Alpine College abruptly shuts down

A Spokane Valley vocational school, Alpine College, has gone out of business. Signs on the school doors at 10020 E. Knox Ave., advised students to call Alpine officials Tuesday after 10 a.m. at (509) 892-0155. Students with financial-aid or student-loan questions were urged to contact the “Washington State Department of Education” at (800) 433-3243. That’s actually the number of the federal Student Aid Information Center; Washington doesn’t have a Department of Education. The signs gave no reason for the closure. Spokane County Superior Court records show that Esprit Technologies, which does business as Alpine College, was the target of a half-dozen legal proceedings last year to collect allegedly unpaid debts and taxes.