Sen. Dick Durbin called on the U.S. Department of Education to protect students from fallout after two recent for-profit college closure announcements in July in Durbin’s home state of Illinois – Northwestern College and American Academy of Art College.
In a Friday letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Durbin asked the department to ensure students have valid teach-out program options that will accept their credits, won’t charge more for tuition and fees, are in reasonable proximity to the shuttering campuses, and do not include online-only institutions.
An Education Department spokesperson said by email that the department has received Durbin’s letter and would respond to the senator directly.
Durbin, a Democrat and Senate majority whip, stressed that no such agreements are apparently in place for Northwestern College, a 122-year-old institution that shut down abruptly on July 6 citing its current and projected fiscal position.
“I particularly am concerned with reports that Northwestern College lied to students about their ability to transfer to other colleges,” the senator wrote. The college did not respond to a request for comment.
Durbin cited reports that some of the colleges Northwestern College listed as potential transfer options for students had not yet been contacted, and the website of one of the institutions set up a webpage to refute Northwestern College’s claims.
The college currently does not list any finalized teach-out agreements for its programs on its website. A spokesperson for Northwestern’s accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, said it had not approved any teach-out agreements for the college as of Monday.
American Academy of Art lists “colleges with comparable programs” on its site, but does not currently list any formal teach-out arrangements among comparable programs either.
“The Department must ensure students can access valid teach-out and transfer agreements that ensure institutions are in good standing, not on heightened cash monitoring or other restrictions, and not facing state or federal investigations or lawsuits so that students can complete their education,” Durbin wrote in the letter.
The senator also asked that the department communicate with qualifying students about options for closed-school loan discharges.
Going further, he asked the Education Department to extend the discharge eligibility period to cover students who withdrew after each institution was initially put on heightened cash monitoring status. That program requires heightened oversight of riskier colleges’ cash management and other financial and compliance issues.
Specifically, Durbin requested that eligibility extend to American Academy of Art students who withdrew in or after March 2017, and to Northwestern College students include those who withdrew in or after June 2019.
“The Department should not penalize these students for taking the reasonable step of abandoning a sinking ship by denying them federal closed school discharge eligibility,” Durbin wrote.
In fall 2022, Northwestern College had 514 students, and American Academy of Art College had 111 students, per federal data.
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