Help for Students Who Attended ITT Tech

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 response, over the last couple of years, the Department of Education has increased their financial oversight over ITT and required the school to boost its cash reserves to cover potential damages to taxpayers and students.

These investigations are still ongoing and last week ITT still failed to address its accreditor’s concerns. In response, the DOE announced further federal action: The U.S. Department of Education took a series of actions to protect students and taxpayers by banning ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ITT) from enrolling new students using federal financial aid funds, and stepping up financial oversight of the for-profit educational provider.

As outlined in a letter sent by the Department to ITT, the school will no longer be allowed to participate in Title IV except under the following conditions:

• Enrollment restrictions: ITT may no longer enroll new students who rely on federal financial aid dollars for educational expenses;
• Disclosures to Students: ED is requiring ITT to inform current students that its accreditor has found that the institution is not in compliance, and is unlikely to become in compliance with its Accreditation Criteria;
• Compensation and Payment Limitations: ITT is prohibited from awarding raises, paying bonuses or making retention or severance payments to its executives or to paying special dividends or out of the ordinary expenditures without department approval;
• Notification of Financial Events requirements: ITT must inform the Department of any significant financial or oversight events including violations of existing loan agreements or extraordinary financial losses within ten days of such events; and
• Title IV payment method requirements (Heightened Cash Monitoring 2): ITT is required to use its own funds to initially cover Title IV aid disbursements for current students. The Department will reimburse funds to ITT after aid is disbursed to students.
• The full press release can be found here: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-bans-itt-enrolling-new-title-iv-students-adds-tough-new-financial-oversight

Where can I go to get updates on what’s happening? What’s the most reliable place for information?

The school should update you directly. We’ll also post updates if there are major changes on Federal Student Aid’s announcement page.

Also the Federal Student Aid’s website has helpful information/webinars for former ITT students: www.studentaid.gov/itt

Additional Link

Letter from Secretary to ITT students after the school’s closure:  http://blog.ed.gov/2016/09/message-secretary-education-itt-students/

More Resources for ITT students

There is information out there that can help students learn their options, manage their debt and continue their education. Check out these links to FAQs, and the Department of Education’s ITT announcement page to learn more about student options.
 
You can also check out this blog post from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), detailing additional options for the thousands of students impacted by the closure.