ITT Tech announces full closure after sanctions, 40,000 students affected

This is an unfortunate turn of events. I always heard ITT tech was a great place to get a degree. The handful of people I knew that graduated from there have all moved into great well paying positions. I guess tuition was super expensive? I really not so sure.

ITT Technical Institute campuses, the for-profit giant that enrolls about 40,000 students, announced Tuesday morning that it is closing permanently.

“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,” the company said in a statement. “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 closure comes not even two weeks after the Education Department slapped it with a series of sanctions, including one that barred the for-profit company from admitting students who rely on federal aid to cover tuition. Last week, the for-profit company halted enrollment for all new students, signaling its probable death knell.
ITT Tech Closes Its Doors

"The actions of and sanctions from the U.S. Department of Education have forced us to cease operations of the ITT Technical Institutes, and we will not be offering our September quarter," the company said in a news release. "We reached this decision only after having exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a non-profit or public institution."

The company blamed its decision on the "inappropriate and unconstitutional" DoE requirements, which included a demand that ITT Tech increase its surety to 40 percent of its Title IV federal funding, or to about $247 million from $94 million, within 30 days.

The company was also banned from accepting new students who rely on federal aid. In 2015, ITT revenue reached $850 million, with around $580 million coming from federal student loans. DoE also tightened its financial oversight of ITT Tech.
ITT Tech announces full closure after sanctions, 40,000 students affected

Maybe they will re-open later after a restructure??

Already posted:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

So Obama's DoE has unilaterally ruined the education & job prospects of thousands of students and made unemployed 8000 staff???


Someone explain it to me because the verbose article wasn't very explainatory.

I won't hold my breath that this is justice.

Oh, come on, people! ITT Tech was a complete rip off sucking at the teat of government loans and providing a shoddy education. They richly DESERVE to be shut down. Their predatory lending practices alone should have them indicted for fraud. Read what a more informed group has to say about these creeps. ITT Tech, along with Phoenix University, DeVry, and others like them have defrauded thousands of people over the years. Good riddance to these guys.

Read more here and more here. These guys are the epitome of corporate greed preying off low-income students with promises of high-paying jobs that rarely materialize. Here are a few of their "issues" from Wiki. This has been going on a long time:

In August 1998, 15 former students alleged misrepresentation, fraud and concealment by ITT arising out of their recruitment and education at ITT campuses. In September 1998, ITT settled all of the claims.[20]

On February 25, 2004, federal agents raided the company's headquarters and ten of its campuses in Indiana, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, California and Oregon.[21] The investigation negatively affected the company's stock and triggered several class action lawsuits by investors.[22][23] CEO Omer Waddles resigned during the investigation and was replaced by Kevin M. Modany. [24]

In October 2005, ITT agreed to pay $730,000 to settle a lawsuit with California in which employees alleged that it inflated students' grade point averages so they qualified for more financial aid from the State of California.[25]

An investigation by WGBA-TV (NBC26, Green Bay, Wisconsin) found evidence of widespread grade inflation. In one instance, a student got 100% on a computer forensics assignment by emailing the professor a noodle recipe. The station believes this to be a way to increase federal student aid funding.[26]

In 2013, a complaint was filed against ESI and two ESI executive officers in US District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding securities. The Massachusetts Laborers' Annuity Fund filed a similar complaint and the cases were consolidated. The Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Retirement Fund were the lead plaintiffs.[27] Students continue to allege that private loans with JP Morgan Chase and other banks are predatory.[28] In 2013 USA Today listed more than 50 ITT campuses as "red flag" schools because their student loan default rates were higher than their graduation rates.[29]

On February 26, 2014, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued ITT, alleging that they used high-pressure tactics to coerce students into high-interest private loans that were likely to end in default.[28][30] ESI is also being investigated by at least a dozen state attorneys general.[27][31][32] On October 19, 2015, the U.S. Department of Education announced that because of the company's failure "to meet its fiduciary obligations," it was being placed under "heightened cash monitoring".[33]

