Complaint Review: Alabama College of Legal Studies - Birmingham Alabama

I found them online and if you take the test and fail they give you the answers to re take it... lol I put I wanted a master in legal secretary and my experience was I know two attorneys... I was granted my degree in 20 minutes!! lol of course I would never purchase it but it was fun to mess with them!!

Do not waste any time with Alabama College of Legal Studies, they are unprofessional, rude, once you give them your money; if things don't work out, it is hard to get your money back and sometime you don't. It is best to follow your education dream the normal way. They are extremely rude and they lie to get your money. They are just fakes!

I contacted Alabama College of Legal Studies online to see if they could assist me to obtain a legal secretary Degree. They convinced me that they could possibly help me to obtain a genuine one. I E-Mailed my Resume to them and received a reply congratulating me on my success of achieving a B.A. Degree in legal secretary. To receive this document with 9 others, I must pay their fee requested within 6 days. This was paid and I was E-Mailed with a receipt no: from them. 3 days later they contacted me stating the DHL the courier service they they use could not identify my home Address. So after further inquiries from my local Post Office, I sent them a more detailed Home Address.. They were contacted and said that they would forward this new Address to their Couriers and to contact them within 2 days. They have been contacted by Telephone and E-Mails and choose to ignore me or my requests for a full refund. Now I have nothing only a loss of hard earned money.

I completed the courses and received a 3.8 GPA and they are holding my certification due to an additional financial aid paper that should have been completed at the beginning of the year with the other papers. They quoted me an amount, said my pell grant would cover a certain amount and now are claiming they did not quote any amount. The financial aid dept and some of the teachers as well are not professional. I am very unhappy with this school and advise you to be careful when taking courses from this institution. The medical billing and coding was just accepted 3 years ago and is not well recognized. 

I had transferred from another school and had 27 credits, Alabama College of Legal Studies only accepted 7. They also charged me 4000 for two classes. They also ripped me off of my refund of 3300. They make you take classes you do not need, charge you twice the amount, and keep all of your grants. After all of this, they had the nerve to send me a bill. Do not go to Alabama College of Legal Studies!

Long story short...I graduated in 2012. Alabama College of Legal Studies told me I had to have a $0 account balance in order to receive my diploma. Once everything was paid off, I received my diploma. In mid-2013, I received a bill in the mail from Alabama College of Legal Studies saying I owe $240...no reason, just a bill. I called in of course to find out details. They told me in 2011, they made a mistake on my account (they were audited and found this out). THEY made a mistake, THEY told me I had a $0 account balance, and I had to pay!!! This is unethical. All they want is your money. The Online program was a COMPLETE JOKE and I would NEVER advise someone to go to this school...

To me, most of these courses did not seem like "college-level" classes. At least, they were not as challenging as I had anticipated college-level courses to be. The staff turnover rate is particularly high; in my time attending Alabama College of Legal Studies, we had roughly five different deans and four different registrars. The legal secretary program specifically has seen some pretty severe blows to their staffing recently. Tuition is also fairly high for the quality of the program.

I have been going to Alabama College of Legal Studies for over four years. I am now working on my masters degree. In the beginning, my school refunds would arrive via mail during week 5, as time went on the refunds began to arrive during week 3. A couple months ago, they began encouraging students to sign up for direct deposit. The school really pushed this as a benefit and as a way to get our student refunds quicker. It is now week three and the school has no ideal when my student refund will be processed. They claim the lender has not released the funds. The lender was suppose to release the funds last week. Alabama College of Legal Studies claims they will hold the funds for seven business days after the funds are sent to the school to ensure all expenses have been posted. This is a joke. All expenses should have been posted by week three. Alabama College of Legal Studies is now back to slow refunding of my money. I am very upset that Strayer has resorted back to the old practices of issuing refunds in the middle of the quarter. I wonder during those days they are holding my money if they are collecting interest from its bank. Students pay expenses out of their own pockets for school related expenses knowing they will get their school refunds to reimburse themselves. It is sad when a student's refund arrives weeks after the quarter starts. It is sad that they will hold my funds upto seven business days regardless of when my funds arrive at the school. I am very disappointed. This will be my last quarter there. I took two classes at a public university and got my refund the beginning of week two. If you are a student and rely on your refunds to survive-be aware that Alabama College of Legal Studies will hold your refund for a longer period then necessary.

