Argosy University Online: Scamming People for Money In Exchange for More Debt, Internet

I am sorry to hear that this is happening to you, but there is something that you should know that could at least help you understand what you are dealing with.

Argosy University is a part of a larger corporation known as EDMC online higher education. 

Located at that address you provided; the 1400 Penn avenue in Pittsburgh PA; is a giant building that contains their "products" known as Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online, South University Online and Argosy Online.  In this monstrous building are salesmen packed in cubicles selling and selling their products to people just like you.  They are paid based on a commission that pays them if they get you to go to school.  That is all they care about, which is the reason why the proctoring of the tests was not made very clear to you.  I say this because it is something that may have deterred you from going to the school, something that your assistant director of admissions certainly doesn't want you to do.  After all, if he/she talks you and a few other people into going to their school on a consistent basis, then he/she will get a big fat raise because all the students they get effects their paycheck.  If they can't talk anyone into going to school there then they get fired, and replaced with a new person; probably a former car salesman or someone from one sales format or another. 

It must have been a while ago that you had to take that test because I know that the test was actually removed from Argosy University because their assistant directors were caught taking the test for their students.  Some people there get so desperate not to lose their job because they can't get people to go to school there that they take their students tests for them to get the student accepted.  They usually do this when either the student takes the test the first 2 times and fails, or they just don't want to bring the test up because the student will decide to go somewhere else that doesn't have a test. 

I guess my whole point in all this is that the reason so many people have problems with Argosy or the other schools this company runs is because it's all just a sales environment.  I've known several people that worked or still work there.  A few of them have high positions in the company and they've moved up by taking tests for their students and lied to them about pretty much anything and everything that would get them to go to school. 

The reason why you have no idea about things and no one seems to want to really help is because you are in the school now, they are done with you.  You were thrown over the wall and counted for someone's numbers so now you don't matter.  That's why when you call people they just dump you off to someone else.  You are old news because you are no concern to them since you are already in the system.  Every minute they spend dealing with your problem is a minute that they aren't getting someone new, to get that big raise on their illegal commission based pay scale.  (educational institutions aren't allowed to pay their employees a commission) 

I'm sorry to have to give you this bad news and make you feel worse but it's the truth.  If they really cared they would have covered everything and you would have known that your test results determined what classes you could take.  You would have also been made aware of every detail that now concerns you.  You weren't originally because that information might have made you choose a different school.

I also wouldn't count on getting anything in writing from anyone.  If the lady that you talked to would actually send you something like that, which she never would in a million years, she would be fired immediately.  That company has nothing in writing besides the admissions documents that you've already filed.  The only rules that company goes by are: Get them enrolled, get them accepted, get them to sign their financial aid package and get them to sign into class.  That would be why when you first started your phone probably blew up with people wanting to walk you into class.  That's when you officially "count" for them.

What about the refund for the application fee and a request to stop this whole process within the allocated time frame for posting and receiving a refund for applying to the school. 

OK, I've been in higher ed forever and think I can make sense of your complaint. First of all let's address your curriculum. The school has every right to dictate what courses are part of your program and the order in which they should be taken. They also have the right to say which of your previous credits will and will not apply to your program at Argosy. It's called an Evaluation of Transfer Credits and you should have been provided a copy of it. If not, you might be able to access your degree plan online and see which courses have already been credited towards graduation.  As for financial aid, I'm a little confused about what exactly happened to you. Are they saying that you will forgeit financial aid and pay out of pocket if you withdraw? If so, that's logical. If you're not enrolled, you can't receive aid. That's the law (not Argosy policy). So any tuition and fees incurred are on you.

The proctoring issue is not uncommon, but should've been disclosed to you at the time you applied or enrolled. If not, you may have them on breach of contract IF your enrollment contract doesn't specify that there are other requirements in addition to online course attendance that must be met. I'm sure they've convered themselves on this - somewhere in fine print :-)