KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Following the surprise closure of Vatterott College this week, other schools around the metro are working to help get impacted students back on track.
Vatterott closed its doors on Monday with no warning to students.
Since then, institutes like the Associated Builders and Contractors training school have offered opportunities to them.
“The curriculum that we use for our electrical training is the same curriculum that Vatterott used for their electrical training,” said ABC President Michele Roberts-Bauer. “The transition would be fairly smooth because we can recognize everything they have done in the electrical trade.”
Roberts-Bauer told 41 Action News that former Vatterott electrical students will be able to transfer credits to ABC to work towards getting certification.
“I would personally hate to see somebody get discouraged about the industry as a whole because they’ve had their educational opportunity interrupted,” she said. “We can’t fix everything but anything we can do to help folks that want to continue on that path is a natural fit.”
The closing of Vatterott College came after several other for-profit schools closed in the metro in recent years, including ITT Tech, Heritage College, and Wright Career College.
“I have been in this industry 23 years and have never ever recommended a for-profit to any of my students,” said longtime education consultant Cheri Barad, who helps students in the metro. “They’re number crunchers and they have to fill desks and typically it’s kids that have a lot of loans.”
Barad told 41 Action News that any prospective student of a for-profit school should research the school’s history and accreditation.
A decision to enroll in one could lead to big loans and years of paying them off.
“What they do is they promise a career and then the kids can’t get the career. They can’t get the job,” she said. “(For-profit schools) are funded by investors and therefore students are loaned to the capacity. Sometimes, its in excess of $40-50,000”
With the metro once again dealing with the closing of a for-profit school, Michele Roberts-Bauer said it was important for former Vatterott students to know that help and resources are available for them.
“There are people out there and resources available to help them make this transition,” she said. “Don’t freak out. Let this be a blip on the radar.”
