KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials from Heritage College announced Tuesday that they are closing their campuses in Kansas City and Wichita. The Kansas Board of Regents confirmed that the campuses will close effective immediately.
Heritage operates 10 campuses across the country, including one in Kansas City at 1200 E. 104th Street.
Some students showed up for their evening classes, only to find the doors locked and a note apologizing for the disappointment.
“The reason for the campus closures is that Heritage does not have the cash to continue to run its business. Numerous factors contributed to the circumstances including declining student population and continued, decreased demand for the services of for-profit schools,” the note says.
One staff member told FOX 4 that classes were held as usual in the morning but then at about 2:30 p.m., the administration called a staff meeting and told everyone they needed to leave immediately.
“I was proud of myself. I’m going to cry. I just wanted to show my kids that you could do anything with your life even if you’re 30 and have gone no where your whole life and then I woke up one day and I decided this is what I wanted to do. Now I don’t know if I made the right decision because now I’m stuck with nothing, I feel,” said Trista Foulk, who was about to graduate as an X-Ray technician.
According to KAKE-TV in Wichita, last year the Heritage College Wichita campus had approximately 600 students. The KC campus had about 150 students.
Tuesday’s announcement came less than two months after Indiana-based ITT Technical Institute is ceasing all operations. ITT Tech had campuses in Overland Park and Wichita.
Students who need to get their transcripts can call (785) 430-4240 to request them.
Heritage College issued a statement Tuesday.
It is with great disappointment that we announce that Heritage College and Heritage Institute are permanently closing on November 1, 2016. The closure will affect all 10 campuses.
Heritage College educated students for health care careers for 30 years, and this is very difficult news for everyone affected particularly our students, teachers, and staff.
The reason for the campus closures is that Heritage does not have the cash to continue to run its business. Numerous factors contributed to the circumstances including declining student population and a continued, decreased demand for the services of for-profit schools. Heritage did not close due to wrongdoing or a forced closure by a regulatory body, and we did explore a range of options that would have enabled the campuses to remain open serving students. Unfortunately, the options were not viable and our efforts proved unsuccessful.
We thank our faculty, staff and, mostly, our students. They had the courage to pursue a new career path and we were honored to help them achieve their goals.
