ITT Educational Services, Inc. announced its discontinuation of academic operations at all of its ITT Technical Institutes permanently after 50 years of continuous services, according to a release. ITT has been participating in a back-and-forth with the U.S. Department of Education, who they said, applied federal sanctions on them that couldn’t be achieved.
The matter came down to funding. The department of education provides the schools with federal financial aid, in which, ITT pays them back a portion to operate. Recently, the department of education changed the amount they wanted ITT to pay them. ITT said they were not properly notified.
According to ITT, “We have always carefully managed expenses to align with our enrollments. 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 propriety 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.”
While ITT alleges that the department of education didn’t fully communicate its sanctions clearly, the department claims that dwindling ITT enrollment numbers, and financial prudence, should have been maintained by ITT’s executives. Financial questions also increased as the institute’s stock price dropped.
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