NEW YORK, NY.- Hundreds of students and faculty members were left stunned on Friday by the news that the Art Institutes, a system of for-profit colleges, would close its eight remaining campuses across the United States by the end of this month.

The system had suffered from low enrollment since the coronavirus pandemic began. Previous challenges included a $95 million settlement after fraud allegations in 2015 and a loss of accreditation that led to the shuttering of nearly 20 other locations in 2018.

When Hannah Grabhorn, 21, a sophomore studying games, art and design at the Art Institute of Atlanta, received an email on Friday that said her school was closing, she looked for more answers online. But every page on the school’s website referred her back to the same notice. The email said that “the Art Institutes do not anticipate any further communication.”

Grabhorn said she and her classmates were informed of the closure one day after final exams for the school’s summer quarter.

“All of us were crying,” she said.

The Department of Education said 1,700 students would be affected by the decision. In addition to Atlanta, campuses are closing in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in Texas; Miami and Tampa in Florida; and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Art Institutes did not respond to emails and phone requests for comment.

The school network traces its history back to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which was founded in 1921. A Pennsylvania company named Education Management Corp. acquired the college in 1970 before expanding its portfolio and adding courses such as culinary arts, fashion design, audio production and video games. By 2010, the company made $2.5 billion annually, with $1.8 billion coming from Education Department grants and student loans.

Five years later, Education Management Corp. settled claims with the Justice Department about illegal recruiting, consumer fraud and other claims.

Problems only grew after a faith-based nonprofit called Dream Center Education Holdings acquired the schools in 2017. After settling a class-action lawsuit that said that four Art Institutes were misleading students into believing they were accredited institutions, all that remained of the brand was a handful of campuses.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.