Complaint Review: ITT Technical Institute - Internet

I don't have a problem with national accreditation for places like Joe's Truck Driving School :-)  Vocational and technical schools have their place in the educational world for students pursuing those kinds of degrees.

What I have a problem with (and I think we agree on this point) is when schools misrepresent themselves (such as ITT and U of P).

As for your military credits... The school I work for has campuses on several military installations and that's where I got my start so many years ago. I, too, tried to capitalize on the learning experiences of students who needed those credits for promotion points and was as generous as our rules allowed. The problem with that though, is that when a potential employer reviews your transcript and sees 20 credits for artillery he has to wonder :-) Our rule is that military credits are transferred in if there is a reasonable equivalent to a course in our catalog. For soldiers in the combat arms or highly technical fields it just wasn't possible to give them the credit they thought they deserved. Hence, they chose a school that WOULD give them those credits. Sure, they got a lot of credits on their transcript, but if the degree required 128 hours of very specific credit (such as that required in our Accounting degree), they STILL had four years to go if they attended full time.

As for faculty, well, I could tell you horror stories about some of the people I teach with. One was arrested for identity theft, and one for murder. There's bad apples everywhere.

I agree with you (strongly) that high school guidance counselors could be more proactive in providing information to students about what to ask a potential college. Here's a tidbit very few people know: Financial aid is negotiable :-)  Most schools have institutional funding they use to attract highly qualified or desireable students. If you (or your child) is applying to a school and doesn't get an aid package that's sufficient, call the financial aid director and discuss it.

Merry Christmas to all!

Then the problem lies with the high schools not preparing students, after all isn't that what guidance counselors are for?  I don't think blaming an institution for their lack of accreditation solves the problem.  Every institution is out to make money and I have found that it is really up to the school to accept or decline the transfer of credits.

I attended a regionally accredited school after my service and the representative at the school found ways to transfer military training into college credits.  He worked hard to find equivalent credits in order to give me as much credit hours as possible.

Is this an exception?  National accreditation has a place in this world.  Where would some people be if it were not for Joe's truck driving school?  Not everyone can afford to go to college.  Many are employed with nationally accredited degrees. 

I agree that what your school did "I was FORCED to pass students who had no business passing, as were other instructors" was very wrong and I am certainly not defending their actions in this case but I am defending their right to make money which is what America is all about.  If the sales people at ITT spent more time telling potential students that their accreditation was not good enough for most regional schools, I don't think they would be employed with ITT very long.  You said ex IT Program Chair, so you do not work there anymore, did you tell your students these things when you did?  I think not.

I appreciate your attempt to educate the masses on the perils of choosing the right school but, leave Joe's school alone, his standards are as high as he can make them.

I think I would disagree with you regarding what students know and don't know about accreditation. If you read the posts on ROR you'll see that the majority of complaints about colleges refer to the online schools (Univ of Phoenix, Axia, CTU, etc), and there are far fewer complaints about the brick and mortar schools. The reason is that these students don't understand the difference between national and regional accreditation and why it's important.  The OP has hit the nail on the head. And these nationally-accredited schools make it difficult for anyone to take distance education seriously.

As the OP stated, nationally accredited schools don't face the rigorous process that regional accreditation requires. There's little oversight, and that's how the admissions and financial aid get away with what they do. They screw over the student who "doesn't know what he doesn't know". They also lie - outright. I've read through a lot of these reports and have done some investigation of my own. I posed as a potential student and made inquiries abd the transferability of credit, availability of financial aid, etc. I've copied a few of those here on ROR just as a warning to potential students.

I've been a senior administrator and faculty member at a traditional college for over 20 years. I know what I'm talking about :-)

For any student considering a school like this - think again!! Your local community college most likely has an online program that is reputable and will transfer to a four-year school.

I would have to strongly disagree with you. This is one of the main complaints of students - finding out their credit hours, at a cost of approximately 40K, will not transfer to a 4 year school and count towards a degree. Many assumptions are made and they don't know enough to ask. Most students have no idea what it is that determines whether credits will transfer, and are completely unaware of the differences in accreditation standards. I would bet that MOST adults in general do not know the difference, not just ITT students.

You mean there are schools out there that are willing to lose money to educate students?  Maybe cut staff or their salaries just so they can provide a good education?

You are presuming that most people do not know the difference between national and regional accreditation.  I think most people acquiring a post high school education do.