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Sheryl S
Latest posts by Sheryl S (see all)
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Keiser Career College recently reached a settlement for actions brought against the school by Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi. The settlement means that Keiser will have to provide retraining at no extra cost for many of its students and will have to correct its marketing practices to accurately reflect the reality of its programs. In addition, it was decided that Keiser would be responsible to pay legal costs incurred during the suit and that any Keiser students who wished to pursue claims against the school would receive expedited processing.
This comes after accusations of fraud in surrounding misrepresentation of the quality of education received, job placement rates, and salary expectations upon successful completion of the programs. Potential students were targeted because they would be the easiest to lure with fairy tale promises of high paying jobs when they were done. Once enrolled in the program, students only found themselves left defrauded of their student loan money with nothing to show for it.
Even students who graduated with high honors from the program found themselves out of luck as no employers would hire them with their “education.” As programs which generally last less than a year cost the average student $20,000 that came to quit a shock to many. Students were told they would need at least 5 years’ experience to get entry level positions, basically meaning their education was pointless. Considering that no one would hire the students to begin with, getting 5 years’ experience was a pipe dream. Unfortunately, so were those lofty salaries Keiser claimed the students would get fresh out of the program.
The state-of-the-art students were expecting at the school after seeing advertisements also turned out to be figments of the imagination. The school used seriously outdated computers and equipment and students claimed even the furniture was very outdated and uncomfortable.This lack of professional ethics was seen throughout the entire set up and instructors condoned screaming, cursing, and poor behavior in class, in fact, they often participated in the bullying of other students.
When victims complained they were ignored, further bullied, disregarded, labeled troublemakers, and reprimanded. Administrative staff would often interrupt sessions requesting various paperwork and were truly a disruption to any learning even attempted. As for high quality learning, most instructors would contradict the text book one day then tell students they were wrong if they gave answers the instructor had told them the day before. Classroom time was confusing, disorganized, contradictory, and pointless. Many classes were wasted as instructors were too busy having personal discussions to focus on planned lessons.
The school’s advertisements claimed Keiser was a great place for working adults and single parents as its classes were flexible. This turned out to be only a half truth. While some classes were flexible, core classes were only offered at rigid, problematic times of day. Should students complain about the use of class time they were ignored and instructors carried on as they did before.
Students complained that some campuses were dangerous, particularly the Melbourne campus as students attending clinical at that particular school were often smoking pot and sniffing coke prior to taking care of patients. As far as job placement, students put their name and details in a job bank and that was the extent of it besides a book of words students were advised to use on their resume.
Students trying to continue their education after the program or transferring to other schools soon found their credits were non-transferrable. In fact, schools told students none of the classes listed on their transcripts were college level courses. Students got yet another dirty surprise when, while attending classes, they soon found themselves receiving as many as 8 phone calls per day from lender Sallie May and third party collector i3 Group, even if they weren’t late. If they were late or missed a payment, students were not permitted to attend classes until their arrears were taken care of.
If you have questions or comments, please chat in the comments below or on the ChallengeStudentDebt Twitter handle.
If you feel you were defrauded by the school you attended or you are being treated poorly as a distressed borrower by your creditors, take the free challenge debt review to find out what options you have regarding your student loans.
