Complaint Review: Ashford University

The experience I have had with Ashford University is one in which a corporation preys on the dreams and aspirations of students who, for a myriad of reasons, chose to take this path. After several red flags, I have come to the realization that this university system appears to be only out to get enrollment numbers, federal financial aid, and loan funds, while the quality of instruction and support staff appears to be the least of their concerns. It is all about the hard sell and getting students signed up as quickly as possible regardless of whether the programs are viable or not.
I have been attempting to get my financial aid for the rest of my program since December of 2010, however due to an inept financial aid advisor and an inability to get any valid information from the financial aid department, nothing has been resolved as of today, 3/31/11. I'm furious, disgusted and tired. I am submitting my last assignment and finishing the current class I am in, which ends Tuesday. 

Having taken ten classes at Ashford, I have found there to be few instructors who actually teacher. Facilitators would be a more accurate description. Few responses or interaction with the students and lack of feedback or canned feedback on submitted work demonstrates the minimal effort the majority of the instructors I have had extend. In the beginning, I was appalled by the low levels of writing ability by the majority of my fellow students, the work I viewed on discussion posts I would not accept from Junior High students, however they appear to continue with no changes to their poor grammar, punctuation, or use of higher level writing style. How is this so? How can upper division students have reached that level with such atrocious writing skills? I have witnessed rampant plagiarism with those students continuing the courses. I initially thought it to be a fluke; however, I have found it to be the norm and am appalled any educational instructor would
let such blatant infractions slide.

So, now I have to regroup, find the internal fortitude to recover from this experience. I have to determine if this past year was a complete wash and if any of the classes I have worked on will be worthy of transfer to a standard college. I have to chock this experience up to learning that not all institutions that tout academic instruction have the ethics or integrity one would expect from an institution of higher learning.  I have to figure out how to recover the financial loss this misadventure has cost me. As I learn more about the workings of for-profit universities and this school in particular, I will have to learn to deal with the embarrassment of being duped by the pressure tactics used for enrollment and to have participated for so long after I began to question the validity of the program. I am thankful that I did not get into this as deep as many other
unfortunate students in other programs and for-profit universities. Another example of I should have listened to my gut instinct. In my humble opinion, there are going to many adult students who are going to exhibit various types of resiliency in regards to for-profit on-line institutions.

I fully intend to seek legal counsel and join any class action suit regarding this university. I sincerely hope this prevents others from falling for their high pressure enrollment tactics.