Complaint Review: American Intercontinental University - Hoffman Estates Illinois

Julie, Your story EXACTLY mirrors mine. I requested information regarding completing my degree online and AIU reps called me 3-5 times a day for about a month. I talked it over with my ex-wife (we are divorced now, but were married then) and decided to give it a go. I received the package with all of the paperwork that just happened to arrive "just before the deadline" and everything was rush rush rush. I noticed that my loan documents were blank in regards to amounts and percentages and was told that these would be filled out once my loan was accepted, but that we needed to get me enrolled and started on classes in case there are any hangups. I got enrolled, started on my classes (one class actually) and then received a notice that Sallie Mae had authorized my loan and sent AIU $4500.00 for my class and my book. My ex had just given birth to our daughter and I had just recently started a new job so things were hectic and I just kept doing my school work as the classes rolled by me. About 3 months after I enrolled and began taking classes I received documents that showed me in the wrong degree program. I contacted AIU and it was during the process of trying to get this fixed that I first noticed the dollar amounts and percentage rates on my loans. What I had thought were loans covering a year of tuition were loans covering a "semester" of tuition. My degree, which was supposed to cost about $10K to complete was already at $12K and I was not quite halfway through the program. I then noticed that SOME of my loans were at 5% (through AES) but that about half of my loans were sitting at 12% to 15% through Sallie Mae. Now, mind you that my ex-wife and I made decent money and my credit rating was actually pretty good at the time. Long story short, I decided to finish the schooling since I had gone so far. The degree is basically worthless since no one puts any stock into the online degree from AIU. I owe over $20K (mostly to Sallie Mae) and they call me all the time. I have had a really tough time financially for the past couple of years and these people are relentless. Back when I was paying them they didnt want to speak to me, now they cant seem to leave me alone. I cant consolidate with another company as Sallie Mae doesnt allow it, the government wont help because the loans are "private" but you cant file bankruptcy on the loans because they are "federally backed". I was all about paying the loans back until I found out about all the lawsuits and stuff. Now I am trying to see what I can do to get involved and get these loans moved to a RESPONSIBLE lender that can work with me and help me get them paid off.

I am sorry to hear about your situation. It must have been a rather unique situation or I am lucky. In no way do I doubt this happened to you but I wanted to share my experience which was dramatically different than yours. I have researched many online Universities and have decided on AIU. I have the MGIB and Employee Tuition Assistance. Additionally, I was eligible for the AIU Freedom Grant for Veterans. When I first applied to AIU, I wanted to start the first week in June but AIU wouldn't let me until all my financial aid documents were processed. As result of their policy, I couldn't start any earlier than July 21, 2008. This was quite alright by me because it gave me time to process the Tuition Letter through my employer before starting class. My experience was that I applied on-line and submitted all documents via the AIU student portal. I was assigned one advisor that has contacted me occasionally to check-in to see how things are progressing. She has always been available for questions that I have, without any unusual delay in getting back to me. Once my admissions package was accepted, I spoke to a Financial Aid Advisor. I logged onto the AIU student portal and submitted all required documents via the Financial Aid link. When these documents were reviewed, the Financial Aid Advisor called me to discuss my Financial Aid Award Letter. He broke down all the tuition charges/credits icluding the foloowing: the Freedom Grant, MGIB and Employee Assistance. It was very straight forward. It s now approximately three weeks before my first Graduate course starts and I have a clear picture of all costs for the upcoming academic year. It couldn't have been more simple. My employer has the same tuition information that I have, so they know how much of a cost share they have and when the payments are due. The Veteran's Administration (VA) has received my enrollment verification to start my MGIB payments as of July 21, 2008 for full time enrollment until May 31, 2009. I can say in my experience that everything has worked out fine. Moreover, AIU would not let me start classes until my Fanancial status was verified by VA, Employer and eligibility of the Freedom Grant.

I am a financial aid professional for a private university. I know how frustrating it can be when you can't get a hold of anyone, which is why I always make every effort to return all calls or emails within 24 hours. Just as an point of explaination: When you submit your FAFSA, there is always a chance you will be selected for verification, which is what sounds like happened to you. That means the school is required to get a copy of your taxes and correct any discrepant information reported, which could very well change your eligibility. This should have been explained to you up front. The key is timeliness. The taxes should have been reviewed well before you enrolled in class, but I'm guessing they were not reviewed until after afterward. When you submit your taxes, they are usually scanned into a digital file and then reviewed by another department which could be in another state. This does not happen overnight. There is often a delay in the time between document submission and final review. Due to the delay in this process, the school did not truly know your eligibility until this had taken place. Given that most of these type of schools are profit and numbers oriented, when it is crunch time, they will often err on the side of allowing someone to register pending verification rather than telling you that you can not start school. Often, there is no change in eligibility after verification.