ITT Technical Institute offers programs in six divisions: business, criminal justice, drafting and design, electronics technology, health services and information technology. They offer associate and bachelor's degrees in areas such as software engineering, Web development, graphic design, construction management, marketing, human resources and several others.
Students attend classes throughout the year, with flexible schedules allowing them to work part-time or full-time if they choose. Most programs offer classes in four to five-hour sessions three days a week and some have classes on campus two days a week and the third class online.
ITT holds national accreditation from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, but the individual colleges do not have regional accreditation. Regionally-accredited colleges and universities do not always accept transfer credits from ITT and may not accept the degree as valid for entry into graduate study. Because of the accreditation issue and because tuition is high compared to public colleges and universities, prospective students should call employers in their chosen field to ask if they hire ITT graduates.
Tuition varies by location, but for an example, the ITT Tech campus in Green Bay, WI, charges about $15,000 a year for tuition, for both in-state and non-residents.
ITT's job placement rate as of 2002 was 73 percent, according to marketwatch.com, although it had been 90 percent in 2000 before the technical job market experienced a significant downturn. This placement rate was still higher than that of most traditional public post-secondary schools.
The school originated as Educational Services, Inc., in 1946, and has had headquarters in Carmel, Indiana since 1969. From 1965 until 1994, ITT Technical Institute was owned by International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, which divested all ITT Technical's shares by 1999, but the schools retained the ITT name.
In 2004, United States Department of Justice agents raided company headquarters and 10 ITT campuses for records on grades, attendance, graduation rates and job placement. The company revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the California Attorney General were conducting their own investigations. With the stock price plummeting, shareholders filed suit, and the ITT president and chief operating officer resigned.
In 2005, the DOJ dropped the investigation and announced there was no evidence of wrongdoing, and that ITT had fully cooperated with the investigation process.