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Education - Online Universities & Colleges Are you getting your MONEY WORTH? Are these colleges or universities rippoff ? Share your experience or your GRIP.

   

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  #1  
Old 05-21-05, 09:17 AM
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American InterContinential University (AIU)

There seems to be lots of complaints about AIU. Are they offering real training or are they just another means of scamming students.

AIU online is a complete scam. If you are browsing the web and are interested in getting a little information you are must put in your contact information in order to view the website. This should automatically tell people that something is wrong. After you enter your information you will repeatedly receive phone calls from a so-called admissions advisor.

The admissions advisor/sales person can and will call you seven days a week up to twenty times a day! Imagine a school that is open on Sundays and Holidays? Upon the first call conversation the admission advisor will read a script to you.

Hello may I speak with_______? This is_____________ and admissions advisor from AIU online how are you doing? Great! You recently requested some information about our degree programs, so I have a few questions for you so I can get the correct information out to you!

What is your educational background? What is the highest level of education you have completed?
When did you graduate from high school?
How long have you been thinking about furthering your education?
When did you graduate from college?
What kind of classes were you taking?
What kind of grades did you get in those classes?
Do you have any professional training or certificates in your work history?
Do you have any military experience?
Are you currently employed?
What kind of work are you doing?
What does success mean to you?
Where would you like to be career wise in five years?
Is there anyone who is supportive of you furthering your education? Or supportive?
If you were accepted here at AIU online when are you hoping to start your education?

Now_____based on the fact that you seem pretty ambitious, goal orientated, and motivated I am going to send you an email about some of our important online programs. In this email there will be a password and a hyperlink that you can click on that will take you to our admission site. Now the password will expire so you will need to log on as soon as possible. The admissions site will give you a chance to learn more about AIU online our accreditation, course descriptions, financial aide options, and how you go about getting accepted. How does that sound to you?

Do you have a pen handy? I would like to give you my contact information. Let me confirm your email address.

When you receive my email read through the information and share it with anyone who may be supportive of you going to school. Fill out the online application and print a copy out for yourself for records. This allows me to get to know more information about your background. When you have completed reviewing the website write down any questions that you may have because I want us to get back together over the phone so I can answer all of those questions. We will discuss f-aide, career opportunities, online degree programs, and how you apply and get accepted here at aiu-online. How does that sound to you? Great. I have two times open for _____(always two days later) which one is best for you?

Great then do we have that commitment for ____date and time? Good.

Since education is taking a higher priority in your life I look forward to speaking to you on ----date and time----.

When you set your appointment they will constantly call you. The second phone call consist of a similar line of questioning in more detail with the sales person admissions advisor offering your recommendation and offering to put you on the agenda for the next acceptance committee meeting.

The fifty dollar application isn't the biggest deal. The bigger deal is that all admissions advisors say the exact same thing in the exact same way! How can they really mean what they are saying if they all say the same thing? How can they honestly believe in you if they are all saying the same exact thing and you almost guaranteed a recommendation every time you speak to them! If you submit your information you will be surprised in the type of response you will get. A ton of phone calls that never end for months on end. This makes it hard to believe that they are really admissions advisors? What type of school is open on New Years Eve, the fourth of July, and Christmas Eve?

Who works on those days "sales" people and that is it! Aiu drives a hard bargain, but as you can see by the website the cost are hidden under f-aide. It is a great website, however, I have been contacted by so many different advisors with the same story it only presents to me that this is a really big scam. Not only did they give a recommendation to my mentally retarded nephew they gave one to my neighbors daughter who is in her second year of high school.

What kind of school accepts you before it receives your transcripts? What kind of school has advisors that reads off scripts? What kind of school will not give out pricing information over the phone? What kind of website needs your home and work number to contact you before sending out basic information.

I ask all people who are considering an online school to think very clearly about what they are getting into. Accredited today, gone tomorrow it's just that simple. If Aiu was really a great school then they wouldn't have such hard driven sales/ admissions advisors repeatedly contacting people. If it was such a desired school then they would not be constantly calling over and over trying to see why you didn't enroll the first time around. If you give your number to these people then you are putting yourself at risk for obtaining an degree from an institution that probably won't be around in a few years.

Regardless, of how many people are enrolling and what congress is saying about Aiu here today gone tomorrow. If you sign up with this school, it will not take much to get you accepted. After you start school then the real bills come rolling in. This would be a great school, if they didn't over promise and underachieve. As a former student of AIU-Online I highly recommend you think very clearly before your first day of school if this is something that you are willing to take a chance at, because a chance is what this place really isn't!

