ITT Educational Services rebounds from federal probe

After rebounding from a federal criminal probe that uncovered no wrongdoing, ITT Educational Services Inc. is proceeding with an ambitious growth plan in hopes of building upon a bullish earnings run.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston, which led the investigation into whether the Carmel-based

"It was very, very disruptive and very distracting to the organization," ITT CEO Rene Champagne said of the 16-month investigation. "What we had to do was try to get into a crisis-management mode where a select group of individuals dealt with it on a day-to-day basis."

Federal agents converged on ITT's northwest-side offices in late February 2004 searching for records related to admissions and recruitment. The district court in Houston also issued search wan-ants for ITT campuses in Texas, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, California and Oregon.