Sawyer saw serious drop in federal aid

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- The amount of federal student aid received by a Rhode Island-based for-profit career training school dropped sharply before its abrupt closure.

A U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman says the Sawyer School got $2.3 million for 2012-2013 compared to about $7.4 million in 2011-2012. She says the drop mirrored a decline in enrollment but she did not have exact figures.

Classes were to resume last week but the school abruptly closed. About 300 students in Rhode Island and 1,200 in Connecticut were displaced. Some of the Connecticut students attended Butler Business School, which is owned by the same parent company, Academic Enterprises.

Butler saw a drop in federal student aid from about $2.2 million to $716,000.

An executive at Academic Enterprises has declined comment.

Sawyer's overall budget wasn't immediately available.