Technical Career Institutes, also known as TCI College, was a private,

for-profit college Proprietary colleges are for-profit colleges and universities. They are operated by their owners or investors, rather than a not-for-profit institution, religious organization, or government. Because they are not funded by tax money, their long ...

in New York City that offered two year associate degrees and certificates for education in technology, business, engineering, healthcare and other career paths. It was dually accredited from the

New York State Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Depa ...

and by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

. TCI's curricula offered training at the

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

level taught by more than 190 faculty.

History

The school was founded in 1909 by

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

as the ''Marconi Institute''. By 1919 the school changed its name to ''RCA Institutes'' and then in 1974 it became ''Technical Career Institutes''. In 2009–2010 TCI had a 24% graduation rate and a 34.9% loan default rate, earning it the title from

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

news as a "red flag school". It is not uncommon -profit colleges to have high rates of student loan default, which prompted a

New York City Department of Consumer Affairs The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), formerly the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), is an agency of the Government of New York City. History The duties were performed by the Commissioner of Public Markets unt ...

investigation in 2015. On December 31, 2012, TCI was brought under the corporate control of EVCI Career Colleges Holding Corporation. In May 2016, TCI named Dr. George Santiago, Jr. the president and CEO, he served until the schools closure in 2017. A 2017 research study "Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility" done by Equality of Opportunity project on income mobility rates for low-income students named TCI the fourth top college in the United States for mobility. However additional research studies will need to be completed in order to better understand how and why some schools are performing better than others.

Closure

TCI's website states "On September 1, 2017, TCI College closed its doors". According to the

New York State Department of Labor The New York State Department of Labor (DOL or NYSDOL) is the department of the New York state government that enforces labor law and administers unemployment benefits. The mission of the New York State Department of Labor is to protect workers ...

, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) submission the close was based on economic factors.

Notable people

Alumni

Martin A. Armstrong Martin Arthur Armstrong (born November 1, 1949) is an American self-taught economic forecaster and convicted felon who spent 11 years in jail for cheating investors out of $700 million and hiding $15 million in assets from regulators. Career A ...

, creator of the Economic Confidence Model * Iran Darroudi, artist, studied television direction and production. * Ronny Lee, American guitarist and arranger. * Prince (Omubiito) Solomon Michael Okwiri Adyeri Ishagara (son of

Rukidi III of Toro Rukirabasaija Sir George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III was Omukama of the Kingdom of Toro from 1928 until 1965. He was the eleventh (11th) Omukama of Toro. See also * Omukama of Toro The Omukama of Tooro is the name given to the king of To ...

), royalty in the Kingdom of Toro in Uganda.

Faculty

* Rivka Bertisch Meir, 2005–2012 visiting professor of Health Sciences

References

External links

* Video:
TCI: The First Hundred Years
' on YouTube {{authority control Universities and colleges in New York City Technological universities in the United States Defunct private universities and colleges in New York City 1909 establishments in New York City 2017 disestablishments in New York (state)