ITT Tech Shuts Its Doors After 50+ Years
As of September 6th, 2016, ITT Tech closes all 130 of its campuses with no notice to students. Ten of the campuses are located in Texas, and three of those ten can be found in Houston. Just what prompted ITT Tech to close?
On Tuesday, the college released this statement:
“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. 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 school was banned from accepting new students with financial aid by the US Department of Education in late August of this year. There were a whopping 40,000 students enrolled, through 38 states. With a reported revenue of $850 million, ITT Tech ranks as the fifth largest for-profit college chain in the United States.
The chain has been ordered to pay the estimated $152 million to the department in the next 30 days to cover the student refunds and other liabilities. The company, however, is still paying $44 million to the Department of Education from June of this year.
The accrediting group that works with ITT Tech reported earlier this month that the chain failed to meet several basic standards, and was unlikely to change and comply to the preset standards in the future. 
Students Left Reeling when ITT Tech Closes
Unfortunately, because of the sudden shutdown, ITT Tech is claiming at 8000 people will lose their jobs. Of course, that’s not counting the 40,000+ students that are affected by this.
“We had no intention prior to the receipt of the most recent sanctions of closing down despite the challenging regulatory environment that now threatens all proprietary higher education. We have also always worked tirelessly to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and to uphold our ethic of continuous improvement. When we have received inquiries from regulators, we have always been responsive and cooperative. Despite our ongoing service to this nation’s employers, local communities and underserved students, these federal actions will result in the closure of the ITT Technical Institutes without any opportunity to pursue our right to due process.
These unwarranted actions, taken without proving a single allegation, are a “lawless execution,” as noted by a recent editorial in The Wall Street Journal. We were not provided with a hearing or an appeal. Alternatives that we strongly believe would have better served students, employees, and taxpayers were rejected. The damage done to our students and employees, as well as to our shareholders and the American taxpayers, is irrevocable.”
No one is sure what this closure means for students currently enrolled in the for-profit school, or for those in the process of enrolling.