'I Feel Cheated': Students Scramble As Argosy University Prepares For Closure

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's an all-out scramble for a thousand metro college and grad school students. Argosy University in Eagan will close Friday, right in the middle of the semester.

Argosy University has campuses around the country. The psychology education Aimmy Casale was hoping to advance is now stopped.

"We are so close to being done and we are at the finish line and now to be  it's like a slap in the face," Casale said. "I feel lied to, I feel cheated.  We've been going through a lot of anxiety and, when I say we, it's been a lot of the classmates I've been going to school for a year and a half with."

The U.S. Department of Education notified the school last week that they were stopping federal funding, saying Argosy's failure to pay credit balance refunds owed to its students and parents demonstrates that Argosy cannot meet the required standards. In total, $1.38 million is owed to Minnesota students alone.

"If I were to take someone's money and not fill my obligation, I would be in jail pending charges but why is it different for individuals to do this to us and it's OK," Casale said.

WCCO went on campus to check things out at Argosy.  WCCO knocked on doors and made calls, eventually finding the campus president, who referred WCCO to corporate communications in California.

WCCO received an email saying:

The following can be attributed to Mark Dottore, court-appointed receiver for Dream Center Education Holdings:

'We have been working day and night since the institution entered into receivership to find the best path forward for students and have done everything that we can to save Argosy University, Twin Cities.

'If the campus is not acquired by another higher education institution, or another institution does not agree to teach out the programs, upon court approval, it will close on Friday, March 8, 2019.

'We are working with students, accreditors, state regulators and the U.S. Department of Education to provide as many options as possible for students, to include transfer to another higher education institution or student loan discharge.'

The university will hold a transfer fair on campus Friday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The company that owns Argosy will also be closing art institutes around the country.