The College Network TCN The College Network Withholds Exam Fees past published 2-weeks-now taking 6 weeks Indianapolis Indiana

Ms. Gian,

We have attempted to contact you to discuss your concerns, but we have been unable to reach you. Please contact us at 1-800-634-1443 if you wish to discuss your concerns further or if we can be of any assistance.

I would like to address points in the rebuttal by College Network to the Ripoff Report I filed.  Firstly, Excelsior COLLEGE is a world-renowned, degree-issuing institution of higher education and does not "publish" anything but provides downloadable, relevant FREE study guides.  Because Excelsior COLLEGE is an institution of higher education, students have to buy TEXTBOOKS from the BOOKSTORE appropriate for the preparation of these end-of-course exams, not study modules written by unconnected, random PhD's or others published by the College Network, a publishing house.

College Network stated that Excelsior COLLEGE is a competitor.  College Network is NOT an degree-issuing institution of higher education and therefore cannot remotely be a competitor to Excelsior College.  Competition implies equal ground and providing comparable services which does not exist here.

Yes I did finally receive my requested exam fee check yesterday, 2/6/14, after I requested it on 12/27/13.  Printed on the check stub shows a request/process date of 12/31/13 and the check is dated for 2/4/14.  Not very helpful since I paid for and took the exam 1/18/14.  I have already requested my next exam check for an exam that I plan to take in 2 1/2 weeks. We'll see how long I have to wait for this one.  The "advisors" are still quoting 6 weeks turnaround.  

For those of you that don't know, most of the exam fees for my degree range from $325-$425 EACH.  I will be taking a total of 10 exams.  The loan I took already paid for all fees up front and I have to request a check each time I plan to register for an exam and hope it comes by the time I need to take the exam so I am not out-of-pocket.  Once again, their printed material states 2-weeks to request and receive exam checks.

As far as the 6 exams I have successfully passed, I used two College Network study modules before I found out the inadequacy of these modules.  Once exam was for a course in material that I was already very familiar being a working nurse.  It was the second exam module that disappointed me greatly and made me decide never again to use any material from College Network.  For the next 4 exams I used only the FREE study guides from Excelsior College and the textbooks Excelsior College requires for these.  Once again, I will never use one single piece of printed material from College Network to prepare for my final 3 exams.

I am happy that my association with College Network will soon be coming to an end with the completion of my last few exams and as I continue to pay off the loan I took out to finance this debaucle.

Ms. Gian,

As stated in our paperwork, we are not affiliated with Excelsior. Although we direct people toward their nursing program, they also publish study materials and are thus a competitor.

Please remember that as a consumer, you have the option to choose the product or service that best meets your individual needs. You should be confident in your decision to choose TCN. Our learning materials are prepared by PhD-qualified authors, college and university professors, and subject matter experts in many fields of study, and they have successfully assisted many customers to complete their degrees. To see some of our success stories, visit YouTube^® and search using the keywords “College Network.”

Our records indicate that your exam fee check has been processed. We have recently experienced an influx of exam fee check requests, which has led to lengthier processing times. We expect that you will have a more positive experience in the future.

Someone will be contacting you this week to discuss your concerns. Your success in your studies and your satisfaction with our products and services are important to us.

Incidentally, we see that you have passed 6 exams. Congratulations and best of luck as you continue to progress through your program!

In you have any questions in the interim, please contact Customer Support at 1-800-634-1443.