Federal Probe Targets ITT Tech
3/2/2004 -- Classes are back to normal at ITT Technical Institute campuses across the country after federal agents raided the company's headquarters and 10 of its campuses last week in response to grand jury subpoenas and search warrants seeking various enrollment data.
Last Wednesday, agents searched ITT's Indianapolis, Indiana headquarters and 10 schools, including campuses in California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Oregon and Louisiana. The grand jury subpoenas that triggered the searches were issued by a U.S. District Court in Houston, and sought data on student placement, retention, attendance and grades, along with recruitment and admissions materials, graduate salaries, and transfers of credits to other schools.
Classes were cancelled for the day at the targeted campuses, and students, faculty and staff were questioned. In a statement, a U.S. attorney in Houston did not give a reason for the raids. No charges have been brought against the company.
ITT spokeswoman Nancy Brown said today that the probe won't affect current ITT students, and will have no effect on anyone holding a degree from any ITT Tech school. "All the colleges are open and functioning perfectly normally," she added.
At an investor conference call this morning, ITT's chairman and CEO, Rene R. Champagne said he believes the company has had strong internal controls and that the investigation "will show that we're in compliance." Analysts who focus on the education market said the probe might be related to Title IV, a federal regulation that requires education companies to report certain student data related to federal low-income grants to states. According to company regulatory filings, about 68 percent of ITT's 2003 revenue came from federal education aid programs.
The federal raids immediately affected the company's stock, which fell from last week's high in the mid-50s to a low of $34.50 last Thursday. ITT Educational Services Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ESI." News of the probe also affected the entire for-profit education sector, whose shares tend to fluctuate as a group. ITT was trading around $35 a share by mid-week this week, and the remaining stocks in the sector had largely returned to their pre-probe numbers. "In light of the pending federal grand jury investigation of the company and resulting shareholder class action lawsuits," Champagne said during Wednesday's conference call with shareholders, "the company is not able to confirm the internal goals and other projections for the Company's 2004 fiscal year that were previously disclosed by the company."
The dramatic drop in stock prices triggered several class action lawsuits by investors late last week - a common practice when a stock price drops substantially. The lawsuits claim the company artificially maintained or inflated its stock price by issuing false facts or omitting other pertinent ones.
ITT, with some 75 locations in 30 states, is the largest operator in the U.S. of post-secondary school technical education. It offers technology-based associate, bachelor and masters degrees in a variety of subjects, including computer programming, Web development, and engineering, to over 37,000 students. It also offers online education. According to the U.S. Department of Education, ITT granted nearly 15 percent of the total number of associate and bachelor degrees awarded in the U.S. in electronics and electronics-related programs in the 2000-2001 school year, the largest percentage of any single institution.  -Linda Briggs
|
There are 172  user Comments for “Federal Probe Targets ITT Tech”
|
|
Page 17 of 18
|
| 9/29/04: chumpgrad says: |
Yeah I went here in the 90's and did in fact get a good job, but I would NEVER advise anyone to go here. Too expensive, credits don't transfer (and even if they did, what kind of end degree would they be applied to?), the staff AND students are the lowest (students begin sentences with swear words, OUT LOUD in class (!)), and the degrees offered are crap. Visit ittsucks dot com and itt-sucks dot com for more information. |
| 10/4/04: Anonymous says: |
I find all the previous comments both interesting and disturbing. It's hard to argue that all these people have not had these poor experiences with ITT but, I wonder, could it really be this bad? I attended ITT in the early 80's and saw some of the same kind of comments then but, overall, the education was on par with what was being offered at the local junior colleges. I was offered employment before graduation and have been professionally employed for all the years since. I recently changed jobs and was chosen, as I have been in the past, over many people who graduated from 'better' places. Was this due to ITT? I don't think so. I do know, with my first job, when Texas Instruments came to interview, they did so based on past experience with ITT grads. This was a start for me and things only got better with time. I have often wondered why I didn't stay at home and go to the local college and can only think it was to my advantage in not doing so. I don't remember any of my friends who were so fortunate in their job search coming out of our hometown college. The advancement