The abrupt closure of three Stone Academy campuses in Connecticut has prompted Attorney General William Tong to launch an investigation into the nursing school.
Tong made the announcement from the state Capitol Thursday and said his investigation will focus on whether Stone Academy's practices may have potentially violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Stone Academy announced that its campuses in East Hartford, Waterbury and West Haven would be closing Feb. 15 after concerns arose regarding the National Council Licensure Examination rates, faculty qualifications and clinical training.
“Students paid thousands of dollars in tuition and worked extremely hard — some over many months and years — to fulfill their dreams of becoming nurses," Tong said. "Stone failed them. Stone’s pass rate was unacceptably low. Some of their faculty were not legally qualified to teach. Students wasted hours in invalid clinical training. The school was simply not preparing its students to become successful nurses."
The office of the Attorney General has received over 100 complaints from students and faculty and is working closely with the office of Higher Education, Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Education to assist students with tuition refunds, obtaining transcripts, loan discharges and finding options to continue education at other schools.
“We’re going to find out exactly what Stone promised these students and how things went so wrong. If we find any violations of the law, we won’t hesitate to hold Stone’s leaders accountable,” Tong said.
Stone Academy is required to respond to the attorney general's inquiry by March 10.
Connecticut Public attempted to reach Stone Academy at a public number, but no one picked up and there was no voice messaging service.
