Stratford Career Institute
Reviews and Complaints

I enrolled at a SCI Canada last year. I did some research about the school and a lot of the forums that i have read says that it is a scam and a waste of money. They kept on sending me a letter with the amount that i owe i just ignored it. Then before the year end they sent me a letter again with an amount balance which is ridiculous! so I called the school and ask if i will pay the amount balance, can cancel it? and the lady said no. So i didn't bother paying it. Since i didn't have a money. So february 2012 i have received a letter from the collectors! saying Payment On Demand =$1, 080.00, that's CRAZY! idk what to do now. Hard to find a job even a part-time job! I can't believe that SCI will do this.

They will report you to the Credit bureau too! Plus, send your account to collections! HUGE rip off. I cancelled my services before I even got started and when, I called they told me that it was pass the 14 days and I had to pay. I am going to report them the BB and contact a Lawyer...these people MUST be stopped!

I have graduated in 2011. I did not know that the high school diploma from Stratford Career Institute is not accredited until the universities told me that it is not accredited. I can't go to any university because of the diploma. Now I have to retake my high school course from another school. Please DON'T go take the high school course from Stratford Career Institute because it's not worth it on the long run.

LP

Heald is the worst dishonest, misleading, manipulative school ever! Especially the Hayward Campus.. They set me up for failure and now they're saying I owe them $2, 800! They need to be shut down! This is the worst things that has happen to me with a school, This is so sad how they're putting people who want to change their lives by starting a new career! The people who have good comments must work there, save your money do not go there. Unprofessional staff and DISHONEST.! Please don't end up like all of us here, I wish we could do a class act lawsuit against them

I got a high school deploma through them I asked if it was accredited they said it was. I was accepted into vatterott college in 2007 from may 2007 until oct. 2007. I took a leave of absence until 2009 do to my child having medical problems. I then finished another class then they wouldnt let me start the next class because they said they there is a problem with my hs deploma. I called stratford and they then told me its not accredited so I went to vatterott for 6 or months total and they billed me on top of sallie mae when I dont think they should have exceped me. And also there is a grandfather clause because I was a returning student. I am still fighting it and would love advice if any stephrsee@yahoo.com

becausetheydidntinform me until I let me know until I was almost

I've completed several correspondence school courses, and for the most part, no problems HOWEVER be forewarned: MOST OF THESE SCHOOLS ARE OFFERING ONLY BASIC, INTRODUCTORY-LEVEL COURSES and the only real benefit is the acquisition of a new base of knowledge to help you ascertain whether or not you should continue to study in that particular field. I woulld strongly advise students to realize that a REAL career REQUIRES a REAL education. There's nothing wrong with DISTANCE EDUCATION. In fact, I love to study via distance ed. I love it! I love the freedom, my own schedule and the convenience, but do your reserach on the school (and the career path) first!
BEWARE: The High School diplomas offered by CORRESPONDENCE schools is simply a PREP course, and will NOT be considered a valid HS Diloma by anyone, anywhere, ever! (unless it's administered by a local, gov't-regulated body.) Correspondence schools are NOT the Dept. of Education. If you really need a HS diploma, go get a REAL GED course. The correspondence course is simply a prep course, that's it! A High School diploma is considered a LEGAL document, therefore any correspondence school offering a HS diploma really should list (or be MADE to list) their course as a PREPARATION course. It is decieving. And many students have been duped into thinking they have now enrolled in a REAL High School diploma program. Not true! NO UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE will accept these diplomas, so beware!
Hope this helps.

Burned by same scam. I am trying to find support for class action. mail response to milaarn@aol.com

I would like to know how can I get them off my credit score I only paid $10 so they can send me my first course of materials then I found out it was fake school so now I'm stuck with $600 an something on my credit this is frustrating😡

I started my course to get my highschool diploma with stratford only to find out that the diploma is literally USELESS and can't get me into a college at all. It should be ILLEGAL to advertise what they're doing as far as the highschool diploma program goes. What use is it if its not recognized as anything but a piece of paper. I don't want to be refunded or anything I just don't want to be stuck with the remaining balance

All of these negative comments are probably fake. So many grammatical errors that I don't think any of these people complaining could even make it at McDonald's. Just plain Idiots or spam?

