Local ITT Campuses Shut Down

ITT Technical Institute in Sylmar and Oxnard have closed following an announcement Tuesday by parent company ITT Educational Services Inc. that all campuses nationwide cease operations. The move comes just two weeks after ITT was notified by the U.S. Education Department that its programs were no longer eligible for government-subsidized financial aid, such as student loans and Pell Grants, on account of the company’s failure to meet standards set by its accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. ITT Educational Services issued a statement Tuesday officially confirming the dissolution of its ITT Tech Institutes and denouncing the Department of Education’s decision to revoke its access to federal funding. The company claimed it did not receive due process in the matter, calling the ruling “unconstitutional.” In a letter addressed to the 35,000 ITT Tech students who were slated to begin classes next week, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. cited ACICS’s determination that ITT Tech was unlikely to come in compliance with accreditation criteria as the government’s basis for penalizing the institution. He also noted that the Department of Education had reached its decision after two years of inquisitions into ITT Tech’s operations and financial affairs. The Sylmar and Oxnard branches of ITT Tech offered bachelor’s and associate’s degree programs in business, graphic design, criminal justice and performing arts, among others. Students who were enrolled at ITT Tech can apply to have any federal loans discharged or, in select cases, can transfer their credits to other institutions.