tech s canton michigan campus motto education for the future type for profit technical institute active 1969 1969 2016 2016 students 40 015 1 location carmel indiana united states campus locations approximately 130 campuses affiliations itt educational services inc. 1994 2016 itt corporation 1965 1994 website itt tech.info itt technical institute often shortened to itt tech was a for profit technical institute with approximately 130 campuses in 38 states of the united states . 2 all itt tech campuses were closed as of september 6 2016 and on september 16 2016 itt tech filed for bankruptcy . students who attended itt tech may be able to have their debt forgiven by applying to the us department of education for a borrower defense to repayment . 3 contents 1 background 2 history 3 student loan debt 4 academics 4.1 accreditation 4.2 rankings 5 legal issues 6 references 7 external links background edit itt tech is owned and was operated by itt educational services inc. nyse esi a publicly traded company headquartered in carmel indiana . 2 4 the company also owned and operated breckinridge school of nursing and health sciences schools . 2 5 itt technical institute charged among the highest tuition fees in the industry . it also had the industry s highest rate of loans that go into default within two years of attendance . 6 in 2014 the tuition for attending an itt tech campus ranged from 45 000 to 85 000 . 7 a group of more than 3500 students and former students called the itt tech warriors have protested that they received a subprime education and called for debt forgiveness . 8 according to one source early career pay for associate degree graduates of itt tech s seattle campus in 2015 was 42 400 while mid career pay was 66 500 . 9 as of september 2016 update college scorecard reported that graduates of itt tech schools nationally earned an average income of 38 400 measured at ten years after graduation . 10 history edit in 1946 itt tech was founded as educational services inc. citation needed from 1965 until its ipo in 1994 itt tech was a wholly owned subsidiary of the itt corporation as itt esi . citation needed since 1969 the school has been headquartered in carmel indiana . citation needed by 1986 all its institutions had become known by the common name itt technical institute . citation needed by 1999 itt corporation which had merged with starwood hotels & resorts worldwide the year before had divested itself completely of itt tech s shares . the schools were allowed to continue using the itt name under license . citation needed in the mid 2000s ceo rene champagne cashed out more than 50 million in stock . 11 in 2013 esi began operating public charter schools in three cities indianapolis tempe and troy michigan . 12 in charter documents the company referred to potential students as educational have nots . 13 in 2016 chinese investors zhifeng zhang and yude zhang became esi insiders purchasing more than 3 000 000 shares of itt educational services stock . 14 in july 2016 esi reported that enrollment was projected to drop 30 % to 40 % from 2015 to 2016 . 1 on august 30 2016 itt technical institute stopped accepting applications for new enrollment . 15 at that time itt tech said that existing students could still finish their studies and itt tech would continue to operate until the last of its enrolled students either graduate or drop out . 15 however on september 6 2016 itt technical institute announced that it was shutting down all its campuses effective immediately . 16 at the time of its system wide closure on september 6 2016 the school had more than 130 itt technical institute campuses across the united states 17 with more than 40 000 students and 8 000 employees . 18 in august 2016 the company was barred from enrolling new students who use government loans and has chosen to cease enrolling any new students at all . 19 on september 6 2016 itt tech announced that it was immediately ceasing operations and closing all of its campuses . 16 student loan debt edit in 2014 time magazine ranked itt technical institute no. 2 on its list of the 5 colleges that leave the most students crippled by debt . 20 among itt tech graduates with loans due in 2011 22 % had defaulted by 2014 . according to the time magazine report itt tech s default rate ranked second ; the for profit university of phoenix had a lower default rate by percentage 19 % at phoenix versus itt tech s 22 % but the total number of students in default from phoenix was much higher 45 123 phoenix students versus 11 260 itt tech students . 20 according to the college scorecard as of march 2016 39 % of itt tech graduates are paying off their debt compared to the national average of 66 % among all schools nationwide . 10 this percentage represents the number of graduates who were able to repay at least 1 in student loan debt in the three years after their graduation . 10 academics edit itt tech students were characterized by the school as older and balancing family obligations with underemployment . 21 the company s web site stated the programs employ traditional applied and adult learning pedagogies and are delivered through traditional accelerated and distance methodologies in a learner centered environment of mutual respect . 22 itt tech offered associate bachelor s and master s business only online degrees . the state of pennsylvania was the only state which forbade itt tech to offer master s degrees . as of december 31 2015 the itt technical institutes were offering 49 education programs in various fields of study . 2 at the vast majority of campuses the academic schedule was organized on the basis of four 12 week academic quarters in a calendar year with new students beginning at the start of each academic quarter . using that calendar students taking a full course load could complete associate degree programs in seven or eight academic quarters bachelor s degree programs in 14 or 15 academic quarters or a master s degree program in seven academic quarters . 