ITT Tech students question future after school closure

Saturday, September 10, 2016

ITT Tech students left in limbo after school closure

The students could sign up for classes in October at some community colleges and loans could be forgiven, but the credits they've worked years for won't transfer over.

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- There was advice for ITT Tech students Friday but few answers. These community colleges have several options for these students to continue their education, but the problem for some is moving forward is easier said than done.

When ITT Tech in Clovis shut down it left the education of Alyssa Rodriguez and her small class of paralegal students in limbo.

"We're all trying to work it all out together," she said.

She put in two years of work and was just one semester away from earning a degree.

"We were all right there at the brink of graduating, right at our fingertips," Rodriguez said.

There are community colleges willing to help, which is why they were at a government building in Downtown Fresno. The students could sign up for classes in October and loans could be forgiven, but their credits wouldn't transfer over.

"We have to restart everything," Rodriguez said. "This is a lot of time, a lot of money that we've put into this."

Salina Borbo has been through this before. First, it was Heald college and just one year later her drafting degree is out of reach again.

"It just seems like a waste of time and a waste of effort," she said. "I had straight As, I had perfect attendance, I was doing, not the bare minimum, I was doing the most I could."

On top of that, she said the school took advantage of her and funneled money out of her scholarships.

"There was about $10,000 unaccounted for that they took from me," she said.

For that reason, she's not interested in going back to school.

"It just seems like a waste of time and a waste of effort," Borbo said.

It's not quite what Stephanie Babb with Clovis Community College wanted to hear.

"Keep your education, that's number one," Borbo said. "It's a goal. Nobody can take that away from you."

She said that all the answers may not have been inside the building but the next step could be a job fair, organized by the State Community College District to help the students who were almost ready to graduate.