College Executives Need to Pay Up When Their Schools Close Abruptly – Center for American Progress
Last week, students attending several Argosy University campuses across the country received a nasty shock: Their campuses would be shutting down in 48 hours. The move leaves thousands of students in the lurch with unclear futures and millions of dollars in missing federal financial aid that the school received from the federal government but failed to disburse to students.
Argosy used to be part of the Education Management Corp., a for-profit company, before it was sold in a questionable transaction to a small nonprofit organization. Its shutdown is just the latest in a string of sudden closures that have rocked students across the country over the last several years. In early December 2018, it was nearly 20,000 students at more than 70 campuses run by the Education Corporation of America (ECA), some of whom had started just a day before the closure. Two weeks later, it was students attending Vatterott College. They join thousands of students who have been hit by sudden closures after attending colleges that made national news—such as the Heald College brand, owned by Corinthian Colleges, and ITT Technical Institute, as well as lesser-known colleges, including West Virginia Business College, Harrison College, Westech College, and Ridley-Lowell Business and Technical Institute
These sudden closures must stop. But if and when they do happen, school leaders should be personally liable.