Computer training school closes, cites bank action, asks students to contact state officials

Md. computer school closes, cites bank action

BALTIMORE — A computer training company abruptly shut down after it said its bank accounts were frozen, telling students to contact education officials in 14 states to seek refunds and prompting an investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office.

ComputerTraining.edu said it shut down Dec. 24. The for-profit schools provided vocational training in Microsoft certification for students seeking jobs in the information technology field.

A spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said Pennsylvania students should contact Corbett’s office and students in other states should contact consumer protection agencies in their state. Spokesman Nils Frederiksen said the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office is investigating the shutdown to see whether students did not receive a product they paid for.

“Really at this stage, the best thing students can do to assist us is file a formal complaint,” Frederiksen said. “They each hold some information that can be very helpful to our investigation.”

Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Attorney General’s office, said Maryland students are being referred to the state’s Higher Education Commission.

The Hunt Valley-based company said in a statement posted to its Web site that campuses were shut down after its bank accounts were frozen. The company said its primary source of financing, BB&T Corp., froze its accounts and line of credit and had begun seizing its assets.

The Web site directed students seeking refunds to contact education officials in their state, listing contacts in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

BB&T spokeswoman A.C. McGraw said it was the company’s decision to shut down. The spokeswoman said “holds were placed on the accounts in accordance with loan agreements at BB&T.”

“We have had a long-term relationship with ComputerTraining and we are disappointed that they are placing responsibility on BB&T for their financial situation,” McGraw said.

McGraw said it was the company’s responsibility to notify students about school closings.

The company said on its web site that it has posted bonds which will be used to help students transfer or obtain refunds.

“Current students should contact their state’s board of education as soon as possible to work through refunds and remedies,” the Web site said.