ITT Tech students search for options after campuses close

CHICAGO (WLS) -- As former students of ITT Technical Institute search for help in trying to recover lost tuition, local politicians came forward Friday offering possible solutions for those students in a bind.

On Tuesday, ITT Tech closed all of its campuses nationwide leaving 40,000 students in limbo without degrees, certifications, or even transcripts. Four of those campuses were in Illinois and one in northwest Indiana.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan laid out two options for students in trouble on Friday.

Current ITT students can have their credits transferred to another school, although there is no guarantee credits would transfer, or students could have their loan debt forgiven, but they would have to start over to earn credits toward a degree at another school.

"You might well better off by having your loans discharges and starting again," said Madigan.

Durbin pushed for tougher regulation of for-profit schools, which make most of their profit from federally backed student loans.

"We simply can't allow more students to be put at risk and additional taxpayer dollars wasted at these rotten for profit colleges," Durbin said.

The Illinois Attorney General is investigating other schools including Colorado Technical University and American Intercontinental University.

For details on how to apply for a loan discharge, click here.

Former ITT Tech students interested in attending City Colleges of Chicago can learn more here.