My ITT Technical Institute Experience
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HELLO,
I AM A FORMER STUDENT OF ITT FROM WICHITA KS. I STARTED THERE IN JUNE OF 2011 IN THE NURSING PROGRAM.
EACH SEMESTER THEY CHANGED SOMETHING IN THE PROGRAM. I SIGNED INTO THE PROGRAM THINKING YOU HAD TO HAVE A C AVERAGE OR BETTER. THEY CHANGED TO A B AVERAGE AND IF YOU GOT A C IN ANY OF THE 2 CLASSES YOU WERE KICKED OUT OF THE PROGRAM AND HAD TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE DEAN TO WHY YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO STAY IN THE PROGRAM. THAT IS BASICALLY BEGGING THE DEAN TO STAY IN THE PROGRAM AND HAVE TO REPAY FOR A CLASS, SO YOU WILL BE OUT OF MORE MONEY.
IN OUR FIRST SEMESTER THE CHAIR OF THE NURSING PROGRAM QUIT BECAUSE SHE SAID THAT SHE WILL NOT WORK FOR A NURSING SCHOOL THAT WILL NEVER BE ACCREDITED. SHE STATED THAT THE SCHOOL WILL NEVER BE ACCREDITED BUT THE DEAN STATED THAT AFTER THE FIRST CLASS GRADUATES THE SCHOOL WILL BE ACCREDITED.
THIS IS A NEW PROGRAM IN THIS AREA SO THAT WAS THE SELLING POINT FOR THE DEAN BECAUSE MANY OF THE STUDENTS WERE ASKING ABOUT THE ACCREDIDATION OF THE SCHOOL AND TO READ OTHER POST WHERE THE NURSING PROGRAM IS NOT NEW AND THE SCHOOL IS STILL NOT ACCREDITED
I AM HAPPY THAT I DROPPED OUT WHEN I DID. AFTER GOING TO SCHOOL THERE FOR 3 SEMESTERS AND BEING CHARGED ALMOST $20,000 ITS A RELIEF KNOWING I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION TO NOT STAY FOR THE OTHER 5 SEMESTERS.
THEY MAXED ME OUT OF MY PELL GRANTS AND LOANS AND WANTED ME TO TAKE OUT A LOAN THROUGH THEM.
THE SCHOOL IS A FRAUD AND ONLY CARES ABOUT THE MONEY. SOME OF THE STUDENTS WENT TO THE RECRUITER FOR THE NURSING PROGRAM AND SHE TOLD THEM TO DEAL WITH IT BECAUSE THE SCHOOL IS A PRIVATE SCHOOL AND CAN CHARGE ANYTHING WHEN THEY WANT TO AND IF WE DIDN'T LIKE IT THERE IS THE DOOR AND THE DEAN SAID THE SAME THING. HE DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO HEAR WHAT ANYONE HAD TO SAY.
OUR A&P INSTRUCTOR TALKED MORE ABOUT HER FAMILY AND SEXUAL THINGS THAN SHE TALKED ABOUT WHAT WE NEEDED TO KNOW IN THE CLASS. SHE DIDN'T GRADE OUR PAPERS AND WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE SHE NEVER RETURNED OUR HOMEWORK AND THERE WERE 3 STUDENTS IN THE CLASS THAT DID THEIR HOMEWORK TOGETHER AND THEY ALL HAD DIFFERENT GRADES. WHEN WE ASKED THE INSTRUCTOR FOR OUR HOMEWORK SHE HAD AN EXCUSE TO WHY SHE NEVER RETURNED THEM BACK TO US.
I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT TO THOSE OF YOU LOOKING TO GO TO SCHOOL AT ITT, DON'T, IT IS A RIPOFF.
April 2012
Hey Guys
I'm almost done with a AS in CEET in Arnold MO. I'm trying to figure out whether to finish a bachelor's, only reason being my employer's gonna reimburse me most of the 9 months or so that my GI Bill won't cover.
So far, what I have recieved is a mediocre education. At this point, my main concern is getting a piece of paper that has some kind of degree written on it alongside my name.
I've actually had a few talented and knowledgable instructors along my degree path, but I have definitely come across more than a few who did not know what they were talking about.
I even had one complete s*bag of an instructor go on a 5 minute tirade about how sick and tired he was of us "idiot soldiers coming back from Iraq, and all we can talk about is roadside bombs and dodging suicide bombers." Funny, as he was in the Army during Vietnam, but got sent to Hawaii instead of Hanoi.
The bottom line: If it wasn't a virtually free education, and had I not needed the GI Bill money to survive my first 6 months out of the Army, I would have gone to UMSL or Washington University instead.
I went to ITT in St. ,Rose, La. I am kicking myself because I have passed my certification for education- but can not teach becuase my degree is not from an accredited school. I am mad at myself. I have to go back to school and basically start over. I wish someone would have stopped me when I was going to tech. thanks for this website> I hope someone else can get help.
Currently attending Bessemer AL ITT tech. The date is 19 APR 12 and things are going very well. I'm only in my first quarter, but the information is spot on, and my instructors are not only helpful but really know their stuff.
I am still keeping my eyes and ears open for any foul play but at present everything is fine. Right now my only problem is that the vending machine prices are too damn high!
FROM WEB MASTER:
Keep us posted....
I feel the need to add to this. I went for an AS in Criminal Justice, totally worthless piece of paper. Aside from the fact a fellow student (who I had never actually talked to) who got up in front of the whole class and said, BY MY NAME, that I shouldn't be allowed to attend school because I have tattoos (I really wish I was kidding.) and the instructor did nothing..NOTHING to stop it.
That's not why I'm posting. PEAKS LOAN IS A FRAUD. I signed on for a $17,000 AS degree (I also got $5,000 in PELL grans) with transferrable credits. That's what they told me, anyway. It is now 2 years later, I owe $43,000 and no transferrable credits. I get the credits, it's fine, I'm going to community college for my GEs now. What I am furious about is the $43,000.
Once I finished school and the student loan payments started rolling in, I was like "wtf" and called and asked what was going on. No one could give me an answer. To shorten this story, it has been almost a year and I refuse to pay anything because...surprise! ITT is a scam! I owe $19,000 in federal student loans, and $24,000 in PEAKS loans. First off, where is the $5000 that I got in grants? Second, PEAKS cannot provide me ANY documentation why I owe 24k. This is where I started to get suspicious.
I originally called to defer the payments of $800 a month (800 DOLLARS A MONTH) because who can afford that!? They said they couldn't do that. Red flag. I told them well ok I'm in school (was going to comm college) and they said they could ONLY defer it if I was going to ITT tech. Red flag. I started digging, and the more questions I asked the nastier they got. I asked for papers saying how much I owed, they said they couldn't provide it. Red flag. I said ok, I want a breakdown of how much money you gave out and when, they said they didn't have that information and to call ITT tech. Red flag. I called ITT tech and asked for this information, they said they didn't have it and to call Peaks. Wow, really? So I went into ITT tech, and asked for MY ENTIRE financial paperwork. They refused. The ONLY paper they would give me was a copy of the promissory note.
I called Sallie Mae (who had no problem providing documents) and they told me there was nothing they could do since my issue wasn't with them. I called PEAKS, told them I had to defer my payment, and they got nasty with me. They told me they'd ruin my credit if I didn't pay. Unfortunately, I am more knowledgable than most people my age about finances and credit, so I called BS and told them I'd sue them for everything they're worth. It has now been 6 months, and I haven't heard a peep and haven't paid a cent. If you were 6 months behind on student loans, you would know about it. I just bought a house and a brand new car, and my credit score doesn't even have Peaks on it. It has my 19k from Sallie Mae, and THAT'S IT.
