Westwood Online ripoff Denver Internet

Hi,

Did you keep a copy of your paperwork? I'm trying to figure out how the hell I signed a loan thru Westwood for 18%. My memory is not that good, but I think I would remember something like that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Obviously Bobjones works for Westwood otherwise he wouldn't be defending such an overpriced rip-off joint that only cares about themselves and collecting as many $100 enrollment fees as possible.

Not only am I a former employee I'm a former student. I left WOL when I was still attending courses and decided to stick with it until the end of that term I was in so I can still get credits. I decided to try to work with CDS at finding a position. Admissions reps, during the unnecessary 1 hour+ long interview, are forced to say how great they are how "above and beyond" the CDS reps will go and how "easy" it is to find employment. Well, the opposite happened.

No, I didn't have a degree, but they're supposed to be there for all students right? Well, the best they could do for me was to refer me to an online resume builder and post it to their site for all 5 employers (none in my local area) to see. My CDS rep couldn't even refer me to any employer in Denver, or anywhere in the State. She even said and I quote "I do have a great one in Los Angeles I can refer you to" (and she was serious about it). Um, yeah. I live in Denver, no job and she wants me to go to L.A. to meet with someone and get a job.

Luckily, that was last May and I found local and very gainful employment, but the CDS section is a joke at WOL just like everything else is.

I will be very surprised if they do somehow get regional accreditation. Heck, they barely qualify for National!

Obviously Bobjones works for Westwood otherwise he wouldn't be defending such an overpriced rip-off joint that only cares about themselves and collecting as many $100 enrollment fees as possible.

Not only am I a former employee I'm a former student. I left WOL when I was still attending courses and decided to stick with it until the end of that term I was in so I can still get credits. I decided to try to work with CDS at finding a position. Admissions reps, during the unnecessary 1 hour+ long interview, are forced to say how great they are how "above and beyond" the CDS reps will go and how "easy" it is to find employment. Well, the opposite happened.

No, I didn't have a degree, but they're supposed to be there for all students right? Well, the best they could do for me was to refer me to an online resume builder and post it to their site for all 5 employers (none in my local area) to see. My CDS rep couldn't even refer me to any employer in Denver, or anywhere in the State. She even said and I quote "I do have a great one in Los Angeles I can refer you to" (and she was serious about it). Um, yeah. I live in Denver, no job and she wants me to go to L.A. to meet with someone and get a job.

Luckily, that was last May and I found local and very gainful employment, but the CDS section is a joke at WOL just like everything else is.

I will be very surprised if they do somehow get regional accreditation. Heck, they barely qualify for National!

Obviously Bobjones works for Westwood otherwise he wouldn't be defending such an overpriced rip-off joint that only cares about themselves and collecting as many $100 enrollment fees as possible.

Not only am I a former employee I'm a former student. I left WOL when I was still attending courses and decided to stick with it until the end of that term I was in so I can still get credits. I decided to try to work with CDS at finding a position. Admissions reps, during the unnecessary 1 hour+ long interview, are forced to say how great they are how "above and beyond" the CDS reps will go and how "easy" it is to find employment. Well, the opposite happened.

No, I didn't have a degree, but they're supposed to be there for all students right? Well, the best they could do for me was to refer me to an online resume builder and post it to their site for all 5 employers (none in my local area) to see. My CDS rep couldn't even refer me to any employer in Denver, or anywhere in the State. She even said and I quote "I do have a great one in Los Angeles I can refer you to" (and she was serious about it). Um, yeah. I live in Denver, no job and she wants me to go to L.A. to meet with someone and get a job.

Luckily, that was last May and I found local and very gainful employment, but the CDS section is a joke at WOL just like everything else is.

I will be very surprised if they do somehow get regional accreditation. Heck, they barely qualify for National!

Obviously Bobjones works for Westwood otherwise he wouldn't be defending such an overpriced rip-off joint that only cares about themselves and collecting as many $100 enrollment fees as possible.

Not only am I a former employee I'm a former student. I left WOL when I was still attending courses and decided to stick with it until the end of that term I was in so I can still get credits. I decided to try to work with CDS at finding a position. Admissions reps, during the unnecessary 1 hour+ long interview, are forced to say how great they are how "above and beyond" the CDS reps will go and how "easy" it is to find employment. Well, the opposite happened.

No, I didn't have a degree, but they're supposed to be there for all students right? Well, the best they could do for me was to refer me to an online resume builder and post it to their site for all 5 employers (none in my local area) to see. My CDS rep couldn't even refer me to any employer in Denver, or anywhere in the State. She even said and I quote "I do have a great one in Los Angeles I can refer you to" (and she was serious about it). Um, yeah. I live in Denver, no job and she wants me to go to L.A. to meet with someone and get a job.

Luckily, that was last May and I found local and very gainful employment, but the CDS section is a joke at WOL just like everything else is.

I will be very surprised if they do somehow get regional accreditation. Heck, they barely qualify for National!

As i mentioned before they are in their 4th year of a seven year process. And the curriculum will stay the same. They already have quality programs, thats why HLC is all about them.

