State promises help for students as Stone Academy closes CT campuses
The for-profit career school Stone Academy announced Tuesday it will close its campuses in East Hartford, Waterbury and West Haven after facing numerous compliance issues. Its last day of classes were held Wednesday, a representative of the school confirmed.
The school, which offers training and preparation for certification in various health care careers, notified the Office of Higher Education of its intent to close on Feb. 6.
Office of Higher Education Executive Director Timothy Larson issued a letter to students Tuesday informing them of the issues Stone Academy faced, including that the school’s practical nursing program faced closure due to high student failure rates.
According to the letter, to remain a state-approved program, the school’s pass rate for the national nursing licensure exam must not fall below 80% for three years. For 2022, Stone Academy’s highest pass rate was 70 percent, while the lowest was 43 percent, and, after failing to reach 80 percent for three straight years, the East Hartford program was to be removed from the list of approved programs.
In addition, the OHE noted that 20 percent of the school’s teachers were not qualified, that clinical experiences offered were invalid and that the school “failed to properly document the attendance of students at classroom and clinical experiences.”
Larson advised students of a few options they have for continuing their studies, having loans discharged or securing tuition refunds, and urged them to fill out a student information survey.
“OHE is currently working with Stone Academy to secure all student files including transcripts and financial ledgers, in order to get them to students as soon as possible,” Larson said.
The state later issued a release saying an independent auditor would evaluate each student’s academic record in order to provide guidance to students.
“The Office of Higher education will hold information sessions to best assist each student with their individual plans of action,” said Larson. “I urge students to watch for communications from the Office of Higher Education for the date, time, and locations of these sessions.”
“The news that Stone Academy is closing its three campuses is extremely disappointing especially given the need of health care professionals in the workforce today,” said Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani. “But their 2022 pass rates for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) were far below the required 80% pass rate. A career that involves caring for others is a true calling, and this news cannot deter the goals these students have set for themselves. We are confident that the Office of Higher Education will help guide them toward a path of success that includes instruction from experienced and highly qualified mentors.”
Stone Academy in May of 2022 paid more $1 million to resolve allegations of attempts to improperly influence the school’s student loan default rate, according to federal authorities. In that case, the school reportedly tried to prevent student default rates from rising above federally allowed levels by secretly making payments to student accounts.
Stone Academy and Scheinberg made a payment of $1,023,950, plus interest, under a civil settlement agreement and also entered into an administrative agreement with the Department of Education in which Scheinberg agreed to cease involvement and participation in the operations, and divest direct ownership, of Stone Academy and the for-profit school, Creative Workforce LLC, doing business as Paier College of Art., federal authorities said. “The administrative agreement also governs Scheinberg’s agreed-to retirement from Goodwin University and the University of Bridgeport.”
