Four-D College Suddenly Closes its Doors

Five days after the announcement of Four-D College's sudden closure, students from the institution's two campuses, one in Colton and one in Victorville, were advised about their options. Staff from the California Department of Consumer Affairs' Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education were at two separate locations Friday, July 17, to provide former Four-D students with applications for tuition recovery, Federal student loan discharge information and advice on how to obtain financial aid documents, transcripts and other school records. The meeting came less than a week after Four-D College announced its sudden closure, which many students and staff were alerted to by a message taped to the college's front doors as they arrived Monday morning, July 13 at campus. The notice attributed the sudden closure to the denial of job-related placement of Four-D graduates by the school’s accrediting agency, the Virginia-based Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). “For unknown specific reasons, the agency began to deny the job-related placements of its graduates without provocation. Due to the actions of ABHES rejecting the placements of graduates into viable employment, ABHES issued an act to deny the renewal of Four-D College’s accreditation,” the notice read. This “gravely affected” the institution’s Title-IV funding, the notice stated. On July 13, the ABHES posted a statement on its official website that read it disagreed "with the statements describing the bases for ABHES actions" made by Smith. The statement went on, "Furthermore, Four-D has exercised its right to appeal the decision and therefore remains accredited by ABHES at the present time pending the resolution of the appeal.” On July 15, ABHES posted an updated statement that in accordance with its accreditation manual, Four-D College had relinquished its ABHES accreditation by ceasing operation on July 13. In a public posting on her Facebook page on July 13, Smith said, “What occurred to Four D College was unprecedented and out of our control. I sincerely apologize to all that all of my endeavors to keep the school open were unsuccessful.” She called the circumstances “unfair” and “unprecedented.” Neither Smith nor representatives from ABHES returned phone calls seeking comment by time of press. Four-D College’s Colton campus was accredited in 1996 and its Victorville campus in 2006. It was a private Christian college providing courses on licensed vocational nursing and other health care programs. Students are being provided with official copies of their financial and academic transcripts and attendance records via mail within five business days. Students may review the status of their financial aid online at nslds.ed.gov and may also contact the California State Authorizing Agency, Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE) at www.dca.ca.gov/bbpve for more information.