To condense this, PEAKS LOAN IS A SCAM / FRAUD AND DO NOT PAY IT. Contact an attorney immediately if you are paying, and cease all payments immediately. They use scare tactics to get money, IT IS NOT A REAL DEBT.
Bessemer Alabama campus has almost no employees. No directors of Financial Aid, Marketing or Career Services, no academic associate Dean, no Program chairs for CJ,Ceet,Parlegal,Business,and others. They are offering only very limited classes and a whole bunch of students who were supposed to graduate in March had to go another extra quarter or two just because of lack of instructors. More loans, more tuition costs racking up for students.
The Financial Aid office is a complete mess with no one in there to do anything,lost files major accounting mistakes made so students' financial aid does not pay out to their accounts and end up having to pay cash. The one person in financial aid who cared anything about her job was axed because she openly criticized the school's fraudulent practices in financial aid, two people have quit in disgust and one financial aid employee is pregnant by a student (she also did his financial aid package for him) and never shows up to work for weeks at a time (although she still gets ,paid!)
The Nursing Program is still NOT ACCREDITED, but they continue to take applications for it. They have no money for Federal Work Study because the former campus director used it all up last year when school remodeling was done and even students who had been awarded FWS had it taken back off their award letters.No one there knows anything about their jobs or even about running a school.
A new campus director was hired last week with experience from Sylvan Learning Center being his only educational experience.
COME ON DOWN, Department of Education! Please shut this this horror rip-off school down before more students' lives are ruined.
I have been involved in many IT and software engineering hiring decisions in Silicon Valley and if I see a resume with ITT Tech then it goes straight into the circular file or bit bucket.
Even more depressing is that some of the ITT Tech graduates are completely CLUELESS about the extremely competitive software engineering job market. Sorry but an online web degree doesn't get you more than a throw away job. You can also get a BETTER education at the local community college for a fraction of the cost.
The most recent ludricous example of an ITT Tech education was when I was talking to someone who claimed to be an ITT Tech grad claiming that she was having trouble finding a decent paying job at $100K a year. When I diplomatically pointed out that even UC Berkeley and Stanford CS grads were not starting out at $100K then I got the response "Well if they went to a real school like ITT Tech then they might find a job"
March 2012
I have 2 more classes left and I will have my AS in Criminal Justice. I found out last semester that my credits won't transfer having having numerous counselors tell me that they will transfer to most universities.
So, now I don't know what to do. Do I start all over at another school or finish at ITT and hope for the best?
I go online, I have been to other community colleges and find the education to be on the same level. If I had the chance to do it over again I would not go.
I am thinking of speaking with a lawyer since so many representatives there have lied to me about my credits transferring, but I think it would be difficult to prove.
I guess the CJ program is cheaper than most of the technology ones because I only have $15,000.00 in debt and I am almost done. Good luck to everyone!!!
If you are reading this and thinking about going to the school I am begging you not to!!!!!
Unqualified instructors, to say the least.
Students are put through with passing grades. You get a grade for showing up! Hands on training? What a joke! Half the experiments and labs did not or could not possibly work.
It was next to impossible to find an answer to a legitimate question. (No knowledgable people around.) The chair of our dept. did not know that NO and NC stood for normally open and closed. (CEET program.)
Career and services are two words that should not be used together at Itt-Tech.
I want to sue for economic and academic fraud, but cannot find a lawyer to do this kind of law. ANYONE who can help me set this lawsuit in motion please contact me at jfeagin@email.itt-tech.edu
I'm graduating from ITT Tech Chantilly, VA on the 17th of March and I'm happy it's finally over. I was shocked to read all the posts on this site because I was hoping it was just the chantilly campus. Between the free pizza etc etc...
I'm disappointed because I really did want to learn everything they promised in a "hands-on" environment. I kept on telling myself it was going to get better, but it didn't.
The Microsoft Exchange class IT 260 took the cake for me... Out of 22 students, 7 people were able to get Exchange working properly. The capstone project has A LOT of exchange in it because you have to show that an email (Outlook) goes through your network to pass. I got stuck on lab 6. Lab 6 is where most students got stuck. I found myself in the final week, so desperate times took desperate measures... I took Lab 6 (which didn't work) and divided the screen shots into 3 additional labs (7-9) and handed them in.
Guess what, I got an A in the class.
If ITT Tech was not business first, it has potential to be a great school.
The United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to know everyone's experience with their student loans, both Federal and Private loans.
https://help.consumerfinance.gov/app/studentloan/ask
February 2012
I have felt my last couple of quarters has been a long and uphill battle with administrators. One of the selling [points] for me choosing ITT-Tech was that our courses were pre-selected. No pesky complications like elective classes.
Last quarter, it was discovered that there had been a mistake in how my classes had been assigned. That said, someone took it upon themselves to drop me from three classes for what should have been my last two quarters to 2 classes for the next three quarters. This messed up my financial aid as well as postponed my graduation date. All of this was done without one person talking to me or asking me about the decisions being made.
Just a few weeks ago my chair had to submit a waiver to HQ to permit me to take a pre-requisite class (the scheduling mistake) concurrently with my Capstone class.
Just a few days ago, I received an email telling me I had to take calculus on-line. This is not the first time I had received this email. I have made it very clear I do not want to take calculus on-line. I am now in a position where my option is either take the course on-line or postpone the course as well as my graduation date. No one so far has been able to tell me if or when this course will be offered on campus again.
I am currently at the director level asking why this calculus class is not being offered on campus. I'm beginning to think since no one is willing to answer a very simple question that there is something not right about all of this.
Anyone who has seen the ITT-Tech television commercials or heard the sales pitches know we, students, are led to believe that scheduling conflicts are resolved easily. Practically, most of us students have also been faced with some sort of similar scheduling conflict like this.
I can also say this; I have the support of a lot of people at the school. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Update on campus located in Bessemer, Alabama: Director of the school has been fired, Director of Marketing quit, Associate Dean quit, many of the instructors have quit, many of the Marketing Reps have quit, Secretary to the Directors is on maternity leave.
What does this mean for students? Basically, the school is being run by 1 Academic Dean who has never worked in a school anywhere and 1 Director of Finance who was a convenience store clerk before she slept her way into her current job.
Many classes have been disrupted in mid-quarter with students just being "passed" with no actual knowledge of the subjects, because they have no instructors to teach. The new nursing program is still not accredited, although they are taking applications for it and processing student's financial aid for it.
Please do the research and DO NOT ATTEND THIS SCHOOL!
NEWSFLASH: If you owe money when you graduate to ITT from the Temporary Credit which is the part of your tuition that loans and Pell grant did not cover, you will be allowed to walk across the stage but will NOT receive a diploma until ALL the money owed is paid.
Been there done that.
I go to ITT Tech in Corona, CA and feel like I am learning. Most, if not all, of my instructors have been extremely helpful and highly accredited. An IT director of Kaiser even teaches there and has taught many necessary tools to write many types of programs. Maybe the schools you went to were bogus, but it definitely doesn't stretch out to all of the ITT schools. Good luck to you all.
From Web Master
Anyone else been to this school with the same experience?
