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  • Report:  #645507

Complaint Review: Grand Canyon University - Phoenix Arizona

Reported By:
Jessica - Dudley, North Carolina, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:

Grand Canyon University
3300 West Camelback Road Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
Phone:
602-639-7500
Web:
http://www.gcu.edu
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
I will start with the main problem and the rest will follow.
I recently withdrew from GCU for multiple reasons which I will state below. I was so stressed out and just could not take dealing with them anymore. Before I withdrew I had a conversation with my finance counselor on exactly how it would work and what would happen. I waited until I was finished with classes and then decided to withdraw and not register for the next semester. At first my finance counselor said I might own for the classes that I failed and that I would have 180 days to pay the balance. I told him I would not be able to afford that and asked why I would have to pay for classes I failed. I explained that I failed a class at a different university and did not have to pay for it.
He then sent me an e-mail saying he was really sorry for causing any stress or confusion, and that he talked to his manager and  discovered that I was covered by financial aid so I would not owe GCU anything out of pocket after all and that my balance with GCU was $0.
I forwarded that on to my enrollment counselor and academic adviser and said that on the premises of not owing GCU anything, I wanted to proceed with my withdraw from classes.
Today I got a call from finance (a month after my withdraw was processed) saying that I owed over $5000 for the classes that I did not pass.
How can this be? I have a letter from my finance counselor saying that I would not owe anything out of pocket, even for failing classes!
For being a private "Christian" university, you would think they would honor what their EMPLOYEE said and clear my balance as it was agreed upon before I withdrew!

As far as the other problems go: I started attending GCU about 2 years ago when I was going into my 3rd year of college. I came from a campus university and was fully expecting very difficult classes as I was starting 300 and 400 level classes. Well, the 400 level classes were a joke! I really think classes are written at a junior high level, and assignments are a joke also. I never had a professor that was involved in class, the most they ever did was copy and past some info from the internet and ask our opinion about it. I don't think I learned a thing over the lsat 2 years besides to never take online classes again.
So you are probably wondering how I failed? Well, since I started GCU I never received a refund check on time and the last check came during the 7th week of an 8 week class. We did not have the money to pay hundreds of dollars for textbooks. My professors agreed to let me turn in the first few weeks of assignments late, but 7 weeks of assignments was not going to fly!
And the last class I failed was because we were moving cross country and our grandfather passed away and I asked the professor if they would take my work late. They said yes and they completely understood, I was thrilled! Then a week before classes ended I told my professor I was going to start turning in all of my late work, that we were finally settled, and she said she would no longer accept late work because it was not fair to the other students - so I had no choice but to fail.

All in all, those little things do not compare to having to pay thousands of dollars that I was told I would not have to pay. This could ruin our credit and our future and is just completely ridiculous to put someone though. I'm hurt that a "Christian" would do such a thing to someone.


3 Updates & Rebuttals

Jess1706

North Carolina,
United States of America
Very happy update!! GCU cam through in the end!

#2Author of original report

Wed, October 06, 2010

I am very pleased to say that GCU worked with me on the balance owed, they realized the finance counselor made a mistake and honored that and worked with me the best they could.

I will be attending to complete my degree and I am very happy with how it was settled! Some of the employees are wonderful!!


Jess1706

North Carolina,
United States of America
explaination

#3Author of original report

Tue, October 05, 2010

When I asked why I would have to pay for a class I failed, I meant why would I have to pay out of pocket. I already paid for the class, it was covered under my financial aid and I completed the course. I withdrew after all of my classes were completed because I did not want to enroll in any more classes at GCU.

They are saying I have to pay, out of pocket, for the classes I failed even though I have an e-mail from my finance counselor specifically saying I would not have to pay out of pocket for the classes I failed.

I was a full time student, enrolled in 2 classes at a time.

And as for the professor not accepting work during the 7th week of class - I understand that would have been very inconvenient on their part, but they told me I could submit my work late and that I had until the last week of class. I would have appreciated it if they just said I am sorry I cannot accept your work late when I asked instead of telling me last minute leaving me no other options.

If nothing else, this is to inform people that there are schools that are "for-profit" and they only care about making money.

I hope they honor their word and that this issue is resolved fairly. We shall see...


Jeanski

Buffalo,
New York,
USA
enrollment

#4Consumer Comment

Wed, September 29, 2010

Whether or not your financial aid was processed would probably be dependent upon whether or not you were enrolled full time. As I understand it, federal student aid is processed for a full time enrollment, and the for-profit schools require students to complete the required number of hours before they process the aid. So if you were enrolled in 12 hours, and withdrew before completing all 12, you probably lost the aid. Thus, you have a balance due to the school.

As for this statement: "asked why I would have to pay for classes I failed" all I can say is I never heard of a school that DIDN'T require you to pay for ALL classes, regardless of whether you passed. 

Can you please explain more about how your enrollment worked? That is, do you take two classes at a time, or four?  It might help us understand a little better.

In any event, despite what the financial aid office told you, you are probably still liable for the balance. This is why I always encourage students to attend a traditional college if possible. Almost all of them have online programs for the working adult and they don't seem to generate the kinds of complaints posted on ROR about financial aid.

As for the refund checks being late, this seems typical of most online schools. Since you already knew the checks would not arrive in time for you to purchase books for the term, perhaps you should have made other arrangements so that you could start the classes will everything you need. As an instructor who teaches in an online program, I can appreciate the faculty response that turning in your work during the 7th week was unacceptable. I wouldn't allow it either. It truly isn't fair to the other students.

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