Students at Brightwood College were surprised with terrible news Wednesday morning. The college lost its investors and accreditation and would be shutting down effective immediately.
At 10:00 a.m., students at the Nashville Campus off Envious Lane were called out of class and up to a room where they were informed their schooling would end and their tuition would not be reimbursed.
"It's just not right. I feel like they should've gave us a heads up on if the school going to be shutting down. You know, [we] need to make other arrangements," said Anika Pride, a student of Brightwood of four months. Pride had just received her high school diploma after dropping out earlier in life. She was excited about earning her degree.
The company over Brightwood, Education Corporation of America, was facing financial struggles. In a call this morning to presidents of its 70 campuses across the country, the company’s CEO informed each school’s administration that the investors of the college had pulled out of the business and that Brightwood had lost its accreditation.
All faculty, staff and administration of the college were let go and the Nashville campus will cease operations on Friday.
Even the campus president, Dr. Rachelle Agatha, was informed her job was closing.
"It's just super super sad," said Dr. Agatha. "I love my faculty here. We have a great program. We have our students get jobs at HCA, all over Nashville, and we're getting a bad reputation because of what our corporation did to us."
None of the college’s employees will receive severance pay or health benefits. However, some staff were staying behind at the campus to help students find new schools to continue their education.
