I attended the Respiratory Therapy program at Apollo College from 1988 - 1990. I was told at the time I enrolled that Apollo was "accredited", and the credits were transferable to other colleges. I completed the program and graduated with an AAS-RT degree, which qualified me to take the NBRC (national registry) exam and state licensure. However, many years later when I attempted to enroll at a university to work toward a Bachelor's degree, I discovered my Apollo transcript is not worth the paper it's printed on. The university I sent my transcripts to would not recognize ANY of my Apollo credits... NO UNIVERSITY WOULD!
I was flat-out LIED TO by Apollo! Even community colleges refuse to recognize the credits. When I called Apollo to find out why, the woman on the phone just kept repeating "Apollo will accept credits from other schools". Wait... WHAT? Then, after her several deceptive attempts to turn the focus back on what "Apollo will accept", she finally answered..."Sir, it remains the discretion of the receiving institution whether they'll accept the credits or not". So apparently it is incumbent upon ME to call every other school in the entire nation and see if I can find one that will accept Apollo's worthless credits? Well I called every college in the greater DFW area... And NOT ONE of them would accept Apollo credits!
Unfortunately, I have no legal recourse against Apollo College because I never received in writing what they (verbally) promised me. However, when you tell a prospective student that "Apollo credits will transfer to other schools and universities" WITHOUT qualifying that statement with a disclaimer (that Apollo's accreditation is not a "REGIONAL" accreditation, and does NOT possess what an institution needs for their credits to be recognized by state colleges and universities)... That is DECEPTIVE PRACTICES! Hell, TWENTY-YEARS LATER the rep on the phone was STILL trying to skirt the issue of credit transfer.
A "degree" from Apollo College is the equivalent of a vocational training diploma... They are a "trade school", nothing more. If I would have attended the Respiratory Program from Gateway Community College, I would have obtained a "real" AAS degree for ONE-THIRD THE COST I paid to Apollo, and my credits would have transferred to ANY college in the country! Now if I want to get my Bachelors degree, I'm going to have to start from scratch... FOUR FULL YEARS of school!
Student beware!
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