USA Funds Customer Profile: ITT Educational Services
ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ITT/ESI) has committed itself to providing technical education services to students for more than 40 years. Founded in 1969, ITT Educational Services is the parent company to the nationwide chain of technical schools, ITT Technical Institutes. ITT/ESI serves approximately 33,000 students for the fall 2002 quarter on 74 campuses across 28 states. The company anticipates opening three 
additional campuses in 2003.
The curriculum at ITT Technical Institutes focuses on technical education and 
practical, "on-the-job" training. Associate's degrees are offered in three programs of study, including information technology, computer- and electronics-engineering technology and computer drafting and design. ITT Technical Institutes offer bachelor's degrees in seven programs of study: information-systems security, technical-project management for electronic commerce, electronics-engineering technology, automated-manufacturing technology, computer-visualization technology, industrial design and telecommunications-engineering technology.
ITT Technical Institutes provide students flexibility with class schedules and program-study options. A typical class schedule requires students to attend three days a week for five hours a day. This allows for students to work and attend school. If a student cannot attend classes on campus, ITT/ESI offers some programs for online study.
Due to the size of the student body and the number of campuses located across the country, ITT Educational Services faces some unique financial-aid challenges. Each campus maintains a financial-aid office and staff who process the financial-aid packaging for that campus. The aid packages are sent to ITT/ESI headquarters in Indianapolis for quality-control checks. In addition, headquarters manages all financial-aid accounting, EFT disbursements, loan-refund submissions and performs 100 percent verification on all financial-aid recipients.
Despite the challenges of multiple campuses and a large student body, ITT/ESI is committed to providing personalized service. As a part of the student-aid process, staff members provide personal financial-aid interviews with all prospective students. "This ensures that students and parents understand the costs of attending school and are aware of the financial aid involved," according to Greg Leis, director of Student Financial Services for ITT Educational Services.
Leis also emphasizes that ITT/ESI's relationship with USA Funds is important to the success of the school's debt-management and financial aid processes. ITT/ESI is considering piloting Life SkillsSM modules at some campuses to find the best fit for prospective and current students. The school also works closely with USA Funds to control default rates. "By working together, we find the best ways to collect on accounts," says Leis. "We work to help each other control and reduce default rates."
ITT Educational Services continues to look to future technology not only for its academic programs, but also for financial-aid processes. To improve these processes, ITT Educational Services is working with USA Funds and Sallie Mae to develop an automated financial-aid system to connect its nationwide network of financial-aid offices. The final product will result in more automated financial-aid processes between headquarters and each campus.