Credit: Google Maps
The ITT Technical Institute campus on Veterans Highway (Route 413) in Middletown’s Levittown was supposed to reopen from the long holiday weekend Wednesday. However, a Tuesday morning announcement from the for-profit company that operates the college makes Wednesday’s reopening look bleak.
In a press release, ITT Educational Services, which operates 130 ITT Technical Institute campuses around the country, announced “with profound regret” that all campuses are permanently closed and all academic operations are being discontinued after 50 years in business. The majority of the company’s more than 8,000 employees will have their jobs eliminated.
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The company’s closure comes only a short time after the U.S. Department of Education stopped students enrolling in classes from using federal financial aid. ITT Educational Services blamed the move from the federal government on the closure of it’s campuses.
“We reached this decision only after having exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a non-profit or public institution,” the statement from the company said.
“We believe the government’s action was inappropriate and unconstitutional, however, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it will now likely rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to attempt to prevent this from happening again,” the Indiana-based ITT Educational Services statement read.
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Bucks County Community College on Wednesday will hold a information session for students who were unable to begin their studies at nearby ITT Technical Institute. According to a college spokesperson, the Bristol Township campus of the community college is inviting prospective students from 4 p.m. until 6:45 p.m.
“We’ll do everything we can to help these students continue their education at Bucks,” said Dr. Stephanie Shanblatt, community college president. “We offer similar programs and affordable tuition for both credit and noncredit career programs.”
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Phone calls placed to ITT Technical Institute’s Levittown campus were not answered Tuesday morning.
