Pittsburgh Career Institute closing in 2 weeks due to ‘factors outside the school’s control’

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Career Institute is closing its doors in two weeks.

The news came as a shock to students.

“I went into school today expecting to take a physics exam. I walked in and it was a paper saying, ‘we’re closing down, sorry,’” one student told us.

She has been a student at PCI since May.

Channel 11 obtained an email sent to a student by the dean of education a month ago.

“Things are progressing with the plan of no interruption to your education. ... PCI is well within the time frame to remain fully accredited and you should see no difference in your time with the school,” the email said. It went on to say that the school had 18 months to fix its accreditation status.

On its website, the school said officials learned of an issue with accreditation in August.

Another student tells us she received text messages from classmates this morning that the school was shutting down.

“You give a two-week notice to a job when you’re quitting, not when you’re closing a whole institution,” she said.

Channel 11 reached out to PCI and received this statement:

“A number of factors outside the school’s control have led to closing. ... Staff educators are working hard to find each and every one of our students an option to continue and complete their education at PCI or another institution without interruption.”

The students whom we spoke with are waiting to find out if their credits will transfer.

“I just received the President’s Award with a 4.0 GPA. I worked my butt off and I literally feel like this is a slap in the face from this whole institution,” one student said.

“If all that work was for nothing, I’m going to be really upset,” another said.

PCI is planning to keep representatives on campus until Dec. 31 so students can complete their clinicals and get help transferring.

As for money, both students told me some students will get some of their fees back but others won’t. PCI representatives would not answer any follow-up questions when we spoke with them on the phone.

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