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I am not sure how University Alliance fits in with Florida Institute of Technology. As a returning student, I looked at a number of schools and many of them had SCAM written all over them. That's why I started to look for a brick/mortar school that had a distance learning option.
When I first entered into conversation in August 2008, I calculated the costs of tuition and books based upon the initial conversation and determined there was a out of pocket expense of $5, 000. I told them I couldn't afford the out of pocket expense and I was looking at scholarship opportunities.
Well, this is when it got confusing because they offered a $6, 000 Microsoft scholarship and when I asked for the information in my email or by snail mail, they refused to send it. So, I wouldn't apply or make a student/institution contract to financially burden myself.
Then I started getting emails asking me to complete registration etc. and as courtesy I call back and speak at length to the advisement counsleor. I a, able to confirm through the Federal Stafford program that I would be awarded an additional $2, 000 leaving the out of pocket $3, 000.
I explain I am waiting for some expected money with back pay and a title change, but the employer was dragging their heels and there was little I could do to expedite because it is all contractually based and I want to wait and see what disposable income I have as a result of my raise/title change before I make a financial obligation.
That's when things got weird. I was told the only cost for a college education was $75 for an application fee. NO OTHER out of pocket COST was associated with getting the degree. Now, I don't know about you, but this sounds really fishy.
They then state I am eligble for a grant, but when I researched the grant eligibility requirements, you have to be a Florida resident to get that money. I am not eligible.
So back to coming up with the $300 - $400 out of pocket expenses monthly.
I sent emails asking about various scholarship/grant programs I learned about from a book on funding an education including Grants for Undergraduates and gratue students who have trouble paying tuition ( Robert E. McNair award 84.217) and the Money for Students Interested in a Career with Public Service (harry S. Truman Scholarship program 85.001). Being I work in public service with limited financial resources, these seemed to be logical and viable options.
The scholarship programs directed me back to the school for applications and University Alliance disregarded the request.
Because I can't afford the tuition and the alternatives I found were not viable for the program, I told them I was putting things on hold until I could pick up some extra work to defray the out of pocket costs.
So about 6 weeks later I get another email claiming they want to "survey" me on my experience. I pretty much outlined my satisfaction with the degree plan but that I didn't register at the time because it was cost prohibitive and the lack of information provided in writing gave me significant concern. I told them the truth, I am divorced - lost 75% of my standard of living about 5 years ago, I am over age 40 and feel I have the dedication and drive to succeed as illustrated throughout my life, but I am financially strapped and if I were to enter into a financial obligation I could not afford to pay, I could potentially lose my job if it were to adversely affect my credit reports.
That's when I get questioned abotu my "idea" of the out of pocket costs. I copy and pasted the earlier breakdown of tuition, books, and fees. This person not realizing what I had done, tells me she can't figure out my system of accounting.
RED FLAG - She is unaware of their own system of accounting that they sent me?
So anyhow, then this woman wants me to enter into a student/institution contract - back to this $75 and assures me there is yet ANOTHER grant that will pay 100% of the out of pocket costs except for the first class but she will defer the payment to November 28. But it is unclear what this dollar amount is and I told her I had some unforseen expenses that had me strapped for the moment and that with the economy, even my freelance work outside my regular job has been far and few between.
Then I get another email stating they will waive the $75 to get me to sign the contract. But still they won't tell me what my total financial obligation will be.
So I ask for a clarification again for the amount that would become due Nov 28 and a confirmation that I was to be awarded that $3, 000 in writing.
That initiates another phone call with a complete ### who wasted my time. This guy is the reason I am writing this. First he said how highly he tought of me and I thanked him for his compliment. I told him point blank, I was looking for disclosures in writing to confirm the amounts above Federal aid they keep guaranteeing by phone and a total estimate of costs that would be due November 28 if I were to register that day.
He kept saying I didn't need it in writing because he was waiving all the fees and it would be FREE. I am obviously not serious about my education and I am happy at my McJob making substandard wages (shows how much he does know about my career) and that I always have an excuse.
I got angry, told him I was passing because they can't put it in writing. I am thinking this school is just another scam because of their pesistence, the way they became verbally abusive when I asked for the finacial obligations in writing and the fact that each time I talk to them they provide different figures.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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What has happened to UA in the US? I had some questions regarding classes from Notre Dame .. no email response and the web is gone. Anyone know?
This was without a doubt one of the worst experiences of my life dealing with any university, The rep. filling in for one of the high turnover rate reps of Florida Tech was not only rude but clueless and I can not believe the money gouging techniques they are employing with this scam. I have been to 3 different universities at different levels of education in my life and this was by far the worst representation of assistance in Lieu of stealing money. Their transcript acceptance as well as enrollment process is a complete SCAM.
