When word came that ITT Technical Institute — a chain of for-profit career colleges accused of engaging in fraudulent practices — had abruptly closed its doors last month, Matthew Jackson, a military veteran, went looking for answers.
“I enrolled in school using my VA education benefits,” says Jackson, 47, who was enlisted in the Army and served his country for nearly two decades before deciding to return to school in 2013. “Right now, things have been stalled and no one is providing many answers on how vets like me can recoup our damages and continue on with our college education.”
Jackson, however, does not want the VA to penalize his benefits for the time that he spent at ITT Tech, which was forced to shut its doors after it was accused of pressuring students to take out predatory loans and spending too much money on marketing.
The U.S. Department of Education has said that it will help students transfer existing credits or get the loans for ITT Tech classes wiped clean from their records.
Vets’ education questionable
But the plight of veterans, about 7,000 of whom were attending ITT Tech classes, remains a bit unclear, according to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who has been pushing legislation that he says will bring about “much-needed relief ” to veterans who were exploited by the for-profit giant.
