Thousands of students across Southern California scrambled to figure out their education options after ITT Educational Services said Tuesday, Sept. 6, it will close all 130 ITT Technical Institutes in 38 states.

The announcement comes about two weeks afterthe U.S. Department of Education said it would ban the company from enrolling students who use federal aid and would impose more stringent financial oversight.

It’s the latest blow to a struggling for-profit college system that has come under growing scrutiny. The federal agency has cracked down on a number of for-profit schools in recent years, demanding that they end what it calls misleading recruitment practices and the misreporting of graduation and success rates.<

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Those moves have resulted in major operators dropping out of the business.

Last year, Corinthian Colleges, which had 28 campuses, including Everest Colleges in San Bernardino and Ontario, shut down after it was fined $30 million by the education department.

In addition to the regulatory pressure, enrollment at for-profit colleges has dropped nearly 50 percent in the past six years, putting a strain on many schools’ finances.

ITT blamed the company’s closure on the Education Department’s most recent sanctions in a news release Tuesday.The company, which operates six campuses in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will not offer a September quarter, a news release states.

Classes were set to begin Monday, Sept. 12. The move will affect about 40,000 students and cost more than 8,000 employees their jobs. A small number of workers will help current students find alternatives.

ITT called the government’s action “inappropriate and unconstitutional,” saying in its news release that the company was denied its due-process rights to a hearing or an appeal.

The company said it came to the decision after exhausting all options, including transferring its schools to a non-profit or public institution.

“The damage done to our students and employees, as well as to our shareholders and the American taxpayers, is irrevocable,” ITT’s statement said.

STUDENTS SEEK ANSWERS

Students showed up Tuesday at ITT campuses across the region with lots of questions about the shutdown. Many said they didn’t get answers.

Deon Sims, a 36-year-old Perris resident, arrived at the deserted Corona campus to try to find out if the credits he earned will be valid at another school. He said he is half way toward an associate’s degree in network systems administration.

Sims said he knew the school was having accreditation issues, but had no idea the problems were so bad.

“It’s just a shock,” he said. “I feel sorry for people like me who are scrambling, who have to find a new place to get an education. I feel sorry for those who are out of a job.”

Sims, who is unemployed, said he isn’t angry but hopes there is better oversight of for-profit schools to ensure they use taxpayer dollars wisely. He said he’s confident he can repay his government loans that helped pay for his studies.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking,” Sims said, adding he hopes to finish his studies elsewhere.

The Education Deparment’ssanctions< came after the school’s accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, determined that ITT had not met and was unlikely to meet its criteria for accreditation, the department said in a news release.

The department began monitoring the company’s finances more closely in 2014 and again in 2016 after “concerns about ITT’s administrative capacity, organizational integrity, financial viability and ability to serve students,” the release said.

In June, the department sent ITT officials a letter requiring them to increase their surety on file – a reserve that guarantees the company can cover its debts – from $80 million to $124 million.

In a letter to shareholders on June 30, ITT announced it was cutting back on its recruiting budget, and the company expected the move to result in a decline in enrollment at its campuses.

ITT insisted it had no plans to shut down until it was hit with the most recent federal sanctions in August. The company has always worked to comply with laws and regulations, its Tuesday release said.

“We have always carefully managed expenses to align with our enrollments,” the release said.

‘A WASTE OF TIME?’

At the San Dimas campus, Carol Hernandez arrived hoping to pick up her cap, gown and degree. The 39-year-old Duarte resident recently finished her studies and was set to graduate Sept. 23 with a bachelor’s degree in project management and administration.

She’s also $80,000 in debt.

“Is my degree going to be worth something? Is it valid?” she asked. “Three years and was it for a waste of time? Who knows if I’m going to have to start from scratch?”

Hernandez said she thought about leaving about a year ago when she became concerned about the school’s accreditation. Her worries grew when she saw the number of recruiters and financial aid employees plummet over the summer.

Allen Acosta, who was studying network systems at ITT, was also seeking answers. He noticed that several nights in August, he would be home by 8 p.m. even though his class wasn’t supposed to end for another two hours.

School officials were tight-lipped about the situation, he said.

“They gave us inklings, but they never gave us anything concrete besides ‘talk to the dean,’” said Acosta, 21.

Byrnn Fulton, 18, was looking forward to starting a 21-month program to become a network systems analyst. His mom told him the school closed for good while they were on the way to the San Bernardino campus for a scheduled orientation appointment Tuesday morning.

Fulton said he liked the idea of attending “a relatively small school with a lot of hands-on experience.” He’s now thinking of enrolling at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa.

Moreno Valley resident Johnathon Trujillo attended classes for one quarter and said he was “very impressed” with the school’s drafting program.

He was at the San Bernardino campus to find out if his loan could be forgiven but the building was closed. Trujillo, 21, hopes to continue his education at Riverside City College.

STUDENTS’ OPTIONS

The education department set an email to its students Tuesday alerting them to the closure and offering options.

The agency set up a hotline, 800-4FEDAID, and a website, https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/itt, and is planning webinars to offer help.

Students can apply to have their loans forgiven or try to transfer their credits to another school, the department said.

U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said in a blog post Tuesday that the department’s actions were done to protect students and taxpayers from “potentially worse educational and financial damage” if ITT was allowed to continue operating without increased oversight.

“The school’s decisions have put millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal student aid at risk,” King wrote.

In Orange, ITT’s classrooms and hallways were silent Tuesday at the company’s lone Orange County campus.

Scott Voigt, 46, of Anaheim stood just off campus. He had two quarters to go toward his bachelor’s degree in project management, and now must transfer his credits elsewhere.

Though the U.S. Department of Education is taking steps to ease transfers into local colleges, ITT Tech’s students may have some trouble continuing their education.

Representatives of Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Fullerton College said their schools would not accept units from ITT, which wasn’t accredited in a way that satisfied the mainstream campuses.

Voigt said he had been satisfied with his education at ITT.

“It’s so sudden that we don’t know what to do,” Voigt said. “I knew exactly what I was getting in to. For them (U.S. officials) to take the accreditation away is ridiculous.”

In a letter to students Tuesday morning, ITT said students would have access to their grades and could request a copy of their transcripts through the student portal.

But several students at the Torrance campus said the information wasn’t available when they checked Tuesday.

Leon Wiggins II had one quarter left before he was set to graduate with a degree in network systems management. He was among a group of students standing outside the building who voiced frustration at the absence of ITT administrators at the mostly deserted campus.

Wiggins said ITT “slapped in the face” of hard-working students trying to improve their lives. He needs only three classes to finish his degree and plans to continue his education at another school so he can get a job in information technology.

Jessica Sanders, who recently finished her degree in network systems administration, wondered what the shut down will mean for her job prospects.

“You know you’re going to have to work extra hard, because they’re going to want to know, ‘Did you really learn something there?” Sanders said. “Basically they’re always going to question our education from now on.”

Staff writers Liset Márquez, James Steinberg, Cynthia Washicko, Jonathan Winslow and Anne Millerbernd contributed to this report.