I went to Katharine Gibbs with the idea that I would get an Associates Degree in Web Design and find a great job earning great money. Everyone there were so friendly and helpful and seemed as though they really cared about my education.
What I discovered was that this was all a lie to lure unsuspecting high school grads and lower income adults between the ages of 20-35 into taking out thousands of dollars in loans only to be left with no skill and/or degrees that mean nothing in the real world.
First of all, you are given one different course every day Monday through Friday. Each semester consisted of eleven weeks total and then you move onto the next semester and different classes. I was taking Web Design in which I was taking classes to learn complex programming and computer code such as Visual Basic, jаvascript and using Flash and Adobe Photoshop.
I came into the program not knowing anything about Web Design and was assured that I would learn everything I needed to become a professional in the field. This is what I got instead.
I didn't know it then but many of the teachers did not have degrees themselves. Some of the $600 dollar classes we were paying for taught courses in which we sometimes did nothing but play around on the internet. Some teachers would start rambling about the importance of Roth IRA's instead of sticking to the subjects at hand.
In my class everyone failed with the exception of one girl who ended up being the only one who actually graduated out of a Web Design class of at least 15 people. Books we paid for were never used. Most of the courses were lecture only and people would be falling asleep.
How could anyone learn something as complex as Visual Basics or jаvascript over the course of 11 weeks! To break it down even further, Visual Basics was every Tuesday, as stated before that Monday through Friday were different courses which means that 11 days is really the legnth of time these people actually think it takes to learn this stuff!
Eventually I got down to my final three months and had to take some time off to handle other obligations. I wanted to take a leave of absence but being that the process was taking so long they advised me to drop out and come back in January to finish my final three months. I did that and when I returned in January I was told the Web Design class was dropped.
I was told by administrators there that I could start a different program altogether and take out all new loans. They also very coldly let me know it was my problem and that I couldn't take them to court.
The credits mean nothing as no other schools accepted them but Briarcliffe of Bethpage, NY which is also owned by the same scam artists as Gibbs. Feeling desperate me and two other friends went to Braircliffe. The admissions people there were so agressive and wanted so badly to recruit all three of us in one day. Our earned credits would be reduced to only half.
Some courses we would have to take over again and we had to enroll for another year and half! My two friends followed through but I was beginning to feel weary about it. An admissions man was getting so frustrated with the fact that I was still unsure that he even began raising his voice.
Finally, I decided to go to financial aid and see what I could do. It was there that I met a nice woman who told me the real deal about why these admissions people want to recruit new students so badly.
She said (looking at my records from Gibbs), "Wow, you owe a lot of money there). She asked if I was sure I wanted to do this. I began to tear because I was so stressed out. She told me that they don't care about us. They only want to recruit people because they get special bonuses for the number of people they get signed up such as vacations and what not.
I never did end up at Briarcliffe. This was about ten years ago. Since then, I owe thousands of dollars in student loans that I cannot afford to pay. I've been from job to job and am currently unemployed as my last job closed down. Now my Fereal loans are threatening to take my income tax refund and garnish any future wages that I may earn.
My other friends all are going through the same ordeal. They owe thousands and do not have a degree to show for it nor a job in the field of Web Design as was promised. We were all scammed!!
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