Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts

Thursday, May 3, 2007

For-Profit Education's Admission "Standards"...

Well, they don't have any because they are businesses. If you are running a car dealership and a customer comes in wanting to buy a car and has a driver's license you are going to sell him one! If one comes in vaguely thinking about buying a car you're going to try to sell him (or her) one. If one comes in because he wants to use the bathroom, you're going to try to sell him a car. If they need a loan you will do everything within your power to arrange one. You are not concerned with his driving record or if its the right car for him. The first problem belongs to his insurance agency, the second one to him. That's how businesses operate, that's what they do, they sell things that's the only way they can profit.

Well for-profit educational institutions are like car businesses, and they don't operate much differently. If a student comes in with a GED and wants an education they will sell him one and if he's not sure he wants one from them they will do everything they can to convince him that their education suits him. If ultimately it doesn't suit him that's not their problem.

Ohhh, but for-profit education has a huge advantage over car dealers and other like businesses. They have no worries about customer's credit records, don't need to have a service department and no pesky warranties. The customer always gets the loan regardless of his credit record and the for-profit educational institution always gets their money ... well as long as the customer stays in school. If the customer doesn't like the education and it doesn't end up suiting their needs, well that's too bad, its non-returnable and non-refundable!

Now, under those circumstances, do you really expect for-profit educational institutions to turn customers, ummmm.... students away!!!


Crown College is like that. Students came in wanting an education which they could transfer to a traditional school. What did the admission representatives do, tell them that they could transfer Crown College's credits to a traditional school? Why, because the Crown College makes a profit from each student it enrolls and profit is what concerns them. There has been amble evidence that this is the policy of other for-profit educational institutions. The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article concerning an investigation of Career Education Corporation which revealed that they were very reluctant to turn anyone away. "If you can breathe and walk, you can get into the school," says a professor who wished to remain anonymous."

The Chronicle has talked to credible sources and reviewed documents that strongly suggest that, over the last several years, administrators at the campus here have:

* Regularly admitted students who had not graduated from high school or earned a General Educational Development certificate, and directed many of those students to unaccredited high schools where they could obtain high-school diplomas the very same day.

* Improperly counted as "starts" students who never showed up for class or dropped out before they had completed their first week of courses.

* Encouraged admissions officers to sign up themselves, as well as family members and friends, and counted them as "starts" even if they never actually attended.

* Routinely misled prospective students about the college's classes and programs, as well as about the nature of the institution itself.

University of Phoenix paid a $9 million to the Department of Education to settle charges that it gave admission representatives incentives to enroll students regardless of whether they were academically suited to for the program of study. Moreover, University of Phoenix, still faces a false claims lawsuit which the Supreme Court refused to throw out according to the Los Angeles Times.

A report issued by the department said the company promoted an intense sales culture that rewarded recruiters who encouraged large numbers of students to enroll, even if they were not qualified.

For-profit educational institutions are business regardless of what they might want you to believe and its extremely hard for them not to conduct themselves accordingly. They simply cannot help themselves.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

A Crown College Admissions Rep Ate My Education!

This may happen to you because for-profit education admission representatives may have to eat your education so they can eat! This happened to numerous students who believed that their Crown College credits would transfer to regionally accredited schools aka real schools. Crown College, and many other non-profit school's like University of Phoenix and Career Education Corporation, admission representatives are not necessarily there to give you good advice, unless good advice happens to coincide with them getting you to enroll and make money for the school. Remember, these schools are businesses, just like car dealerships, insurance companies, pawn shops. If they can provide a good education AND make money, its all good, but if they can't, they would rather make money. Just make sure you remember that when an admission representative is telling you exactly what she or she thinks you want to hear. Adrienne Rocco, a former admissions representative at Crown College and told about how admissions representatives work in a declaration and a complaint to the ACCSCT.

At Crown College, a lot of students listened to the siren song of some admission representative and ended up wasting their time based on their lies. Things like the sound system is great, it wasn't, we have a fantastic curriculum, they don't, and the biggest one, our credits transfer, no problem. You could end up in the news!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Crown Charges $17k for a Non Transferable Associates Degree!!!

$17,000+ is a lot for the education Crown College will give you. Did you know you can go to a Community College in Washington, which is regionally accredited, they all are, and get an associates degree which you could transfer to another regionally accredited school like say University of Washington, a real school. And it will cost you a lot less! $3,600! Don't take my word for it. Read the table in this article.

Now, when you are funding your education with federal and state loans and grants, it probably doesn't seem like that much. I mean, when I went to school, the loan money was like monopoly money. The concept of paying it back, or even how hard or how long it would take to pay it back was not something I dwelled on. However, you will have to pay it back. The Department of Education may toss it around as if they are some kind of philanthropic axis of giving which Santa Claus heads but don't be fooled. They will hound you, garnish your wages, take your tax return out of your mail box and you cannot dismiss it in bankruptcy. The schools can go bankrupt, but not you. That is a lot of money to pay for a degree which is not transportable. In other words, you can't take the Crown Associates to most regional accredited schools and start on a Bachelor's degree or take the Bachelor's degree and start on a Master's Degree and you will have a hard time transferring the credits. It's only good for the field you get it on. Hmmm, what if there is no work in that field or you get tired of guarding prison inmates? Well tough, you gave up your flexibility when you ended up going to Crown College and getting a dead-end education.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Scam School?

You decide.

Why in the world would the operator of this Crown "College" have to point out that it's printed in his catalog that his credits may not transfer? Why isn't it printed on the contract in big bold letters? Or on the front door in big block letters? Simply because you might see it, that's why! Why call them "credits" when in effect, they are just like the little stickers we give our children for their charts when they brush their teeth and do their chores. Except they cost more!!! A lot more! This man is a businessman - not an educator. The operator of a corporation out to make a profit first and foremost.

I watched the video of John Wabel responding to the Black lawsuit on the crown college lies website. He comes across as a pedantic, self-righteous and arrogant little creep. My opinion - crooked as a dog's hind leg! Run for your life and hide your money. It feels like he's taking advantage of people who want to better themselves through education by selling them a bunch of lies - and getting paid for it through the federal student loan program.

If I didn't know better, I would say he could have run Business Career Training Institute (BCTI) or Court Reporting Institute (CRI) - two other scam schools in the Puget Sound area that received recent attention for cheating and lying to students. Join the club, Mr. Wabel. BCTI CRI, and CC (Crown College). Crooks College? One really must wonder.