Displaced Everest College students getting ministry help

The minister of Training, Colleges and Universities wont answer whether or not his ministryknew ahead of time about the state of affairs at the now-bankrupt Everest College.

Last week, Ontario's superintendent of private career colleges suspended Everest'slicence to operate due to financial concerns.The move immediatelyshut down the school's14 campusesin the province, leaving 2,400 students out of class and out of luck.

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Minister Reza Moridi told CBC News Ontario's superintendent of private career colleges was the one in the know andfelt Everest College [was] not in a financial position to operate as a private career college.

This decision does not impact students who have already graduated from the college.

'Students should have been told'

But the NDP claims the ministry knew about the problem, and should have done more to protect students before the shut-down happened.

For many months, your Ministry has been aware of these serious issues and the risks they posed to Ontario students, wrote the NDPs Peggy Sattler, critic for Training, Colleges and Universities, in an open letter to Moridi.

On July 8, 2014, it was revealed publicly that all 14 Everest College campuses in Ontario were for sale, and a spokesperson for Everest College claimed that the company was working with Ontario regulators to ensure students can continue their programs. Repeatedly, the company asserted that students in Ontario did not need to worry because there would be no impact on their studies. Clearly, this was not the case. Students should have been told.

On CBC Sudburys Morning North radio show, Moridi would not directly answer repeated questions about whether or not information was known ahead of time.

Morning North5:49What is the province doing to help Everest College students?

We reached the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities to try and find out what being done to help students of the now defunct Everest College. Students are being offered a tuition refund but what they really want is to finish their program.

We are concerned about the students. Not the politicizing by the NDP," Moridi said.

He added the superintendent for Ontarios private career colleges is the one who makes all the decisions, not the ministry.

EverestsU.S. parent company, Corinthian Colleges, hasfiled for Canadian bankruptcy protection.

In the meantime, Moridi said students are being helped to transition either by transferring to another college or getting a refund from the provinces $3 million liability fund.

We will do our best to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible, he said, noting that all cases will be looked at on an individual basis.

Moridi said the Everest case was rather unfortunate, and takes away from the 400 private career colleges in the province of Ontario that are doing an excellent job in terms of training our young people in various disciplines.

The closure of Everest College in Ontario is affecting about 200 students from theSudburycampus.

Ministry action to date

The Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities provided CBC News with the following information about what it has been doing in the aftermath of the Everest College closure:

• The Ministry's role is to help affected students and staff, and has been doing so since the Superintendent made her decision last Thursday. Ministry staff are currently providing information to affected students and advising them to prepare and submit their claim forms related to the Training Completion Assurance Fund (TCAF).
• Between Feb.19 and Feb. 20, Ministry staff were on the ground at every Everest campus across Ontario providing support and information for students.
• Starting on Feb. 23, the Superintendent and ministry staff began contacting students by email and phone to advise them of next steps, including how to apply for training completion at another institution or how to file a claim for a tuition refund. Staff have already begun identifying training completion options, and will be contacting those students who have submitted their TCAF Claim Forms with their options.
• Once their options are presented to them, students will have 14 days to assess their options and select from the available training completion options or request a refund. Once a TCAF Claim Form is submitted, the ministry will make every effort to provide appropriate training completion options or partial refunds to eligible students as quickly as possible.
• Throughout the process, the Superintendent is working with the TCAF Advisory Board to ensure the best interests of students remains the highest priority. While this is still a challenging situation for students, Everest's bankruptcy does not change these ongoing efforts.
• As of Feb. 24, at 9 a.m., a total of 47 ministry staff have provided over 40 information sessions to more than 2,000 students at the 14 Everest campuses to advise them of next steps and distribute Training Completion Assurance Fund (TCAF) packages.
• Ministry staff have received and are responding to 597 emails and have conducted 163 telephone counsel sessions through the TCU hotline.
• The Ministry is also working to ensure that students have additional flexibility when it comes to financial assistance.
• Ontario will ensure that the loans of OSAP students who complete their training at another institution will not enter repayment until six months after they have completed training at the alternate institution.
• In addition, for students who choose not to complete their training, loans will enter repayment six months after the date that they would have completed the program at Everest College. This ensures that students are not expected to begin payments on their loans any sooner than they otherwise would have.
• Everest students that have not yet received the full amount of their OSAP money will receive these funds upon beginning their new training completion program.