LAS CRUCES – Students and staff at Vista College, a for-profit college with campuses across Texas and neighboring states, arrived at school October 8th, as they had many Fridays before.
But that wouldn’t be a normal Friday. Vista College was bankrupt, staff and students were studying, and the doors would finally close at the end of the day.
Employees lost their jobs and student career paths were devastated, leaving many with thousands of student loans and no degrees.
Everyone stopped and asked: “Now what?”
Students in some programs were able to transfer credits to other for-profit colleges, but others weren’t as lucky.
Vista College is closing for good
The main campus of Vista College was in El Paso. It also had locations in Beaumont, Killeen, Longview and College Station, Texas, as well as Fort Smith, Arkansas and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Students were able to earn degrees in many computer-based fields, such as: B. Medical billing, accounting, and information technology. The students could also train to become dental assistants, nurses or beauticians.
Although the college closed quickly, there were some signs that Vista College was struggling financially.
In August, the college announced that it would not be accepting new enrollments, but it made sure that students currently enrolled can complete their programs.
When Tessa Vargas and Tamra Neal were “on leave” at the Las Cruces recording staff on August 4th, the news came as a surprise.
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Vargas said she was upset with how the message was delivered by CEO Jim Tolbert.
“When Mr. Tolbert zoomed in, he didn’t even look us in the face,” said Vargas. “He read an email and basically said that due to the drop in enrollments, there would be a vacation. But he didn’t say a massive vacation. He didn’t say which departments will be vacations. “
Vargas said she had the impression that those “on leave” were being laid off temporarily, but not unemployed.
Vargas and Neal soon discovered that Las Cruces admissions workers were among those “on leave”. She said that about 450 of the college’s 2,500 or so employees were laid off that day.
When Vargas asked the campus director when they would be back to work, she was told, “You’re not.”
Within 15 minutes, Vargas was locked out of the school’s online system.
Vargas said when she had no documented evidence that she was on leave, only verbal instruction from the campus director. The lack of paperwork hampered efforts to register unemployed, she said. Vista College told her there was no severance payment because she was technically not fired.
Vargas, who worked at Vista College for eight years, said she really believed in the services the college offered. She said she would skip lunch to support students and halfway home visits to show those with criminal backgrounds or substance abuse tendencies that Vista programs gave them options for a better future.
Neal worked at Vista College for 13 years. Your anger is directed against the CEO.
“We were blind like the rest,” said Neal. “We got tossed out like rubbish. The public needs to know that it wasn’t (the staff), it was Mr. Tolbert. He’s the person who should be blamed. He was the puppeteer. He ran the show and he. He’s the one who should be blamed. He was the puppeteer. He ran the show and he.” .. close the show. “
The Sun News could not reach Tolbert before it was published.
Leave of absence and layoffs increased in the coming months. Programs were shut down one by one. The cosmetics program was one of the first to take place on September 24, two weeks before the system-wide shutdown.
Vista College students are looking for accommodation
Vargas’ daughter was accepted into Vista College’s nursing program. When a friend informed her of the closure in October, her thoughts turned to her daughter.
“(A friend) said, ‘Did you hear what happened?'” Vargas recalled. “‘They closed the doors.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean? My daughter is in a clinic right now. She said,’ You’d better call her and tell her she’d better come to campus now. ‘
They are now trying to find another program that will accept their daughter and the hours she has already invested in her nursing program.
Vargas said many colleges told her they would not accept the credits her daughter earned at Vista.
“We’re just waiting in the hope that (Doña Ana Community College) will accept her and allow her to graduate in that short amount of time since she has already been to school for a year,” Vargas said.
Lulu Morales, a former Vista College student studying medical billing and coding, said she was just taking an intermediate exam when she received the email that the college was closed. She was in shock.
“It’s really one of those things that you had to double or even triple double-check to make sure you read it correctly,” she said.
Morales said she was charged on October 7 for the coming quarter, which did not come about due to the closure. She said the fees were about $ 2,300 more than what her financial aid covered.
“I went to school with high expectations and thought I would have a different career,” she said. “Now somehow I don’t have an option anymore.”
Morales – who works full-time as a grocery manager and is raising her 5-year-old daughter – began her program at Vista in February 2021 and should graduate in March 2022. That degree is in the air now as she tries to support her family and find a new institute to accept her.
She has found a few opportunities through Central New Mexico Community College and Western Technical College in El Paso that will recognize her credits, for which Morales is grateful.
The Vista College website now has a list of colleges and institutes that students might consider moving to on its home page, as well as information and links on how to pay back some student loans and financial aid. The college states that it works with state college departments to provide transcripts. There are no phone numbers or emails listed for students with additional questions, and the Contact Us page redirects to a Request More Information page that does not appear to have any way to request more information.
The Las Cruces community comes together to help Vista College students
While many students struggle to find a foothold to continue their education, the Vista College cosmetics program students found refuge at the Glitz School of Cosmetology in Las Cruces.
Of the 18 students on the Vista program, 17 moved to Glitz after completing the program in September.
Maryann Luevano, owner of Glitz, said officials at Vista College asked her if Glitz could accept students into its program because their program was closed.
“They invited us to attend on their last day on their campus, introduce ourselves and enable a smooth transition,” said Luevano. “But when we got there, it was the most embarrassing thing. Because they were just being informed. They were crying. It was sad.”
Adrian Ludwig was one of the 18 students on the cosmetics course.
“We were informed on Thursday … so that the following Friday was our last day on campus,” said Ludwig. “They’d already sold all of the shampoo trays, all of the pedicure chairs and everything.”
Although Glitz’s students said they were happy to have a new home, the difference in school structure has put months back on each of their graduation dates.
Photo gallery:The Glitz cosmetics school offers free haircuts for those starting school
Since Vista’s program offers up to 25 hours per week and Glitz only offers up to 14 hours, the time to get a cosmetics license is extended. A cosmetics license is 1,600 hours, but a maximum of 1,200 hours can be transferred when moving to a new school.
Several students, including Caitlin Rodriguez, have been given hours off work as a result of this policy. Rodriguez had taken about 200 hours off and set their graduation dates to November 2021 through January 2022.
“I cried while our program director explained what was going on,” said Rodriguez. “My thoughts were everywhere. I was really angry for the first few weeks.”
Ludwig enrolled at Vista in November 2020 and should graduate in March 2022. His graduation date in Glitz is now at the end of May.
“I want (Vista) to be able to take responsibility for what they promised us,” said Ludwig. “I’ve made real connections with the people here and I’m ready to finish what I started. They don’t give us that chance and then get sent to a whole new environment with whole new people and a different sense of teaching and it’s really, really difficult for me personally. “
Luevano, the owner of Glitz, said she and her staff had to work overtime to take in the students on Monday after Vista College closed its program.
Luevano also said she received a request from the New Mexico Higher Education Department asking her and her husband to open a construction college as soon as possible to accommodate the students left behind by Vista College in other departments.
Luevano said the Capstone Construction School, which is slated to open in 2022, will now open in the next few weeks. She’s not sure how many students will be attending, but HED told her there were 17 students enrolled in the Vista department.
Aside from Glitz and Capstone Construction, a few other Las Cruces schools accept the students who are left to their own devices into their programs.
The Pinnacle Institute in Las Cruces enables any student who wishes to continue their education with its short-term programs in dental assistance and phlebotomy. The institute is offering a discount on normal tuition, extending payment plans, and opening new courses to help those affected.
Miranda Cyr, a member of the Report for America Corps, can be reached at [email protected] or @mirandabcyr on Twitter. Show your support for the Report for America program at https://bit.ly/LCSNRFA.
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