FORT MYERS, FLA. — Since the abrupt and unexplained shutdown of Contractor Campus on Colonial Boulevard, students nationwide have been left in limbo, looking answers.
Following our first report last week, more than a dozen students reached out to me, Fort Myers Community Correspondent Anvar Ruziev, asking for help.
Determined to find answers, I managed to track down the president of the company, Gildardo Montoya.
After a week of unreturned emails and phone calls, Montoya remained elusive, refusing to speak with me in person. This lack of communication is a source of frustration for many, including students who invested thousands of dollars into their education at Contractor Campus.
When I stopped by the Contractor Campus building on Tuesday, I met Ervin Hernandez. He says he paid $2,000 for the program.
"I've tried to call them, but no one is answering me," he told me. "Nobody's called me. I need to take the classes. It's a lot of money for me."
Since the school's website vanished last week, more than a dozen other students from across the country have contacted me. These students, including Sam Tompkins, researched the company thoroughly before enrolling in remote classes.
Tompkins, who works in the security industry, told me, "I went into it with 'I'm going to look up this business, I'm going to see if it's a reputable business.'"
Despite appearing reputable, Contractor Campus faced further scrutiny on Monday when the Better Business Bureau (BBB) suspended its accreditation, citing "a lack of transparency." The BBB's Board of Directors will review the school at its next meeting, but the outcome remains uncertain.
Adding to the confusion, all social media accounts for Contractor Campus, including a Facebook page with 12,000 followers and a YouTube channel with more 162 videos, have been deactivated.
"It disappeared so quick, it leaves you with this impression almost like a snake oil salesman," Tomkins told me. "This is something that was there one second, and you turn around and look again, and every trace of it is gone."
In response to the shutdown, other companies offering educational materials for aspiring contractors have reached out, offering free and discounted courses to affected students.
- 1 Exam Prep (sister company to 1 Contractor Sollutions), has put out communication ot the community that they are offering free courses to students who are currently enrolled at Contractor Campus
- RocketCert has offered the affected students of Contractor Campus free access to their exam prep course for whichever trade they need.
- The Exam Pros, would like to discuss a way to help the Contractor Campus students who were affected.
- JacTheExamGuy would like to offer his services to any affected students at a 50% discount for their online courses.
