Note: AIU (American Intercontinental University), formerly known as American College of Applied Arts in Los Angeles, CA. Has a long history of problems and negative reports by former students, employees, and investors. All this was news to me from a recent online search of the school. I thought I was alone in my dealings with them until it popped into my head to see if others also had similar problems. The following is a detailed description of my account with them.
I do not know how else to write this report other than to give it in order as I remember it. Please forgive me if it does not read easily.in short, I believe that AIU/ACAA did not process my withdrawal from the school in order to keep my student loan money, the grant money, and to fraudulently boost their student attendance records.
My problem started many years ago when it was called the American College of Applied Arts, located in Westwood, CA. I did my first year of a Fashion Design degree program at FIDM in Downtown Los Angeles. When I moved to Westwood I decided to transfer to AIU/ACAA. I had no reason to think I would not receive an education equal to what I received at FIDM. I attended the first few weeks of their fashion design degree program and found I was unhappy with the quality of the education I was receiving. While in class there, an announcement was made concerning the deadline for dropping classes. It was then I decided to drop the school entirely. This was a few days after I received my student loan which I had signed over to the school to cash (yes they also charged a hefty transaction fee). They gave me the cash (minus their transaction fee) which I had planned to use for school materials and transportation. My tuition at that point had already been covered by grants and my own cash payments. When they found out that I had dropped all my classes they called my mothers home in LA and told her it was imperative that I return the student loan money. The tone of their call scared my mom. I had to assure my mom that since I did not spend any of the money it was not a problem to return. I did so a day later. The financial aid person seemed very relieved that I had come back with all the money. I had received a receipt and was told that it would be returned (minus their processing fee) to the agency that I had received it from. I was also very happy and relieved to be done with the school once and for all.
My problem with them I did not discover until many years later. My student loans from the one year I attended FIDM I had lost track of and had gone into default. They had been sold and resold a few times over while I had gone through several addresses and several jobs. The amount seemed to double and triple. I had consolidated them into one payment. Some years later when the Federal Student Aid agency put all student loan information online I realized that grouped in with the loans I had from FIDM was the loan I had returned to AIU/ACAA. I could not believe it. They had given me such a problem to return the money, and then in turn did not forward it to the student loan agency they said they would return it to on my behalf. I was angry, and mad, but felt I could not to anything about it.
I never stopped feeling upset over this so I thought if I could get my transcript from AIU/ACAA it would help me prove my point to the Federal Student Aid agency by showing I had dropped out of classes there around the same time the loan had come in. I was shocked to find out that they never withdrew me from my courses and I had received all Fs. This was an absolute outrage. What could I do to after all the years that passed and I no longer had a copy of the withdrawal slips or cash receipt.
The reason I am putting this report out is I hope that other former students with similar problems might find it.
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