A private university with thousands of students nationwide, including in Atlanta, is on the verge of closing its doors.
Argosy University is out of money and is in receivership. This week, it notified students that unless someone buys the school by Friday, the school will close its doors.
The potential death blow to Argosy University, at its Atlanta campus and at its campuses in other cities across the country, was actually struck last week.
The U.S. Department of Education banned Argosy from participating in federal student aid programs, declaring that the school no longer meets the qualifications for the programs.
The Education Department says Argosy may have been using the students’ financial aid money - at least $13 million of it - to try to keep the school afloat, spending the money on the school’s operating expenses and staff salaries, nationwide, instead of sending checks to the students.
“It’s disgusting,” said Shila Bartley, who is just a few classes short of earning her Master's Degree in forensic psychology.
She has not found another college or university, yet, that will accept all of her credits if she were to transfer.
Argosy University has been in Atlanta since 1990, according to its Facebook page. It has hundreds of students here, and more than 17,000 in other cities across the country. The Atlanta campus is located in an office building on Hammond Drive.
Students converged there Thursday, many in tears, scrambling to get their transcripts and financial aid documentation, trying to transfer immediately to other universities, but finding out that other schools will not accept all of their credits.
Bartley is a military veteran and is using her veterans benefits for her education. But she said her window for using those benefits closes at the end of summer - which would have worked out perfectly for her, since she expected to have her Master’s Degree before then.
Now she doesn’t know if any other university will be able to enroll her and allow her pick up her Master’s program where Argosy left off, before her benefits expire.
“I’m just gonna continue making phone calls to see if I can find someone that’ll take more of my credits so I can finish,” she said.
Her life’s plan for herself and her young daughter - to establish herself with a well-paying position as a forensic psychologist - was on track until now. But now, she said, it’s off the rails.
“I did my time in the military. You know, I’m using my benefits to continue my education," she explained. "[A year from now] I’d have a steady job with benefits, a career. You know, I’m 36 years old.”
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John Stanley is also just short of earning his Master’s Degree.
“I only have one class left,” he said, “so close” to completing the program.
Stanley is a military veteran, too, who had expected to complete his degree and go on to earn his doctorate from Argosy while his benefits are still active. Now other universities are telling him they cannot assure him that, if he were to transfer and start all over again, there would be enough time left on his benefits for him to complete their programs.
“The school is going under because of mismanagement of funds ... It’s frustrating because as a student we didn’t do anything wrong, and it feels like we’re being punished for what the school has done, we're being left out to dry," he said. "I feel like I’ve wasted a year and a half of my life if I don’t graduate. And if no other institutions take us, it’s like starting over again.”
A spokesman for Argosy University emailed 11Alive News a response—not commenting on the school's financial problems, but saying the school is still doing everything it can not to close on Friday.