According to a July 2014 Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee report, 57% of ITT programs would fail the Department of Education's proposed Gainful Employment rule.[34]

In a 2015 federal whistleblower lawsuit, a former ITT Tech dean of academic affairs alleged that the company (1) directed recruiters to use coercive tactics to pressure students into enrolling, (2) admitted students who were unable to succeed at the school, (3) unlawfully paid sales commissions to recruiters, and (4) lied to students about their financial obligations and transferability of ITT credits to other schools, and about the jobs students could expect to get after graduating.[35]

In 2015, The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet)temporarily ordered ITT Tech to stop enrolling new or returning students who fund their educations with GI Bill benefits.[36]

In 2015, CEO Kevin Modany and CFO Daniel Fitzpatrick were charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission [37]

In 2016, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey sued ITT Educational Services for allegedly "misleading and harassing students." [38][39] Breckinridge nurses also sued ITT Education for fraud.[40]

The following states issued subpoenas or Civil Investigative Demands against ITT Tech between the beginning of 2004 and the end of May 2014, under the authority of their consumer protection statutes: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington.[41]

On August 25, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education banned ITT Tech from enrolling students who receive federal aid and at the same time doubled the surety funds that ITT Tech was required to have, and to produce those funds within 30 days. Stock markets reacted with a punishing 35% drop which triggered a halt in trading, raising concerns about whether ITT Educational would be able to survive this latest decision.[42] On September 6, 2016, ITT Tech ceased operations and closed its doors, issuing a statement that attributed its closing to the Department of Education's actions.[4]

Source

That crowd have been under investigation for a few years, and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is suing ITT Technical Institute. Money for old rope it seems.

double.

originally posted by: schuyler
Oh, come on, people! ITT Tech was a complete rip off sucking at the teat of government loans and providing a shoddy education.

You got that right. When I was researching schools several years ago, ITT Tech was one of them. But their price per credit hour was so exorbitant that I tried hard not to laugh in their faces when they revealed the cost.

Them going out of business was only an inevitable conclusion.

originally posted by: Hazardous1408
So Obama's DoE has unilaterally ruined the education & job prospects of thousands of students and made unemployed 8000 staff???


Someone explain it to me because the verbose article wasn't very explainatory.

I won't hold my breath that this is justice.

It sucks for the people who are now without jobs, but like most for profit colleges, they're little more than scams. ITT Tech was always code for that school you didnt want to go to. They offered subpar teaching, unrecognized degrees, and were outrageously expensive. What's more, their best tactic was to target veterans with their education money, because the government gave them a bonus on that... so they ruined thousands of vet's lives for their own gain.

a reply to: Aazadan

Thanks, Aazadan...

From reading the responses it seems like justice did indeed occur.

a reply to: Hazardous1408

that kinda what I was thinking???? These peoples education in vain??

a reply to: Macenroe82

awww snap, my bad. I guess I shall carry on over there.

a reply to: schuyler

Wow that is terrible to hear! We had a DeVry near my house once.

a reply to: Aazadan

Thank you for generalizing all the instructors there as I taught three classes at night in PA. My brother in law did as well, who relied on that income for his 4 kids and wife. But people like you know everything. Next time I make a major decision in life I'll be sure to come to you to get the correct action.

originally posted by: GraffikPleasure
a reply to: Aazadan

Thank you for generalizing all the instructors there as I taught three classes at night in PA. My brother in law did as well, who relied on that income for his 4 kids and wife. But people like you know everything. Next time I make a major decision in life I'll be sure to come to you to get the correct action.

One of the major decisions you and your brother-in-law made was to associate with a scam organization and rely on it for income. By any measure that school was a major scam and has been ripping off students, particularly low-income students, for decades. Maybe you and your brother-in-law were the best teachers there. Maybe you provided real value for the outrageous tuition they charged. But the bottom line here is that more students defaulted on their loans than actually graduated. Their "placement center" was a joke, and thousands of students never got the jobs they felt they were virtually promised because employers recognize ITT for what it is and do not value degrees from it. If you read the slashdot thread I posted above you'd see that employers won't even interview ITT grads and toss their resumes into the trash. That's how stellar their reputation is. ITT has ruined far more lives than it has helped. I'm sorry people have been laid off, but that's what happens when you associate with criminals. It's not as if this is sudden and new news. ITT has been under scrutiny for years by the Feds and many states. Their business practices were well known. There's no reason you couldn't have known.

a reply to: schuyler

This is what I'm referring to.