Yes, they are accredited but only nationally and not regionally which means when you want to transfer credits from them they don't transfer and I find this a rip-off and a waste of time. Westwood sucks.

You mention that Westwood College Online/Ground campuses are not "Regionally Accredited". And that the rep. said they were accredited by the same place as all the other places.

Maybe if you understood how accreditation works you would realize that what the rep said is in fact true. First off you know they are accredited if they can accept financial aid, cause in order for a school to recieve FA from the federal government the must be a "Title IV" school. In order to be a title 4 school you must be accredited by an accrediting agency that is endoresed/approved by the Federal Department of Education. So if all schools are accredited by an approved agency then ultimately they're all under the umbrella of the Fed DoE.

There's three types of accreditation out there and typically a school can only caring one "type" even if they carry multiple accreditations. There is Regional (most consider the best, typically big state schools with football teams), there's National (typically trade or tech schools) and then theres State (typically community colleges and small vocational schools).
Westwood Colleges are actually accredited by the ACCSCT (Accrediting Commision of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology) which is a national accreditation. However they are also in "Candidcy Status" with the HLC (Higher Learning Commision) who handle all Regional Accreditations. Becoming HLC accredited (regionally accredited) is a 7 year process and its no joke, they are strict (once they are HLC accredited they will have to drop the national). Westwood is in there 4th year of the process and just this week (Dec. 10th '07) were given permission to share this with prospective and active students.

Now for a Nationally accredited school Westwood was maybe on the high side as far as cost, but not at all out of the realm. But for a Regionally accredited school Westwood will be far cheaper than anyone. I live in Denver and if i go up to CU in boulder (GO BUFFS) its 18,000-24,000 a year and Westwood is 20,000 a year. However at CU that money covers 2 semesters (up to 24 credit hours) where as at Westwood it would cover 5 terms (up to 60 credit hours). So if you look at per credit hour cost (where it actually counts) your looking at CU being $750-1000 and Westwood being $330.

Now as far as transfer credits, let me get this clear from the begining, there's NO GAURANTEE at all with any school, it's up to the schools registrar, and they look at the age of the credits, the curriculum used, your GPA in the class, and relevance.

Now Westwood Students have great employability as a matter of fact 83% of Westwood grads are working in there field within 90 days of graduation *if they commit to working with Westwood's CDS before graduation (Career Development Services) and Westwood offers tuition free Alumni re-training (looks great on the resume) basically that means that after you graduate you can go back to school the rest of your life tuition free to retrain in your field. Now i'm not sure of state schools percentages of employment exactly but i do know its under 50%.

You mention that Westwood College Online/Ground campuses are not "Regionally Accredited". And that the rep. said they were accredited by the same place as all the other places.

Maybe if you understood how accreditation works you would realize that what the rep said is in fact true. First off you know they are accredited if they can accept financial aid, cause in order for a school to recieve FA from the federal government the must be a "Title IV" school. In order to be a title 4 school you must be accredited by an accrediting agency that is endoresed/approved by the Federal Department of Education. So if all schools are accredited by an approved agency then ultimately they're all under the umbrella of the Fed DoE.

There's three types of accreditation out there and typically a school can only caring one "type" even if they carry multiple accreditations. There is Regional (most consider the best, typically big state schools with football teams), there's National (typically trade or tech schools) and then theres State (typically community colleges and small vocational schools).
Westwood Colleges are actually accredited by the ACCSCT (Accrediting Commision of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology) which is a national accreditation. However they are also in "Candidcy Status" with the HLC (Higher Learning Commision) who handle all Regional Accreditations. Becoming HLC accredited (regionally accredited) is a 7 year process and its no joke, they are strict (once they are HLC accredited they will have to drop the national). Westwood is in there 4th year of the process and just this week (Dec. 10th '07) were given permission to share this with prospective and active students.

Now for a Nationally accredited school Westwood was maybe on the high side as far as cost, but not at all out of the realm. But for a Regionally accredited school Westwood will be far cheaper than anyone. I live in Denver and if i go up to CU in boulder (GO BUFFS) its 18,000-24,000 a year and Westwood is 20,000 a year. However at CU that money covers 2 semesters (up to 24 credit hours) where as at Westwood it would cover 5 terms (up to 60 credit hours). So if you look at per credit hour cost (where it actually counts) your looking at CU being $750-1000 and Westwood being $330.

Now as far as transfer credits, let me get this clear from the begining, there's NO GAURANTEE at all with any school, it's up to the schools registrar, and they look at the age of the credits, the curriculum used, your GPA in the class, and relevance.

Now Westwood Students have great employability as a matter of fact 83% of Westwood grads are working in there field within 90 days of graduation *if they commit to working with Westwood's CDS before graduation (Career Development Services) and Westwood offers tuition free Alumni re-training (looks great on the resume) basically that means that after you graduate you can go back to school the rest of your life tuition free to retrain in your field. Now i'm not sure of state schools percentages of employment exactly but i do know its under 50%.