Posted on 08/30/2009 4:58:02 AM PDT by pnh102
Saying they were cheated out of money and an education, 13 former students of Everest College have sued the for-profit school, accusing it of misrepresenting job placement rates, the quality of education and the ability to transfer credits to four-year nonprofit universities.
The Everest students were enrolled in the criminal justice or the medical billing and coding programs. Everest College officials said those programs offered at its campuses in Arlington, Fort Worth and Dallas are specialized career offerings whose credits may not transfer. That information is disclosed to students repeatedly before they enroll, Dom Montalvo, regional vice president of operations, said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
I don't reject out of hand that Everest did that and they should pay up if they did.
Of course, if they didn't they shouldn't.
They’re very similar to ITT, DeVry, and other diploma mill schools. I spoke at an ITT school once and looked at their two-year electronics cirriculum. I covered that much (and more) in about the first half of my 28-week ET “A” school in the Navy. Then I saw how much these poor suckers were getting charged. What a ripoff.
Spoiled brats. I hope they never find a job. I would not hire them that is for sure.
Sad really. I see this type of thing as just another symptom of the widespread ignorance amongst the people of how finance works. Education should be treated like any other investment.
Just curious, how is the ET course set up? Is it 8 hours a day for 28 weeks for one subject?
I’ve seen their commercials and right away it look sketchy to me.
I took a short crash class in computer repair a few years ago and picked up a few certs. The rest came from work, trial/error, experience, freelance jobs, and fixing friends/relatives gear.
One of the major problems of these types of “schools” is that almost all of them (legally) lie to their students.
Let me give one example. A fashion marketing school, in California I believe, boasted a 95% professional placement rate.
Now, would you consider a job as a clerk at Wal-mart to be a “fashion marketing professional placement”? It turns out that the school did. That’s how they got that 95%. People need to know about this!
The kids that go to those schools are not whiners or bums (save those terms for the welfare cheats). Those kids are just trying to get ahead, and they’re being taken advantage of. This is one place I’d like to see government intervention!
And you really can’t fault the kids much for not being expert detectives enough to see through the smooth talk of the schools so-called “career councelors”.
Caveat Emptor, and all that, but these For Profit Diploma mills are really lowest common denominator types.
What's worse is that there are some "computer education" companies that talk about job openings and high salaries: I know that I've heard one of these places advertising on KC radio stations, and I'm just stunned because I know that there really are not any companies hiring in the field around here... Some will take on short term contractors, but nobody fresh out of a certification class is ready for that sort of work. There simply aren't any jobs in that field around here, at least not at the entry level, and in many cases, not at higher levels either. But more importantly, they're advertising salaries at a level of someone who's worked in the field for at least 4 or 5 years. They don't actually SAY that the "graduates" will be making that right away... But that's the impression that they give. If a "graduate" is lucky enough to find a job, he or she will be lucky to make 1/2 of what is promised in the advertisement.
Mark
It kind of makes you wonder why the students just pick their community college.
Guess that I'm just old fashioned? /s
Standard scam to get student loan money...stop the student loans (and grants) and make people spend their own money - this stuff stops dead in its tracks.
I went to Navy Instructor School in Norfolk in the early 70’s. Graduated and taught school, one “A” at 26 wks, and one “C” at 16 wks, at Corry Field, Pensacola for a 48 month tour.
Halfway through, I started my own courses at Pensacola JC and University of West Florida (UWF). UWF offered me 36 semester hours in their school of education for my Navy schooling and classroom experience. They also offered me 16 semester hours in their school of business just for graduating from the A and C schools that I was then teaching.
Can’t speak for the other branches, but Navy schools were intense. Instructor duty was just as intense. We did classroom, lab, and curriculum development/course writing, all as part of the job. In civilian academic life, this would have required four people, full time.
Every civilian acadamecian I met acknowledged that the military technical schools were the most comprehensive and intense they had ever seen.
Many junior and community colleges offer one or both degree programs, and they have different purposes.
An AS (Associates of Science) degree program is basically a transfer program to a 4 year college. So an AS program will typically have more of an emphasis on prerequisite courses, as well as the humanities and social sciences requirements, while leaving the "real" course work for the 4 year school.
An AAS (Associates of Applied Science) degree program is designed for immediate employment once the program is completed. These programs will typically have fewer humanities and social sciences requirements, and instead have a greater focus on the corse work.
A local community college offers both of these degree programs, and it's a "real" school.
Mark
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