Is this the only ITT Tech school like this?
Is it just one good program?
How are the other programs there?
ITT is so much more expensive than Community College. They pay their "instructors" a fraction of what the real colleges pay their staff... So, where does all of that extra money go?
I strongly agree with this site.
I have been attending at a campus in Orange CA. which moved from Anaheim CA to Orange and with the move lost the few good instructors it had and began hiring any one that wanted to teach.
Our first new instructor was for Physics, and just like in one of the complains that are posted, he was not prepared for class. It took him four classes to cover what was to be covered in one. Even with the entire class of over 30 students giving him the worst reviews ever he was kept for many more quarters and unfortunately I had the bad luck to have him again in a very important subject for my career, Calculus I; and all that he tried to cover in the 11 weeks a different instructor had to make up for in two weeks on the following quarter in Advanced Calculus.
The campus went from helping students by giving them equipment that they could use for practice to just throwing them away: computers, DMM, oscilloscopes, etc... They want the students to use the equipment at the campus but we are not allowed to use or work in the labs. We have to use the set-up that they have in the LRC which only allows one person at a time to be able to use the equipment and there is not enough room on the table for your proto-board.
I am just happy that I will be graduating after next quarter and won't have to deal with this bs. after receiving my BS.
If I was given the opportunity to go back in time I would stop my self from making the biggest mistake of my life and just go to a different college. Anything is better than ITT Technical institute.
I am attending this school and have 10 months left to graduate IF I can test out of psychology. I have been told from day one I was all set to double up my nursing classes during the 6th quarter but now that the 6th quarter is fast approaching I find out they wouldn't accept my psychology credit because it's 10 years old.
This whole experience has been a nightmare.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! If anyone has tested out of psych here please give me some tips on how to do it. I only have 3 weeks to master it so I can attempt the test out. I have heard from everyone who tries to test out of any classes that they make the CLEP's so hard you can't test out.
The A&P instructor told me himself not to attempt to test out of that class because he's seen the test and he couldn't pass it.
HELP!! I just want to get out of that school (that now has me by the balls) and never look back!!
Troy Michigan & Tampa Flroida campus'
I have attended this school for three years now. I have one year left and wish i attended another school from the beginning. there is so much to say but everyone has already taken the words right from my finger tips.
listen to what everyone on here has already said. there is no exaggeration here.
I do have one question though... When i graduate with my bachelors and this school is guilty of all these offences these people are bringing ITT to court for, does this mean my degree will mean that much less!?!? it already doesn't mean much to a lot of employers because it comes from ITT but will it mean only less to them and if so can i sue ITT for pulling this horrendous stunt on us students?
From Web Master:
I would assume that anyone who might hire an ITT student (not many seem to want to) would think twice about it if they knew ITT were being sued. As for your own lawsuit: I recommend getting a few students together with details and approach either a lawyer or a local district attorney.
January 2012
From Web Master:
The comment submitted below is the whole reason I put up this site.
I hope to hear more reports like this one:
Thankfully before I signed up for ITT tech I came across this website.
I went through all the motions, took the test (to which they responded I got the highest score, but refused to show me my grade). I even started the process of financial aid through my GI Bill, but then I saw this site and decided not to show up for our scheduled appointment to sign all of the paperwork.
It kind of threw me off how easy the test was when the woman made such a disclaimer about people usually needing to take the test two times to pass, then when I get it there's basic math and grammar on it. and when I told her that I would be funding myself through my GI Bill rather than their loans it almost seemed like she was unhappy about it or like I did something wrong to her.
Lastly, when I asked her to repeat herself about credits being non transferable to "most" schools I asked her which ones would accept them and she could only name two...other ITT techs and some online university.
I only came in for questions but it seemed like they were trying to rush me to sign everything which really was unsettling for me. Why do I need to sign things to ask questions about your school?
Long story short, after that first experience with them I came home and did some research and came across this site. When they called and asked about our appointment I told them that I wouldn't be there because their school is nationally known as a scam and that I would rather pay the extra money and go to a community college or a university for a real degree. The lady was literally lost for words.
I told her about this website and said for her to remove me from all contact listing. Haven't gotten a call since.
From Web Master:
I strongly encourage prospective students to compare ITT Tech with their local community college. My recommendation: go to the community college.
I'm a paralegal student at Bessemer, Alabama campus in my last quarter. I was always leery of the loans and the debt & I have no idea how I'll be able to pay them back.
Last year I was told I had to take out a private loan in order to stay in school so now I'll be drowning in payments when I graduate in March and I am a single mother of two.
The classes are far too easy for a real school, I have breezed through them with a 4.0 GPA. At the start of this quarter I was told I had to do an internship with an attorney's office but ITT did not help me find one, I had to do it all on my own. But I succeeded in finding one and was accepted but now I have to go there and work two days a week for free.
Also at the start of this quarter the paralegal students were told that one of the classes we need to graduate would not be offered because there were only 6 students who needed it & the class cost too much to have for just us six. Well, we raised cain! So the school offered to let us do a blended class, which is basically an online course but we have to go to the school to take it. ??? Anyway, the first day of class, the teacher came in and we proceeded to find out that none of us nor the teacher had logins to access the program to get to the class.
OK, this continues for 2 more weeks before we finally can get to the online class. Then on week 4, we show up for the class and we're told that the teacher has quit, we can go back home. Week 5, the Dean of Academics comes in and teaches us, although he knows nothing about the subject and lo and behold HE CANNOT LOGIN TO THE PROGRAM either.
By this time we're all 5 weeks behind in assignments and had very little access to even try to understand the basics of this class. All 6 of us are failing at this point & are in despair of ever being able to pass so we can graduate in March.
The whole school here is extremely unorganized, my schedule has been wrong for the past 4 quarters, books are never there on time for the classes, teachers quit often with no notice and in the middle of a class, financial aid office has not even got any doors so all student information in there (social security numbers, credit check info) are right out in the open in an area where lots of students freely walk through.
It's all just a big mess for students.
I truly wish I had never gone here. In the course of doing this UNPAID internship, the people in the law office told me I'd be very lucky if I could get a job paying $10.00 an hour which will NO WAY enable me to make these massive huge loan payments.
PLEASE DON'T GO TO THIS SCHOOL!
Grand Rapids, Michigan:
I'm currently in my second to last quarter and wish i would have dropped out when i first started!!! every quarter i have my classes changed because they only schedule me for class the days i work which i've told them time and time again.
This time instead of switching my classes they accidently dropped me out of classes altogether, I noticed my name wasn't on the sign in sheet and when i went to talk to my chair i was informed that i could not attend classes anymore because i owed them almost $3000 for dropping out...it was not easy to get re-enrolled but i did.
Career services has helped point out a few jobs they believe are amazing "making less than $10 an hour" while i make over $15. Financial aid wasn't any better than career services: they just want u to sign your name for loans and they won't tell you what its for.
i had to bring in my mother who happens to be a very bright business woman "who told me not to attend itt.. that's one time i wished i listened to her" just so i can understand that i'm signing over my life.
I want to let everybody know that this is a scam!!! If i've learned one thing while going to this school its to look into something further b4 just signing your name!!!
I could have gone to the library, buy the drafting software myself and learn the same thing for a fraction compared to the estimated $50,000. I finished the 2 year course for Computer Drafting & Design, and I still feel intermediate, that's why I switched to Project Management, its all a joke.