I was an instructor at Alabama College of Legal Studies during 2013. If you are considering working for or attending this school, do yourself a favor and look at the facts. They offer an accelerated program--a semester's "learning, " as they call it, in one month. This is their main selling point. There is a reason why no one else offers this--it's a terrible idea. It doesn't work. 

If you are a student taking a course, you cannot absorb information in classes that are four hours long. More importantly, you can't possibly expect effective instruction from a professor who has to teach for four hours, per day, three days a week. Why? Because each class session requires four hours, minimum, of preparation. If you attend their classes, you will note that it often seems like instructors are unprepared and/or haven't read the material they are assigning. It seems this way because in many cases, it's true. Now, add to that workload the time it takes to grade papers, tests and homework. So the instructor is teaching for 12 hours per week, and, if he or she doesn't blow it off, spends and additional 15 hours per week preparing to teach and grading. This comes to 27 hours a week, per course. Except that is not all. Instructors are expected to attend mandatory meetings. Now, if you think this isn't bad, consider this: the majority of instructors are adjuncts. They take as many courses as they can get. But because Alabama College of Legal Studies only offers morning and evening classes they arrive at class at 9 a.m. and teach until 9:30 or ten p.m. How effective do you think these people can be on this schedule? Why no afternoon classes? Because they are less profitable and this place is about profit. 

I attented Alabama College of Legal Studies for 2 years. Completed the Entire programe back in 2012 . Those people still cannot find me a job and we are in (2014 January). I took up legal secretary i have about 25, 000.00 in student loan and NO JOB in my fiELD to pay the LOANS BACK. I would not recomment this school to my enemy. Oh on top of that they are want me to fill out a Waiver form because they do not want to continue NOT HELPING ME FIND A JOB. Horrible School.

I really regret going to Alabama College of Legal Studies, but as a confused teen I really didn't know what to do with my life after highschool. So, I heard Alabama College of Legal Studies offered great legal secretary program, and that they helped you find a placement all in less than 1 year. "Great" I thought...boy was I wrong. 

Here we are 4 years later and I still don't have a job in what I studied. I took the 8 month acc&payroll admin course, cost $11, 000 and let me tell you, I took accounting in highschool (up to grade 11) and I didn't learn anything new. This school gave me absolutely NO confidence for entering the field, it was like joke, everyone left early, sometimes even the teacher didn't know what she was talking about, we ended later than scheduled because of CONSTRUCTION going on in the college so we were cancelled for 2 weeks because of dangerous fumes from the construction! 

I enrolled at Alabama College of Legal Studies in May of 2012. I enrolled to get my GED while getting my Associates in legal secretary. I did well for the 1st couple of semesters with a 4.0 GPA (making A's in every course). Then I had to take online classes because the classes that I needed to take where only being taught in the daytime (which I cant attend bc I have a f/t job). I was forced to enroll in Online classes and even though I made every effort- I found it extremely confusing and difficult and expressed my concerns to my counselor I ended up failing. Then, I was automatically enrolled for the next course (online classes) which I never knew about and was given an F due to not doing them. I tried getting back into school but they advised me that I was "suspended" from school due to my grades and I couldn’t register until I speak to the Dean, well, I called the Dean probably about 20 times w/o a return phone call.

Its been a few months now that I have been trying to get someone to help me out w/no success. No one at the school returns my calls or emails (not even the Dean). I finally emailed a professor who I had a couple of classes with and she was able to get the President to email me which was also very rude and nasty and NOT helpful. I am disgusted with theis school and how they treat their students.

This school is a place you do not want to attend. The dorm is an old motel. The rooms are gross and moldy and need painting and much more. No closet, no desks. The internet is sporadic. There is a pool onsite that is not used and it is black and dangerous. There are no activities here. No student activities except the sport you play. Cafeteria is awful. They tell you lies and take your money. If you decide to leave on the first day of class they will charge you $2000 and will not release transcripts from prior semester until paid. If you play a sport you will probably be require to donate monetarily or ask for donations to the team from your friends and family. 

I have heard some bad things about Alabama College of Legal Studies, but School administrators registering accounts and posing as students posting bogus reviews to even out the abysmal reviews really takes "deceptive business practices" to a level that is usually only surpassed by those "Get Rich Quick" Schemes. Any legitimate institution would have no reason to do that.

