ITT Educational Services To Stop Operations At All ITT Technical Institutes

(RTTNews) - ITT Educational Services Inc (ESI) said Tuesday that it will discontinue academic operations at all of its ITT Technical Institutes permanently after more than 50 years of continuous service.

"With what we believe is a complete disregard by the U.S. Department of Education for due process to the company, hundreds of thousands of current students and alumni and more than 8,000 employees will be negatively affected," the company said.

ITT Educational Services noted that the actions of and sanctions from the U.S. Department of Education have forced the company to cease operations of the ITT Technical Institutes, and the company will not be offering its September quarter. The company reached the decision only after having exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a non-profit or public institution.

Effective today, the company has eliminated the positions of the overwhelming majority of more than 8,000 employees.

"This action of our federal regulator to increase our surety requirement to 40 percent of our Title IV federal funding and place our schools under "Heightened Cash Monitoring Level 2," forced us to conclude that we can no longer continue to operate our ITT Tech campuses and provide our students with the quality education they expect and deserve," the company said.

"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," the company noted.