At 23, I was completely discouraged about funding my education. I was single, no children, and still considered a 'dependant' studen by the fed gov, therefore unable to receive grants or other financial aid. I had no credit, unable to get a loan.
When I met with the Admin advisor at UOP, I could tell from the moment she opened her mouth she worked on commission. She was unable to answer most of my questions, but was assuring me that I was guaranteed financial aid to complete the degree program, and 'dont worry, you've come to the right place' and 'I've done the program myself, its the greatest thing since sliced bread - exactly what you're looking for...'
And so I signed up, paid the $112 registration fees (which was such a great price, she told me, because it included two free books! & books that were never used. Never opened. Not part of any of my courses.)
I was told books were available as online versions (instead of paper) at about $40 per class. She pushed to get me to start three days after our initial meeting, prior to meeting with financial aid. That made me uneasy, so I resisted.
I met with financial aid a few weeks later, a young man about my age without a clue. He assured me again that I was guaranteed financial aid and that all loans would be deferred until graduation from the program.
Seeing, though, that I was still a 'dependant' student, I was only elligible for 30% of the needed monies to cover tuition for the FIRST YEAR. I would need to get my parents to complete a PLUS loan, which is no big deal, it also would be deferred.
So hell froze over, my parents agreed to take out a 5000 dollar loan to cover the rest of my tuition. Now please keep in mind that i was advised by the financial aid department to take out an extra $1000 to use for purchasing books. Which we did. I had a helluva time getting the 'facts' about the tuition costs and loan information. I kept getting vague answers regardig tuition, similar to others i've read here, saying that tuition costs vary based on the classes, the year, etc etc. No one would sit down and give me the facts. Not a single person. Several frustrating conversations and emails with fin aid almost got me to quit. But I kept going.
When the monies arrived and classes started, there were no books available as online versions. I had to order books through their online book store, there is no on-campus book store, and used books are almost non existant. Books averaged $100-120 per class, and were opened probably twice. Furthermore, I was not able to use the monies from my loan to purchase books. The online book store did not have the option to use my student account to do this. I had to use my debit card - a monthly out of pocket cost.
What's even more... Three months into the program, they raised tuition almost $40 per credit hour, which left me - even after taking out the EXTRA $1000 which i initially though could pay for books - without enough money to pay the tuition for the first year.
What's even more than that... 10 months into the program, my parents started to get late payment notices on the loan they took out for me. Yeah, the one i was told that would be deferred until graduation. Turns out I was 'misinformed' and the PLUS loans are not deferrable.
Once I found out that fin aid had flat out lied to me about that, I quit. I withdrew from classes and my remaining monies in my student account were returned to the lender.
OH IT GETS BETTER... When they returned my monies to the lender, they OVERPAID the lender by $330.00. They then billed ME for that amount. I tried to fight it, since it wasnt my fault that they screwed up and overpaid. They should have contacted the lender to get that overpayment back. They turned me over to collections and gave me no other choice. I had to pay it. Being the optimist i try to be, at least that saved me having to pay interest on $330.00.
Now, I am trying to transfer to a real school, one that really teaches and really has assignments and one that really has you read books and work and learn. None of my credits will transfer over to community colleges or universities. Well, maybe the math, however i need to get a course competency from UOP in order for the community college or university to do an assessment of the course content. They will decide if the credit will transfer based on that. The course infomation is no longer online, so now the phone tag process begins again...
So in essence, I wasted a year and $8000 to start again at the bottom of the educational totem pole.
The one positive thing about UOP were the instructors. Most of them were great, and really had some good points to make, good things to teach. But the botton line is, how much can you really learn/trach in five weeks? And, not even five weeks. I mean, you are in class for 4 hours a week, probably 45 mins of that is spent on breaks. And the fifth weeks is usually only a big presentation or test, and then you leave early. Each course has approx 12 in-class time.
This, to me, seemed just like a 'Get rich quick scheme' for UOP, and a "Get your degree quick" scheme for students.
Which, hey, if that's what you want, by all means go for it. It is a great fast-paced program with a piece of paper at the end of it, but little content in between. I value my brain, and want to learn more than what this program could offer. And boy, did I pay for my mistakes the hard way. Literally.
Heather
phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.
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