Complaint Review: Sanford Brown College-St. Louis area campuses - St. Louis Missouri
- Sanford Brown College-St. Louis area campuses ALL St. Louis, MO area campuses St. Louis, Missouri United States of America
- Phone: 636-349-4900
- Web: sanford-brownedu.com
- Category: Trade Schools
Sanford Brown College-St. Louis area campuses The 4 St. Louis area campuses are as follows: St. Peters, MO, Fenton MO, Hazelwood, MO, and Collinsville, IL campuses Sanford Brown College is a FRAUD!!! I want to join a legit class action lawsuit...serious and very real inqueries ONLY need to reply!!!!! Please tell me what I need to do and what the whole process to St. Louis, Missouri
*Consumer Comment: Complaints from former sanford brown students
*Consumer Comment: Other Considerations
*Consumer Comment: Please help!
*Consumer Comment: Response to post #4
*Consumer Comment: Please help me too
*Consumer Suggestion: Response to Mother
*Author of original report: Thank you so much for your wonderful input!!
*Consumer Suggestion: Possible solution
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....I know it's a VERY, VERY long article, but
PLEASE take the time out to read it...this is VERY IMPORTANT to
me....more than anyone could ever imagine!!!! I promise once you do,
you will not be disappointed!!!
I too went to Sanford
Brown College too, and I too received a very poor education and was
nothing but lied to as well, but I went to one of four campuses in the
St. Louis, MO
area. They lied to me about everything too. Everything they lied to me
about are all the same lies they told me...every single one that has
been described by someone on this page!!!! I tried to transfer my
credits to another college (a REAL college this time around, I might
add) and they told me that Sanford Brown College credits are worthless
and the degree is worthless, basically fake, and cannot be used in the
REAL world of college and jobs!!!! my degree was for the veterinary
technology program and it was a joke as well!!!!!! I was told my
general credits would transfer for sure, and if I moved on to go to a
University if I went to further my degree in my chosen field, I was
also told that all of the credits I earned that were specifically
geared for the vet tech program would transfer towards my higher degree
(ex. if I went on to more schooling to become a veterinarian) and that
all of their vet tech class credits were classes that would go towards
a bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine, which would of course make
it to where I'd have less classes to take for veterinary school, or in
other words a lighter class load and less time to go through and
finish. I was also told if I chose a different major down the road for
my bachelor's such as Business and Administration, which I was told
also would work with my degree because vet's offices have business
managers that run their offices, that all of my general credits would
FOR SURE transfer....well, they did not!!!! In fact, I have to start
from scratch and take every last one of those gen-ed classes over
again, after wasting TWO YEARS OF MY LIFE going to Sanford Brown and
doing them there once already. The school I am going to now already
knew about Sanford Brown and had MANY other students from there that
tried to transfer their credits but couldn't, and they knew when I
found out that my credits were worthless what my reaction would be from
their experiences with former Sanford Brown students in the past. So
they didn't even tell me in person while I was at the school, they
waited till I got home so they could call me and break the news over
the phone because they knew I would be enraged and very upset to learn
I wasted all that time and money, and that on top of ALL OF THAT I
would have to re-do all of those gen-ed classes. Of course, I was
highly upset and enraged just as they knew I'd be. It is very
devastating to know that you spent all that time and hard work of
studying and being in class, just to find out you have to take it ALL
OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!
I took two pages of questions with me I
wrote down to ask the admission's rep to see how legit this school was,
not knowing they were bold face lying about everything to every
student, so I actually believed everything she said. I drilled her
pretty good, too, and didn't forget any important question that needed
to be asked, but she always had a quit very educated sounding answer
for everything and I didn't know it at the time, but they were all
bold-faced lies she was telling me!!! And you know what the sad part
about all of this is??? It's that Sanford Brown and Career Education
Corporation are the ones that TRAIN these admission's reps to be
aggressive and lie their butts off and say WHATEVER they have to to get
you in and to get you to sign those final papers!!!!! It all starts by
them harassing you NONSTOP day and night calling OVER AND OVER at your
home until you at least just agree to come in and talk to them about
the degree program you are interested in and go on a tour of the school
and classroom to see if you will be interested...that's the bait and
switch right there!!!!! that's how they get you in, then once they get
you in, they pretty much have you from there with the tactics and
complete lies and empty promises they use!!!!!
