CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After 65 years of operation, Carolina School of Broadcasting announced its no longer enrolling students and is closing its Digital Media Technology Program.
Carolina School of Broadcasting was a vocational broadcasting school accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges.
"It has been our honor to serve the broadcast industry and our almost 4,000 students over the past 65 years," the school wrote on its website.
WHAT SHOULD CURRENT/FORMER STUDENTS DO NOW?
On its website, Carolina School of Broadcasting said all impacted students have been notified and given the opportunity to complete the program prior to its closure.
The school said former students can get their official transcripts and/or copies of their Certificate of Completion by contacting the registrar, Mr. William HJ. Brown with the Division of Archives and Records in Raleigh at 919-814-6850.
Current students must obtain their academic and financial aid records since many might decide to attend another school in the future or seek discharge of loans.
According to the Studentaid.gov website, if your school has closed you have two basic options:
- apply for a closed school loan discharge, which means you have no further obligation to repay the loan, and you will receive a reimbursement of payments made voluntarily or through forced collection.
- transfer your earned credits to another institution.
To apply for loan forgiveness through a closed school discharge, you can either:
complete and return the closed school loan discharge application sent to you by your servicer, or complete a PDF closed school loan discharge application and return it to your loan servicer, or
contact your loan servicer about the application process for getting your loan discharged (You can find out who your loan servicer is by logging in to "My Federal Student Aid").
According to BestColleges.com, hands-on vocational training around the country has been hampered by COVID-19 school shutdowns. BestColleges.com said, "in addition to health concerns and financial hardship, the lack of available hands-on training could deter students from enrolling in vocational programs at both community colleges and trade schools."
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions producing I Can’t Afford to Live Here, a collaborative reporting project focused on solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.