Juliet
Birmingham,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, May 21, 2007
Doggone, Margaret, I don't know what your field is, but I sure am glad you are on the CONSUMER'S SIDE lololol. You are quite the persuasive writer! You could make a mint ripping people off at the places you denounce, and wow, it sure is nice to see such power being used ON OUR SIDE! Vo-techs, Community Colleges --- they are what us poor, little people CAN have access to, that IS of value. I wish everyone who is considering higher education would somehow be able to read what you wrote. Thank you so much.
Juliet
Birmingham,#3Consumer Comment
Mon, May 21, 2007
Doggone, Margaret, I don't know what your field is, but I sure am glad you are on the CONSUMER'S SIDE lololol. You are quite the persuasive writer! You could make a mint ripping people off at the places you denounce, and wow, it sure is nice to see such power being used ON OUR SIDE! Vo-techs, Community Colleges --- they are what us poor, little people CAN have access to, that IS of value. I wish everyone who is considering higher education would somehow be able to read what you wrote. Thank you so much.
Juliet
Birmingham,#4Consumer Comment
Mon, May 21, 2007
Doggone, Margaret, I don't know what your field is, but I sure am glad you are on the CONSUMER'S SIDE lololol. You are quite the persuasive writer! You could make a mint ripping people off at the places you denounce, and wow, it sure is nice to see such power being used ON OUR SIDE! Vo-techs, Community Colleges --- they are what us poor, little people CAN have access to, that IS of value. I wish everyone who is considering higher education would somehow be able to read what you wrote. Thank you so much.
Juliet
Birmingham,#5Consumer Comment
Mon, May 21, 2007
Doggone, Margaret, I don't know what your field is, but I sure am glad you are on the CONSUMER'S SIDE lololol. You are quite the persuasive writer! You could make a mint ripping people off at the places you denounce, and wow, it sure is nice to see such power being used ON OUR SIDE! Vo-techs, Community Colleges --- they are what us poor, little people CAN have access to, that IS of value. I wish everyone who is considering higher education would somehow be able to read what you wrote. Thank you so much.
Margaret
Houston,#6Consumer Suggestion
Mon, May 21, 2007
I was raised in Louisiana and have resided in Texas for the last 16 years. I attended college and Vo Tech Education in both states. although I am unfamiliar with the other 48 states educational systems, let me explain something about the difference in public Vo -Tech Education and a private career technical school. Louisiana is a notoriously poor state, and most work there consists of the blue collar type of employment. Louisiana has public Vocational and Technical schools there because community college was pretty much non exisitant there until the mid 90's Some examples of this are the following schools I am familiar with. TH HArris Vo Tech, Opelousas, Louisiana and Lafayette Regional Technical, in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lets say a person is interested in taking something like Medical/Nursing/Pharmacy Assistant, Aircraft Mechanic, NDT, Business Office/Secretarial they pay a small tuition, say 200.00 for a quarter and pay for all their own books, and supplies. Student aid is offered. All the instructors are definately cerfified. The schools are run by the state public education system so they know that they cannot charge a person 25,000 to become a Nurse Assistant whose average wages are 9.00 an hour. My ex husband attened the public vo tech school in LAfayette, Louisiana and took Electronics Technology. When all was said and done he had paid approx. total 3,000 in tuition and another 1000 in books and supplies, and places like ITT Tech are charging people 50,000. Its a BIG SCAM!!! MY ex got an excellent post secondary education and even the opportunity to work for NASA. I do not know if other states have public vo tech education, however if a person wants to major in Criminal Justice go to either a 2 or 4 year college because if one wants to become a police officer, they will need at least 60 credit hours from either a 2 0r 4 year state college, not a private career school. Now if a person wants to take something like Sound & Recording Engineer they can attend a specialty private career school because most 2 year colleges or public vo tech schools will not offer this. But even with that said, still investigate the school and do your homework and stay on top of things and then you won't get a big SCAM!! If people would just investigate their state's employment web pages, average wages are stated for various careers and those wages are not some uninformed sales recruiter making a bogus sales pitch saying someone can earn 15.00 an hour as a nurse assistant. I have attended community college (Texas) 4 year college (Louisiana) and a for profit career school on line, however those studies were more about personal enrichment and additional knowledgement more than transferring credit courses. When I transferred my college credit from Louisiana I had 25 credit hours, Texas only accepted 15 and I had to take a CLEP test to test out of the rest of my English courses. If every future student in the US would accept this advice, they would all be much better off and for profit careeer schools with heavy handed sales tactics would be curbed down to very specialty schools and education for more comman careers would shift exclusively to community colleges and public vo tech schools if offered in their state.