The financial aid program is a scam!!! My grandson attends this school, and I know for a fact that he is eligible for 100% financial aid. This school has given him loans and then demands a payment of over $400.00 per month. He has no job and can not pay this. As of today he was told he can no longer attend classes and has to pay $100.00 to un-enroll...

This school is a rip off!!! Stay clear away from this place. 

My son attended Alabama College of Legal Studies. He was an Army veteran and had the GI Bill. The financial aid people insisted that he couldn't complete the program (legal secretary) without loans. They required my wife and me to co-sign even though he was independent and had a job. Now, five years after he graduated, he is back in the Army because he couldn't make a living in legal secretary and his loans have doubled because he is not paying them on-time.

The worst thing about what these people do is that they rope parents in as "co-borrowers." Now my wife and I are on the hook for thousands of dollars that did not benefit our son, much less us. The school lied to him and he passed the lie on to us. Now we suffer.

What these people do is fraudulent and they should stop preying on people. But as long as their advertising works and there are people out ther who want to make a living working with their hands, I guess they'll continue to be in business.

Alabama College of Legal Studies was the worst decision of my life. I never thought I would pay money to attend a school where I didn't feel safe walking the halls and back to my car. The teachers are a joke. Rather, "instructors" because they don't have teaching degrees. After your first 5 days you are locked in to pay the entirety of your tuition. I was one of the only people actually paying for tuition in my class, where as everyone else had government aid or unemployment paying so no one took it seriously and i was constantly harassed in front of the instructors being "spoiled". Eventually I was threatened and my parents came to the school where the administrators put on a show and promised it would be dealt with and of course it was not.

Alabama College of Legal Studies System has changed/upgraded their financial aid reporting software which has significant problems and is delaying the disbursement of financial aid funds to the school. This obviously means that many students are not receiving their financial aid refunds.

I contacted the financial aid department to find out why my financial aid had not posted to my account and was informed that there is a “glitch” in their new system which is causing the department of education to reject my information. When I inquired as to when this would be fixed, they told me that it would be an additional month or maybe two before a “patch” could be created to rectify the problem. This is completely unacceptable and I expressed my disapproval of such a ridiculous delay and how critical the refunds are to my survival while I pursue my legal secretary studies. The supervisor I spoke to promised to elevate my concern and “reach out” to a senior level supervisor or manager and get back to me by the end of that business day. It was an additional four days before I received a response via email.

1. They will give you a lot of orientation and good things about their school practice...blah blah 

2. Soon enough, after a week, I heard a lot of negative issues like you are not allowed to take a leave even if your sick or dying, in short they don't care about you. You have to stay in the room even if you don't have students. Speaking of room since you only have 2 or 3 students you are not allowed to used a decent classroom, they will place you near rest room or in the library or just anywhere they like. Even if the students are paying a very high tuition fee. 

3. No payslip, delay payment of salary and a lot of deduction that you don't know

4. No due process in terminating faculty teacher and other staff, and didn't give your last salary. They will threaten you that they will not give your last salary until you've finished all documents and they will not allowed you to leave the school premises just like your a prisoner

I decided to attend Alabama College of Legal Studies on the fact that I was supposedly able to finish masters degree quickly, affordably, and efficiently. They also have an open enrollment status, and advertised "advanced placement", meaning that I was able to take classes at my own pace, thus allowing me flexibility and freedom. 

My decision was based on their propaganda and the information provided to me by my admissions counselor. I was also told that many professors would allow me to take on extra projects if I felt that the classes were not challenging enough.

I also want to reflect on the attitudes and overall friendliness of the college. For the most part, everyone that I had spoken with was rude, unfriendly, and inconsiderate. The financial aid department misplaced several sections of my tax forms, and as a result, I was not able to get funding within a reasonable period of time.

I went through the entire admissions process, all the way up to the day of registration, before I realized that I had been given incorrect information. I was required to take classes for legal secretary studies that I had already transferred in as well as classes that I could have easily placed out of. (the dreaded CIS 101. When I questioned my department counselor about these requirements conflicting with their current marketing materials, I was told that the materials were outdated. (The materials were printed and dated for the same school year that I was planning to enroll) I also want to reflect on the attitudes and overall friendliness of the college. For the most part, everyone that I had spoken with was rude, unfriendly, and inconsiderate. The financial aid department misplaced several sections of my tax forms, and as a result, I was not able to get funding within a reasonable period of time. 

