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{{Infobox university
| name                   = WyoTech
| other_name             = Wyoming Technical Institute
| motto                  = Know Your Brand. Forge Your Path.
| image                  = File:WyoTech_logo.jpg
| caption                =
| image_upright          =
| established            = {{start date and age|1966}}
| type                   = Technical Institute
| president              =
| city                   =
| state                  = Wyoming
| country                = United States
| undergrad              =
| postgrad               =
| staff                  =
| campus                 =
| website                = https://www.wyotech.edu/
}}
'''WyoTech''', formerly known as '''Wyoming Technical Institute''',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wyotech.edu/wyotech-experience/about |title=What You Might Not Know About WyoTech |publisher=Wyotech.edu |date= |accessdate=2013-12-12}}</ref> is a for-profit, [[technical college]] founded in [[Laramie, Wyoming]] in 1966. WyoTech provides 3 core programs and 6 specialty programs<ref>{{Cite web |title=9-Month Auto Mechanic School Programs {{!}} Fastest Courses |url=https://www.wyotech.edu/programs/ |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=WyoTech |language=en-US}}</ref> that prepare students for careers as technicians in the automotive and diesel industry.
In July 2018, WyoTech was purchased from Zenith Education Group by a team of Wyoming locals, including former WyoTech president, Jim Mathis.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-02-03|title=ECMC Completes Purchase Of Everest University, WyoTech Campuses|url=https://consumerist.com/2015/02/03/ecmc-completes-purchase-of-everest-university-wyotech-campuses/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Consumerist|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=4news|date=2017-11-09|title=WyoTech in Laramie To Close|url=https://wyo4news.com/news/wyotech-laramie-close/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Wyo4News|language=en-US}}</ref>
As of November 2018, the Laramie campus is the only location where classes are available.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://laramielive.com/wyotech-to-remain-open-after-purchase-completed/|title=WyoTech to Remain Open After Purchase Finalized|website=Laramie Live|language=en|access-date=2018-10-03}}</ref>
==History==
===Founding===
WyoTech was founded in 1966 as an automotive-themed school, offering programs in automotive repair. The first class in Laramie had 22 students, and its classes were housed in a 9,000 square foot building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.wyotech.edu/campus/laramie/Laramie%20Catalog%20%202016,%20Volume%20I,%20Version%20IV%2008%2002%2016.pdf |title=WyoTech : 2016-2018 Catalog |website=Docs.wyotech.edu |accessdate=2016-09-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wyotech.edu/campus/laramie|title=WyoTech Laramie - What You Should Know|website=Wyotech.edu|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
===Purchase and growth===
[[Corinthian Colleges]] purchased Wyo-tech Acquisition Corporation on July 1, 2002, for $84.4 million in cash, which was 9.5 times [[EBITDA]]. At that point, there were two WyoTech campuses: One in [[Laramie, Wyoming]], and a facility being constructed in [[Blairsville, Pennsylvania]]. The cohort default rate for WyoTech was 7.2 in 1998 and 5.0% in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000095016802002687/d10k.htm|title=Prepared by R.R. Donnelley Financial -- Form 10-K|website=Sec.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
By August 2004, WyoTech had seven sites, adding campuses in [[Boston]] (August 2003), [[Fremont, California]] (August 2003), [[Sacramento]] (January 2004), [[Oakland]] (March 2004), and [[Daytona Beach]] (August 2004). The Daytona campus offered programs to prepare students for jobs as motorcycle, marine, and personal watercraft technicians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000119312504155694/d10k.htm|title=Form 10-K for Corinthian Colleges|website=Sec.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000119312506240534/d10k.htm|title=Form 10-K|website=Sec.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
As of July 2018, the only operating WyoTech campus is located in [[Laramie, Wyoming]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2018-12-21|title=WyoTech Is Back: Laramie Campus To Start Winter 2019 Session|url=https://www.tomorrowstechnician.com/wyotech-back/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Tomorrows Technician|language=en-US}}</ref> November 19, 2022, WyoTech added a 90,000 square feet expansion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boomerang |first=Carol Ryczek For the |title=Shop talk: WyoTech celebrates 90,000 square feet expansion |url=https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/construction/shop-talk-wyotech-celebrates-90-000-square-feet-expansion/article_fa7af8d8-6b59-11ed-a269-e7dc3fa0a153.html |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Wyoming Tribune Eagle |language=en}}</ref>
