Keiser University $14,000 for ONE CLASS!? No withdrawal allowed! Is it legal? Sarasota Florida

 too bad the financial aid staff insults you and gives you about 4 minutes to peruse the contract, they will not allow you to take it out of the office and say they have another appointment in 5 minutes just to pressure you to sign it !

kristin.1975@yahoo.com i for one will not stand by and see another student scammed..i went to the daytona beach campus and would love for ya`ll to write me and share stories so this does not happen and create further hardships for another person in florida..

According to their website "Withdrawal at any time from the date of a students registration to the day

before the first scheduled day of the semester: The University retains a withdrawal Fee of $100, the

Application Fee of $50.00 (1) Withdrawal at any time during the first week of the semester and/or

term:  90% refund of tuition only. (2) Withdrawal at any time during the second week of the semester:

85% refund of tuition only. (3) Withdrawal at any time during the third week of the semester and/or

term: 80% refund of tuition only. (4) Withdrawal at any time during the fourth week of the semester

and/or term: no refunds". Your fianc should have read this when he signed the application. This and

other terms and agreements were clearly laid out on the application. To view this application go to

http://www.keiseruniversity.edu/downloads/MBA%20Application%20for%20Admissions.pdf   

As a former faculty member at a Keiser campus for over 5 years, I am aware of numerous horror stories about student loans, tuition problems, etc. I also know firsthand that the profit motive is what drives this college, NOT an interest in providing students with a good quality education.

At our (too frequent and time-wasting) faculty meetings, we were hounded about student retention repeatedly. If there was a student in class who was clearly not college material, there were no options for sending that student to remedial courses prior to attending regular classes. The quality of some of my students was great-sadly there were always a number of students in my classes who did not belong anywhere near a college campus due to severe learning problems which would require much corrective action. Keeping students (even ones with severe learning problems) = money for Keiser, so we were forced to have them in our classes.

There were some excellent faculty members I had the pleasure of working with while I taught at Keiser but, like me, many left due to the many issues this school has with actually caring about student needs and being honest with their students about financial issues.

I encouraged as many students as I could to run, not walk, to their closest public institution of higher education. Thankfully many took my advice and finished their education at an excellent and much more reasonably-priced Florida public college. Keiser has always been family owned and that family is the only one to benefit from the tens of millions of dollars this corporation takes in each year. Keiser's motto is "Students First" and I've always thought that "Money First" would be much closer to the truth.

Take my advice, stay as far away from this school as possible and go to a state community college or university instead.

You wrote, "We weren't sure if we could afford it, but tried to make a go of it." So not only did you not read the fine print, but you didn't even know whether you could afford the major investment you were making? Whose fault is that?

This is a rebuttal to all of the people who have posted their "Keiser is a rip-off, Keiser s*cks"" reports.
I have not attended Keiser, but I have attended another private career university in Orlando, as well as a community college.

The most important advice I can give to anyone is, READ THE FINE PRINT! When they give you all of the paperwork to sign, READ IT! Tell the admissions rep, financial aid rep, etc that you wish to take the paperwork home in order to read it carefully. Read every word of it. If there is something you do not understand, call and ask. Make sure you are satisfied with the explanation. If you are 18 or older, you are an adult and responsible for whatever you are signing. By signing any college's enrollment agreement, you are agreeing to their terms when it comes to their refund policy, withdrawal policy, etc. Usually there will be a clause stating that they reserve the right to change the program requirements at their discretion (This rebuttal is for the person who complained that they took 63 credits and then Keiser changed the program so that the classes were only equal to 40 credits).

I learned from my mistakes. I did not read the fine print at the community college which stated that refunds were only given during the withdrawal period (which was the first week of class). I was stuck paying for the class.

Keiser IS accredited by the Association of Southern Colleges and Schools, which also accredits UCF, Valencia, and Rollins College. Are any of those "rip-off schools" or "diploma mills"? No!

Community colleges are not all they are cracked up to be. If you are between 18 and 21, not working, and living with mommy and daddy, it's great. If you are over 25 and working full-time, it's not. Most classes are offered during the day. All of the clubs and activities meet during the day. Keiser is geared toward working, non-traditional (over 25) students. You take one class at a time. Each class lasts 4 weeks.

To sum up, if you do not read every word of your enrollment agreement and/or financial aid agreement, don't complain when you get charged for a class you dropped out of. Don't say their policies are unfair. Stop whining and take responsibility for your actions.

Thank you

My condolences on your recent episode with Keiser University. You are not the first and won't be the last. I use to work at Keiser University at their Online Division and can definitely tell you that they don't care in the slightest about how you are going to afford their tuition. Student Loans that cover your tuition and your living expenses??? Was that a joke? Not at the rate they charge and there in lies the problem. You see they have setup their tuition structure to line their pockets with your borrowed tuition money. So many fall the same old tactics but it is just Keiser...most of the private For-Profit schools are the same way.

If I were you I would contact a lawyer and sue them. Here is alittle bit of ammunition for you to use: They lie about their graduation rate on all of their applications. They state that it is 76% which is higher than some of the best public schools in the state. They also misquote the statue that requires them to state their graduation rate on all of their application. The simple fact that they are purposely deceiving prospective students with this gaudy graduation rate should be grounds enough to get your money back. Their graduation rate, which they use as a selling/recruiting tool, is no where near what they claim.

Just see what others have done in lawsuits against other private for-profit colleges out there, most notable is University of Phoenix where a former admissions rep sued them for giving other admission reps bonuses/commissions for enrolling students.

The saddest fact is that the government (Department of Education) has no interest in really cracking down on the many violations schools like Keiser commit on a daily basis simply because it is a huge industry. Provate education has been warped into big business and admissions has been deevolved into sales/call centers. No one cares about the student anymore or their needs...just their checkbooks or credit rating.

It really doesn't make sense? You're saying that he completed his first class, but they're charging for a full semester. Don't your classes take the entire semester to complete? Technically, he signed up for the program. It's his own fault that he chose not to read the fine print before electronically signing anything.

When he filled out an application, the withdrawal policy is sent with it.

Tuition and Fees Disclosure
"Tuition is computed on the assumption that a student will remain throughout an academic year. Since a place in class has been reserved, tuition is only refunded in accordance with the University's Withdrawal Policy. Students withdrawing from the University must comply with the proper clearance procedures as outlined in the catalog. Refunds and/or reductions in indebtedness are made solely at the option of the University for withdrawals necessitated by conditions beyond the student's control, such as an emergency acceptable to Keiser University. Refunds and/or reductions in indebtedness are processed after all required approvals are documented on the Withdrawal Form. Students are obligated for all charges (tuition/ fees/books/supplies/laptops) for the term and/or semester they are currently attending, plus any prior account balance. A semester equals two terms (16 weeks), with one term equaling eight (8) weeks of instruction. An administrative fee of $100.00 is charged when a student withdraws prior to the end of a term and/or semester in which he/she is enrolled. Students, who have withdrawn and wish to reenter, are charged a $150.00 reentry fee."

http://www.keiseruniversity.edu/downloads/MBA%20Application%20for%20Admissions.pdf