‘It’s like we never went to school’: Local college announces closure; students demand answers

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Students at City College in Altamonte Springs are outraged. They said they were well into their degrees when they were told their school was closing, and now, they have no idea what will happen to them.

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“I’ve been very emotional because I feel kind of lost,” said one student who prefers to remain anonymous. “All of a sudden, we received an email about three pm stating “oh, the school will be closing” we will be participating in a teach-out program but only for those who have two semesters left.”

The student claims that the email was sent out last week.

In the email, the school announced it would close enrollment and teach out existing programs.

Only those with less than 25% of their degrees left will be able to finish their course; for the others, the City College says it is working with neighboring institutions to transfer credits.

However, the students say the school administration has stopped responding.

“No official answer, no official communication. Nothing to the students directly, besides that initial email and then a follow-up email saying ‘stop reaching out; we are trying to do what we can.”

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City College has campuses in Florida – one in Altamonte Springs and another one in Hollywood, South Florida.

Most of the school’s programs are in healthcare.

“It’s like we never went to school,” said another student who dreamed of becoming a nurse. “I am very disappointed. Because it is healthcare, schools have their own curriculums, basically they cannot just take any credit. So, the credits we took, there’s nothing we can do with them.”

The student also prefers to remain anonymous, but she shared that she has spent nearly $ 30,000 on tuition and fees.

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“I would pick up extra shifts, people would take second jobs, or even work nights because I needed to pay for my education. For what?”

Channel 9 contacted City College for comment and has not heard back.

A Channel 9 news crew also visited the campus on Tuesday and was told the school would release a statement, which has not happened.

Channel 9 has also asked about the status of City College’s accreditation to the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools - tagged as the organization responsible for City College’s accreditation on the school’s website – and is still waiting to hear back.

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“They are in a very difficult situation,” said Consumer Attorney Michele Diglio-Benkiran. “One of the best things the student can do is to get copies of the official transcripts before they close. The second thing that they should do is to get the accreditation of the school and have as much information as they can about the school. Because some of the students will have to present that to a different school, and they might not know of this particular school.”

Channel 9 has reported the case to The Florida Department of Education.

The Florida Nurses Association sent the following comment:

“Schools in Florida are either approved or accredited by national entities. This is required by the Board of Nursing to ensure the integrity of Nursing Education and the safety of the public. Schools have to meet certain requirements, including maintaining a certain passage rate on the licensing exam (NCLEX). Schools are given the opportunity to improve their scores, and if they do not do this over the allotted time, the school can be closed. Credits are not transferable from a non-accredited school to an accredited school as they cannot be certain of the content or performance of the students.”

Students express frustration after local college announces closure “I’ve been very emotional because I feel kind of lost,” said one student who prefers to remain anonymous. (WFTV)

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