===WyoTech downsizing and Corinthian Colleges failure===
In 2007 and 2008, WyoTech divested from its Boston and Oakland campuses, which offered aviation maintenance. The Boston campus was sold in 2008 and the Oakland campus was expected to be sold in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000119312507191893/d10k.htm|title=Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2007|website=Sec.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="sec.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000119312508186978/d10k.htm|title=Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008|website=Sec.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
In 2011, WyoTech reported that its schools had some of the highest graduation rates of any two-year schools in the United States. WyoTech Blairsville had a graduation rate of 85.1 percent, and WyoTech Laramie a graduation rate of 80.1 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chronicle.com/article/Large-Colleges-With-the-Best/140275/|title=Large Colleges With the Best 6-Year and 3-Year 2011 Graduation Rates|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|date=19 August 2013 |accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref> However, WyoTech's [[student loan default]] rates had risen to 16.8% at the Blairsville campus and 17.2% at the Laramie campus.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=wyotech&s=all&id=441089|title=College Navigator - Wyo Tech-Blairsville|website=Nces.ed.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=wyotech&s=all&id=240718|title=College Navigator - Wyotech-Laramie|website=Nces.ed.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref> A 2011 report by California Watch found that student loan default rates in 2009 were an alarming 27.4% at Long Beach and 24.6% in Fremont.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/more-calif-students-defaulting-loans-12630|title=More Calif. students defaulting on loans|website=Californiawatch.org|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
In its 2011 investigation and 2012 report, The Senate Committee on [[Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions]] also highlighted Corinthian Colleges, WyoTech's parent company, as a predatory corporation that misled students about costs and gainful employment.  In HELP documents, the committee noted that the Long Beach WyoTech had a [[student loan default]] rate of 36.6%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/for_profit_report/PartII/Corinthian.pdf |title=Corinthian Colleges : Introduction |website=Help.senate.gov |accessdate=2016-09-24}}</ref>
From July 2011 to July 2014, Corinthian Colleges loaned students funds with its high interest in-house ''Genesis Loans''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/corinthian-colleges-loses-federal-lawsuit-as-education-department-may-face-bill_us_5630d9d6e4b0c66bae5a4411|title=For-Profit College Chain Loses Federal Lawsuit As Education Department Faces Reckoning|first1=Shahien Nasiripour Chief|last1=Financial|first2=Regulatory|last2=Correspondent|date=28 October 2015|website=Huffingtonpost.com|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
In 2012, WyoTech divested from its campuses in Sacramento and Daytona Beach. It also reported that its trademarks had been impaired by regulatory uncertainties surrounding gainful employment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000104746912008511/a2210652z10-k.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-09-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106030445/http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000104746912008511/a2210652z10-k.htm |archivedate=2014-11-06 }}</ref>
In 2013, WyoTech partnered with [[Mack Trucks]] and [[Volvo]] Trucks to create a curriculum for the new Diesel Advanced Technology Education for Mack Trucks and Volvo Trucks.<ref name="wyotech.edu">{{cite web|title=WyoTech : 2016-2018 Catalog|url=http://docs.wyotech.edu/campus/laramie/Laramie%20Catalog%20%202016,%20Volume%20I,%20Version%20IV%2008%2002%2016.pdf|website=Docs.wyotech.edu|accessdate=2016-09-24}}</ref> However, WyoTech schools faced layoffs and site closings as Corinthian Colleges, its parent company, received greater government scrutiny for its questionable business and trading practices.<ref>{{cite web|author= Chad Terhune |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2013-jun-16-la-fi-mo-corinthian-colleges-sec-probe-20130616-story.html |title=Corinthian Colleges' stock tumbles 23% since disclosing SEC probe |work= Los Angeles Times |date=2013-06-16 |access-date=2013-12-12}}</ref><ref name="reuters1">{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-corinthiancolleges-campussale-idUSBRE85I0LO20120619 |title=Corinthian Colleges to sell 2 WyoTech campuses |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=2012-06-19 |accessdate=2013-12-12}}</ref> One of the major criticisms of WyoTech and other for-profit colleges was that