has been good and so has the money but was that due to what ITT did or what I did with what they had to offer to me for the handsome some of money I paid them? They were paid well and there is no argument I could have gone somewhere much cheaper. There is no argument there were better programs out there somewhere but after 20 years, what have I, and several friends I graduated with, lost? Transferability? As an adult student, my sister is now taking some courses for the third time to satisfy the requirements for her graduation at a major university in IL. She has paid and fought and suffered over and over... the instructors, the courses, the constant disconnects in credits... the point being..... things are the same all over. Each route has it's plusses and minuses but you get out what you put in and it's up to you to decide whether it's more productive to follow through and do something with your life or to complain about your failures. Nobody said it was perfect or easy but only you can make things work for yourself. Oh, btw, all the things I thought I would not have to worry about by going to ITT? I had to do it all anyway. You never escape the things you need.... it all catches up eventually. One last thought... things may have changed greatly since I graduated but, on the other hand, I would be keenly interested to see the transcripts, both ITT and high school, of the loudest complainers in the previous comments about ITT's performance. It's been my experience those who whine the loudest are often those who do the least. Greg |
| 10/4/04: chumpgrad from response says: |
Well, I'm one of the loudest complainers ever, but I have A+ grades and perfect attendance at ITT. If you are interested in researching this subject, there is more than enough information online nowadays. I also graduated from a top university without any problems with credits or professors. |
| 10/9/04: tommy919 says: |
Need to get an opinion plz. i registered to go to itt tech starting nov. 29, 2004. after reading this post, i really dont think i want to go. what should i do? i want to get a degree in their information security specialist program but if im not going to learn anything i dont want to waste my time or money. plz any information would be a great help. |
| 10/12/04: chumpgrad from response to Tommy991 says: |
The reviews here and at itt-sucks and ittsucks dot com speak for themselves. You can still get out of the loans if you change your mind before school starts. Go see the loan people about this - make sure everything is in writing, don't just take their word for it! |
| 10/31/04: marion from Greenville, SC says: |
I am interested in attending an ITT school in Greenville, SC. Been reading about other ITT schools elsewhere and find more negs than positive comments. Does anyone have any comments to share about the ITT school in Greenville, SC? |
| 2/12/05: James Fryman from Columbus, Ohio says: |
Yes I agree that there is fraud involved with ITT-Tech. I graduated in 2003, and there attempts to find me a job where a joke. We where the last class to learn all the old stuff, and every class behind us started using the updated material needed to succeed in the IT industry today. We expressed our anger but to no avail. Some of the classes where a joke, have the projects we done on the computers never worked, and by the time they did, thats quarter was over. I wish there was a way of getting my money back or just part of it. I am sitting here with a degree that is no good. I have even here in the industry that they think ITT- Tech is a joke. I wish I could have know this sooner |
| 2/20/05: Anonymous from new orleans says: |
im about to start at itt in march in louisiana are there any negatives about the louisiana campus |
| 2/26/05: Ricky Bilance from Kentucky says: |
I work with some people that attended I.T.T and they said some of the classes where a joke however half of those people after graduation ended getting decent jobs because they have a degree (and I dont) I know one girl who didnt even know the difference between IPXSPX and TCPIP or anything and now she's a network admin in Ft Knox. Scary. So if you have a degree make it work for you is the only advice I can give |
| 3/5/05: Arthur W. Clark III from South Carolina says: |
I took classes at the Greenville SC location. When I started classes in Computer Aide Drafting and Design, I voiced my concern about my own mathmatics levels and was told that,"theres really not alot math, it's more drawing and computer work." I lost my first counsler before my first day. The first week I saw the math level needed and spoke to my new counsler who told me that I score real high on my entrance exam and they knew I could do the work. The second term I was flunking Math 1 and my counsler was gone. I did score high on the entrance exam but, the exam had no Math or English in the test at all. The test was basically a logic puzzle. Now after dropping out after three terms I owe over a$ 11,000! I feel cheated and of course Sallie Mae wants their money. Can I get help with this or am I another person that's been lied to. The last straw is that Itt tech want $100.00 for adminastation fees. |
First Page Previous Page Next Page Last Page
|
|
|
|