The "hands on training" is mediocre. I am now going for my Bachelors in Project Management starting in March of 2012, and this time, the next 2 years better pay off.
The mathematics teachers are the worst of the worst, they expect you to absorb everything on the first time.
Half of the time from ALL of the classes, we didn't even use 5% of the content from the books, so why bother paying for them?
This school is the biggest SCAM ever. I expected much more for the cost of it. Its like High School, but with ash-trays and mediocre staff.
From Web Master:
I hope you're not getting the Bachelors from ITT. It will only put you in further debt. The classes are no better than what you've experienced so far.
Read my previous recommendation on self-study here.
I was fired from ITT Tech because I refused to lie to students and because of that, could not make my required numbers to keep my job.
Everything on this site seems to be correct with things that were going on at my ITT school.
A few more things that have not been mentioned:
Some employees do not even have a high school diploma or GED. Some employees in management do not have college degrees. Several of the secretaries in academics department and library have not even graduated high school or passed the GED test.
The college director at my school, John Schuman, (highest manager at a school branch!) did not have a college degree and had no experience at all working in a school. He was hired because he was neighbors with a district manager and their wives were friends. He has now been fired because there were so many law suits filed against the school while he was director.
The director of financial aid got her job because she was sleeping with the director of marketing and the school president (and who knows who else?) She has less than 3 years of experience in financial aid and no experience in management..
While your student loan money is rolling in they will be nice to you (although often unhelpful) but if you drop or have trouble making payments to the school, you are treated like dirt..
Your best option is to attend a local community college. It'll save you loads of money and save your sanity from these evil takers.
ACS, Access vs. First Associates ref: Loan Servicing .....
There was a problem with the upload of the ITT portfolio to First Associates system. First Associates points the finger at ACS and Access. Your credit is at risk. Request complete payment history now, waiting for your concerns to be added to the issues log at First Associates is putting yourself in peril. Demand resolution now. Demand proof of resolution. Demand payment of late fees. Demand waiver of payment processing fees.
Write to the credit bureaus and request notation to your ITT credit lines, stating the uncertain condition of your private loans serviced by ACS/Access and now First Associates.
Make sure all of your communications with First Associates are added to your account record.
In closing, often times when asking for a manager or supervisor they will not be available or on the premises. This is a possible violation of the Fair Debt Collections and Practices Act. You have rights as a consumer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Debt_Collection_Practices_Act
If you are not provided satisfactory service during this process, report to your school. If you're still not satisfide report to the entity in your state that regulates Post Secondary and Vocational Institutions in your state, possible Ombudsman.
From Web Master:
The following links were provided by an anonymous visitor.
You may find these interesting.
This is a YouTube video from a former student talking of ITT's poor ethics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Q8upT70mc&feature=youtu.be
This is a YouTube video by a former financial aid administrator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmnG9r4qUa0&feature=youtu.be
This is an article published on the Huffington Post web site's business section
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tressie-mcmillan-cottom/for-profit-colleges-kaplan-university_b_1205464.html
You can find other videos of disgruntled ITT students on YouTube as well.
I particularly like this one (warning: it does contain some profanity):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhhlrITrsBs&feature=fvwrel
I am a current marketing rep at ITT Bessemer, Alabama.
If you are considering going there for a nursing degree, please reconsider. The program was just approved by the state and is not accredited so if it is not accredited before you graduate, you will not be allowed to take the state Board exam.
The credits will only transfer to another ITT, also, not to any other community college or University.
The current cost for 1 academic year which is 3 quarters is $22,900.00. UAB or a community college tuition for the same time period would be less than $7,000.
ITT is also currently being investigated by the Department of Education, the SEC, and several state Attorneys General for fraud as well as having multiple lawsuits pending against them by students and former employees.
Don't do it.
I currently attend ITT Tech in Nashville, TN-set to graduate March 2012, going for my associate's degree. I started March 2010 when I was laid off from work to get a college diploma so that I could get a job. I was told that being laid off and receiving unemployment that I would not have to pay anything out of pocket-my grants and student loans would take care of my tuition-I have since paid them over $2,000.00 out of pocket and they are saying I still owe them more money.
ITT NEVER helped me apply for a job, never even heard from career services until this quarter(my last one)-now they say unless I turn in a resume and have it approved by career services, we cannot pass our portfolio class. Even though I am working at a job that I started in January 2010 (I found it on my own) that I enjoy and pays well with great benefits, it also has opportunities for advancements in my career (career services wants me to quit that job to work at a temp company-making less money with NO benefits)and I told them NO. They said that they couldn't help me if I was unwilling to work with them, Oh well! Sucks for you!
They also wanted me to talk to people at a job fair from Target (how is that even slightly related to my field of study which is software, applications and programming?)
I have to take 4 subjects in my last quarter if I want to graduate on time. I had a C++ class that the instructor did not know the material he was teaching but thought it funny to show inappropriate videos in class (as a woman I was VERY offended). I was also accused of cheating since I did my codes before the rest of the class. I was also accused of lying by this instructor. I went to my chair (nothing happened) I went to the associate dean (nothing happened), I went to the dean(nothing happened).
Every time I was told that I needed to complete the class and they could not approve it if I dropped the class. After 7 weeks, I couldn't take anymore so I dropped the class. ITT wanted me to pay for the dropped class and pay AGAIN to retake the class. I also need to mention at this point I had a 4.0 gpa.
After several meetings with the dean and the director (plus threatening to issue a sexual harassment lawsuit against them) I was allowed to retake the course (if I passed it with a C or higher I didn't have to pay to retake it) I passed it with an A. (although I need to mention that this was the first time the teacher had taught this class and I knew WAY more than he did-he read the book and the powerpoint slides-he had the students take turn reading out loud the book as well.
Labs were a joke since he didn't know how to program so we were on our own to figure it out). I even helped my fellow students in lab so we could pass the course.
In my time at ITT, I have had a few great instructors, some that were okay and some that I am wondering how in the world they even function in the real world. (1 instructor even told us he was only there to get extra Christmas money).
I am thoroughly overall disappointed with my education (or lack thereof) and the cost of the degree is a big joke. All the books given out were outdated (we didn't even get a book for our capstone class-the project that they wanted us to do was thesis level-no way it could be completed in the allotted 11 weeks for a good grade with only 5 people and the languages needed to complete it was not taught in any of my classes.
I had to get advise and help-not to mention pay extra for the outside help-to learn the required language just to complete the class.
The computers in the classroom were outdated and still had windows XP on them-ITT does not pay you to purchase a laptop but you need one to complete your final project.
December 2011
I go to ITT in Memphis, TN., (CNS). I feel your website hits the nail on the head, as do a lot of my fellow classmates.
One big complaint has been consistant since starting, all of their pc's were out of date (Win XP) for example, they are constantly not working properly; we had to switch pc's to find one that would work properly (power on, connect to the internet, use programs needed for assignments).
Their website is the worst (hard to navigate, find information, etc.). This is a technical school?
I am now in my capstone course and have read the project to be done. I know all the terms (WAN, LAN, routers, etc.), but putting all these into place and building an entire network is over my head; I don't know how to do half of the things asked for.
The IT jobs here are all high level, experienced people. I don't feel like I can honestly compete or even do these jobs, which I have spent 3 years and a lifetime of debt to learn how to.
I now regret my decision to ever attend ITT.
