I first signed up for College America for their Computer Science program back in 2004. During this time the school was not properly equipped to offer a computer science program, they did not have adequatley trained instructors teaching the courses to computer science students and teachers would simply have students learn from the books and they provided no hands on training or lab activities.
I was advised by a dean of the college at the time that even he thought the school was a scam and he advised me to go to a different college if I wanted a real education. The teachers at the college were upset with this deana t the time because he was going to insist all instructors have their masters degree's in order to teach a bachelors degree course, and thus he met fierce resistance by the faculty of the college and he ultimatley chose to pursue other career opportunities for himself.
Keep in mind before I had gone to this school I had already obtained a computer electronics degree from a technical college that was reputable and I had worked in the electronics manufacturing industry as a engineering technician for several years before deciding to go back to college. So my views are based on having recieved real training from real colleges and work experience instead of this Degree Mill called CollegeAmerica.
I left the college in late 2004 due to the lack of proper instruction I recieved from this so called college and found myself with over $20,000.00 in student loan debt from this college and I had nothing to show for it. While some of their gen ed courses were good they were seriously lacking in the computer science department.
Many other students at this time also felt that the college was a rip off and a scam and numerous students were simply leaving the college, and everyone who goes there simply finds all that they really received was just more student loan debt and no educational benefit.
I returned to CollegeAmerica last fall to see if things had changed and to hopefully finish out my bachelors degree. The college put me through more gen eds that seemed for the most part like OK classes, although they cram the material down your throat over a period of 4 weeks and then you better hope to God you actually retain some of the knowledge presented before you move on to your next 1 month module of courses.
Once again I racked up another 20k in student loan debt at this college before being put into my technical courses only to find out once again that they offer no hands on training or lab activities and that they STILL do not have a computer lab. Also, in one of the technical classes I was in the instructor was openly admitting to looking for a different job and he was also giving students who were failing the class A's on their work even though the other students were not earning that grade. I argued with the Director of the college over this and he refunded my money for this particular class, yet I wasted my time in the class and I would still have to take it all over again.
Also after coming back to this college they no longer recognized more than 20 Credit hours I had previously taken at their school, and was told I would have to take even more classes.
The moral of the story here folks is that CollegeAmerica is nothing less than a Degree mill and a rip off/scam. They lure you in by saying they provide a good education but the fact of the matter is they do not adequatley prepair any of the computer science students to actually work in the tech industry. I should know, I am a technical consultant out at HP and I learn more at work than I ever did stepping through the doors of CollegeAmerica. If you go to this school and have no technical background, you might get hired by a company but without having hands on experience and going through laba ctivities you will quickly find yourself in the unemployment line. I jsut thank god I had gone to a REAL college prior to going to this college. Now I am almsot at $60,000.00 in student loan debt from going to this "for profit" college called CollegeAmerica. This type of institution should not be allowed to exist as they do not provide any real education. I want a refund of all of my student loan money they stole from me and for wasting my time. Do yourself a favor and go to FRCC or CSU instead of this joke of a school. They should be put out of business.
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