Art Institute of Pittsburgh On line division Predatory practices Pittsburgh PA

 Aio My name is KB and as I sit here as a confused and hurt 50 year old woman who thought I was close to achieving something positive in his life so that he could show husband and kids my true desire to be a productive person. I am having trouble paying my student loans because I fell prey to predatory practices of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online division. When Mr C Recruited me he described a high paying corporate job with plenty of support landing that job and securing funding to earn my degree in interior Design. Actually, my degree was equated to that of a doctor! I now know they meant equated to the cost of a medical degree not the earnings of one! By 2011 I was out of money to borrow and had spent the last 7 years jumping thru hoops that the Art Institute had laid out. More then once I was lied to about the class requirements and enrollment policy's. I got tired and fearful of all the policy changes and debt that was growing with each one of these "hoops " I was jumping thru. To stop the chaos I requested to change to Associates degree rather then the Bachelors. Once again I was told "no " because I had attempted to many credits. The information I was given was always unverifiable. I had no recourse but to move forward. Regretfully, in the summer of 2011 I was told I ran out of federal money to borrow. This was not something I was ever told would happen. $60,000 in debt and $13000 out of pocket and I couldn't afford to finish the degree. I asked the school for a ledger. I got lucky and found someone who forwarded to me. To my surprise there are disbursement that had been paid by student loans that are unverifiable. For example, a $2000 stipend that I never had received! Don't know why my financial plan was set up for more then what was needed! I questioned my ledger and asked for an audit. To my regret I never was able to get a response or support. As I reflect on my tenure at The Art Institute or Pittsburgh online division, It becomes real clear that I had been duped. I respected and trusted what I was being told about the degree I was studying for, the opportunities that would be available and policies that were being disclosed were honest. I was lead by the nose. If this was a car I would be covered under a Lemon Law! In other words I thought I was buying a diamond not a lump of coal. It appears I will never recover from the predatory practices, unless of course The Art Institute is held accountable and gives a refund. A refund based on the misrepresentation of the education and job placement. The Deliberate deception has made me vulnerable to financial ruin.