Bankruptcy is certainly not limited to individuals, as one for-profit college with a branch in Ohio recently demonstrated. Although the college had operated for 30 years, the changing landscape of education forced the establishment to close it’s doors and file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Like any bankruptcy, there will be some fallout, as more than a thousand students are still without degrees and hundreds of faculty and staff members are now without employment.
The Heritage College is not the first for-profit college to be forced into liquidating assets. Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institutes have also recently closed their doors, often under the weight of federal investigations that challenge the legitimacy of many of the claims the businesses make to prospective students.
The court documents indicated that the school will be liquidating assets to settle debts somewhere in the range of $1 million to $10 million. Several branches of the college are facing class action suits on the part of employees who claim that the institution failed to provide them with mandatory 60-day notice before shuttering its operations.
If anyone is trying to sell you the idea that bankruptcy can quickly and easily solve your financial woes, then you are being given a very incomplete picture of the process. If you are considering bankruptcy, there are many ways that it can be used to obtain relief, but these too will require some sacrifice on your part. It is wise to seek the counsel of a qualified attorney who can help educate you on the full scope of the matter and help you choose the path that will best for your particular situation.