So anyways,
I was also told I would be guaranteed 100% placement by career
services, get SOOO MANY interviews RIGHT AWAY after graduating, not to
mention guaranteed placement almost immediately following graduation,
not to mention I was also pretty much promised a job in my field WHILE
I was still in school. I was told I'd come out of school making $30,000
per year to start (which broken down is $15.00 per hourly wage), and
she went off of bureau of labor statistics and showed it to me me as
she pulled it up on her computer in her office. There were no records
of statistics of actual placement and salaries of any of their students
for me to see. I was told that the program was brand new and in the
process of being accredited, and I told the admission's rep that I
didn't want to go through the program unless it was fully accredited,
and she said that it was FOR SURE getting accredited, that it was about
to be happening for sure and that they WOULD BE by the time I started
the first classes. She also told me that the school itself was FULLY
ACCREDITED in EVERY aspect, in EVERY way, shape, and form.
She
also told me that the teachers were highly qualified to teach the
classes that they each taught, that they had Master's degrees and
Phd's, were qualified long time college professors, or were Doctor's
themselves, and had all been chosen carefully and were highly qualified
to teach the classes they taught at Sanford Brown College, and that
they had been teaching that particular subject at Sanford Brown and
other colleges for YEARS. This was NOT TRUE AT ALL!!!! Yes, there were
a few college professers with big time dgrees and lots of experience,
but they were all teachers mainly teaching the general education
classes. The teachers in all of the medical classes such as vet techs,
medical assistants, radiology technicians(or whatever they were for
each particular program themselves), most of them had only had
experience working as actual medical assistants, veterinary
technicians, radiology technicians(and so on)in that field, and had no
bachelor's or master's degrees in anything, not to mention any degrees
or years of prior experience in teaching. And they had to have at least
5 years of working in that particular field to qualify for a teaching
job at Sanford Brown...which isn't a lot of experience at all if you
think about it. Yeah, to a degree I guess you could say that's plenty
of experience, but to teach a highly accelerated program, I would
prefer WAY more experience than that, not to mention some high degrees
and a lot of years of experience in teaching courses like those in each
program. I didn't find out until I was well into it that 3 out of the
only 4 teachers we had for our over booked and over crowded veterinary
technician program were only vet techs previously to Sanford Brown with
no prior teaching experience..and some teachers played "favorites" and
were mean or rude to students they didn't like for whatever reason.
They did not treat everyone equally with respect and give everyone
equal opportunity to do hands on lab work, they always chose their
"favorites" over the other students. They also participated in doing
favors for their fave students such as land them an internship that
would end up in employment. They also put good words in for their fave
students, while at the same time telling the companies/contacts/doctors
they knew that they shouldn't hire other students and why, basically
bad mouthing them and slandering them as well as defaming their
characters, since these companies knew other companies in the entire
area and so on, and the word would spread and they would ultimately not
be able to find employment after graduation.
I feel like the
way the teachers treated some students better than others was very
unfair and unjust as well. I feel like the people they liked got a
better more thorough and excellent education(the way every person is
supposed to get REGARDLESS!!!) compared to the people they didn't
like...there were days I left the first class I was in, in full blown
tears. And as for the playing favorites and ganging up on people with
their "favorites" and being just plain mean and rude for no reason(just
because they decided on their own that "they just don't like you, or as
much as the ones they liked the most)that should be against rules and
regulations as an employee for Sanford Brown Colleges. If a teacher
can't act like a teacher and can't act like the adult they are, and
treat everyone equally the same and treat them right, then they
shouldn't be a teacher AT ALL!!!!!!!!! I as well as many other students
complained to people of higher authority in the College as well as to
people working in the other departments throughout the school. We
reached out to these people and complained OVER and OVER, but no one
EVER did anything about these teachers acting this way, not to mention
the other students that were harrassing other students and making their
lives HELL while attending this school, which is NOT the way it should
be. A school shouldn't be run like this. I feel like they could've
definitely put a stop to the bullying from the students towards other
students, and I know for a FACT they could've put a COMPLETE stop to
the bullying from the teachers towards the students. It is 100%
absolute discrimination, as well as slander and defamation of character
what was going on here!!!! And that is AGAINST THE LAW!!!!!
