You probably know the commercials for ITT Tech, but after 50 years of service, the technical training school has closed all of its campuses - including the one in Getzville.
Effective today, ITT Educational Services, Inc. says it has eliminated the overwhelming majority of its 8,000 employees in more than 130 communities in 38 states and is helping tens of thousands of displaced students with their records and future education. The company blames the U.S. Department of Education for a "complete disregard of due process" and says it came to its decision after exploring all alternatives.
On August 25, the Education Department took a series of actions it says was to protect students and taxpayers. The Department banned ITT Tech from enrolling new students using federal financial aid funds and placed the campuses under "Heightened Cash Monitoring Level 2" - stepping up financial oversight of the for-profit educational provider.
The moves stem from a lawsuit filed in 2014 by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for what it called ITT Tech's "predatory, high-pressure tactics to push students into private student loans that were likely to end in default."
The company said it had no plans to close, despite a "challenging regulatory environment that now threatens all proprietary education," but without federal Title IV funding, it could not continue. It says the Education Department's actions were "unwarranted" and failed to offer the company a hearing or appeal.
Attempts to reach ITT Tech's national headquarters in Carmel, IN and the local Getzville campus were unsuccessful.