By Isaac Warren
Editor
ITT Technical Institute is shutting down abruptly, after the U.S. Department of Education imposed new restrictions on Aug. 25.
According to ITT Tech’s website, the determining factor was the fact that the new regulations impacted the financial aid the institute gives out. Students are understandably unhappy with this sudden announcement, with some students threatening to sue.
ITT Tech has been under some heavy scrutiny for the past couple years. Notably, the institution promised very high career prospectives, promising a complete ITT degree. Many students have found that this is not the case at all. A main reason for the college’s demise, is the seemingly fraudulent handling of money and loans to students. ITT Tech was a for-profit college. This means that ITT Tech could take up to 90% of student loan revenue, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
Basically, a student would go to ITT Tech and receive student loans to pay for classes. Those loans would be repaid to ITT Tech, with interest. The Federal government was in charge of giving financial aid money to colleges. ITT Tech was not technically an accredited college, but received government money anyway. When the Federal government put down the hammer on for-profit colleges, ITT Tech saw that their main revenue stream was going to be shut off, so they bailed ship, leaving literally thousands of students out to dry,
While the government is assuring that federal loans will be forgiven in most cases, this does not help the fact that thousands of students are no longer enrolled in any college. ITT Tech is still continuing its online summer courses until it ends, around mid October.
Sen. Dick Durbin has asked community colleges to aid former ITT Tech students who have been affected by this sudden change. Lincoln Land Community College has responded to ITT Tech’s closing by issuing a statement on the matter. From the announcement, LLCC stated that LLCC has designated a special advisor to work one-on-one with ITT students in exploring enrollment options for the current fall semester. Michelle Burger, career development professional, can be reached at 217.786.9600 (new number) or email [email protected]. ITT Tech students may also visit the Enrollment Services offices in Menard Hall on the LLCC campus, 5250 Shepherd Road.”
While there are some limitations on credit transfer, there are still other options, “such as credit for prior learning, proficiency testing, external certifications in programs also taught at LLCC, among others.”
Isaac Warren can be reached at [email protected]