I
struggled SO VERY BADLY while I went to school there, I was so poor,
and I even told the admissions rep this and that I was already
struggling as it was, and she was very aware of this and still used her
forceful tactics to talk me into going so she could make that
commission(they say they care so much about their students, when in
reality all they care about is that money they are about to get from
their students!!!!). She didn't care how she was lying to me or how
hard things would be for me, or how it would affect the rest of my
life, she just saw dollar signs...that is ALL Sanford Brown and Career
Education Corporation sees is the dollar signs. It was the hardest two
years of my life, I was struggling financially and SO over stressed
having to go from working full time to working part time JUST so I
could go to school full time, because I also had a child and and I
lived alone with that child, a single parent who struggled as it was to
make ends meet. I could barely pay my bills before i went to school
there, and when I realized the admissions rep ALSO lied to me about the
times and lengths of the classes, I had to quit my job and downgrade to
a part time job in order to accommodate to the swing shifts times/days
of the week that these classes were always changing to. She
specifically told me the classes were two days a week, the same days
every week through the ENTIRE length of the program....that was the
BIGGEST LIE of them all!!!!!!
The classes changed times and days every
ten weeks, and there were even SEVERAL hours between some classes in on
day...and it wasn't just a few hours...it was sometimes 4 and 5 hours
between classes!!!!! It was absolutely RIDICULOUS!!!! And that's why I
ended up not being able to work Full Time anymore, the schedule was so
unpredictable and unstable, and I had a child at home to take care of
too, ya know??? So, I could never pay all my bills and afford gas to
get to school(some of our field trips cost money out of our pockets
which I wasn't told about until they were a week away, and we had to
pay out of pocket for some of the costs involved with state boards
tests too, and I wasn't told that till it was almost time for that test
as well), and my mom had to step in and help me...if it wasn't for her,
I would have been homeless for sure!!!! Going to school there(it was an
hour away from my house)took so much time and sooo much of me and my
mom's money, that by the time I graduated, I was worse off then, then I
was before I ever started there....I was on the verge of homelessness.
I did not find a job right away after I graduated, and when career
services did help me, they barely did squat for me...I did most of the
work myself!!!!! and I STILL didn't get any calls, because I honestly
believe the girl that was working with me from career services wasn't
even really sending my resume out but saying she was. She didn't even
update the address and phone on my resume when I called her asking her
to change it because I had just moved. And she NEVER called me on a
regular basis to touch base with me like she was supposed to once a
week. I think she called twice in almost 6 months. And if I wouldn't of
met my boyfriend after that and moved in with him, I WOULD have
DEFINITELY ended up homeless for sure. I don't know where I'd be right
now if it wasn't for him...I know I wouldn't be doing well at all, I'd
be struggling not able to make ends meet, if not worse off and
completely homeless!!!!!!!!!!
I really do want information on how to join in on or start my own lawsuit!!!!! I need justice, and
I do not feel I should have to pay back over $30,000.00 dollars in
students loans back for a fake degree, worthless credits, and nothing
but lies!!!!! And I want to see if there is enough cause/evidence for a
discrimination suit to be added in with the rest of the suit as well.
If it can't be, and there just isn't a strong enough case for it, then
I still want to be in on this class action lawsuit for everything else
that it is already sueing for...because I experienced all of those
things as well, and I definitely want in on this lawsuit!!!! Can
someone PLEASE call me and tell me how I can join one of the current open and pending class action
lawsuits against the St. Louis area campuses or even any campuses for that matter???? And if I do not qualify to join one because it is in a
different state across the country, then can someone please contact me
and tell me where I need to go and what I need to do to join one of the
lawsuits that are in my area??? can someone that knows anything about
any of the pending lawsuits in my area please contact me????? i am
DESPERATE and NEED someone's help and I need it FAST!!!!
