Complaint Review: liberty university

Warning, warning, warning!  You will not find out the extent of your financial commitment to Liberty until you finish the registration process and enroll in classes!

I am 61 years old and hold a JD and a BA in English Literature.  When I decided to teach I was told I could get my provisional license without much trouble - just needed a few professional classes.  I really wanted to do it right so decided to enter a MAT program (Masters of Teaching) for secondary education.  Liberty appealed to me due to its robust online program and location reasonably close to where I live.  In my initial inquiry to the school I explained my situation and was referred to academic advising.

Now one word about Liberty's academic advising - it is a call center with Lord knows how many employees.  You will never get to speak to the same person twice when you call.  Also, if you do not put yourself on the "do not call" list - you will receive robo-calls twice a day for the rest of your life.  You cannot reach specific people - the only phone numbers provided are 800 numbers to advising - no management numbers are provided.

I spent a month attempting to comply with all admissions requirements plus hours on the phone with them.  Getting straight answers took an act of Congress.  The process is far from transparent.  You are only given part of what you need to know.  For example, you will  not find out until the end of the process that you require a background check to enroll in certain classes and due  to the length of time it takes to get that done, you may or may not be able to take certain classes you want.

The really nasty gotcha was when - after I enrolled in classes, paid the $56 for the background check, and paid $500 for books, did I find out that I had to go through a "content competency review."  This is something of Liberty's creation - not mandated by any state requirements.  They review your transcripts and then decide if you need "additional" classes to meet content competency for your selected area.  In my case, they decided I needed 5 additional classes - 5!  They failed to take into account all of my transcripts or simplly dismissed them and refused to take into account any graduate courses already taken - only undergraduate courses could apply!  Also, none of the classes were ones that had anything to do witih the core competencies required by the state of Virginia.  Fortunately - Liberty did have classes to fill those needs!!!!!!!!!!! What a surprise!!!!!!!!!!!  So if I chose to attend Liberty, I would have to pay for 15 additional credits and spend an additional two semesters (almost a year) in order to graduate. 

They had no  explanation for why it was only after I registered for classes that I found this out.  It's a fraud and a scam.  They are padding their financial nest with these "required" classes.  I wish I knew how to stop them but I do not think the authorities care much.  It's also a financial aid fraud since the majority of students receive some form of Federal aid.

Look somewhere else - forget Liberty.