Decker College


Decker College was a proprietary institution that taught classes in carpentry, electrical, and heating and air conditioning repair. It had 3,700 students, 500 staff and campuses in Louisville, Kentucky at 981 South Third Street, Atlanta, Georgia, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Jacksonville, Florida. The school closed in September 2005, and filed for bankruptcy following a disagreement with the United States Department of Education about accreditation of its construction-related courses and online instruction. According to former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato during the 2006 Republican primary for Governor of New York, William Weld, former Governor of Massachusetts and chief executive of the college from January to October 2005, was responsible and oversaw "multimillion dollar looting".
On June 10, 2009, the Associated Press reported that the case against Decker College had been dropped, and no charges had been filed. Robert Keats, bankruptcy trustee for Decker College, disclosed the status of the investigation to a federal bankruptcy judge in a filing made public June 9. "There are no indictments, no further investigation," he stated. According to the AP, U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Dawn Masden confirmed that the investigation was closed with no indictments.
On March 27, 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported as part of an opinion article that "Bankruptcy trustee Robert Keats alleged LoBosco", a Department of Education employee, "was trying to exact revenge against Decker CEO William Weld". The article continued: "Education Department administrative law judge Robert Layton recently affirmed a 2012 bankruptcy court finding that the Council on Occupational Education had failed to tell the truth in stating that Decker's online programs were never accredited. The Council's 'factually erroneous' assertion caused the Education Department to withdraw federal student aid in 2005, which precipitated Decker's bankruptcy."