I have over
$30,000.00 in student loans for Sanford Brown and I have yet to land a
job in my field, my degree is completely WORTHLESS and several
accredited community colleges and 4 year Universities told me that it
was worthless and that the credits were completely worthless, and I was
lied to about SO MUCH!!! Basically I was lied to about everything so
they can get my $30,000.00 dollars(that I don't have)to profit off of,
while I sit with a worthless degree scarred from all of the lies
wondering how I am ever going to pay the $300.00 per month(is what the
payments will be)for 15 years. I am in college again, so the payments
are deferred for the time being, but they haven't went away, and I live
with my boyfriend, and we are not rich!!!!! I do not know how I will
afford those payments...it's like a freakin new CAR PAYMENT!!!!! We
have had another child too since I started school there, so now we have
two kids, one of which needs baby food and diapers and I cannot work
right now because I cannot afford daycare for two children while I work
a minimum wage job...which is basically what I will be getting paid
working for a veterinarian, maybe a dollar more than minimum wage!!!!
My getting married to my boyfriend is being put on hold as well, and it
is all because of the student loans I have from Sanford Brown. They
have put a major strain on my relationship with my boyfriend as well as
my life period!!!!!!!
I know that Channel 5 news KSDK in St,
Louis did a huge undercover story on the campuses in the St. Louis
area. They went in undercover posing as potential wanna-be students and
got the admissions reps on video straight lying to their faces about
all of the same issues that we all had experienced with them, and
pushing their aggressive tactics on them. they also secretly video
taped career services as well and caught them in a bunch of lies. They
also interviewed SEVERAL former students who were lied to and outraged
and wanted something done about Sanford Brown College and their lies
and falsifications. The students are the ones who called the news
channel and asked them to please investigate and go undercover, and
told them that if they did, they would have a huge story to cover and
it was definitely HUGE!!!! It ended up having several continuing
stories on it, and was so big it was the talk of that whole area for a
long time. It definitely gave them the bad name they so long deserved,
and a lot of students did quit school when they saw the news. I was
almost done by that point, or I would of quit too!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can
somebody please help me???? I tried to contact two different lawyer
groups that are representing two different class-action cases against
Sanford Brown that are in the area where I live, but they have not
returned any of my calls, so therefore I feel pretty helpless right now
and feel like I have no chance or hope of taking action and standing up
for myself and my rights against this school/corporation that has so
far gotten away with totally reaming me and thousands upon thousands of
other students like me all across this country where they have
campuses/colleges. I want to put an END to this!!!! This has GOT to
stop!!!! This should be against the law what they have and are still
doing to so many innocent people!!!!! They should all be forced to shut
down and be PERMANENTLY put out of business for their illegal and
fraudulent practices....they are like a big scam and are no better than
your worst pyramid scheme!!!!!!!! So can you get back with me and talk
with me about what's going on with any of the current ongoing lawsuits against Sanford Brown and/or Career education Corporation(the owner/operators of all Sanford Brown Colleges, institutes, and tech schools)and what I need to do to
join in on it????
Or if I don't qualify to join your lawsuit because of
where I live or because it is over and settled already, can you email
me back and tell me how you found your lawyer, what you did to be
eligible for a lawsuit and how he took your case and what I need to do
to build a strong enough case to start a lawsuit, and also what I would
need to do to turn it into a class action lawsuit, and how you went
about the whole process???? I would greatly appreciate it!!!!! Thank
you so much!!!! I know this was VERY long and probably VERY boring to
read, but I wanted to get all my information out there so you would
better know if I qualified to join one of the class action lawsuits, and in case someone
else that is in a lawsuit closer to my area that went to the
same school as me is reading these comments, or even if possibly a
lawyer from my area who may be interested in taking my case and
starting a lawsuit against them, then they can contact me through this site by responding or commenting to this article, and then maybe I would
have a chance at being able to join one of the many, many class action
suits that are going against this school, and there are SO MANY of them
pending against that college right now, and they are ALL across this
country!!!!
