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ATLANTA - ITT Tech students found out Tuesday all 130 ITT Tech campuses shut their doors. Roughly 40,000 students across the country are now left wondering if all they have worked for was for nothing.
Joan Beihl of Lawrenceville said she chose ITT Tech because her family was in the military and moved a lot and she knew she would be able to easily transfer from one campus to another. In fact, she started at ITT campus in Washington and transferred to one in Georgia. Beihl had two more classes before getting her Associates Degree in electrical engineering. She said after two years of hard work and $28,000, she is back to square one.
“I was just one quarter shy of my degree. Now I have to start over again from scratch,” said Beihl.
In a release on its website, ITT Educational Services blamed the shutdown on the U.S. Department of Education which last month said the school could no longer accept students who use Federal Financial Assistance to pay for college.
The Department of Education will allow students to walk away from their outstanding federal loans or transfer their credits to a similar institution. But Beihl and other students say they doubt other college will accept her credits.
“Most of the credits are the ACICS, and no other schools receive those credits, only ITT,” said Beihl.
Beihl is trying to look on the bright side and knows while she won't get her degree as soon as she thought, she did get some experience at ITT Tech.
“It gave me some experience, unfortunately no one will acknowledge that experience, but hopefully I can find another college that will accept me and try to continue on from there,” said Beihl.