ST. LOUIS — For-profit college Vatterott suddenly closed its doors Monday night, leaving thousands of students without a school to attend.
According to the Missouri Department of Higher Education, Vatterott Educational Centers, Inc. sent a letter to students Monday to inform them of the decision to close all Vatterott and L'Ecole Culinaire locations immediately and permanently.
The letter to students said they are working finding other schools for students to attend and would have that information available on their website in the coming days.
The Missouri Department of Higher Education has put together a page for Missouri residents who were left in the dark by the closures.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin(D-Ill.) said 156 students from Illinois attended Vatterott. In his statement, he called on the Department of Education to do "everything in its power to make sure that students are fully informed of available options." His full statement is as follows:
Another overcharging, underperforming for-profit college has closed its doors. It’s the second major chain in just the last three weeks to abruptly close. And it won’t be the last. With the collapse of Vatterott College, another 156 students in Illinois and 2,300 nationwide are left high and dry.
Now it is the obligation of the Department of Education to do everything in its power to make sure that students are fully informed of available options, including closed school discharge, and to prevent these students from being lured into completing their studies at other predatory and financially shaky for-profit colleges. I am calling on Illinois community colleges to step up and help the students that Vatterott and the for-profit college industry have failed.