The legal secretary department is poorly equiped, again getting better though. - The professors have been threatening a strike for 2 years because top management received a 30% pay raise while faculty has received a pay freeze. Strike = no classes. This is plastered all over campus. - advisors are not qualified and often miss needed requirements. Of 3 friends who have graduated 3 had to get special overrides after being refused graduation due to advisor oversights. I am included in this as I have already prearranged graduation overrides. - communication is non existent and I am convinced that the phone lines to the financial aid office are dummy lines. I have never had a phone call answered or a message returned in 4 years.

I have had a very unpleasant experience. The staff in the legal secretary department have often been rude and condisending. Students are expected to find their own way through the program using a guide from the bookstore. You are definitely a number. If you miss a deadline, your out of luck.

I transfered in from a different institution, and I have never recieved the same horrible serive that I have from this uiniversity, and everytime they made the mistakes, I had to pay for them. I was dropped from all my classes one semester becuase I ddin't confirm it, becuase they never sent me the bill. I recieved numerous parking tickets at the beginning of the semester because they were late in mailing out my parking permit. They would mail out bill reminders for tuition, AFTER it was due. The complaints are endless. 

The college is extremely disorganized to the students detriment. They DO NOT list pertinent information about classes anywhere. You WILL have problems graduating on time due to poor advising. The advisors don't know what is going on. I am trying to earn a legal secretary degree and a teachers certificate. I am having problems in both degree's fulfilling last minute requirements because advisors misled me. I have 2 different advisors and both have made major mistakes. 

I may be delayed a year waiting on classes they offer only 1x a year in the education program. I have 2 education classes left and student teaching. If I am delayed I may just scrap all the teaching credits and go to another college to graduate so at least I know I can.I have a 3.4 gpa and am no slouch. I highly recommend you attend another college if you have a choice.

I am African American male student, and I studied legal secretary and gradutaed in 2013. instructors write lower grades to African American students than they do to white ones. To balance this, I have observed that over 80% of the African American students are abusive toward the white ones. In addition to all this racial tension, I have been told that some security guards seek sexual favors by female students. If female students are not willing to do any sexual favors to some security guards, the security guards are finding the internet webpages of the female students and are harassing them. I also agree that students do 99% of the work, and more than 80% of the instructors have not even read the textbook or don't know what it is about

I went for 3 semesters and the problems started when I had an issue with a teacher she was rude and foul to me online in class not in private. They transfered me to another class, and it was only going to cost $341.00 out of my pocket. I went to another instructors' class. Just as bad, she never gave me credit for assignments or my DQ questions. I went online to retrieve my items and proof they done kicked me off line. Then today I get a letter saying becasue I failed her class I would have to pay all the $1500 back and I would not qualify for loans or grants. It was a lie. I called a couple of colleges and taht does not happen over one class. I made A+, B+ and worked hard and made a C+ and an F in legal secretary. The class was boring and useless to my degree.

I applied for a course with Alabama College of Legal Studies about 4 months ago. After I paid for the course (legal secretary) in full they informed me that the course has been discontinued. I immediately canceled the course. till this day I still did not get my refund. I have emailed and called them numerous of times but with no luck. I tried to email these people from Alabama College but none of them can help.

when I first enrolled at Alabama College of Legal Studies, I was told I would receive help from the dean or profession and adviser, my first day of school, I was told I would need to find help from students, I tried to form study group with other students but our time wouldn't match, If I thought I had to rely on the students for help I wouldn't have enrolled at Alabama College of Legal Studies, I was told to email the teacher, adviser or dean if I didn't understand my subjects or writing, when I would request for help from the staffs, I would receive a respond as if they were addressing everyone and I wouldn't get my problems answer. Now I didn't pass my final the school have asked me to leave, there is no help, I took out a student loan these people do care, all they care about was getting their money, now I'm left with a large sum of money to pay back. the school didn't try to help, there just say, we have the money and there is nothing you can do about it, there must be something I can do to get my loan paid for.