WyoTech Long Beach among casualties of Corinthian Colleges closure

CJ Dablo
Signal Tribune
WyoTech in Long Beach, one of the campuses owned by Corinthian Colleges, Inc. was among the 28 schools that were abruptly shut down on April 27, leaving many of the currently enrolled students bewildered, angry!and in debt.

Located at 2161 Technology Pl. on the west side of Long Beach, WyoTech is much quieter now, and visitors are not welcome. A security guard Wednesday afternoon ordered a reporter from the Signal Tribune to leave the campus, indicating that the school was closed. There were still some cars nearby, but the vast amount of student parking spaces lay empty between white buildings. A direction sign proclaiming “Your Future Begins Here” guards an American flag near a side entrance.
Corinthian Colleges, Inc. had been under scrutiny before it announced the closure of its remaining 28 campuses nationwide, including WyoTech, Everest and Heald Colleges. As early as last year, the for-profit school had announced that, as part of an agreement with the Department of Education, it was in the process of the sale and “winding down” of its schools.
Corinthian stated on its website that it was in “advanced negotiations” with various parties and had even agreed to establish a “teach-out” process in place to continue the education of its students in California, however “these efforts were unsuccessful largely as a result of federal and state regulators seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions on buyers and teach-out partners.”
“We believe that we have attempted to do everything within our power to provide a quality education and an opportunity for a better future for our students,” said Jack Massimino in a statement. He serves as the chief executive officer of Corinthian. “Unfortunately, the current regulatory environment would not allow us to complete a transaction with several interested parties that would have allowed for a seamless transition for our students. I would like to thank our employees for their selfless dedication and commitment to fulfilling the educational and career goals of all of our students.”

According to several media outlets, Corinthian filed for bankruptcy this week. In addition, Calif. Attorney General Kamala Harris said on her website that her office is filing suit against Corinthian Colleges. She acknowledged that the company was under federal and state investigation by numerous government agencies that alleged that Corinthian lied to students about key issues like job-placement figures.
The Calif. Attorney General’s office has offered help to Corinthian students on its website.
Along with the other affected campuses owned by Corinthian, WyoTech in Long Beach told students to come to informational sessions last week to learn about their options to transfer to other campuses or even apply to have their student-loan debts forgiven.
Last week, Rep. Janice Hahn voiced her frustration with the process as she spoke on the House floor.
“I rise in support today of the tens of thousands of students who have been left in the lurch after their for-profit school Corinthian College abruptly closed this week,” the congressmember said. “The closure came as a surprise. It was the middle of their semester. Many of these students are now buried in student-loan debt and do not know how or if they can continue their education. I have urged the Department of Education to make it very clear to these students they have the option to have their loans forgiven. However, the Department of Education has been encouraging students to transfer to other troubled for-profit schools rather than having their loans discharged.”  
She criticized the list of the for-profit schools that she said were called “viable transfer opportunities,” explaining that many of them are facing state or federal investigation.
“This is shocking, and it is unacceptable,” she said, asking the Department to remove from its recommendation list those schools who have been noted to be on “heightened cash management” or under investigation.
The matter also troubled Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell. He has co-authored AB 573, a state legislative bill to provide some financial relief to the affected students from the Corinthian College network of schools. There are a number of provisions to the bill ,including waiving of the community-college fees for Corinthian students and providing legal assistance and tuition-recovery assistance.
“As someone who has taught high school for many years, this issue greatly concerns me,” O’Donnell said in a phone interview, as he described the urgency of passing the bill. “This isn’t just about righting a wrong. This is about getting students into the workforce.”
The future of the employees of Corinthian Colleges is also unknown. According to Nick Schultz, the executive director of Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network Board, WyoTech Long Beach did not reach out to them to provide resource material to any of their employees. Individual employees could seek assistance through Pacific Gateway on their own, but Schultz said that if WyoTech does reach out to them, they can provide in a group presentation to WyoTech employees key information on job-search assistance, unemployment insurance and financial-aid services.
Long Beach City College (LBCC) has rolled out the welcome mat for the displaced students. LBCC President Eloy Oakley said in a phone interview that if Corinthian students want to continue their education, his school is “happy and willing to help try to get them back on the path.”
Oakley said that LBCC is working with the Dept. of Education to determine how financial aid will be impacted and that staff are looking at which Corinthian class credits could transfer to his college.
He was asked what students should consider when deciding between a community college or a for-profit education.
“There is always room in the system for quality for-profit institutions. And they provide a benefit in some cases, but students have to be very careful of how they make those choices,” Oakley said, as he went on to explain that students have to weigh the cost of an education against their future earnings. He warned against getting into debt with “no realistic expectation that their future earnings are going to cover that debt.”
More Information
State of California Office of Attorney General
Information to Corinthian
students
oag.ca.gov/Corinthian
Main phone number:
(800) 952-5225