Can anyone explain to me why University Alliance allows students to enroll in classes without being admitted to the program?
I have used UA for online classes for the past 4 years. Degrees are mandatory and my employer pays for the classes, I pay for the books. I learned not to buy from Bisk but to buy my books second hand, which has been fine. I don't feel I have learned as much as I would have with a classroom experience but I am plodding through classes one by one. A couple of professors have been dismissive toward my questions, which of course led me to avoid asking for clarification of assignments, etc. Especially confusing when the professors instructions for the course did not jive with the standard weekly written instructions. I don't think this would occur in an actual brick and mortar institution, or at least I never had that issue in the past classes I have taken. I am taking electives so not as important as classes for my major. I like the 8 week courses vs the 15 week courses I could take at a local college but I wonder if my degree will be taken seriously? I imagine as seriously as one from Phoenix. At least they don't have to buy books. BTW, I do feel like I'm dealing with telemarketers chasing me down by phone and email to sign me up for my next course when I am only one week into my current one.
I can tell you as a former victim of this scam program stay as FAR AWAY from University Alliance (aka Villanova) as you possibly can. Over $7500 spent and after they take your money - Piss Off. I am so disappointed and disillusioned at this money grubbing for-profit program. You hear for months "customer focused, customer determines quality, customer this, customer that." Bottom line. Don't make the same mistake I did - go anywhere BUT HERE!
I can only speak for the Villanova program and my experience with University Alliance. I'm currently in the Human Resources Masters degree program at Villanova. The enrollment was handled by University Alliance. No glitches, no scams, no promises they couldn't keep. My application went through Villanova and my financial aid was awarded through FAFSA and administered by Villanova. My representative Bryan is very nice, calls and emails back promptly and answers all my questions. The cost of the online graduate program is basically the same as if I attended in person. Yes, it is expensive however, it is a top graduate school and if I went to get my MBA elsewhere, I would be looking at 60-80, 000 for the tuition. This is a relative bargain in comparison.
As far as the credit card for tuition, yes they do take the number. They will not charge it until 2-3 weeks before the end of term, if you have not paid by then either out of your financial aid or loans. I'm on a Stafford Loan and receive that generally by week 3 of the class and directly pay Villanova out of it. I've never been charged for a class on my credit card since my financial aid comes in well before the tuition due date. Any questions I had about my financial aid were directed to Villanova even though my rep offered to help.
I was given the list of UA's books and workbooks to purchase for each class. However, this was optional. The list had the ISBN numbers of all the books I would need and I simply ordered them elsewhere, generally at a lower cost. My rep had absolutely no problem with that.
My classes are without a doubt challenging. These are the best online classes I've ever taken and the quality of the instructors is top notch. All the instructors I've had have been in executive positions in Fortune 500 companies and have in-depth experience. My fellow students are well qualified, generally have years of experience and certifications in the field and like me, hold fairly high positions in their companies. I was blown away by their resumes and knowledge during class introductions. This is the farthest thing from a diploma mill.
The Elluminate online classrooms are excellent, very interactive and much better than a couple of undergraduate online classes I took a couple of years ago. At Villanova, you are expected to show up for class at the same time each week, on time, add to the class discussion and remain active on the message board outside of class. The amount of work is quite high and as I work full time, it can be tough to keep up. I'm very happy with my choice. Except for administrative handling of each class I register for, I do not have much interaction with University Alliance and the interactions I've had have been satisfactory. It's too bad that some of you have not had good experiences.
As of now Iam trying to transfer out of FIT. I was told that I would know about my awards by May, it's almost August and I haven't heard anything. I understand that the financial aid office at FIT is way behind. OK. I decide that I can still cut my college loan in half by transfering to another school, I tell my advisor at University Alliance this, I pay off a balance that I had with Unversity Alliance that would have held up my transcripts. I paid off my balance around July 11th, it's the 28th and they still haven't released my records. I have talked to my advisor, customers service, and have left messages with the accounting department, nothing. Now, it seems to me as though they are trying to stall long enough to see if FIT will hurry up and contact me about my awards so maybe I'll stay.
I was accepted in to the Florida Tech MBA program in December of '09 and have thus far had a very good experience all the way around. I am now on my third course, Managerial Economics.
My undergraduate background includes a bachelor's in Liberal Studies with a focus on broadcast journalism, so tackling a graduate business degree was a pretty radical departure from my last 26 years as a television broadcast professional.