2 depending on student enrollment class sessions at itt technical institute campuses were generally available during the day and evening . the courses for education programs that were taught online were delivered through an asynchronous learning network and had a prescribed schedule for completion of the coursework . at the vast majority of itt technical institute campuses the class schedule for education program residence courses and the coursework completion schedule for online courses generally provided students with the flexibility to maintain employment concurrently with their studies . student surveys indicated that a majority of itt technical institute students worked at least part time during their programs of study . a significant portion of classes involved practical study in a lab environment . 2 accreditation edit itt tech was nationally accredited by the accrediting council for independent colleges and schools acics . according to itt educational services annual report for fiscal year 2015 31 campuses and more than 400 programs were not meeting acics standards for student retention . 2 per the itt tech web site it is unlikely that any credits earned at an itt technical institute will be transferable to or accepted by any institution other than an itt technical institute . 22 in april 2016 acics issued the company a show cause order to request information establishing why the accreditor should continue to accredit the institution since its programs did not comply with certain standards . 23 rankings edit in 2015 financial news site thestreet.com ranked itt technical institute seattle on a list of 10 best u.s. two year colleges that actually pay off . 9 according to thestreet.com itt s seattle campus ranked fourth in terms of alumni reporting rewarding careers only after its sister itt technical institute schools in san antonio west houston and san diego . 9 legal issues edit in august 1998 15 former students alleged misrepresentation fraud and concealment by itt arising out of their recruitment and education at itt campuses . in september 1998 itt settled all of the claims . 24 on february 25 2004 federal agents raided the company s headquarters and ten of its campuses in indiana texas virginia florida louisiana nevada california and oregon . 25 the investigation negatively affected the company s stock and triggered several class action lawsuits by investors . 26 27 in 2004 the office of the attorney general for the state of california cag investigated itt technical institutes in california . the cag s investigation was in response qui tam actions filed against the company under the state and or federal false claims acts alleging that itt tech falsified records relating to student attendance grades and academic progress ; falsified student grade point average calculations used to qualify students for financial aid under the state s cal grant program ; and retaliated against employees who may have complained about those alleged acts . 28 in 2004 omer waddles esi s ceo and a former counsel for edward kennedy resigned . 29 30 in october 2005 itt agreed to pay 730 000 to settle a lawsuit with california in which employees alleged that it inflated students grade point averages so they qualified for more financial aid from the state of california . 31 a february 2011 investigative report by wtmj tv in milwaukee found evidence of widespread grade inflation at the school s milwaukee area location in greenfield . in one instance a student got 100 % on a computer forensics assignment by emailing the professor a noodle recipe . the station believed this to be a way to increase federal student aid funding . 32 in 2013 a complaint was filed against esi and two esi executive officers in us district court for the southern district of new york regarding securities . the massachusetts laborers annuity fund filed a similar complaint and the cases were consolidated . the plumbers and pipefitters national pension fund and metropolitan water reclamation district retirement fund were the lead plaintiffs . 33 students continue to allege that private loans with jp morgan chase and other banks are predatory . 34 in 2013 usa today listed more than 50 itt campuses as red flag schools because their student loan default rates were higher than their graduation rates . 35 on february 26 2014 the consumer finance protection bureau cfpb sued itt alleging that they used high pressure tactics to coerce students into high interest private loans that were likely to end in default . 34 36 esi is also being investigated by at least a dozen state attorneys general for allegations of fraud and deceptive marketing . 33 37 38 on october 19 2015 the u.s. department of education announced that because of the company s failure to meet its fiduciary obligations it was being placed under heightened cash monitoring . 39 according to a july 2014 senate health education labor and pensions help committee report 57 % of itt programs would fail the department of education s proposed gainful employment rule . 40 in a 2015 federal whistleblower lawsuit a former itt tech dean of academic affairs alleged that the company 1 directed recruiters to use coercive tactics to pressure students into enrolling 2 admitted students who were unable to succeed at the school 3 unlawfully paid sales commissions to recruiters and 4 lied to students about their financial obligations and transferability of itt credits to other schools and about the jobs students could expect to get after graduating . 41 in 2015 the california department of veterans affairs calvet temporarily ordered itt tech to stop enrolling new or returning students who fund their educations with gi bill benefits