The higher education company ITT Educational Services announced Tuesday it would be closing its campuses in Colorado and throughout the nation.
ITT Tech was banned last week from enrolling new students and granting existing students federal aid after the school failed to meet the criteria of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.
More than 8,000 employees and 40,000 students will be impacted by ITT Tech shutting down, the school said in a statement.
ITT Tech has campuses in Westminster and Aurora. The school didn't immediately respond to an inquiry about how many students and staff would be affected in Colorado.
"Effective today, the company has eliminated the positions of the overwhelming majority of our more than 8,000 employees. Our focus and priority with our remaining staff is on helping the tens of thousands of unexpectedly displaced students with their records and future educational options," ITT Educational Services said in a statement.
ITT students basically have two options going forward: wipe away their federal student loans from their ITT program and start fresh somewhere else or try to transfer their credits and complete their degrees.
ITT has been ordered to pay $153 million to the federal Department of Education within 30 days to cover student refunds.
Last year, ITT Educational Services generated $850 million in revenue. The Indiana-based company trains students in information technology, electronic technology, drafting and design, business, criminal justice and nursing and health sciences.
"The school’s decisions have put its students and millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal student aid at risk," federal secretary of education John King Jr. said in a statement.
"In recent years, ITT has increasingly been the subject of numerous state and federal investigations. In August, ITT’s accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) determined that ITT 'is not in compliance, and is unlikely to become in compliance with [ACICS] Accreditation Criteria,'" King said.
Subscribe to Denverite’s newsletter here. Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
