For-Profit College Chain Shutters Operations

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Corinthian Colleges is closing its doors. The embattled for-profit college operator is shutting down its 28 remaining campuses, displacing 16,000 students.

Corinthian abruptly announced the closures Sunday, one day before they took effect.

Corinthian Colleges include the Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses located in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Arizona and New York.

Corinthian sold most of its schools in 2014, after coming under fire for allegedly falsifying grades, attendance and job-placement rates. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education restricted Corinthian’s access to federal student aid.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also filed suit last year against Corinthian Colleges for alleged predatory lending practices.

The for-profit school operator said it was trying to sell its remaining campuses, but said its efforts were unsuccessful because federal and state regulators sought to impose financial penalties and conditions on prospective buyers.

“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,” Jack Massimino, chief executive officer of Corinthian, said in a statement. “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,” Massimino added.

Corinthian said it is “working with other schools to provide continuing educational opportunities” for its students.

According to the Los Angeles Times, students attending the schools that are closing will likely be eligible for a full discharge of any student loan debt.

The Department of Education fined Corinthian’s Health College system $30 million earlier this month for allegedly increasing its job placement rates by paying temp agencies to hire students for a short period of time after graduation, the Times reports.

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