tuition was typically 300% to 400% more expensive than programs at community colleges, which triggered higher student loan default rates. Due to a lack of acceptable offers to buy the Daytona Beach campus, WyoTech continued operations there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000110465914037670/a14-9787_110q.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-09-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727121603/http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1066134/000110465914037670/a14-9787_110q.htm |archivedate=2015-07-27 }}</ref>
In a 2014 expose, The [[Center for Investigative Reporting]] found that three of WyoTechs' California campuses received more than $32 million in [[GI Bill]] funds during a 5-year span. WyoTech was labeled as a subprime college because its parent company, [[Corinthian Colleges]], had used false and misleading advertising to recruit students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cironline.org/reports/gi-bill-funds-flow-profit-colleges-fail-state-aid-standards-6477|title=GI Bill funds flow to for-profit colleges that fail state aid standards - The Center for Investigative Reporting|website=Cironlnie.org|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
===ECMC purchase===
In February 2015, Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) bought three WyoTech campuses and the remaining [[Everest College]] campuses under the name [[Zenith Education Group]].
On April 27, 2015, Zenith Education Group closed its three WyoTech campuses in California, leaving the campuses in Laramie, Blairsville, and Daytona Beach remaining.<ref name="kron4-0429">{{cite web|last1=Sevilla|first1=Mario|date=April 29, 2015|title=About Heald Everest and Wyotech campuses|url=http://kron4.com/2015/04/29/faqs-about-heald-everest-and-wyotech-campuses/|url-status=live|website=kron4|publisher=[[Media General]]|quote=[[Corinthian Colleges]] shut down all of its remaining 28 ground campuses on Monday, April 27, displacing 16,000 students. The shutdown came less than two weeks after the [[U.S. Department of Education]] announcing it was fining the for-profit institution $30 million for misrepresentation.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528155551/http://kron4.com/2015/04/29/faqs-about-heald-everest-and-wyotech-campuses|archivedate=2015-05-28|accessdate=2015-06-09}}</ref> A report by the [[US Department of Education]] found that WyoTech's placement rates in California were 2% to 14% below what WyoTech had claimed.
===Accreditation===
WyoTech is [[Higher education accreditation in the United States|nationally accredited]] but it is not regionally accredited. Most public and private [[universities]] are [[Higher education accreditation in the United States#National accreditation compared to regional accreditation|regionally accredited]] and do not accept credits or degrees from WyoTech for transfer.<ref name="demand">{{cite web|last=Jaschik |first=Scott |url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/19/transfer |title=''Demanding Credit'', Inside Higher Education website, dated Oct. 19, 2005 by Scott Jaschik |publisher=Insidehighered.com |date=2013-12-06 |accessdate=2013-12-12}}</ref><ref name="tussle">{{cite web|last=Lederman |first=Doug |url=http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/26/transfer |title=''Tussling Over Transfer of Credit'', Inside Higher Education website, February 26, 2007 by Doug Lederman |publisher=Insidehighered.com |date=2013-12-06 |accessdate=2013-12-12}}</ref>
==Legal proceedings under Corinthian Colleges ownership ==
{{Main|Corinthian Colleges#Legal proceedings}}
In 2008, nine former WyoTech students who took heating and air-conditioning classes in Fremont claimed they had taken out student loans for as much as $40,000 each, but their training did not make them employable. According to the lawsuit filed on their behalf, instructors sometimes appeared to be drunk, fell asleep in class and could not answer basic questions, and equipment was outdated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_24041125/profit-colleges-soaking-up-tax-dollars-despite-student |title=For-profit colleges soaking up tax dollars despite student loan defaults, low graduation rates - and could be in trouble - San Jose Mercury News |work=Mercurynews.com |date= 7 September 2013|accessdate=2013-12-12}}</ref><ref name="sec.gov"/>
