The U.S. Department of Education took enforcement action against three schools that specialize in medical education as hundreds of local students scramble to find somewhere else to go.
Three Medtech campuses in the D.C. area are closing just a few weeks before school was supposed to start.
“I am devastated, I’m so sad,” said Natasha Washington, a student at Radians College, Medtech’s D.C. campus. “I didn’t even know what to do when I read the email. I was shaking and I’m just like, I don’t know where to go.”
That email from Medtech’s Board of Directors said the school was closing effective Sept. 16.
The Department of Education cut off federal financial aid funding to Medtech’s Radians College and Medtech campuses in Falls Church, Virginia, and Silver Spring, Maryland.
The department said an investigation into the for-profit school uncovered egregious representation of job placement rates.
“Students should be able to trust that colleges are telling the truth – not using smoke and mirrors – about their graduates’ job placement rates,” a statement from the Department of Education read. “Unfortunately, Medtech violated the trust of both students and taxpayers by valuing profits over the students they serve.”
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Some students said they spent thousands of dollars on an education that is now worthless.
News4 reached out to Medtech for a comment but has not heard back.
An email to students said Medtech is coordinating with other institutions in the area to offer transfer options.
“They say they can transfer us to other schools, but those other schools, it’s a different program from what we’re taking,” said one student who did not want to be identified. “That’s not what we signed up for.”
There are alternatives for students and financial help may be available to them as well, according to the Department of Education.
