Tallahassee Community College is hosting an open house for students displaced by the closure of the for-profit ITT Technical Institute. Students are asked to bring an unofficial transcript and any course syllabi they may have. Tallahassee Community College says it will take a look to see if any of the ITT courses could quality for credit. But it’s not making any promises. Provost Feliccia Moore Davis says the situation the ITT tech students are in, saddens her.
“I am a first-generation in college student, and many of these students are first-generation. So they put their hopes in what that college told them. And the reason TCC reached out so quickly is because I can empathize and I want to serve them, but I have to balance the integrity of the program with what the students’ needs are," she said.
The for-profit college industry has been under increasing scrutiny due to claims of predatory lending and false advertising.
Moore-Davis says courses that may have culminated with industry certificates might be able to transfer, and the school will look at ITT’s instructor credentials and program accreditations But certain majors, such as nursing—pose a greater challenge.
Very few for-profit colleges offer courses that carry over to other institutions, and such schools have been criticized for lax academic oversight. TCC's The open house is 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 15. A location has not been determined.
