What happens to Art Institute students, staff after sudden closure of the college?
HOUSTON - Hundreds of students and staff at the Art Institutes are now scrambling to figure out their futures after the system of for-profit colleges abruptly shut down.
On Friday, they received an e-mail about that all remaining eight campuses including Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Tampa, Miami, Atlanta and Virginia Beach will be permanently closing, effective September 30th. Several days later, the school’s website and social media accounts were wiped, leaving students with limited information on how to retrieve their transcripts or transfer their credits to another school.
"I see the message and I’m thinking no, no way," said Chuma Onu.
"We thought it was hoax. Our professors didn’t know and they also said the dean didn’t know," said Stefanie Phan.
"I had just finished up my last class about five minutes before the e-mail was sent out. I submitted my last assignment, gave myself a good thumbs up and pat on the back like cool, I did it. Then, I see, 'school’s closing,'" said Richard Saldivar.
Students like Stefanie Phan say she has nearly $30,000 worth of student loans and is uncertain whether any of her credits will transfer to another school.
"We don’t have any answers. No one’s reaching out to us. No one has said anything. We can’t even figure out how to get our transcripts to transfer to another school.
"A lot of us do have student loans. A lot of my friends who go here are on a student visa or using their GI bill, so I feel more for them than anyone else because they changed their whole lives to get in here," Phan said.
Students like Richard Saldivar, who served eight years as a Sergeant in the Marine Corp was using a chunk of his GI Bill to study culinary arts.
"The GI bill grants service members that have served in the military. After you serve a minimum of four years, you get about 36 months that you can use to furthering your education.
"I’ve been here about 2 years, so it’s been about 24 months that’s been taken out of my GI bill. I just finished my last week this week, and now, where’s my degree?" Saldivar said.
"I've tried to call the phone number on the website. They have a 1-800 and a 713 number; I've tried every single option, operator, nobody’s answering. Nobody on the staff, no one's going to give us any action, direction, or anything?" Saldivar continued.
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In a statement on the Art Institute of Houston's website, the school will mail each current student five official copies of their transcript at no cost on or after October 1st, 2023.
The Art Institute also says veterans will be eligible for a partial or full refund of their benefits.
For more information, click here. https://www.artinstitutes.edu/houston/about/contact-us