They offered subpar teaching, ,

This is generalizing, and we have threads on here everyday about the entitlement of kids today in college. And I will say lot of them are based on that sentiment. All I'm saying is, Azadan's comment here is off base. I was offended.

But I'm moving on.

Also, people don't have to go to school there. Just like any business, they can go anywhere else. But my nice comments for ITT end there for obvious reasons.

Also, it is really easy to say what you did on here rather than actually having to do it. Relying on a business as such. Just like how people say well if you hate a job just quit...

Real life is hard and not as simple as typing on a keyboard.

LOL at anyone who thinks ITT or DeVry are legit institutions, like University of Phoenix one of the newer big scam schools.

It's a damned good thing they're out of business.

originally posted by: GraffikPleasure
a reply to: schuyler

This is what I'm referring to.

They offered subpar teaching, ,

Which they did, clearly. Their reputation as a sham was not invented yesterday. ITT Tech was NOT screwed over by government or the market. ITT Tech screwed over the market and thousands of people. And clearly, from its publicity release, ITT Tech feels they haven't been "treated fairly" when it is THEY who treated so many students unfairly. They have not taken responsibility for their crimes. No one should be made to feel sorry when a criminal enterprise is busted. Do you feel sorry for the henchmen out of work when a Mafia boss is sent to prison? You chose to work for a bunch of criminals. Take responsibility and make better choices next time.

originally posted by: GraffikPleasure
a reply to: Aazadan

Thank you for generalizing all the instructors there as I taught three classes at night in PA. My brother in law did as well, who relied on that income for his 4 kids and wife. But people like you know everything. Next time I make a major decision in life I'll be sure to come to you to get the correct action.

Maybe you were a good teacher, maybe not. Without having sat in one of your classes I can't offer an informed opinion on the subject. However, like everything there's going to be a range of skill. ITT Tech wasn't known for good teachers though.

a reply to: Aazadan

I can accept that, thank you.

originally posted by: GraffikPleasure
a reply to: Aazadan

I can accept that, thank you.

I should add on to that. It wasn't my intent to offend. I also think that in the moment, students are rarely equipped to understand who their good and bad professors are. Even the bad ones generally teach you something useful. I'm a perpetual student, I've been in college for 10 years now and completed a few programs (plus a few side years in ITT Tech like, unaccredited schools). Plus I went to a private high school.

I've been exposed to all types of teachers. Some are truly fantastic. My HS math teacher (had her for all 4 years) is the best instructor I've ever had, and I'm still falling back on that instruction in my current classes. One of my current college programming professors is quite good as well. I've had him for 3 years now, and while I started out hating him I've come around to realizing he's the reason our program is ranked top 10 nationally.... a very good teacher.

On the flip side, at my previous school, one of my programming professors was awful. At the time, she was my favorite but I've since come to learn that she simply didn't teach well, and her pace was very slow.

Sometimes it takes additional experience/knowledge to evaluate a teacher. I've done a bit of teaching at a local community college too. At the time I thought I was one of the good ones, because my students understood the material, and it was modeled on my earlier professors. After seeing how some of my more recent professors teach though, I'm pretty sure I was one of the bad ones.

Either way, I never took a course at ITT Tech, but their reputation wasn't the greatest and they were expensive. I have taken classes at other highly rated unaccredited schools though like Full Sail. I dropped out of that place after it became obvious they weren't teaching much.

At the end of the day though, ITT graduates just weren't impressing employers and that suggests a problem with the instructors, because it means they were graduating unqualified people. I realize school policy can sometimes interfere with that, but the purpose is to graduate qualified people and it wasn't happening.