Technical college chain to close all campuses, 3 in Phoenix area
Sep 6, 2016, 8:19 AM | Updated: 11:18 am
(Google Maps Photo)
PHOENIX –A for-profit technical college chain with campuses in the Valley is getting out of the academics business after the U.S. Department of Education banned it from enrolling new students who use federal financial aid.
ITT Educational Services, which operates ITT vocational schools, including three in metro Phoenix, announced “with profound regret” Tuesday that it was ending academic operations at all of its more than 130 campuses across 38 states.
A notice posted at the website read only, “We are currently not enrolling new students.”
There are two campuses in Phoenix and one in Tempe.
The Department of Education posted a message to students on its site, laying out why the sanctions were handed down, noting the company had been “the subject of numerous state and federal investigations” because of concerns of “financial viability and ability to serve students.”
Secretary of Education John King Jr. listed a pair of options for students, noting that their federal debt could be erased if they decided to finish their education elsewhere and urged them to complete their degree work.
The company, based in Carmel, Indiana, said the move will have an impact on hundreds of thousands of students and alumni as well as more than 8,000 employees.
The federal agency issued sanctions Aug. 25.
The Associated Press contributed to this report