OKLAHOMA CITY – Heritage College abruptly closed its doors leaving some students tens of thousands of dollars in debt, without a diploma and wondering where to turn.
Officials with the college said they ran out of cash and were forced to close due to “a declining number of students” and “decreased demand for services of for-profit schools.”
Nora House is the director for the Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools helping students figure out a plan to either transfer to another school or apply to have their federal student loans discharged.
“If someone wasn’t able to transfer, if they didn’t have their credits accepted, there is a thing called a closed school discharge, that way the student loan doesn’t hurt the student’s credit record,” House said.
The for-profit sector is going through a major shake-up right now.
Heritage College is the third for-profit school to abruptly shut its doors in Oklahoma this year.
We know state legislators are revisiting the state’s requirements of the colleges and may impose stricter financial guidelines.
“One of our thoughts is, if we get the information sooner, have our own list of red flags, of alerts, triggers, we can monitor closer, and then at that point we might put some interim, some kind of middle of the way interventions in,” House said.
Right now, two local colleges are offering to help the students impacted by the closure.
Oklahoma City Community College and Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City are stepping in to help.
John Claybon, OCCC Professional Development Institute Program Director, said he and his staff offer similar programs and believe OCCC could be a good fit for some students hoping to complete their degrees or certificates.
“It’s a matter of case by case,” he said. “We need to sit down and look at what programs they’ve actually completed, what they took and look to see if there’s some type of assessment in place.”
OCCC’s Resource Day:
- Monday, November 7
- 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Location: Professional Development Institute (7124 S. I-35 Service Road, 73149), right next to Heritage College
OSU-OKC is inviting former Heritage College students to attend a personalized advisement meeting with an adviser to discuss options for continuing their higher education.
OSU-OKC is currently open from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Thursday, and 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday.
You are asked to contact OSU-OKC to set up an appointment or visit the campus, located at 900 N. Portland Ave in Oklahoma City.