If you google "Sanford Brown College lawsuits", you will
get so many articles and news video coverage clips of the many, MANY
lawsuits they have pending against them right now!!!!!!!! Thank you
very much for reading my comment/response to your article, and I really
hope to hear back from someone very, very soon!!!!! Just respond to me
on here with a comment, and tell me how I can reach you in private
through email or phone so we can talk!!!!!!!!! Thank you again!!!! Please...a message to spammers, viruses, and identity theft/fraudulent online predators...I am not one of those stupid people that will fall victim to your scam or virus attempts on my computer(my computer is very well protected anyways...my boyfriend went to college for computers as knows just as much about them, if not more as you do, and he has my computer set up very well...in other words...it is very well protected and secure and so is everything on it, and so is our internet connection as well and all that good stuff. So, please...save yourself some time and don't bother replying with your fake attempts to try and further victimize me and trying to waste my time. I am telling you I will not respond, so DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!! Serious and REAL(human, live people, not computer viruses or spammers)INQUIRIES ONLY NEED TO REPLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for your cooperation in this above matter.
Very Sincerely yours,
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/16/2010 01:03 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/sanford-brown-college-st-louis-area-campuses/st-louis-missouri-63102/sanford-brown-college-st-louis-area-campuses-the-4-st-louis-area-campuses-are-as-follows-581474. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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#8 Consumer Comment
Complaints from former sanford brown students
AUTHOR: Jim - ()
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, September 24, 2013
I read with interest one of the very long complaints from a former Sanford Brown College student. She had many complaints, some of which I am sure were legitimate. I taught a few courses at this school some years ago and I can see both sides to this problem. The former student was upset because she felt that the school lied to her, didn't help her get a good job, etc, etc.
Here is my view: First: Many if not most of the students I had, were not employable due to a number of issues, including: They were close to illiterate, had big problems with the basics such as grammar, and writing legibly, being able to pronounce medical terms correctly, and being alert and focused. I also had rampant cheating on quizes, and even had students sleeping during class.
On the other side, I found the administrators of the school inadequate and inexperienced in school administration. I was not aware of many poorly trained instructors as this complainant stated...many were degreed people in the fields they taught, many were in fact, college instructors, some were doctors of various types.
I think the big problems at this college were the students. Of all the students I taught, I would not have hired more than maybe 5 % of them, because they would not have been able to do the job or represent my office in a professional way.
Note that this person who is complaining doesn't know where to separate paragraphs and uses punctuation very poorly.
My last comment about the college: Too expensive, too few jobs, hard to transfer credits to real colleges !
#7 Consumer Comment
Other Considerations
AUTHOR: Bulldog67 - ()
SUBMITTED: Thursday, September 19, 2013
Dear Mother of Two, I read your laments over the mistreatment and poor quality of education you received at Sanford Brown. Knowing that your possibilities for getting a good paying job are almost non-existent why did yu end up getting pregnant? There are quite a few ways to prevent that from happening. You sound as if you have at least, if not above, average intelllgence. Moving on. Not to throw another obstacle your way, but forewarned is forearmed, beware of loan facilities throughout the educational arenas. Unknown to most people, an educational loan never disappears. It stays with you until it is paid off. Notice how accomodating they are about you paying it? It is to their advantage for you to take time. All the while your taking time to pay it, it is increasing due to interest! Something to think about.
#6 Consumer Comment
Please help!
AUTHOR: Sanford Brown is a joke waste of ti - (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thank you so much for the information given. Since I have been laughed at and told "we don't hire from Sanford Brown" because we feel that the students are not well trained. Is there anyway since I know everyone is having financial problems that my loan can be forgave? since I just have a piece of paper stating that I did what was required of me to finish this class. I wrote before it is so difficult without this huge debt hanging over my head, and I have to take the medication in order to survive, and without health insurance it is so expensive to add a $300 + loan payment on top of that, I can't do it. That place promised me either a job after my externship or they would place me somewhere to work and nothing has happened. Is there any other advice you could give me please!!
