College Of Legal Arts (COLA) RIPOFF REPORT: COLLEGE OF LEGAL ARTS (COLA)EMPTY PROMISES AND EMPTY POCKETBOOKS Portland Oregon
College of Legal Arts (COLA) in Portland Oregon - Sold me a Bill of Goods
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COLLEGE OF LEGAL ARTS (COLA) - PORTLAND, OR
College of Legal Arts in Portland, Oregon assured me that they had job placement and internships for students enrolled in their paralegal program. Something that they do not have. There was no job placement assistance and no internshps. The only "internships" they offered were volunteer opportunities with their substandard professors (out of 12 instructors - only two are decent lawyers; majority of the instructors that teach at COLA, teach because they can't make money at their own practices). The Admissions Director and Director of the Paralegal Department said that most of their students get paralegal jobs when they graduate. This is untrue, especially in the Portland area. Majority of their students that do get "legal" jobs actually get file clerk positions. A position one could easily obtain without going through the course at all. Unfortunately, you usually need to get to know someone to get one of these law firms. Why would you want to pay $10K for a paralegal certificate when you're only going to file anyway? The truth is that you could get those jobs without ever going to college. Ask your local temp agency. They have no job placement assistance at all. That is another downright lie the school says to get you to sign up for their program. In fact, the school has you do a research project about trade schools and misrepresentation, your first term to scare you into not suing them later.
The school also discourages students to get "internships" until the third semester. Why is that? Despite your other formal education, you will probably not get a paralegal job; you will probably get a lifetime job of filing. And you don't need an paralegal certificate to do that.
I did do an internship for the estate planning professor working there and my internship consisted of shuttling her around (her car's engine blew up) to Fred Meyer's, the library, and taking her food (she cried about her diabetes and no did not have food in her cabinets), and primarily filing her extremely disorganized case load. She had piles and piles of disorganized client files. I've never seen so many pages of clients in such disarray. Not only did she call me an average of 2 - 3 times per day (sometimes 11) she told the Director of Paralegal Studies I was working for her. lol Even slaves had food, clothing, and shelter.
Almost a year after I completed my so-called internship, when she finally did have legitimate work to do, which I would have been happy to complete for her. She insisted I had to pick it up at her house. I told her I couldn't afford the gas money. It was 100 miles round trip to my house and back; but, she did offer to buy me dinner. I find this appalling. She can't offer me gas money, but she'll offer me dinner? Isn't that funny considering she's a l*****n?
Things that make you go hmmm...... Because I wouldn't pick it up, I told her she could dictate it via the phone or email it to me (it was a Durable Power of Attorney) and I refused to go to dinner with her she said she would not give me a good reference (she was refering to my internship). This was 9 months after the internship was finished because she never had that much work coming in her office to begin with. This is what you get for trying to be nice. Should an internship consist of transporting your boss around and cleaning their at-home office?
You should also be aware that professors at COLA are allowed to conduct classes anyway they choose. The instructors often give inflated grades to those they like. There is no formal lesson plan for the instructors. They do whatever they choose. One professor makes you rewrite 10 projects 10 times each. It's a power play and she's entitled. She refused to give me a grade although I completed all the assignments and the class. She conveniently lost my homework? Why? Because she was having me switch sentences back and forth to the same thing and I confronted her on it. COLA does not want students that are confrontational to professors that are wrong. Then again, what do expect? The Director married a former student. There are high ethical standards at COLA. lol
These are just a few of the fine examples of what a wonderful educational institution COLA is ...their paralegal certificate isn't worth toilet paper.
I advise anyone seeking a certificate there to take PCC's program. It may be longer, but it's more credible to take a paralegal program at an accredited school than any of these shady trade schools. COLA...just another shady trade school with incompetent attorneys that can't function as attorneys in the real world.
I would like to hear from other students affilated with this school that feel that they were ripped off.
Candy
Portland, Oregon
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
H. Arnold
Lake Oswego,Oregon,
U.S.A.
College of Legal Arts in Portland Misrepresents Its Court Reporting Program as well as Paralegal Program
#2Consumer Comment
Tue, March 24, 2009
I reviewed the complaint registered by a former Paralegal Program participant at the College of Legal Arts. A former student in the Court Reporting Program, I began to suspect COLA's inability to graduate people, as promised in their recruiting information, after I had been in the program three years and was far from writing at the speed necessary to graduate and begin working as a professional.
I started asking questions. Questions and opinions at COLA are discouraged because you will discover that, comparatively, very FEW people actually graduate from the program. Most people drop out because of the length of time it takes or because their availability to student loan funds have been exhausted and there is no more money available. I got a very cold shoulder when I started asking questions and was even called into the owner's office. ("I understand you're not happy here.")
I also investigated other court reporting programs after I became suspicious that COLA was eager to take my money, but indifferent whether I went to work as a court reporter. I visited one program in a neighboring state and when I saw how the classes were run (by certified, working court reporters, all students on realtime), the level of professionalism in the classroom and the fact that those in the court reporting actually started working BEFORE graduating with an associate degree in applied science, I was further discouraged. Most of the "instructors" at COLA in the court reporting program have never been able to make it as court reporters. Some of the key people involved never completed their court reporting studies but were touted as "experts". The few instructors that actually were at one time working reporters were retired, had quit court reporting and were looking for something to do to make a little money, or had just gotten burnt out from the stress of the job.
My advice: If you want to be a court reporter, investigate thoroughly before signing on to a program. Look at programs offered through a university or community college only. Find out what the graduating rate is, how many people are placed from school into jobs, and how much it's going to cost. If the cost is more than what you would be paying for tuition at a community college, it's TOO MUCH!
Unfortunately, COLA has the only court reporting program in Oregon. But, if you can learn machine shorthand theory, purchase a machine, a laptop and software there are many ways to build your speed, get a mentor, go online, learn and prepare to take the certification, etc.
By the way, there is a groundswell of former COLA students who've sought legal counsel. Check it out.