WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released the following statement after the for-profit ITT Technical Institute announced it is closing following various state and federal investigations and U.S. Department of Education sanctions. As a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Murphy applauded the sanctions, which prohibited ITT from enrolling new students with federal aid, limited compensation for the for-profit chain’s executives, and required the college system to notify current students that they are not in compliance with accreditor standards.

“ITT Tech executives were running a fraudulent business funded by taxpayer dollars, and the Department of Education was right to impose sanctions. Now, the Department must work with ITT Tech to make sure its students can transfer credits, pursue a closed school discharge, and get their money back,” said Murphy. “I urge the Department to explore how it can hold executives personally liable, because after years of executives pocketing federal dollars, students shouldn’t be hung out to dry with taxpayers footing the bill.”

In order to protect students from deceptive practices and bad actors in the for-profit college sector, Murphy introduced the Students Before Profits Act. The bill improves oversight of for-profit colleges, authorizes enhanced civil penalties, and requires for-profit college executives to assume personal liability for financial losses associated with Title IV funds when institutions and their executive officers break the law.