(2/19/99)

Hundreds of students at a Draper Technical School went to class this morning and found the doors locked and a sign on the door saying it was filing for bankruptcy. That means more than 200 people are out what amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars. News Specialist Scott Light has the story.

The school is Certified Technical Institute. And even up to yesterday afternoon everything seemed fine. But now, students are out as much as $15,000 each!

The school has been in operation for about two years, and until today, there was no sign of what was coming. As late as yesterday, students say their instructors were assigning homework for the days to come.

But Friday was a different story. When students arrived for class they found the doors locked and a note on the door. It says the company was filing for bankruptcy.

Travis Rapier took out personal loans and jacked up his credit cards to pay CTI's required enrollment fee. Students had to pay half their tuition up front. For Rapier it was more than $21,000.

"After I get done talking to you I'm going to go home and tell my wife what happened. She's not aware of a lot of this that's gone on and I'm going to go find a job and do my best to finish up certifications that I have on my own time."

The certifications are exactly what Oz Elnes wanted too.

CTI trained students to operate and fix computer software like Microsoft and Novell, promising well paying jobs in the exploding high tech industry.

He took out a second mortgage to pay $15,000 up front. Elnes says, "Instructors said, 'Well tomorrow we'll be doing a lab' and now there's nothing."

CTI's attorney didn't return our phone calls but students tell us the school did inform them that it was working through some financial problems. Students say they were still assured that CTI wouldn't shut down.

Jace Jacketta describes his very first emotion when he got to school Friday morning. "Just saw a big crowd in front of the front door, and I started saying to myself 'No, this isn't happening,' and then the panic started to set in."

The Utah Board of Regents told us they're trying to work out a deal where the students can somehow finish their training.

The same official also said if the company is really bankrupt, the students probably won't be reimbursed any of tuition money.