#5 Consumer Comment
Response to post #4
AUTHOR: Jeanski - (USA)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The very first thing you should do is contact your lender probably Sallie Mae. Go to the Department of Education website and follow the links for student loans. There will be a section on repaying your student loans and what your options are. If your financial situation is that dire theyll approve a forbearance and give you time to get on your feet before paying them back. The paperwork is simple. Youll also want to make sure you have copies of everything you signed (on paper or electronically) to ensure that Sanford Brown didnt approve loans for you without your knowledge. If they forged your name on anything youll have a strong position to take legal action against them. Youll specifically want to look for the Master Promissory Note you would have had to sign promising to pay the loans back.
The second thing you should do, along with anyone else reading this, is to utilize those social networks everyone is tuned in to Facebook, twitter, etc., and get the word out. Once potential students are informed about the unscrupulous tactics used by these schools, the schools should see a nice drop in enrollment. Since all they care about is money, this will get them where it hurts.
Third, send letters to the Department of Education, Sallie Mae, the accrediting bodies, newspapers, TV stations, and your state representatives and Attorney General, giving them the details of how these schools are ripping students off. With enough complaints they can take some action. They wont respond to just an individual students complaint, but a huge stack of them should get their attention. Thats where those social networking sites come in handy.
Last, search for other lawsuits about Sanford Brown and see if you can join in on a class action suit somewhere. Contact the attorneys and tell your story.
I wish you and OP good luck in getting this resolved in your favor. If you need more help just respond to this post.
#4 Consumer Comment
Please help me too
AUTHOR: Sanford Brown is a joke waste of ti - (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, August 16, 2011
I have been scammed big time by this "school." Please help me too. I graduated in Oct 2010 and have sent out about 300+ resumes but no one trusts the students that went to this school are educated enough to give them a job, if my parents weren't here I'd be homeless. Please help me too this is not fair what this school is doing and I have close to $28,000.00 in debt and don't know who to contact to help me and can't pay for this when almost $300.00 a month is due. I'm on medication and without health insurance it is really expensive if my parents wouldn't help me out I don't know what I would do. I really need someone to send me some information on help with this situation. Please!!
#3 Consumer Suggestion
Response to Mother
AUTHOR: Jeanski - (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, March 19, 2010
I'm glad my advice helped, even if just a little. One thing you wrote in the response concerns me:
"One former student even said that they took his GI bill money, pocketed it, and took out student loans in his name for the full amount/cost of his chosen degree program and he was stuck with owing all this money...and other students reported they were doing the same with their financial aid/pell grant money, and that they didn't discover what they had done to them until after they graduated and collection agencies were calling them right away as soon as they graduated from the college."
In case you don't understand the process (or to benefit other readers) here's how financial aid works: student fills out the FAFSA and any institutional forms required. The school receives the FAFSA and uses it to determine the student's EFC (Expected Family Contribution). If a student sends the FAFSA to ten different schools, the EFC could be ten different amounts because it's based on tution and fees, cost of living for that area, etc. The EFC determines how much Pell Grant (or state grants) the student is entitled to. Anything awarded in excess of tuition is sent to the sent, but otherwise it's usually directly credited to the student's account. Then institutional funds are applied. I don't think any of the for-profit schools offer these, but I could be wrong. For traditional schools, this would include academic and athletic scholarships, fellowships, etc., that are specific to that school. THEN comes the loans. The school cannot legally take out student loans in anyone's name. In order for a student to get a loan, the student must sign a MPN (Master Promissory Note) that describes their responsibility and acceptance of the loan funds. Typically, the loan money is sent directly to the school every semester. The student should be able to request a refund of any excess loan money in his account, but most carry it over to the next semester. At some point in this process the school should send something called an Award Letter that tells the student what the EFC was, what grants and institutional funds were awarded, and what loans were approved. The student typically says, "OK, I'll take the grants and scholarship, and only $xxx of the loan". Or, if the student needs the loan funds for something else, they can request the full loan amount they're entitled to. Either way, they have to sign the Award Letter and acknowledge they understand what they're getting. Since the FAFSA is good for the entire academic school year, the award letter may describe the funds awarded for each semester. I think this is where a lot of students are running into problems. I suspect that Kaplan and other schools send out award letters that cover the entire year. The student signs for it, but then either doesn't finish the semester, or doesn't enroll for the second semester. Or, maybe they didn't enroll, but the advisor did it for them and the student wasn't aware of it. Then, the student is still responsible for the loans. But they may be able to make a case against the advisor/school if they didn't authorize the registration.
