Former for-profit technical institute that operated 130+ campuses before closing in 2016.
ITT Tech offered associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees (business-only, online) across 49 education programs as of December 2015. The institute used a four 12-week quarter system, allowing students to complete associate degrees in 7–8 quarters, bachelor's degrees in 14–15 quarters, and master's degrees in 17 quarters. Classes were delivered through traditional, accelerated, and distance methodologies, with significant lab-based practical study. The school was nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), though 31 campuses and over 400 programs failed to meet ACICS retention standards by 2015.
ITT Tech characterized its student body as older learners balancing family obligations with underemployment. A majority of students worked at least part-time during their programs. The institute employed traditional, applied, and adult-learning pedagogies in a learner-centered environment. Class sessions were generally available during day and evening hours, and online courses used asynchronous learning networks with prescribed completion schedules.
ITT Tech charged among the highest tuition fees in the industry—between $45,000 and $85,000 in 2014—and had the industry's highest rate of loans defaulting within two years of attendance. In 2014, Time magazine ranked ITT Tech No. 2 on its list of colleges leaving students most crippled by debt; 22% of ITT Tech graduates with loans due in 2011 had defaulted by 2014, compared to a 13.7% national average. The institute faced extensive legal action for recruitment fraud, grade inflation, predatory lending practices, and misrepresentation of credit transferability. In August 2016, the U.S. Department of Education barred ITT Tech from enrolling students using federal loans, leading to the institution's closure on September 6, 2016.
ITT Educational Services filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on September 16, 2016. In 2018, a settlement tentatively reached in a class-action lawsuit wiped out student loans for attendees from 2006 to 2016. In June 2019, Student CU Connect CUSO settled with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 44 states, forgiving $168 million in private student loans. In 2021, the US Department of Education allocated $1.1 billion in loan relief to an additional 115,000 former ITT Tech students.