Hi, my name is Reuben, I was a former student at the Clovis, Ca and I was there for almost 2 years.
I was signed up for their 4 year program and going for my bachelors degree in computer network systems. I felt like a little kid there because the entire time that I was there I can't recall learning anything new or that I could really use so I later dropped out and am now currently attending school at SJVC in Visalia, Ca. I have already learned what took me months to work up to at ITT in about 2 and a half weeks.
ITT Tech doesn't offer certifications or even mention that you can't even get a job in the technical field without the certifications, and the degree would be useless. And I am pretty sure that you can't really teach without the certifications either.
One last thing: their entrance exam is crap; it's completely useless since it's all opinion based; asking me if "I like my name"? or "Do I think everyone should attend college right out of high school"? When I was finished with the test they said I had passed with one of the highest scores they have so far.
So, ya, I'm ready to help because I've sent in my paperwork to put off my loans until I graduate: I've sent them in twice and I am still getting phone calls and they're threatening to garnish my wages and disrupt my current student loans and prevent me from finishing schooling getting my degree.
(I've posted this on other message boards as well so if it seems like you've read this before then you probably have)
To the Webmaster; thanks for creating this site and allowing people to be heard!!!!!!!
From Web Master
You're Welcome!
Thanks to all my visitors who have posted this year and the previous years.
And thanks to those who just stop by to read these posts.
May all of you have a better year, next year, without ITT in your lives!
Former employee:
ITT management sends Reps and employees to classrooms to pull out students who are near graduation with associate degree to scare them into signing up for BA degree programs even if the program the student needs is not being offered.
They are told all kinds of lies like all those loan payments are going to come due, your account is going to be turned over to a collection agency (which they are if any money is owed to the school). Any tactic at all to get the student to keep taking out loans (high interest private loans too) and keep the money rolling into ITT.
Itt Career Services is a joke also. I never knew them to get a job for even 1 student in the years that I was employed. Most of the employees in the office where I worked were gone to 4 hour lunches or on facebook all day, even departmental managers did this. They lie and manipulate reports to the Department of Education and the accreditors (who are also on their payroll) in order to keep the scams going.
From Web Master:
When I met with Career Services, it was the same "counselor" each time. He always acted like it was the first time we met. Each time he asked for my resume. I told him to look in my file one time. He seemed surprised to see a stack of my resumes there already.
The only jobs he would try to line me up with were working in the fast food industry. There was no attempt to line me up with jobs in my field of study; and this was before the current job market decline.
I am a current instructor for ITT in Alabama, so far the comments I have read seem to match up with what my students have told me.
The classes I have been asked to teach do not cover what the students need to know by any means. The books are a horrific pile of crap to be exact. So much information has been left out of the class and lab manuals there is no possible way to complete the lab assignments.
When the class is finished, if taught straight from the material given by ITT, students will not be able to pass the Microsoft test it supposedly was taken from.
Not sure how long I will be with ITT, I freelanced a lot of my last class to try and help the students learn what they really needed in order to do the job. I found out about 4 weeks into the quarter that the previous instructor did the same thing. He was fired for it..
Attend a local college, get an AS or BS then take a few certification tests (Security +, Network +, Linux +, MSCE, etc...) You will be much better off and owe a lot less in student loans.
As a former employee of ITT Technical Institute I can honestly say that I did a lot there that compromised my ethics.
1. Finance Director, Campus Director and even the District Director for Southeastern schools strongly URGED us to get students' PIN numbers for their FAFSA. They did this by going onto the site and changing student's email addresses to their own so they would have access to print and change info on their FAFSA forms. If financial aid coordinators did not do this (as well as other things) they were threatened and publicly humiliated in meetings sometimes daily.
2. All employees are graded and PAID by a point system which was never fair nor even regulated so employees could see their points, we were just told we had x amount of points. The director was constantly changing points, taking away points from people who spoke out, and giving them to her favorite employees, who backed her when she didn't even know that parent Plus loans are considered Title IV funding among many other rules and regulations regarding Financial Aid she did not know.
3. We were forced to make students apply for high-interest PRIVATE loans through lenders which ITT was getting a kickback from. Peaks and Eli Lilly Credit Union are two of these lenders. They will accept almost anyone but the interest rate is from 14 to 24%. Students became eligible to apply for these loans when they had completed 19 hours. So basically, almost every student's repackage of financial aid had one of these private loans. One student had a balance owing of $24,900 to ITT and he was approved for a private loan at 21% interest. Do you have any idea how much that means he will owe???
4. Employees were bullied, harassed, stressed, and OVERLOADED by managers who did not have a clue as to what they were doing. The finance director was a convenience store clerk before she came to ITT! Most of the underling employees were doing the work of the directors.
5. Since everyone was being paid according to how many students got in on financial aid, most of the financial aid coordinators lied on FAFSA forms for students. And yes, we filled out FAFSA forms for students, mostly because the caliber of students we saw every day were NOT ABLE TO FILL IT OUT THEMSELVES or we were under such time constraints to get it filled out hurriedly and GET SIGNATURES ON LOAN PAPERS at all costs. Management did not care HOW you did it, they just harassed and bullied employees until the file was complete.
I'm sure there's more so I will continue later.
I am a former employee of ITT Technical Institute. I left because I could not continue to do what I was threatened and forced to do every day which was to lie to students and parents. Their main focus is to get the students in the door and get those signatures on student loan papers. As long as the money keeps flowing in everyone is passed.
It's basically government subsidized highway robbery. They are in business ONLY to make money and line the pockets of their wealthy shareholders.
RUN as fast as you can away from this ripoff school!
Your stories here are important. You ALL need to report them to the following people who are investigating this ripoff school: THEY CANNOT CLOSE THESE PLACES DOWN UNLESS YOU REPORT THEM!
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/hotline.html
http://harkin.senate.gov/help/forprofitcolleges.cfm
I currently attend ITT in Louisiana. I am in the paralegal program. I have honestly only had issues with one instructor that was seemingly incompetent and this instructor taught a general class.
I've been reading all of the reviews of itt and, as a mother of two, the fact that I may have taken on more debt than my degree will be worth kind of scares me. I have not seen any reviews from students in the paralegal program though and am curious as to their experiences as far as job outlook after graduation.
I have been very lucky to have highly educated local attorneys teaching the classes for my major and while ITT's courses are poorly designed and do not teach napoleonic law, the attorneys that have taught me have always changed the courses to teach us what we need here in LA and what paralegals should be capable of.
The reason I feel I'm ok with itt is that it's not likely to have a "degree" In paralegal studies. The most you can get at a university is a certification.
One of the reasons I'm starting to worry about a "degree" from itt is that in actuality, my classes have been challenging and I've worked my butt off to have a very high gpa (I only have a couple of quarters left) and was asked to become a member of the honor society... But reading all these things about grade inflation and easy classes worries me that I may not be given the credit I deserve by future prospective employers.
All of this being said I have had some issues with itt that caused me to see red - I wanted to graduate ASAP so I asked to be put into additional classes, moving my graduation date up a quarter. Somehow this got completely assed up and I find out a QUARTER before I'm supposed to graduate that because of their screw up I have to attend an additional 3 months for a capstone class and an "externship" - originally we had a choice between this "externship" (a non paying internship that counts as a class) and a business law class.