Insofar as VA is concerned, there are two chapters (types) of GI Bill that are sent directly to the school - Vocational Rehabilitation, and Post-9/11. This process is clearly described to the student so there shouldn't be any surprises about where the money went. Otherwise, the funds are sent directly to the student. So your friend may be able to make a case to the VA if his funds were misused under one of the other Chapters.
Hope this helps you, or other students, who are trying to make their way through a complicated process!
#2 Author of original report
Thank you so much for your wonderful input!!
AUTHOR: Mother of Two-2009 - (USA)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thank you so much for such a positive response!!! you're comment was the most honest, respectful response I have seen in a while on here, not to mention quite helpful and informative. Yeah, I originally wrote this in response to another woman's report on this site about her experience about the Sanford Brown college she went to in White Plains, New York, but I couldn't get the site to submit my comment response to her article and for some reason the site was having technical difficulties at the time, so I just submitted my own article instead since it took me so long to write the d**n thing...i know...it was quite long.
But I actually did some very extended research after I posted this article on this corporation and these schools, and ALL over the web there is so much bad press about them, and almost every other student made the same complaints. I also discovered they have many different federal investigations going against them from agencies for so many different types of fraud/scams they have been committing against so many students. One person who did an actual investigation against them and served them papers stating they had a federal investigation launched against them, said that she discovered that they were taking their students names, social security numbers and personal information and selling it to other company scams just like them without the student's permission or without their knowledge. She also found that they change names of their schools everytime they get in trouble with lawsuits and because of all this stuff they do to students, and everytime they begin to get a bad reputation/name, they change the name of the schools and get rid of the old name that has the bad rep. There are complaints from other students from other schools across the country who had teachers who acted and treated them in the same ways the ones I spoke of were treating me and my classmates...totally unprofessional acting and undereducated/underqualified. There are even teachers writing comments in response to former students complaints just totally degrading them and bashing them online on different websites all over the internet!!! It totally shows you just how ignorant and unprofessional these teachers really are, and they are SO stupid for putting it up on the web for everyone to see...it proves that what students are saying about them is true!!!! And there are several former students that complained financial aid was doing fraudulent things to them as well. One former student even said that they took his GI bill money, pocketed it, and took out student loans in his name for the full amount/cost of his chosen degree program and he was stuck with owing all this money...and other students reported they were doing the same with their financial aid/pell grant money, and that they didn't discover what they had done to them until after they graduated and collection agencies were calling them right away as soon as they graduated from the college. So now it leaves me wondering if I was a victim of this myself without even knowing it, and I realized that i have a lot of phone calls and investigating to do in order to get to the bottom of my own situation with them. I could go on and on forever about what I read because there is so much more that I discovered about them that I didn't know before, and couldn't believe there was so much stuff that was going on, more than you could even fathom. If you google them and do the research, you will see for yourself just exactly what I am talking about...but there is just way too much to even try to begin to put it all down in this little comment response!!!!
