Students at ITT Technical Institute’s now-shuttered Springfield Township campus can apply to discharge their federal loans or transfer to another school, officials said Wednesday.

The for-profit college chain with 130 U.S. sites, including a building it owns at 1656 Henthorne Dr. near Maumee, announced Tuesday it would cease operations. The closure occurred after federal and state investigations, accreditation concerns, and a decision by the U.S. Department of Education to no longer let ITT enroll new students with federal aid.

The local campus enrolled about 108 students, the smallest of ITT’s nine Ohio sites, according to the Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools. The board, which monitors private career colleges, said ITT enrolled about 2,000 students and employed 400 workers in Ohio.

Officials are making plans to assist those whose studies have been interrupted.

“We want to ensure that every single student who had been enrolled at ITT gets the support and the encouragement they need to stay on track,” said Ted Mitchell, education department under secretary, during a Wednesday conference call with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio). “Everyone wants to get these students back on the road to a degree or have their loans discharged.”

Owens Community College has received calls from displaced students.

“We have been having conversations since the news broke, and we are looking at how we can most seamlessly allow these students to get in,” said Amy Giordano, vice president of student services.

If students transfer, Owens can enroll them in courses with October start dates, review which ITT credits will transfer, and award credit for courses that don’t transfer based on a portfolio assessment or proficiency exam.

Those who can’t or don’t want to transfer to another school can apply to have their federal loans discharged. Mr. Brown said that for some newer ITT students, wiping out loans and “restarting with a clean slate” may be the best option.

Students can find out more about discharging loans by visiting the website studentaid.gov/​itt or calling 800-433-3243.

“This can be stressful. It’s obviously confusing,” Mr. Brown said. “Every student’s situation is different.”

Local ITT students can expect information this week from the state board about their options, said John Ware, the board’s executive director.

The Springfield Township site dates to about 2006, he said, and it primarily offered associate degrees in business management, networks-system administration, and various information technology fields.

Enrollment at the local campus fell dramatically in the last five or six years, plunging from more than 500 students. Mr. Ware cited regulatory issues, “bad publicity” surrounding for-profit schools, and an improving economy that sent students back to work.

Mr. Brown praised the federal action to crackdown on ITT, which he said produced “worthless degrees” that resulted in “limited job prospects” and massive debt.

An ITT representative could not be reached for comment, and a message left on the still-operational answering machine of the Springfield Township campus was not returned.

In a written statement released Tuesday, ITT blasted what it described as “unwarranted actions” and said it has worked to ensure legal and regulatory compliance.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published September 8, 2016, 4:00 a.m.