A for-profit college in Northern Virginia unexpectedly closed its doors this week after the Department of Education accused school officials of failing to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars of tuition aid to students and cut off all financial assistance to the college. Federal education officials accused ACT College in Arlington of improperly keeping $262,382 in federal aid that should have gone to students, lying to the government about the money and falsifying records.
“ACT helped itself to its students’ funds in what in practical effect has been a substantial loan, without the students’ knowledge or consent,” the department wrote in a letter. It said the school “demonstrated a severe lack of administrative capability.”
The school’s abrupt closure left students and employees in the lurch with just weeks to go in the semester. Students protested the closing at the Manassas campus with hand-written signs Wednesday. There was no indication when, or if the school would reopen.
A letter posted on the door of the school’s Arlington campus said that the college tried to comply with all regulations.
“The owners and senior management team have worked closely with the Department of Education to ensure complete compliance with all federal regulations,” Jeff Moore, president and CEO of the school, wrote in the letter. “In the end, it came down to the Department of Education’s refusal to release a mere 29 percent of the funds due to the school. … We were shocked by this decision. We sincerely regret having to close our doors to our employees and students, but we have been left with no other choice given the circumstances.”
Moore did not respond to requests for comment.
ACT College offered health degrees in fields such as dental assisting, radiography and pharmacy tech. It had between 400 to 500 students, according to a flyer from the school.
Jim Mizner, the school’s Arlington campus director, said he only found out about the closing Wednesday and that he didn’t know anything more than what Moore’s letter said.
“I’m very sad to see [the school] go. I feel bad for the students and the employees,” he said.
ACT is the latest for-profit college to run afoul of the federal government.
The colleges, including the Washington Post Co.’s Kaplan University, came under fire from the Obama administration because they have much lower graduation rates and much higher student-loan default rates than private and public universities.
“Students are taking on a lot of debt to attend very expensive for-profit institutions,” Mamie Lynch, a senior policy analyst at the non-profit Education Trust said, “but they don’t seem to be getting the education necessary to repay those loans.”
