More than 1,000 students who attended Louisiana's two branches of the for-profit college ITT Technical Institute are left displaced with Tuesday's announcement that the national chain would be shutting down its campuses.
But Louisiana's community and technical college system leader said the schools will work closely with the suddenly displaced students to transition them into their two year programs if they want to continue their education.
"We will do everything we can to accommodate those students," said Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. "This is an unfortunate and difficult set of circumstances."
Louisiana has both a Baton Rouge campus, with 630 students, and a St. Rose campus, with 400 students, of ITT Tech.
Indiana-based ITT Tech announced Tuesday it would shut down all 130 of its campuses, effective immediately, citing recent sanctions by the U.S. Department of Education.
The schools were banned late last month from enrolling new students who use federal financial aid, after federal officials said the company had become a risk to students and taxpayers.
On Tuesday, the ITT Tech on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge was ghost town. But there was no sign the school's operations were disrupted except for a couple fliers on the doors from a local competitor trying to scoop up potential new students.
Hershel Thach, with Virginia College, was taping up the signs on the door inviting students to tour their campus later this month. He said the school had already taken several calls from laid off instructors and displaced students.
"We've gotten a ton of calls," he said. "No one knew until today."
Sullivan said the state's two-year system has been in discussions for months with the U.S. Department of Education about providing fall back opportunities for the ITT Tech students. He said the state's community and technical colleges offer a variety of programs that mirror the degrees being sought by ITT Tech students.
And even under regular circumstances, students at for-profit colleges could often transfer their credits to the LCTCS schools, if they came from an accredited program.
"ITT Tech is an institution that holds accreditation from a regional accrediting body, so we try to work with the programs," Sullivan said. "In this circumstance, we'll try to do at least that much and give students as much credit as possible."
The U.S. Department of Education ordered ITT Tech to pay $152 million to cover student refunds and other liabilities if the schools were to be shut down.
And students who have been enrolled at the school within the last 120 days can apply to have their federal student loans forgiven.
But Chris Turner, who graduated from St. Rose's ITT Tech five years ago, is still paying $51,000 in loans for the associate's degree.
He got the degree in computer technology, but he said it's done nothing to further his career or improve his earnings.
Now he's paying for a lifetime of loans for what he considers a meaningless degree.
"I'm paying for a degree where the school doesn't exist anymore," Turner said. "No one is going to recognize that degree, even more than than they already didn't."
Every college and university, from LSU and Southern University to Delgado Community College …
In recent years, for-profit schools have been under increased scrutiny for their high tuition, and high levels of student debt and default rates.
ITT Tech, which is one of the nation's largest for-profit college companies, had been investigated by authorities who accused the company of pushing students into risky loans and misleading students about the quality of the programs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