The same thing happend 2 me.Stratford is a scam, they told me that I could get in a collage by taking an exsam.I totold them that I was not going to continue with the program its a scam and I called my bank to stop payment.We all need sue the crap out of statford and get our money back and close them down.most of us have a family to support sos

I just put a complaint against them yesterday...RIP-OFFS. They will be fine as long as you are paying them. My Husband gotten laid-off and I was unable to continue to pay...and they are "TRYING" to sue me. I cancelled after one month and sent back there books and they say, you signed a contract so, you have to pay! The supervisor, hung up on me! LOL, Who is ever reading this "DO NOT SIGN UP THERE!"

I took the PC REPAIR course through these guys. I have had my books and exams to over 5 different computer repair shops that all told me that most of the things they are teaching you, you dont need to know. There is so much useless detail that it lacks the common pc repair aspect! They tell u that u get the most updated material and mine is from 2003. THATS 7 YEARS AGO! sorry but anyone who knows the pc world knows how much it changes in 6 months..let alone a hole 7 years! On top of that they tell you that anyone can do the course even if u know nothing about computers..The first module looked promising, but then comes the second one..where there are big words with no definitions, and if there is a definition in the back of the book it uses bigger words to describe the big word your looking up in the first place! Also i dont know who comes up with the exams, but its so phony, no wonder you cant use their courses for anything! They make you give answers to questions based on THE CLOSEST BEST POSSIBLE ANSWERS! so if u ever needed to look back in ur exams to get an answer to something..it would be pointless because it wouldnt be the actual answer...it would be one of the multipul choioce answers that was closest to the real answer! UUUGGHHH...this course makes me sooo mad..600 dollars later..A WASTE OF MONEY!

I read the contract with Stratford and it states that you have to be 18 to apply for the courses. I took five different courses and received my certificate through them. I have been able to use the courses I have taken to get into nursing school. I am now finishing up my LVN program.

I read so many positive and negative reviews. The negative reviews are based upon the school be non-credited and false advertising earning a HS diploma. Refund policies seem to be an issue. Slowness in delivering materials causes delays and you end up paying a certain amount after a short period of time even if you ask for a refund. The books that are sent are outdated and some students feel that what they do get are like copies from texts. It seems to go on and on. Of course it is illegal to plagerize textbooks as all are copyrighted. Stiff fines and penalties are given by the Feds if that happens. So, I would imagine, everyone has to be very careful about this. Of course wording can be changed around and provide the schools own text books. To me, it is a textbook when it is generally hard bound having hard covers with binding materials. If it were spiral, it would be like a syllabus. If it were stapled, it would be a handout. I learned this from an instructor in one of my classes i took. I did check out the BBB and I wasn't thrilled with the rating. A lot of complaints about unsolved issues. I think it is very important to note that you do have to read every word in their agreement and question anything that you do not understand and seem out of place. When I checked out the enrollment form, I noticed that not only do they accept credit or debit cards but add your bank checking account account as a means of making payments. Why this is, I don't know. I know if you purchase something which require small payments from other services, you can do so using a VISA or MasterCard. This is the first time where I have seen that a checking account be used like a debit or credit card. What you are doing is to give the school permission to debit your bank account directly, similar to a credit card. This can possibly cause a problem because at any time you owe more money, they can easily debit your bank account. That part, I don't like. If accounting gets screwed up, this could happen. Another thing that I was not too pleased with is getting a call from a staff member to give me an immediate discount if I sign up today. It is like a form of pressuring you to enroll now as the discount would not be available later. I know that there are incentives by the sales representatives by doing this as they earn extra pay. It is part of their job.

What would be nice if the school can send you the materials immediately after making a deposit and give you two weeks for you to look it over and make your decision then. This gives you a chance to look over the materials to see if what they say is true about the quality of materials. There should be absolutely no penalty if you abide by the rules. The only thing you should lose is the small deposit which is administration fees. You send the materials back on time, you should not have any further obligations. That is fair. There is no reason to pay extra for shipping as quick delivery is quite costly. As long as you have a tracking number to show to the school that you shipped it should be ample proof. Anyway, I did talk a lot how I feel and I know I want to make the right decision. I hope what I have written will have some bearing of what other decisions what you make. Thanks for reading.

Most of you can't even write a simple paragraph without a bunch of misspellings, bad grammar, bad punctuation (if any), bad capitalization, etc. No wonder you aren't finding jobs!

