Former Inmates Offered $15K CDL Pathway After Trucking School Shutdown

Colorado nonprofit left out $15,000 after CDL school closure disrupts training for four students

An Aurora nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated people earn commercial driver’s licenses is trying to determine how to continue training four students after the Denver-area school it hired was shut down in a federal crackdown.

Fortified Academy had paid Colorado Trucking College $15,000 to provide CDL training for the students. The school was among 110 trucking schools shuttered nationwide by the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to information provided by the organization and local reporting.

The closures are tied to new federal standards involving English proficiency among CDL trainers. Colorado Trucking College, based in Denver, had served as Fortified Academy’s training partner for several years.

With the school now closed, the students have been left without a clear path to complete their training and certification. Fortified Academy also says it has not received a response from Colorado Trucking College or a refund for the money it already paid.

“We help [students] as far as funding and things of that nature, so they don’t have to pay out of pocket,” Davon Hawkins, Fortified Academy’s director of operations, told Denver 7.

The nonprofit learned about the shutdown from one of the students shortly after the school stopped operating.

“We found out from one of our students a day after [the school] was shut down, saying that he’s no longer able to provide service,” Hawkins said.

Fortified Academy’s program is designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals rebuild their lives by obtaining commercial driving credentials. CDL training can provide a route into trucking for people facing significant barriers to employment, but the process requires students to complete approved training and testing before they can begin driving commercially.

For the four students enrolled through Fortified Academy, the closure interrupted that process after the organization had already committed the money for their instruction. The academy says it cannot afford to pay another school to train the same students while also waiting to learn whether its original payment will be returned.

“We cannot afford to pay twice for training, but we refuse to abandon them,” Executive Director Monica Gilbert said.

The situation also affects the workforce organizations that helped fund the students’ participation. Fortified Academy works with workforce centers in the metropolitan area, Hawkins said. Those agencies are now asking why students whose training was funded are no longer progressing through the program.

“We work with all the workforce [centers] in the metropolitan area, and so now it’s affecting us because they’re looking at us saying, ‘Hey, we funded these students. Why are they not now going through the program?’” Hawkins said. “And so this is where we stand right now. We’re left with the bag in our hand.”

Fortified Academy is working with officials to identify a solution while it waits for a response from the closed school. The organization has not said what alternative training provider, if any, will take over the students’ instruction.

The disruption highlights the impact that a training-school closure can have beyond the school’s own employees and students. Nonprofits, workforce agencies and prospective drivers may also have money, schedules and career plans tied to a provider’s ability to remain open.

For drivers entering the industry, completing CDL training is a critical step toward employment. When a school closes before students finish, they may have to find another provider, repeat portions of the process or wait while funding and enrollment issues are resolved. In this case, Fortified Academy says the students’ next steps remain uncertain because the organization does not have the funds to immediately pay for replacement training.

Colorado Trucking College’s closure followed the federal action affecting 110 CDL schools nationwide. The crackdown has created a broader need for affected students and partner organizations to determine how existing enrollments and payments will be handled, although the information provided does not indicate what arrangements have been made for the four Fortified Academy participants.

For now, the nonprofit is seeking answers about the $15,000 payment and a way to keep its students moving toward their commercial licenses without requiring the organization to pay for their training a second time.