Having worked in law offices before as a legal aide, I have no interest in spending more time away from my children while I'm not working and filing at an office for 10 hrs a week for no pay. Sorry. Yea well... Of course business law (like so many other classes) was suddenly no longer offered. Externship it is - I am not allowed to add my capstone class and this externship to my upcoming quarter bc financial aid will not cover me to take that many "classes" even though I'd only be attending school 4 times a week if they did. Why? Oh because i have to PAY THE FULL CLASS PRICE to complete the NON PAYING EXTERNSHIP?!
Am I wrong for thinking that is ridiculous?! - upon receiving my honor society material I was told by a student worker (and the brochure she gave me) of the thousands of dollars available in scholarship money to honor society members. Apparently that was the amount of money they've given out TOTAL. EVER. there are literally like 2 scholarships you can apply for. Whatever.
Hopefully it will just look nice on my resume and my parents can smile at graduation and hopefully never research the real itt.
I'm sure I've experienced way more negatives than this but it's just what has stood out to me recently. Other than being told (idk how reliable this is yet) that for my upcoming online class (that I didn't want, but it's no longer offered at the school of course) we need to attend the online class for almost 3 hours AT SCHOOL... not to nitpick but doesn't that Eliminate the only positive aspect of taking an online class?! I mean really.
I have to say though that I have had some truly awesome teachers that have far outnumbered the bad ones and that I haven't had too many problems with the majority of the administration although i know people with horror stories. If anyone reads this and has completed the paralegal program and has any info about how it affected their ability to find a job, etc please email me @ blbanb@yahoo.com , any info would be greatly appreciated.
FROM WEB MASTER
This is our first post from a paralegal student.
The comments reflect the opinions of others: individual teachers can be great but they have to work outside the boundries of ITT to be effective.
I hope we hear how this student is received by potential employers with ITT on a resume.
November 2011
ITT TECH FORT WAYNE. I have 3 classes before graduation and our class was told the first day that for now on we have to get b instead of c. Now I probably get kicked out because of a c.
I signed a contract that stated that I had to get c not b and never signed another one that stated differently.
School stated it was cooperate that did that. Then I was told that our nursing chair that just started weeks before went to uindy and voted that we needed b to go on.
HOW CAN THEY CHANGE POLICIES AT THE END OF PEOPLES education? IS THIS LEGAL does anyone know?
I go to ITT Tech in Michigan. I feel that the work is TOOO easy. I don't even study and I get an A in all of my classes. I don't really feel that I have learned much (I'm in the Criminal Justice Program).
Now I find out that the ITT is going to get rid of the CJ program so I can only go for the rest of my 2 years and thats it. I'm not really sure what program they will replace Criminal Justice with. Maybe some type of Business Class or something.
Everyday when I go to my classes, I feel like its completely pointless in even going. Half of the classes that I have taken, I have already learned the information in high school. I messed up. I should have looked more into ITT before joining that school. Now I'm paying tons of money for pretty much a piece of paper in the end when I graduate.
A friend that I talk to says that she checked out ITT but told me that she didn't want to go there for some reason, now she goes to school at [DeVry] University. I think that I would be better off there instead of at ITT. But I can't change my past, so I hope to learn from my mistakes.
Ill finish my 2 years at ITT for the CJ program then Ill go from there.
From Web Master:
I would recommend cutting your losses and not finish at ITT, save the money.
But the decision is yours.
Call places today where you'd like to work and ask if having ITT on your resume is helpful or hurtful. Let us know what you find out.
I attend ITT Tech in Earth City, Mo for VC. I started out as a CEET student because my friend was going and I figured I needed an education so why not. (Me in there signing the papers would be the dramatic cut scene in a movie when you realize the character has made the decision that will haunt them for the rest of there life)
About 4 months in I was doing real good, had a 3.7 GPA, but I started to realize that ITT wasn't exactly the most serious of schools, more like an advanced highschool level of education. After some serious thought, I decided to switch my major to Visual Communications because i actually had interest in graphic design especially the adobe suite as apposed to circuits and network protocols.
I have been breezing through the VC program and have learned a couple things, i would say I went from a 3/10 level to about a 7/10 level which is ok, not $50,000 ok, but ok. So I was ok with everything, up until my last three quarters, from their scheduling i had two classes for one quarter, one in the next, and then 2 for my final quarter because the classes where not available when i needed them which meant I would have to attend for another 13 weeks after i was supposed to graduate.
Once again I was ok with it, Whatever as long as I get done i was thinking. Mid way into my first of the last three quarters I get called into the financial aid office. After some smooth and fast talking i walked out with a $7200 Peaks personal - high interest loan and the knowledge that i would not be eligible for any grants for the remainder of my time at ITT since i was no longer a full time student. For some reason, i just trusted them and went along my way.
What sparked me into giving this any thought, is that I am now getting letters saying my loans are coming in repayment soon and i'm still in my second to last quarter of school! I did some research which lead me to here which has opened my eyes to the amazing educational fraud that is ITT Tech. I feel i don't even need to go into detail about the lack of up to date materials and hardware that ITT provides us, the lack of teachers that have any right to be in charge of any type of classroom, and the amazingly high rate that students are charged for these "lacks".
I did some research on ITT and ITT Educational Services and it is pretty obvious what is going on: in 1998 the company was bought by Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide, inc. Do you think they really give a damn about education? Even worse, Starwood got every dime they could out of ITT and then in 1999 sold all of their remaining stock in a public sharing. So that means ITT has NO EDUCATIONAL BACKBONE.
It is run by boardmembers that investors voted on. What do you think an investor's primary goal is? I don't even need to say it..
Needless to say I am seeking legal representation and I can't wait to get back from every attorney, "Well, you signed a contract.."
From Web Master
Here is a link to a history of ITT
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/ITT-Educational-Services-Inc-Company-History.html
I am an attorney investigating certain aspects of ITT's practices. If you are so inclined, will the student who attended ITT in Getzville, NY, please contact me? You can reach me at fightingfraud@yahoo.com. Thank you.
From Web Master
I did try e-mailing this person and received the following error message:
"This user doesn't have a yahoo.com account (fightingfraud@yahoo.com)"
i attend itt at the maumee/toledo campus in ohio.
i have some reviews also about the education at itt. but i have realized that i have learned alot of great and awesome information since i have been there. (im in cns) chances are i probably will not get my bachs. there but the point of itt is that a high majority of there students are between the ages of 25 and 35. these people are the ones that either should of went to college a long time ago like myself but opted not to.
Yes the homework and the labs are easy il admit sometimes i find that its a little to easy and i dont feel challenged. but when you work full time you have to pay bills im actually glade theat most of the work is a little easy. I hear to many people in my classes bitch about how much homework there is blah blah blah but funny part is, is that if they where to go to a university or community college they would fail misserably.
theres probably times where people think that the teachers dont know anything. il agree at times they are wrong but finish the class and move on quite being a p**** cause when ur in the real world what re your options?
i guess my point is that i do agree on some issues and with 2 quarters left i can either drop out which i dont plan on doing or finish by degree and find another college to get my ba in computers that accepts most of itt credits. and there are colleges that do
FROM WEB MASTER
I'm not sure if this person is trying to say they approve of ITT or not.
It seems to me they do agree that ITT has problems.
Their point about students who do well at ITT would probably fail at a Univeristy or Community College fits the ITT profile: they hand out high grades and issue degrees even with poor student performance.
This person ends by saying they will find another college to get a BA which will accept most of ITT's credits. I hope this person will report back with a list of colleges they find because myself and many others who have posted here don't find any colleges which will take ITT credits.
