AIU was very persistent to sign me up. They called me constantly. I finally gave in and signed up. I jumped through all of their hoops by completing all of their online forms, submitting my tax documents, and completing my FAFSA for financial aid. I asked many times to one of what seemed to be 5 or 6 people that were assisting me there and I was never given an exact cost of my tuition.
I was told things like "you financial aid should cover it, let's get you started in class before the deadline", or "we will know exact amounts after we receive your award letter from you lender", and "we won't know until all of your financial aid documents have been processed". I was frustrated! I told several of these people that I could not afford any out of pocket, and that at my previous online school, there was NO out of pocket cost.
I was reassured, and told that the most out of pocket might be $120.00 per month. That should have been a red flag! Ultimately, my emails requesting my tuition fees were ignored, my phone calls remained ignored, and I grew more and more leary with each passing minute! The first Saturday I was LOCKED OUT OF CLASS! I called and of course no one could tell me why, and I was told to call back the following Monday when the Financial Aid Dept was "in".
I did that and I was given at least two reasons why I was "locked out". First I was told that my 1040 form did not match my FAFSA reported amounts, and as a result of that my tuition would go up $3,000 and that I needed to sign a NEW cash agreement agreeing to pay $190.00 per month! Then I was told that because this was an "acelerated" course, that there would not be enough financial aid disbursements to cover my tuition costs. I wanted out! I questioned why these issues, whichever was "correct" depended on who I talked to. I questioned why I was not told during the first or second week of class.
Based on their contract, if you drop out before the third week, you won't incur any charges. They purposely ignored me, avoided me, and waited until the first day of my third week of class to lock me in, and hit me with a dilemma of "pay higher tuition, or else". I was so angry. The people I dealt with in the beginning at AIU were so nice.
It got ugly. Once enrolled, you are pushed aside, and treated like cattle. You become one of their statistics. I have been contacted by many, many fellow AIU drop outs who want to file a class action lawsuit, and that are going to post their own rip off reports for the world to see. Sure, AIU might offer a quality education, but they should be honest during the enrollment process, up front, and not rope people in only to turn around and demand more money or else.
It is not fair! We are not all rich people. We are single parents, hard working moms and dads, and people who want to better their lives by furthering their educations. Anyone who wants to join in our class action lawsuit, please post here! Any attorneys out there, please help us! There are many of us!
Thank you,
and God Bless.
Jewel In California
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