In 2013, WyoTech's parent company at the time, Corinthian Colleges, was sued by the state of California for "false and predatory advertising, intentional misrepresentations to students, securities fraud and unlawful use of military seals in advertisements."<ref>[http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press_releases/Complaint%2C%20filed%20stamped.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012053317/http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press_releases/Complaint%2C%20filed%20stamped.pdf|date=October 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press_releases/Complaint%2C%20filed%20stamped.pdf |title=The People of California v. Heald College et al |accessdate=2015-06-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012053317/http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press_releases/Complaint%2C%20filed%20stamped.pdf |archivedate=October 12, 2013 }}</ref>
In July 2014, Corinthian Colleges agreed they would close or sell all their schools within the next few months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://consumerist.com/2014/07/18/your-corinthian-operated-school-is-closing-but-you-might-not-be-completely-screwed/|title=Your Corinthian-Operated School Is Closing, But You Might Not Be Completely Screwed|work=Consumerist|date=18 July 2014 |accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref> The U.S. Department of Education announced former U.S. Attorney [[Patrick Fitzgerald]], a well known corruption buster, would monitor the sale and closure of for-profit career colleges owned by the failing Corinthian Colleges.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_26176667/corruption-buster-monitor-sale-closure-corinthian-colleges|title=Corruption-buster to monitor sale, closure of Corinthian Colleges|work=Mercurynews.com|accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref>
On February 3, 2015, Corinthian sold 53 of its Everest and WyoTech campuses and online programs to the Zenith Education Group, a new subsidiary of the ECMC Group.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/04/guaranty-agency-buys-half-corinthian-colleges-and-forgives-480-million-student-debt|title=Guaranty agency buys half of Corinthian Colleges and forgives $480 million in student debt |website=InsideHigherEd.com|accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref>
==Notable alumni==
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* [[Jessi Combs]] – metal fabricator, TV personality<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wyotech.edu/success-stories/jessi-combs |title=WyoTech Success Stories|publisher=Wyotech.edu|accessdate= May 30, 2014}}</ref>
==Debt cancellation and student debt relief==
According to the [[National Center for Education Statistics]], approximately 17-24% of WyoTech students have defaulted on their student loans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=wyotech&s=all|title=College Navigator - Search Results|website=Nces.ed.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
On June 8, 2015, the [[US Department of Education]] announced that it was developing a process that would allow former students of Corinthian schools to apply for [[debt relief]], if they believed they were victims of fraud. While the Department has still not created a formal process, they have provided the outlines of what borrowers should submit if they wish to pursue debt cancellation on the Federal Student Aid website. In addition, the advocacy group the Debt Collective has created its own, unofficial "Defense to Repayment App" that allows former students of Corinthian and other schools accused of fraud to pursue debt cancellation. The applications generated through the Debt Collective's online form was cited by the Department of Education in a Federal Register notice, which said that "a need for a clearer process for potential claimants" arose due to the submission of over 1000 defense to repayment claims by "a building debt activism movement."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/borrower-defense|title=Borrower Defense to Repayment|date=24 February 2016|website=Studentaid.ed.gov|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://debtcollective.org/defense-to-repayment|title=Defense to Repayment App - Debt Collective|website=Debtcollective.org|accessdate=23 September 2016}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
*[https://www.wyotech.edu/ Official website]
{{Colleges and universities in Wyoming}}
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[[Category:Private universities and colleges in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Education companies established in 1966]]
[[Category:For-profit universities and colleges in the United States]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges in Alameda County, California]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges in Indiana County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1966]]
[[Category:Education in Albany County, Wyoming]]
[[Category:1966 establishments in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Corinthian Colleges]]
[[Category:Private universities and colleges in California]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Laramie, Wyoming]]