Kayla
Hoffman Estates, Illinois

http://ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff79114.htm
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Last edited by Scrub; 05-11-08 at 02:43 PM.
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  #2  
Old 05-21-05, 09:19 AM
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Re: American InterContinential University (AIU)

Well, this is their web address. Check them out.

http://www.aiuniv.edu/

Personally, I think they are not doing a whole lot to ensure that students get quality education.
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  #3  
Old 06-22-05, 04:24 AM
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Re: American InterContinential University (AIU)

s an ex-Admissions Advisor, I highly suggest potential students of AIU, CTU to Leave While You Can! I went through training, and here are some key points that I gained through the whole process.

-- They make it seem as though the school is selective, but it is not. If you have any ounce of dignity, you will want to join a school because you know that you REALLY proved yourself to them and displayed your commitment, intelligence and focus.

-- They ask about your intent to join school. It's a manipulative trick to get you pumped about changing your life. Throughout the whole interview they never give you a chance to ask questions about the school because they want you to go on the website and look the information up for yourself. ** They don't want to commit to anything factual on the phone or by email.

-- It's all about the #'s. Admissions Advisors don't really care about you. At least, most don't. They want to meet their quota. It's very much a sales environment.

-- Truth is, the degree isn't going to get you a good job. Only debt, unhappiness and misery. Most HR people out there know about the different colleges and universities, and you can be sure they know about AIU and CTU.

--Even if you say that there is convenience in completing an online degree, don't fall for it. You have to do a lot of reading, coordinate your schedules around your classmates for team projects, and complete homework, and papers in a short time span. You may as well do all of that in a real college.

I took an online Spanish course a long time ago (not at AIU/CTU, but the concept is similar), and I had more work in that class than I did when I took an in-class Spanish course. Don't fool yourself. If you really want to go back to college and earn your Assoc. Bachelor's or Master's, do it in a real brick and mortar school.

I left my job (high-paying) because it was too unethical for me. I actually do have a conscience. Also, I didn't want to smash the genuine dreams that prospective students have of going back to college. SHAME ON YOU AIU/CTU!!!!!

Sara
Naperville, Illinois
U.S.A.
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Old 03-21-06, 07:22 PM
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Re: American InterContinential University (AIU)

I went to AIU when it was called American College for the Applied Arts, Atlanta & Los Angeles campuses. During my first year in L.A. they opened AIU. I was even there when they were voting on a new name for the school, which was decided to be AIU. I stayed at the school for about 1-1.5 more years, part-time and that was when I realized what the school was doing wrong. They were changing staff, especially in the administrators office, financial aide and admissions, quite often. I left the school, without finishing my degree, because I was not about to pay a $500 increase in tuition per class, just because they changed locations, changed names & became $$$$$ hungry. This school left me with apporx. $28,000 in student loans, no degree & a lot of anxiety. Not to mention.....holes in my pockets, which I am now supposed to repay. And guess what, I have NOTHING to show for it, except for debt. I would really like to file a suit against the school, but I need more students that have experienced this same experience. I do not want to see other students loose money and hope for an education. If you have any other info. or would like to join me please e-mail careylhicks@yahoo.com. We all need to work together to come up with a solution to thousands of dollars lost.
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Old 11-30-06, 12:45 AM
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Re: American InterContinential University (AIU)

Hi all,

I am a present student at Aiu and for quite some time I thought they were a good school even though the work isn't that big of a deal. I'm in the graphics program for the bachelor's degree and I think that looking the education is subpar for graphics. They send you the software but then when you have questions about it you have to call tech support not the professor. two, don't be fooled by the title, "Professor" most of AIU's teachers went through the bachelor's programs there and made it to MBA. Some claim they have PhD's but they won't tell you where they wen to school. They had one honest MFA Adobe Illustrator teacher who did have a degree form a real school and he was teaching just for the extra money and quit right after I got out of his class. he told students that he had in class including myself that they are not following federal guidelines and they are in trouble with the Department of Justice for a whole slew of matters which he couldn't talk about.

Not onto my experience. I only went to this school because I live out in the country and going to the big city with today's gas prices would have been hell. I actually did more work at the community college I attended then I do here. The admission process is a joke the essay you fill out is totally stupid and I filled out a more robust essay for my scholarship to go to a local community college where I live.