I enrolled at Stratford career institute for a course ànd they sent me a message sayingi that I was accepted . I called to ask where are my books and they tell me I haven't been accepted that my information is incorrect, but they took my money bunch of crooks and I am demanding I get reimbursed every penny they took

I'm doing my highschool diploma and when I called and asked they gave me the info I needed.. I wasn't planning on going to college don't want to but it will help me as far as getting a better job.. Both my sisters have a diploma through stratford and both have very good jobs.. So know u may not b able to go to college but u can still better ur life with a better job

I think things said about Stratford Career Institute are very negative . I mean that canadian network affiliate is mention on DETC website right next to the Chea board of US Education for one . ICDE is a consultative UNESCO partner . And every other affiliate has strong relation with accredited educational principles around the world. I think the school is a very good up and coming school that needs positive thing reported about it in order to get a grasps of american accreditation. How could a school have affiliation with a UNESCO Partner and be a diploma Mill . I think you should say Accreditation Equal to US. Accreditation. I mean this school could be one of the richest up and coming schools in North America . I mean it's a Multi Million dollar corporation. Or should I say the owners a Billionaire. So that means very well licensed . For a school to offer brand new books to every student and curriculum to be based on U.S. newly education standards people sure do speak very negative of this school

About Stratford
Yes there is an enrollment agreement
Yes I get adequate textbooks
No they do not claim to be accredited read the tiny print on the home page
Always research further to see if you just want a course for personal knowledge or a fully accredited online degree
as there are both

I have no complaints against Stratford as they have held up to my expectations and this is my 2nd course with them and it is
the Veterinary Assistant class

not a credited Diploma.

I got my high school diploma from stratford and I haven't had any problems. I went on to cosmetology school with it and got my Associates degree from a local community college and was accepted into a university as well. Yes they are not accredited but some colleges will except it.

I finished my health care course with them and now I was working in seniors residence without them I wont be in this job,

I have been thinking about doing one of their courses in the near future. And even though I haven't decided yet, I'm looking at the tuition agreement right now . And I see this: "LIMITATIONS OF PROMISE: Stratford will provide you with instructions on how to prepare a winning resume, and perform well during a job interview. Our director of education will also provide you with a letter of recommendation to a prospective employer. HOWEVER, Stratford does not promise employment as a direct result of completing any of our programs.DO NOT assume that any credits you earn are transferable to any other school, collage or university. Ensure that you check with the receiving institution." In other words, once you complete their course, they'll give you the necessary help to find a job, but most collages won't honor any degrees. They never claim to be accredited, but they also really don't come right out and say they're not. So always do your research so you know what you're getting into.

Open a claim for non accredited high school program 2006

I graduated from your high school program in 2006 just to come find out it's worthless and I know law suites have been claimed and granted with full refund and I want the same.
Kimberly Dawn Quinn
Birthday 03/14/1986
Social security number: [protected]
Graduated high school program 2006

I am wanting to open a claim against false information about high school program being accredited in my year of graduation of 2006
Stratford Career Institute
Kimberly Dawn Quinn
March 15 1986
[protected]
I would like all information I need to file claim

Yes i finished. my high school through this school, i finished last year 2016 and now I try go college and I can't. I would like my money back that I put into this school

I am also trying to get a refund for the high school because I too tried to enroll in college and they said that it is not accredited and it was a waste of time and money . However I have been on the phone with them all day today and found that there is really no one in charge it seems like, they take message after message and no supervisor or boss contacts you back . In my eyes they should not even be practicing education .

Good Luck they will send you to Collections! They are no good!

Good luck with a refund of ANY type! I too, took the HS diploma program (2002) and when I "tried" to apply at a medical institute, they turned me away because my diploma was not accredited. Had I known that I would not be able to use my diploma, I would have NEVER used their program, I would have done it the old fashion way and go back to school to get a GED or something.
I also tried to use my "diploma" to get a job with Southwest Airlines and they would not accept it either so the peice of paper I paid $400 for, is useless!
Thanks Stratford for absolutley nothing!

I am currently taking the high school diploma program with Stratford and I like it a lot. I knew going in that Stratford was not accredited. They don’t claim to be. But I still think getting my high school diploma is necessary and will definitely help me…even if I don’t go to college. If you are upset, I would recommend calling student services to talk about a refund or something. Seriously. I have had to call them and they were really helpful.