My former college shut down! Yay!

[sanantone]

It wasn't a college I attended; it was the nationally accredited, for-profit college I worked at for a year. I posted on this forum about how this college overcharged for certificate and degree programs that lead to low-paying jobs. Their only decent programs were LVN and RN. The criminal justice program I taught in was under scrutiny because most of the graduates were getting low-paying jobs that required no more than a high school diploma or GED. My biggest issue was the school's recruiting practices. I later found out that the admissions reps had lied to my students telling them things such as they'll be able to get a job as a police officer without having to go through the academy or that the San Antonio Police Department will pay them more for having a degree (this is only true if the degree is from an RA school).

Anyway, I found out the school shut down last year. The accounting and finance offices were mishandling financial aid funds. To be fair, once the owners found out, they self-reported to the U.S. Department of Education and offered to repay what was owed. Unfortunately for them, the government has been really cracking down on for-profit colleges. In the past, schools like University of Phoenix just got slaps on the wrist for mishandling financial aid. The school I worked for was disqualified from receiving financial aid, so they had to shut down. I'd like to say I feel bad for the students, but I don't. Similar to the ITT Tech situation, colleges that normally wouldn't take their credits are stepping in to help. When I worked there, an associate's degree cost $28,000. The Alamo Community Colleges offer the same associate's degrees for about $4,000. You'd be amazed at how many students didn't compare costs.

This college also violated state law by not giving formal notification of its closure ahead of time. They knew for months that they were in trouble, but only sent out a notice to students and the State of Texas the day they closed their doors. Students and employees showed up to school and work to see a sign on the door saying that the school was permanently closed.

[jsd]

When I worked there, an associate's degree cost $28,000.

Wow, there's a lot of ways to waste $28k, but blowing it on an associates ranks really high among the most useless ways to waste it.

[sanantone]

And, certificate programs cost $19,000.

I'm reading more, and it gets worse. Some students were being charged for courses they didn't take. One student said she got an alert from her private lender that an excess of $4,000 was withdrawn by the school. There are even stories of students being charged for meetings with the financial aid office.

I already knew that the school was charging students $1,000 for $500 laptops. I thought those computers would at least come with unlimited technical support, but they didn't. Tech support was only free for six months. After that, the students had to pay. And, guess what. A lot of the employees in the tech support were former students. I hated calling in their IT department to fix something on my computer because I knew more than they did. I just couldn't access certain things because only the IT department had administrator permissions.

[yb1]

Those prices are insane.

[Hunter91]

The ONLY way I'm spending 28k on an associate's degree is if it is an AS in fighter jet flying WITH a significant lab component. And when I say lab component I mean piloting in the air lol.

[dfrecore]

It's just sad that students are duped into these programs, and don't do the research necessary before taking out loans (because you KNOW they don't have $28k lying around to pay for this crap).

[jawbreakingrr]

$28k for an associates!!! That's so sad and predatory. I hope the students can get some type of remeimbursment.

[videogamesrock]

$28k for an associates!!! That's so sad and predatory. I hope the students can get some type of remeimbursment.

If you're that dumb to spend 28k on an associates degree then I hope there aren't any refunds. Because we'd be rewarding stupidity.

[dfrecore]

$28k for an associates!!! That's so sad and predatory. I hope the students can get some type of remeimbursment.

No reimbursement, but student loan forgiveness for some:

A closed school discharge normally only applies to students who withdrew (without completing their program) within 120 days of the school’s closing date, or were attending when the school closed.

[jsd]

If you're that dumb to spend 28k on an associates degree then I hope there aren't any refunds. Because we'd be rewarding stupidity.

Some people don't know better and some people are dumb. It doesn't mean predatory behavior from Institutions like this shouldn't be addressed.