The sign outside Trumbull Business College at 3200 Ridge Rd., with banners in the windows advertising their former classes. Trumbull Business College announced on Monday that they would be closing at the end of March, after students had completed their finals for the quarter.

WARREN — Trumbull Business College, which provides specialized business and medical training, will close near the end of March, forcing about 80 students to look for someplace else to further their educations.

The school, which formed in 1972, announced Monday it can no longer stay open because the school’s accreditor, the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools, is no longer recognized.

Students enrolled at the college on Ridge Road SE can finish the quarter, but when it ends on March 22, the school will close. Students can get their official transcript with their end of quarter grades and transcript on March 29 and 30, according to an email from a school official to students.

Alexis Stano of Warren, who is working toward an associate degree in science and medical assisting, said she’s upset because students close to getting a diploma or degree have had their education cut short with little to no options to continue elsewhere.

“I’m more upset that I was almost done and there’s no other choice,” Stano said. “It feels like we had an education ripped out of our hands.”

However, Stano said she has no ill feelings toward the staff about the closing, describing the night teachers as the most “amazing, helpful, and generous teachers she had ever met.”

The U.S Department of Education in September determined the accrediting council was no longer effective because it failed to reach certain federal criteria, including lax enforcement of accreditation standards, according to the department of education. Without the stamp of approval from the accrediting council, students at schools accredited by the organization are not allowed to apply for financial aid.

The business college is referring students to Kent State University at Trumbull and ETI in Niles, according to Tribune Chronicle newspartner WKBN 27. Eastern Gateway Community College, said Stano, is expected to speak with students soon. WKBN reported the help the from the community college would be a student-by-student basis.

Students preparing for classes Monday evening said they heard of the closure earlier in the day from day class students or from friends.

ITT Technical Institute on Meridian Road in Austintown abruptly locked its doors in September after its parent company was banned by the U.S. Department of Education from enrolling new students who use federal financial aid.

ddye@tribtoday.com