I'm thinking, based on the spelling and grammer of this posting, the English classes at this ITT school are of little help.
October 2011
So, I attended ITT Tech in Getzville, NY. I dropped out of highschool in 9th grade because I was just a very lazy, unfocussed individual throughout high school. Not to mention I was 16 in 9th grade. Eventually I went and recieved my G.E.D. Roofing was getting tiring and old so I eventually decided to check out ITT Tech. The "recruiter" at this school was very chipper. She acted as if this was my second chance and this school is a dream come true.
I decided to go with the Computer Aided Drafting Design field. I chose this because I have always enjoyed construction and blueprints etc. Thinking maybe I can learn to become an architect and make some good money while enjoying my job. Turns out ITT does not teach Architectural. I had 2 classes out of... 24 classes that had anything to do with architectural design.
These Architectural design texts books were not very educating. Seeming like they were written by former students and did not teach me much of anything. Also the instructor was an architect himself but was too tired every night class to teach me properly. It always seemed as if he could not wait to meet his bed. So this being said, every class we just pushed through and "got it over with".
Having a tired teacher is pretty boring. Having a boring class does not help me learn. Every class I took that had to do with my course of study,the teachers were too worn out to even care about the students education. They just seemed to want to go home because they were over worked at their day job.
Long story as of right now but trust me I could go on and on and on!! I am now a graduate with a "CDD" degree which I've yet to recieve. It turns out that the school is holding my degree until I can afford to make an extra $892 from my current roofing position which I only make $12.50 an hour doing.
So I have graduated a few months ago and I don't have a degree yet! How in the world am I supposed to find a carreer without my degree in hand?! I do not think this is legal for them to hold my degree over $892 dollars as opposed to the $40,000 I am currently in debt with.
Let it be known that I was not informed that ITT was giving me a "personal loan" out of their pocket in which I would have to pay back before recieving my degree.
ITT Tech has totally put me in a very hard spot and it is enough to drive a 25 year old man insane...
I really do not know what I am going to do with my future. My final GPA is over a 3.5 and I feel like I do not know enough to even land a job let alone a good paying job.
They have ruined my life "period"!
My fiance is in ITT's nursing Cohort 1 and what a nightmare. The instructors are inept; they cannot even pass their own tests! The worst is that in the middle of the 2-year contract they changed the contract to make it so that you must get a B average or you fail. The original contract says C average. You cannot change a contract in the middle of the course!
I am staring at the forms right now and we got about 40 signatures rejecting their new rules. I also have a lawyer relative who is considering a class-action lawsuit. Also, we just found out that since ITT is not accredited we cannot transfer ANY of the credits out to another college. Since she did not sign the form yet accepting the new criteria they decided to call it an "assignment" and gave her an F on it!
This just goes on and on. DO NOT ATTEND ITT TECH! IT'S A JOKE. There are many other, better colleges around that are accredited.
From Web Master
If you do proceed with a law suit, be sure to keep us all posted!
I am a current student at ITT and wish I could transfer my credits someplace else but they do not transfer. At the moment I have learned more from my classmates than I have from the instructors.
This school used to be amazing but now it is just another way for us to give away money. Also, everything mentioned on this web site is spot on!!!
For the past 5 weeks my instructor has been 45 minutes late to class each week and never comes back after dinner break, corporate does not care!,
I wish I would have listened to my brother when he told me not to attend ITT Tech. He graduated in 2004 and had a very hard time getting a job. He eventually found a great job through a friend.
He has friends in high positions and they let him know that they really don't like hiring people from ITT because they give degrees to everyone. In fact, they even made the news in my city when a student submitted a recipe and received an "A" with a "Good Job" comment.
My problems with ITT Tech occurred quickly. I first enrolled in August of 2009, but due to a family emergency I had to drop...way before classes started. I re enrolled in December and noticed right away that you will be given an "A" no matter what kind of work you turn in.
After three months of utter crap I decided to dropout and attend another school. Right before I did I found out that they never turned in my financial aid papers on top of that they kept my Pell Grant from August. They never sent it back like they were suppose to do. I contacted the Dept of Education and they said what ITT Tech did was illegal. That's not the worse of it, when I called to drop out the woman was extremely angry and unprofessional.
I made sure that I was officially dropped out and signed at a different school and thank heavens I did because two weeks later after I was officially dropped from the school. I found out that they tried to take a loan out under my name. If I hadn't signed up at a different school when I did..they would have gotten away with it.
Also if you're thinking about enrolling at ITT Tech do a little searching on the web because many of their campuses have been raided!
From web master:
Below are links to articles which reference the above-mentioned raid.
http://certcities.com/editorial/news/story.asp?EditorialsID=571&page=2
Another article on the same story:
http://obrag.org/?p=24039
A 3rd article on the same event:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2004/feb/25/agents-raid-itt-tech-schools/
Here's Wikipedia: scroll to the "Controversies" section.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT_Technical_Institute
I am currently a student at ITT Tech in Henderson, NV and have been doing a lot of research about this school. So far, not so good. I'm considering dropping out because some of the teachers are not teaching me what I really need to learn. All the tests and Quizes that they hand out have nothing to do with whats in the book or even what we have learned. We have a disk to help us understand it but they don't even let us use it. They say we don't need it. So, probably i'm just gonna drop before it gets too far.
September 2011
I love this site and the next issue that arises, I will be here unloading on them. I have gone through so much the past month. Stay tuned, because I am sure I will have something for you.
FROM WEB MASTER:
Don't wait too long! We're anxious to hear what you have to say.
Tell your classmates about this site and have them share comments as well.
ITT is a JOKE. Hopefully my experience will help others. I highly recommend that anyone actually wanting a true education go elsewhere.
I started with ITT in Sacramento, CA right after High School. I graduated from High School in 1991 and started ITT in 1992.
I was a typical High school graduate and really knew nothing. I thought a tech school sounded like a great idea because it would give me direct education and experience in exactly what I wanted to do with my life. So I enrolled in the Electronic Engineering Technology course. Two years later I had my degree (AAS).
During this time I had long fights with the school over lack of proper education due to instructors leaving in the middle of the course. In one quarter I had 3 different instructors because 2 quit after 2 weeks each. That should have been my wake up call. But because I was still a teen I still didnt know anything.
After graduation, I tried to get a job. This is where the ITT lies really started to show their true colors. When I started at ITT they told me they had a 82% placement rate with the lowest pay scale of $32k.
After graduation (and I graduated valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA) I couldnt even find a job paying minimum wage. I actually had one employer tell me that he may have actually hired me if I had my degree from any other school but he would not touch ITT graduates with a 10 foot pole.
I ended up getting a job driving trucks instead because I could not get any positions in electronics.
Flash forward to 1999. I broke my back in an accident. Not paralyzed but injured to the point I cannot drive professionally any longer. As part of my workers compensation I was to be retrained for another job. Now this is where I didnt learn my lessons from before. I again entered ITT.
This time in Oxnard CA. I thought my experiences with ITT may have been just a localized problem. So I started in the CNS (computer networking services). My first problem is that they told me that ALL my general ed classes were out of date from my first degree and I'd have to retake them. This sounded fishy but I opted to simply test out of those courses. Now I was going for a bachelors in the CNS so it was a 3 year course.
