says I could do software engineering, i'm glad that they were too inept to even offer such a thing.

I should take a free online course and get that better job anyway, wtf am I doing here? still making bad decisions

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:28

BIG PUFFY NIPS: Mar 7, 2007; College Slice

you know how people say boomers climed the ladder then kicked it out from under them well people in college right now are the people still paying for the privilege of crawling on that prone ladder through the mud of ignorance

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:28

dookifex_maximus: Aug 10, 2016; by zen death robot

gently caress the ROW posted:

Luckily i only had a few millions invested in the "student failures" bond packages offered by my financial advisor this year

but its AAA+ rated

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:29

reallivedinosaur: Jun 13, 2012; Ogdober subrise! XDDD

lmao

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:30

I hate yankees: Apr 29, 2008

im getting a masters degree from a real school and my company verified it was AACSB certified and is now paying 100% of the tuition

gently caress the system etc etc

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:34

dookifex_maximus: Aug 10, 2016; by zen death robot

i just operate this drone to cleanse earth of america's ideological enemies, the retirement package is SICK

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:36

reallivedinosaur: Jun 13, 2012; Ogdober subrise! XDDD

a bunch of idiots itt

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:38

interwhat: Jul 23, 2005; it's kickin in dude

Can they do this with the Art Institues now please?

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:40

reallivedinosaur: Jun 13, 2012; Ogdober subrise! XDDD

interwhat posted:

Can they do this with the Art Institues now please?

what do you hate art for?

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:41

Twat le Piss: Aug 4, 2004; Grimey Drawer

reallivedinosaur posted:

what do you hate art for?

Art is worthless and garbage

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:42

Kuato: Feb 25, 2005; "I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING"; Buglord

My GF's sister was bragging around she got into THE Seattle Art Institute. Haven't heard from her in a while, maybe she's sucking off hobos to pay that money back. :shrug:

I've got a Masters and an office job, but I think I'd have been a pet groomer or mechanic in retrospect.

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:46

interwhat: Jul 23, 2005; it's kickin in dude

reallivedinosaur posted:

what do you hate art for?

I went for culinary, the one with more jobs and also having a few years experience. They of course don't tell you you'll never make enough to cover your loans.

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:48

dookifex_maximus: Aug 10, 2016; by zen death robot

Twat le Piss posted:

Art is worthless and garbage

I have some statuary of german folk heroes that says otherwise

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:49

Dreddout: Oct 1, 2015; You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

hth posted:

trust the krust brother

We are born of the krust, made men by the krust, undone by the krust.

# ? Sep 7, 2016 00:58

jenny jones fan: Dec 24, 2007

Here is ITT tech's full response. It's so loving funny, I highly recommend everybody read it. Especially about their cries that it was "unconstitutional" like they're freemen on the land

http://www.ittesi.com/2016-09-06-ITT-Educational-Services-Inc-to-Cease-Operations-at-all-ITT-Technical-Institutes-Following-Federal-Actions

The "unconstitutional" part is at the very end. It's great. Read the whole thing.

edit: if you are so lazy, please just read this part: "We believe the government's action was inappropriate and unconstitutional, however, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it will now likely rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to attempt to prevent this from happening again.""

They even link to a Wall Street Journal that criticizes Obama for wanting to shut down for-profit colleges because he's anti business :lol:

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:05

The Protagonist: Jun 29, 2009; The average is 5.5? I thought it was 4. This is very unsettling.

All of society is a vampire sucking he own blood, a shameful vampire

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:10

Gatekeeper: Aug 3, 2003; He was warrior and mystic, ogre and saint, the fox and the innocent, chivalrous, ruthless, less than a god, more than a man.

i think im gonna go be a PA because my degree is dumb and useless and my job is cool but frankly could be cooler and i like the idea of being a part of the movie magick, i'm hardcore into magick as some of you may remember

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:10

Kuato: Feb 25, 2005; "I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING"; Buglord

Gatekeeper posted:

i think im gonna go be a PA because my degree is dumb and useless and my job is cool but frankly could be cooler and i like the idea of being a part of the movie magick, i'm hardcore into magick as some of you may remember

should do a thread on magic imho

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:18

extra stout: Feb 24, 2005; ISILDUR's ERR

interwhat posted:

I went for culinary, the one with more jobs and also having a few years experience. They of course don't tell you you'll never make enough to cover your loans.

i hope you make it on Cake Boss and get to battle in a scripted episode for your future, the new american dream

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:23

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Kuato posted:

All colleges are a money making scam. Harry Truman is the last President that understood as much.

Everyone knows that but good luck finding a company willing to hire serfs who haven't proven willing to chain themselves up

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:34

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 14:14

reallivedinosaur: Jun 13, 2012; Ogdober subrise! XDDD

looks like you all got a free lesson from the school of hard knocks

# ? Sep 7, 2016 01:35

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > ITT Tech shuts down all its schools; many students eligible for loan forgiv

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