INDIANAPOLIS — Graduates of the Art Institute of Indianapolis say they’re still waiting for their diplomas months after their graduation.
The college, located at "The Pyramids" near 86th Street and Michigan Road on the northwest side, closed for good on December 28.
Amber Skaggs of Avon graduated from the Art Institute of Indianapolis in December with a degree in graphic design.
“I’m waiting for my diploma,” said Skaggs. “A diploma is just a piece of paper, and while that might be true, I'm not going to hang my transcripts on the wall. I want something that I can frame and show that I put all this work and effort into, and I did put in a lot of work and effort with this school. "
Call 6 Investigates began reporting about problems with the Art Institute in July 2018, when the Indianapolis campus was hit with a compliance warning from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) for not placing enough students in jobs.
The council’s standard is a 60% job placement rate, where the Art Institute of Indianapolis’ rate was 53%, records show.
ACICS gave the campus 24 months to come into compliance or it could risk losing its accreditation.
The Indianapolis campus closed its doors months later, on December 28.
When Amber Skaggs saw stories by Call 6 Investigates in mid-2018, she was close to finishing her degree.
“I got really nervous when they shut down our housing and I only had three months to find my own place,” said Skaggs.
Skaggs said she has tried to get a hold of the Art Institute’s operator, Dream Center Education Holdings, but her diploma still hasn’t shown up.
“We’ve gotten our transcripts and people that I’ve called say our transcripts are as good as our diploma,” said Skaggs. “It shows that we graduated.”
Skaggs said dozens of her fellow AI graduates are having the same issue.
Call 6 Investigates also spoke with Mariah Herron, who also graduated in December with a Bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
“I think it’s crazy that I haven’t received my diploma,” said Herron. “There's a lot of us that didn’t' receive it from the last two graduating classes as far as I know that none of us have received it. We're all sitting here waiting, twiddling our thumbs."
It's not clear where graduate's diplomas are or why the Art Institute has not sent them.
Call 6 Investigates has emailed and called Anne Dean, Senior Director of Communications at Dream Center Education Holdings, but Dean has not responded.
Call 6 Investigates also sent a tweet to the Art Institute and they said to contact Dean.
In a previous statement, Dean explained why DCEH was closing campuses across the country.
“After a complete and thorough examination of the three education systems in the DCEH network to ensure they are meeting the needs of today’s learners, we did not see demand growth for courses at these campuses,” DCEH spokeswoman Anne Dean said in a 2018 email to RTV6. “We made the decision to cease enrollments for a number of schools within The Art Institutes, Argosy University and South University systems. This decision was made for a number of reasons, including a shift in the demand for online programs in higher education and in student populations at the campuses, which have resulted in declining, unsustainable enrollment levels for campus-based programs in these markets.”
Call 6 Investigates also reached out to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education Wednesday to see if they could help students get their diplomas.
CHE spokeswoman Kate Stuard told RTV6 she was looking into it.
As for Amber Skaggs, she’s now working as a waitress despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars she said she spent on her education, housing and supplies with the Art Institute.
“My dream job is doing stuff with logos,” said Skaggs. "I would be fine if they made a copy of the computer and emailed it to me and I printed it off myself, I want something saying I graduated from the Art Institute that's more than just a packet of transcripts."
Between July 2016 and May 2017, the Art Institute of Indianapolis had nearly 1,000 students enrolled, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
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For those students who elect not to continue their educational program, the U.S. Department of Education provides the opportunity to apply for a closed school loan discharge. For further information on closed school loan discharge, students should visit: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/closed-school.
According to the U.S Department of Education, students can be eligible for 100% discharge of loans if the school closes while you’re enrolled and you do not complete your program because of the closure, as well as if your school closes within 120 days after you withdraw.
Art Institute campuses across the country have already announced their closure, and others have halted enrollments.