About 2 years into it, ITT started with a new program called Internet Security Services. This was right up my alley and I was the first student to enroll in this course. Now many of the classes from the CNS and ISS courses are the same, I got to skip much of the first year of classes. Since the course was brand new, I had to wait for them to catch up to me. Once they did I started getting really involved and I enjoyed it immensely, I found I really had a talent for it.
About 2 months later, the school came to me and told me that they had disallowed my transfer credits and that I would have to retake 9 classes.
PEOPLE TAKE NOTE. NOT ONLY WILL OTHER SCHOOLS NOT TAKE ITT TRANSFER CREDITS, ITT WOULD NOT TAKE THEIR OWN TRANSFER CREDITS!!!
I tested out of many of them again. At this point I actually found a well paying job, but it required a lot of overtime so I actually had to drop out for a while. Besides I was really starting to get pissed at the B*ll S*it that ITT was putting me through.
Now I'm at the point in my job that they will pay me to finish my degree. I went back to the school and again, they disallowed many of the xfer credits AGAIN.
I had to test out of 3 more classes that I had already taken twice with this school. For those counting ITT disallowed a total of 15 classes, granted of those 5 of them I had to take twice and 3 of them I had to take 3 times. And to top it all off, the only thing the degree's have ever done for me is occasionally get me an interview, until they see where the degree came from.
Luckily I have actual work experience now to fall back on. If it was only the degree I'd be out of luck.
Listen people: ITT charges a little over 90k for a bachelors degree now. If you're gonna spend that kind of money, do yourself a favor and go to a State University. You'll thank yourself.
And when you see those ITT commercials on TV, think of the stereotypical used car salesmen. Go in looking for an education and you will defiantly get one, just not in the area you expect.
From Web Master:
This web site was down due to technical problems from the end of July thru August, hence, no comments during this time.
July 2011
I graduated in 2009 with Bachelors in CJ. I did not know this school was not regional accredited till yesterday.
What can I do? I have been trying to continue my education so that I can get a Masters Degree but the schools will not accept my credits.
Thanks!
Unfortunately this is a very common complaint. All you can do is try to see if the schools will let you test out of classes, but they usually charge almost as much as taking the course. Plus, you may not have actually learned what you needed at ITT to take the tests.
I would also challenge ITT's recent, regional accreditation. Ask the other schools if they would take ITT's credits from future students with this accreditation: probably still won't. Just because a trade school is accredited, other schools don't have to accept them.
I'm sorry that you have had this experience. I and the other's who have posted to this site know what it's like.
From Web Master:
This web site was down due to technical problems between March & June, hence, no comments during this time.
February 2011
My name is C____ D_____, and I am a student at ITT Tech out in Tucson, Arizona.
We are looking to make a stand, and I hope you are willing to as well, whether you are a past student, current student, or (I pray we find a) past teacher. We are going to handle this professionally. If you are interested in joining us, PLEASE email me at Aspireworks@live.com.
I've been attending school there for a little over a year now, and feel as though I was heavily lied to and lead on.
The coursework is a joke, as are many of the text books. Some of the instructors don't even use the textbooks because they are so ridiculous. I would like to point out that I hold nothing against the local teachers and staff. They have been wonderful to me. The problem is not with them, but with the higher ups in the system.
I believe something can be done about this. Can the school be changed? Maybe not. But can we perhaps make enough of a stand to get our money back, or some sort of compensation? Maybe so. It has been done in the past with ITT. And some of my classmates and I want to do just that. We need to bring this to the public's attention. Or threaten to. Because ITT won't like the fact that they are a degree mill out in the open.
We are looking to make a stand, and I hope you are willing to as well, whether you are a past student, current student, or (I pray we find a) past teacher. We are going to handle this professionally. If you are interested in joining us, PLEASE email me at Aspireworks@live.com.
They can make a few people disappear with their powerful lawyers. But they can't make us all go away. If you feel strongly about this, please take a stand with us. Email us for more information. We will have a blog soon.
I encourage you to start by having as many people as you can place a complaint through the BBB in addition to any legal action. Corporate gets real edgy when they're contacted by the BBB in regard to a complaint.
Let us know how it turns out.
i am currently in an itt school in charlotte nc and am dealing with almost every single complaint that you have. i am transferring out because i have learned nothing in this school. keep on keeping on my friend you speak the truth
sincerely yours,
Christopher A. G.
thanks for this website and comments. i am currently attending itt and i have one more class to graduate.
i was wondering: should i attend the bachelers program or not? the out side world wants a 4 year degree. i am in the CEET program.
From Web Master:
While I cannot give you personal advice, I think you could probably guess my thoughts about continuing with ITT. I suggest you talk with students who are currently in your school and in their 3rd or 4th years. Ask them their impressions of classes, even if they're in another field of study.
If you've studied electronics then you probably know that the current trends are with surface-mount technology. Do they have the tools to teach you how to work with such small components: testing, removing, installing? Review the syllabus for the core studies and compare that with what labs they have. Does the hardware and software they have meet up with the level of training they claim to give?
Then check out a 4-year campus. You don't have to enroll, just tell them you're interested in a program and want a tour, compare their labs with what you've seen around your ITT building. Some 4-year schools have their catalogs on line with a full syllabus published. Compare theirs to ITT's.
Let us know what you decide.
It was breathtaking reading all this, through all of the 2010 archives, and some of 2009.
I was in denial for two quarters, but thankfully backed out early fourth.
I believe they are still trying to make me pay for the 4 class meetings I attended.
I've made all my friends read this as well.
ITT Tech is not a college, but a business, one that gives you 1% for your 100%. It is a "school" designed to lubricate your pathway so you can slide towards your "degree" blind and deaf. If you want an easy "school" and don't want to do any hard coursework, sure, this is perfect for you, but if you want a career, this is at the bottom of the list.
The work was too easy in the CEET program. ALL the electronics teachers couldn't speak proper English; all work and tests were 10 question multiple choice. The only hard part was actually learning, which I found myself doing at home, speeding through those laughable books.
I just wish there was some way to get back the money they took. If you have any advice about leaving and after, it would be much appreciated.
From Web Master
Because of the signed paperwork, there is not a lot one can do. I recommend contacting your local Better Business Bureau. If your town has a local news outlet, you might contact them to see if they'll do their own investigation and publish what they find. Also: send a formal complaint to ITT Local and Corporate Headquarters.
January 2011
I attend the ITT Tech campus in Madison, MS and the students here had those same concerns about quality of education,
qualified instructors, qualified deans, and qualified school director.
A large percentage of full-time students have been lied to and forced to part-time status and prolong graduation because of not having instructors to teach these classes. I am one of those students.
One day you are full-time the next day your are forced out of class in the middle of a quarter, put on part-time status or less, because of their incompetence of not knowing how to run a school, which is overpriced and unorganized.
We are just a number! ITT Tech is just a business, not a educational based school.
If it weren't for the student loans that I owe for attending ITT Tech I would leave; but I can't walk away without having this degree, which is probaly not worth the paper that it is on.
I will owe students loans anyway! I might as well try to finish this so called CEET program. We should all get reimbursed for our money wasted (at least $45,000 and counting) and definetly our time!!!
I wouldn't recommend ITT Tech to my worst enemy!!! These ITT Tech commercials are such a big misrepresentation of what this so called school provides. Maybe this is why the school is so expensive, these commercials that false advertise.
One of the biggest mistakes in my life: ITT Tech!!! Don't beleive the hype!!!