I just do not understand how they have been getting away with it for so long and not been permanently shut down by now. Because supposedly what they do is supposed to be against the law and is considered fraud. I read so many reports from people that were former students that were in past lawsuits against them that sued for the same reasons or for reasons that were similar to what I had happen to me, and they were settled out of court and won by the students. There are several suits currently pending against Sanford Brown and/or CEC owned schools right now across this country. I am sure once I get enough information collected and thoroughly research on what I need to do for ME personally to build a case for myself, it won't be hard to find a lawyer and get something started for myself. I already found names and numbers of lawyers currently taking former students in as clients for class action suits they are planning to open up against these companies, which I found by doing long and extensive research on the internet after I posted this article. So yes, there are lawsuits going on, and I found out it is possible to fight to get justice for what they did to me and possibly my money back. It's going to take a lot of time and work, but it's worth it in my eyes to try. And I say "try" because I believe that just because other students filed lawsuits and won, doesn't mean it is guaranteed that the same thing will happen to me, so if there are former students out there reading this, please remember just that when you do decide to try and take legal action against them...that it is not guaranteed 100% you will win just because someone else did. But for me it will be worth a try and worth my time to see what can be done for me personally. I hope something can be done because I don't feel I should have to pay over $30,000.00 for a degree that is worthless.
But you are right, if I am stuck with the loan and there's nothing I can do, then I have to live with it. And I wish I would of done more thorough research before jumping right into things and going to that school. But you live and you learn, right???
There is also a report that was done by "60 minutes" on CEC corporation and all of the scamming and it aired on t.v. The report that was done in St. Louis in 2008 was done by News Channel 5, KSDK, St. Louis, MO. You can google it, of course.
But you are so right about doing extensive research before you go to a school, and community college is always the best choice for a trade degree/certificate if that's what you are looking to go to school for, and I know that now. It is best to avoid trade schools period, unless you know for a fact they are regionally accredited, just like you said. Thank you so much for your input, it was very helpful, and very positive, and I really appreciate you taking the time out to read my article and respond with such helpful information!!!! Thanks again!!!!
#1 Consumer Suggestion
Possible solution
AUTHOR: Jeanski - (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Your story is one that I read about often on ROR. I have been in higher education all my adult life and it never fails to amaze me that students are so easily misled (and blatantly lied to) by admissions personnel. Unfortunately, this is another case of not asking the right questions because "you don't know what you don't know". This is not to say I blame you for the mess you're in - obviously you're a victim of unscrupulous recruiting. So one possible solution you might try is to file a formal complaint with the accrediting agency for SB. I couldn't find their listing for the St. Louis Campus, but their national accreditation is through ACCSC (Accrediting Commission for Career Colleges and Schools). Their website is www.accsc.org. On the left side of the home page you'll find a link to the accreditation guidelines. You'll need to reference that in order to make your complaint as specific to the guidelines as possible. There is also a complaint form that they provide. I seriously doubt a lawsuit will be a solution because you can't prove they broke the law - only that they acted in an unscrupulous manner. You might be able to make a case for fraud, but I doubt it.
Another recommendation I would make is to take as many CLEP exams as possible to test out of your general ed classes. These are usually available at the local community college. They cost about $50.00 but give you a lot of credit for courses you've already taken. And they're accepted by every college.
For other potential college students reading this - take heed and do your research. Make sure that your school is REGIONALLY accredited. Insofar as transferring credit from one school to the next, NO school can make the promise that their credits will transfer unless they have an articulation agreement with the receiving school. This is common between state community colleges and their university counterparts. If you don't get it in writing, don't believe it. That goes for the receiving school as well. If you talk to an admissions advisor, get it in writing which credits will transfer. That gives you more ammunition later if something goes wrong.
As for the student loans, you can contact the Department of Education and the owner of your loans and request a deferment or forebearance if you're unable to make your payments. It's easy to do and won't ding your credit. But you're stuck with them.
Students - PLEASE check with your local community college before signing on with one of the online for-profit schools. Most community colleges have online programs and/or special programs for the nontraditional (i.e., working) adult. They are generally far cheaper than the for-profit schools, their credits are more likely to transfer, and you'll get a better education. Generally speaking faculty in the community college system must have a Master's degree in the subject area. Faculty in a program accredited by ACCSC only need "experience". That's why their credits won't transfer. The receiving school needs some assurance that your education was provided in a manner consistent with what the community college would offer.
I hope this helped a little. Good luck!
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