ITT Educational Services Inc. has abruptly shut down its eponymous for-profit technical schools, closing more than 130 campuses and leaving as many as 40,000 students stranded in one of the largest college closures in American history.
The company blamed the Department of Education for its downfall in a statement released on Tuesday. Last month, the feds demanded the company produce an additional $153 million in collateral — nearly double its $78 million in cash on hand — to cover possible losses that the government might incur if the company were to suddenly fail.
ITT said it terminated the “overwhelming majority” of its more than 8,000 employees.
“We believe the government’s action was inappropriate and unconstitutional, however, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it now likely will rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to attempt to prevent this from happening again,” the company said.