ITT Tech Is Closing: What Students Need to Know

Add your voice to our petition asking the Department of Education for a full loan discharge for defrauded students.

You may have heard the news that ITT Educational Services is closing. This closure comes just one week after the Department of Education halted student enrollment at ITT because of longstanding issues involving the deception of students. As a result of its actions, ITT has put tens of thousands of its students, as well as thousands of its employees, in a horrible, complicated position. It’s pretty confusing, and there’s a lot of misinformation out there, so we wanted to break down what it’ll mean for current and former students of ITT.

Why is this happening?

Here’s what the Department of Education says in a blog post:

In recent years, ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ITT) has increasingly been the subject of state and federal investigations and this year it has twice been found out of compliance with its accreditor’s standards. Over time, ITT’s decisions have put its students and millions of dollars in taxpayer funded federal student aid at risk.

In a nutshell, it’s too risky, for both students and taxpayers, to allow ITT to continue enrolling students who borrow their tuition from the federal government. Students were not getting the education they were promised and the school’s behavior makes it a bad investment for taxpayer dollars.

I’m a current ITT student with federal loans—what does this mean for me?

1. You can apply for loan forgiveness and submit a closed school discharge application.
   • Submit a closed school discharge application to apply for federal student loan forgiveness.
   • You can find a detailed explanation of the best way to fill out this application with our toolkit.
2. You can transfer your credits to a new school (if that school accepts them) and complete your education. This is usually called a “teach-out” and you can read more about the process from the Debt Collective. Be very cautious of this route and know that only you can pick what’s best for your situation. Here’s the tricky part:
   • If you do this, you will likely not be eligible for full or partial federal loan forgiveness.
   • You should also consider a potential new school carefully. Be sure you’re not picking a program with a track record similar to ITT’s. Use the Department of Education’s College Scorecard tool to see how much a school costs compared to others, what the graduation rate is, and whether students are able to repay their loans by finding good paying jobs after graduation.
   • Closed school discharge may be an option if you enroll in a different program that does not accept your ITT credits—but there are no guarantees.

I’m close to graduating. Can I finish my degree?

No, not at ITT. Unfortunately, the company exploited students and fleeced American taxpayers, and its predatory practices have finally caught up to it. We are working with our partners to ask that the Department of Education hold ITT fully accountable for the way it has mistreated students and to get you the justice you deserve.

Will this impact my GI Bill benefits?

You can read more about this from our partners at Veterans Education Success.

I already completed my ITT program but I think the school cheated me. Can I get my money back?

It’s still unclear. If one of the numerous open state and federal investigations finds evidence of fraud or other illegal behavior surrounding your specific program, you might be eligible for relief.

• If you were misled by ITT, you should go to the Federal Student Aid’s borrower defense page to learn more about how to file a claim for loan forgiveness.
• The Debt Collective also has a secure borrower defense page you can fill out either one, but no need to do both.

Where can I go to get updates on what’s happening?

• If you have not yet, sign up to receive email updates from Higher Ed, Not Debt. As we hear more, we will send you updates.
• Your school should update you directly, but we know their messaging can be confusing. The Department of Education will also post updates if there are major changes.
• You should also check out the ITT Warriors Facebook group—it’s a group of borrowers unaffiliated with Higher Ed, Not Debt and a great place to find support from others in similar situations.