Three, don't let the sacs accreditation fool you. The only accreditation that matters is the Northeastern accrediting organization which accredits such school's as Harvard, UCLA, CU in Boulder, Colorado, etc. These are just a few of the schools that are traditional and considered good schools. Sacs accreditation according to my friends at the University of Colorado at Boulder near where I live say it is fraudulent and they will accredit anyone with a million or so dollars in their pocket.

Four the high ups in AIU are under investigation by the Department of Justice, hardly a good sign for a school. Yet many of our traditional school's have problems but not like these school's.

Five, AIU is about to get their accreditation pulled and it is freaking out the investors. According to one fellow student who actually lives near their Chicago campus they have until December first to convince the government and sacs that they have solved their issues. They still have according to this friend of mine at least a dozen issues unresolved!

Six, don;t listen to those who say that when they lose accredidation they lose government financial aid, that is horse pucky. They lose nothing! There is a technical school right here in Colorado that lost their accreditation and are still getting federal financial aid from the federal government's student loan program.

And as for those who say they were challenged by AIU, I say yes if you are a retard with a fifty I.Q. Most of the students shouldn't even be in an online school like AIU, let alone a traditional school.

By the way beware of the, "You're doing good" and then when you reach the end of your program the last teacher you have tries flunking you on every project you turn in so you have to repeat the class. Right now I am going through hell with my last teacher for my last class trying down every project I turn in. I've turned her into the school and no response.

And yes they give you software, but beware it is bulk license software and once you get done with school and you have to reinstall the software you will find that you have to upgrade to the commercial version! So don't fall for the you get software routine. Get two jobs, and save up and buy the retail version of the software.

Also they like pulling a stunt with students where you submit your resume and they put in your profile, "unmarketable." They have done this to me and other students that I have talked to. I haven't gotten a reply from "Career" section of AIU yet but other students say they have and AIU says to be marketable they have to take the MBA program!

Watch out for this.

They go through help pretty quick as well. Former employees who sued the school lost their lawsuit back in October of this year.

But I do have to say that not everyone at AIU is dishonest or some kind of schemer. I think that some of the teachers do try and help but are limited. You can read on the Internet former employees who have blown the whistle on this school. What they say will shock you.

All in all it is better to just go to a traditional school. I probably shouldn't have been a wimp and sprung for gas to got to CU for the bachelor's degree. If you ask me AIU is an expensive mistake. But then so are the rest of these career school's.

With my recent complaints I have a feeling that they will probably not contact me further except through email. Here are some things that make this school and other's like suspicious:

1. They have people available 24 hours a day! Not even Harvard offers you that for 100G's

2. They do read off of a script as has been stated in this forum and others as well.

3. The school gives you nothing in writing not Financial aid documents, transcripts, class schedules, etc. Face it this school is hiding behind the world wide web. That alone is suspicious.

4. They do not allow anyone on their campus where they have buildings. I found out from a friend of mine who is a cop, there is a good reason for that, because they have a small office in various locations around the country and run everything remotely from the homes of their techs, teachers, administrators, etc. I can attest to this as they asked me to come to work for them and I told them that I did not want to move to Illinois. They responded that I didn't have to, I could work for them as a tech from my home in Colorado!

They have no on campus housing which is not too strange since community colleges with better reputations than this school don't have them either, but for a school that has school's in Paris and Australia?

5. Yes it is true that admission reps are not allowed to talk to teachers, because anybody worth their administrating skills would quickly see that they are talking to somebody in another state who themselves as teachers have never seen AIU's campus. Also teacher's are privy to things that the school does not want admission reps to know about. Like the fact that the servers somehow on their own change your grades from failing to passing or passing to failing as some students have reported to me.

6. If you have a problem with a teacher or another student, they will never call you on the phone, they will send you an email from some administrator who is probably in another state still.

7. You never know how much the school is until you agree to send them fifty dollars which they will then send you a log on I.D.

Let's face facts, this school has its problems and the better business bureau in Illinois has had 195 complaints about them but strangely they were all taken care of internally. Hmmm!

Another thing to watch out for is if you sign a cash promissory note and then not pay they won't turn it over to collection, they will turn it over to the feds and say you reneged on your student loan! How they are getting away with that I don't know but a student who dropped during our web design class got a nasty letter from the department of education about student loan default. He had just quit and was still in the six month difference period.

Whatever is going on with this school they do seem to have some government people pulling strings for them.

Anyway watch out for AIU and others like them.
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