Dive Brief:

• ITT Tech has announced that it will permanently close, following months of inquiry and action from the U.S. Department of Education to deny federal funding to students, limit its accreditation and raise credit monitoring requirements. 
• The institution enrolled more than 400,000 students last year, but pledges to devote all of its resources to helping students to transfer to other school or find other career options. 
• Officials cited a lack of due process from the federal government and blamed the DOE's requirement to pay more than $150 million in guaranteed funds to cover potential closure as a drain on its ability to provide quality education. 

Dive Insight:

ITT is the latest casualty in the federal government's effort to reduce billions in student education loans and defaults. Its closure was widely expected after the collapse of Corinthian Colleges and the inquiry against for-profit accreditor ACICS. 

But which schools will be next on the DOE list? There's no telling if single-gender colleges, small liberal arts and minority-serving institutions will face a similar fate from the DOE working as a subversive accrediting entity through control of financial aid, but if growing concern about Ivy League endowments and institutional outcomes are any sign, the end for many smaller institutions will be coming sooner than later.