But none of them will be getting the same support and access to automatic transfers that Stella did. That is because the government-empowered bureaucrats who control Tiffin’s accreditation, the Higher Learning Commission, gave Tiffin a choice: either shut down Ivy Bridge entirely, or your own accreditation will be at risk. Tiffin chose to shut down Ivy Bridge.

HLC claims they shut down Ivy Bridge down due to poor academics. HLC President Sylvia Manning even called the school “a bridge to nowhere.”

But the data don’t support Manning’s claims. Complete College America, an independent nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to higher education, found that, while the average community college only has a 27.8 percent two-year success rate (success meaning graduation or transfer to a higher school), more than 64 percent of Ivy Bridge students succeeded by that measure.

Asked for his response to Manning’s assessment of Ivy Bridge, Stella told the Washington Examiner, “That’s a lie. Since graduating I’ve gotten two promotions because of that associates degree. They have helped so many people.”