Chandler polling site closed after Golf Academy of America foreclosure

On the night before Election Day, workers set up a polling station at the Golf Academy of America school in Chandler.

What they didn’t know was that hours before, a federal judge in Alabama had ruled against the financially troubled parent company of the golf school.

In court papers, the Education Corporation of America said it faced two foreclosures if it was not allowed to restructure under court supervision and continue receiving moneys from students taking part in federal financial-aid programs.

One of those pending foreclosures apparently was in Chandler. Poll workers arrived before 6 a.m. on Tuesday to find the door padlocked, ballots and voting machines locked inside.

MORE: Election Day issues: Foreclosure, technology glitches, running out of ballots

What is the Golf Academy of America?

The Golf Academy of America started in 1974 in San Diego. The Phoenix school opened in 1986, relocating to Chandler in 2011, according to the school’s website. The academy also has locations in Dallas; Orlando, Florida; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Students could earn associates or bachelor’s degrees that would prepare them to work in various phases of the golf industry, the school’s website said. Graduates could manage a golf course or be a golf pro potential students were told.

The 16-month associate’s degree in Golf Complex Operations and Management costs more than $34,000, the academy’s website shows.

Classes included the History of Golf, Rules of Golf, Golf Club Fitting and Mechanics of the Short Game. Students also were expected to participate in weekly golf tournaments held at area courses, according to the school’s academic catalog.  

But the school’s parent company fell on hard times.

According to court papers filed in October, the Education Corporation of America said it was facing numerous lawsuits and at least two pending eviction actions.

It asked the court for relief to allow it to continue “educating approximately 20,000 students enrolled in their institutions without interruption or unnecessary disruption of the students’ educational plans.”

The parent company asked that it be placed under court supervision while it restructured. It also asked that the court rule that it could continue to have its students take part in federal financial-aid programs while it did so.

Judge Abdul Kallon denied that request in an opinion filed Monday.

Arizona meeting was warning of problems

In an October meeting of the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education, Tim Wilkins, the academic deanfor the Chandler branch of the golf academy, said the school had 58 students enrolled.

He said he expected 19 to graduate this December with the remaining students taking part in a “teach out” that would have some transferring to the other campuses and some staying in Chandler.

Wilkins said the school would work to “make sure (students’) transfers go smoothly and professionally,” according to a recording of the meeting posted on the board’s website.

Wilkins mentioned the school had asked the court to allow it to restructure. A member of the board asked if there was a backup plan in case the court denied the plan.

Wilkins said he wasn’t “privy” that that information but said the parent company’s administrators he spoke to remained “very positive.”

The Arizona Republic couldn’t reach Wilkins on Tuesday. No one returned a message left on the voice mail of the shuttered golf academy.

Law, art schools also have troubles

The golf school is the latest for-profit college in Arizona to run into trouble with finances and regulators. 

Arizona Summit Law School, a private for-profit law school in Phoenix, detailed at the same October board meeting how it would be closing its doors. The move to close came after accreditation woes with the American Bar Association. 

In August, Arizona Summit told the board it had been locked out of its downtown Phoenix offices after the school had not paid rent. 

The Art Institute of Phoenix announced in August that it would be closing its Phoenix campus come December. The Phoenix closure will be one of dozens of the campuses nationwide to have closed. 

Reporter Anne Ryman contributed to this story. 

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