Juliet
Birmingham,#7Consumer Comment
Sun, May 20, 2007
Jon, I'm wondering if you've tried contacting the State Attorney General's office?? Not sure which state, I guess if I were you, I'd start with my own, the Consumer Affairs Division, and see if they could help. This totally sucks, what more can I say. I doubt the BBB will be of any effective use at all, but the State Attorney General's Offices - there's where I've gotten results for many issues. If your state is not the place to file a complaint, their office will steer you in the correct direction, most likely. I'm not promising the State Attorney General can or will help, but the BBB - I have no hope they will be of any help of value. If you prove me wrong, I'll be delighted, truly! ITT is not a reputable school for me, not sure why, it may be because of this site, but also I went to an EXPENSIVE private-type college like ITT, which IS a good school, and that's why I won't name it, but - not sure these 'institutes' and 'colleges' are really worth it. The 'college' I went to did teach me what they set out to teach me, and whether the huge student loans I incurred were appropriate amounts for what I learned, I don't know. But oh how I wish I had known how many hours of regular community college I could have gotten for those loan amounts, and would now very likely have a degree from a recognized university or college, or at the least, would have substantial, transferable credits to many other institutions, for that same amount of loans. Now, I just have a fear of ever incurring another student loan, I just cannot do that ever again, and no degree. Good Luck, I really hope you get a satisfactory resolution.
Jon
Vacherie,#8Author of original report
Sat, May 19, 2007
Ok, another update. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in IN. I was notified this past week that ITT claimed the dispute was resolved, even though nothing was resolved. So, I posted a rebuttal with the BBB. ITT Tech got around to reading my rebuttal, and in return sent a formal statement back to the BBB. In this statement, ITT claimed that, even though I repeatedly mentioned the report I made of the problem in March, that their system shows no such report or contact. Essentially, I was called a liar, and because of this, ITT has officially refused to meet my demand for a solution. HOWEVER.....this is where it gets interesting. Back in March, when I called tech support to report my problem, the guy I spoke to(Andre Givens) asked me to send him an email with a screen shot of the error message I was getting. I still have that email. So, I sent it back in reply to the BBB. Andre Givens also maintains that the only contact he had with me was one voicemail he claims to have left on 7 April of this year. Clearly, the email I have proves this wrong, as I would not even know his name or email address back in March unless I spoke with him. This is a perfect example of what ITT does--this man Andre was asked about his participation in this incident and is lying through his teeth to cover his behind. In the statement, ITT also claimed that I made no contact with them. Some people have claimed that they left me messages and I never replied to them. But I regularly spoke with one of the instructors, Melissa LaChance. Through email and telephone, we spoke several times during this. I went through my cell phone records for the period in question and have evidence to back up my claims. If anyone considers going into this school, you may as well flush your money down the toilet. ITT Technical Institute is a dishonest, fraudulent business. Do not become their next victim.
Jon
Vacherie,#9Author of original report
Tue, May 08, 2007
I filed a complaint with the Indianapolis BBB. They notified me last week to tell me that they are forwarding my complaint to ITT. I won't hold my breath about their response. But I will keep this updated as to what happens next.
Jon
Vacherie,#10Author of original report
Tue, May 08, 2007
I filed a complaint with the Indianapolis BBB. They notified me last week to tell me that they are forwarding my complaint to ITT. I won't hold my breath about their response. But I will keep this updated as to what happens next.