I signed on with Florida Tech after looking in to several other very well-known colleges. The University of Florida, Arizona State, and the University of South Florida were all very interested in my enrollment as a graduate student, but my current work situation will not permit me to enroll. I am not able to attend weekend classes, and my daily work schedule is dependent on what happens with the news of the day, so evening classes were out as well. Because I was laid off at the end of 2008 and couldn't find work for six months, I had to accept a much lesser paying job, so money is extremely tight right now and that also means no extras for taking the GMAT or GRE.
When I first spoke to a University Alliance/FIT rep, she was aware of my situation up front. I had not spare money and four mouths to feed. She agreed to waive the application fee. She was very helpful and addressed all of my concerns with accreditation, money, and graduation. I wanted to make sure my diploma was from the Florida Institute of Technology without the words "Internet" or "Online" anywhere on it. I was assured that it would be exactly like the brick-and-mortar FIT diplomas. Same school, same sheepskin.
I was aware of how much an education from a private university was going to cost me. An MBA at the University of South Florida, at 48 credit hours, was going to be very close to what I am paying now at Florida Tech at 36 credit hours. The funny part of this is I have a written letter from USF saying that I will be placed on the adjunct faculty after I complete 18 credit hours of graduate studies at Florida Tech. UF and USF representatives warned me that FIT did not have the same business school accreditation, so my credits would not transfer if I changed my mind. I knew that in advance, but also know that USF, UF and FIT all belong to the same university accreditation (Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). I had all of my facts and did my "homework" instead of jumping blindly in to the program.
Florida Tech is a legitimate private university. I did my research and feel very comfortable with my decision to attend. It suited my personal situation well and I believe I am getting a very good education thus far. I attended Bowling Green State University and some really bad professors. My first two years I had a terrible, non-caring academic advisor, so I switched majors. I had an online course as an undergrad at my alma mater, a Sociology course, and there were no multimedia materials and nothing engaging about it. I felt like the prof mailed it in. I'm sure I could have attended Colgate, MIT, or Dartmouth and found boring, disconnected instructors. FIT is no different than any other institution of higher learning. There are great ones and there are good ones and there are awful ones. This term I feel I have a great instructor.
I have had to work my butt off on my own to get good grades. The first two courses are Business Essentials I and Business Essentials II. Both texts were about 800 pages thick. I basically jammed four years of business school in to 16 weeks at FIT and thought it was a [censor]. The only reason I didn't get two A's is because I didn't study hard enough for in the second course where a lot of finance math is touched on. I wound up having two awful test scores (as did much of the class) and two great test scores plus a 95% on my final project, which saved my butt and gave me a B for the second course. Getting through the foundations courses is a relief, as you are bombarded with information on a new subject every two weeks. Now I have a sharp focus on only one topic for the next eight week term.
With Managerial Economics, I have a much smaller text, only about 330 pages, but the professor is engaged and provides plenty of external interactive exercises to help students absorb key ideas and concepts. He provides comments with submitted weekly homework assignments and also participates in the mandatory online discussion boards. He gives a topic and we are all required to post one original post and make a minimum of two relevant comments on the postings of others. I spend a significant amount of time reading, listening to the video lectures (which are not super in-depth, but have good basic information and illustrations to help grasp materials). I don't think Florida Tech found the most engaging person to lecture (he often stumbles and starts over, but once he gets going, he delivers solid info that is relevant), and on one occasion last term the "in studio guest" was very interesting, but the production value was pretty poor. Everything else has been very professional, well-lighted, and organized.
There will be people who feel jaded; I can appreciate that, but I do know I spent a lot of time researching the University Alliance, Bisk, and FIT and am satisfied with my decision to give them a try in spite of some of the negative things I've read. Texts are ridiculously expensive, but I know I can also sell some of my texts on Amazon or eBay and get at least 30-40% back on them if I take care of them. I'm good with that. My advisor helped point me in the right direction to apply for Stafford Loans, and I will get about $20, 000 a year, but I don't use all of the money. What I don't use is put back on the loans, or used for course necessities like software upgrades for my computer. Approximately $2, 500 in overages were given to me via check after three classes. Some will go back to Sallie Mae to help with deferred interest.
To be honest, I'm concerned that I'm racking-up thousands of dollars of debt each time I take a course, but that's the risk you take with fortifying your background. It was the same as when I was an undergrad, and I paid my way through that, too. I'm going to take advantage of tuition reimbursement offered by my employer. I'll do what it takes to get the education I want and feel I need. I do not feel at this time that Florida Tech or their online school is a scam. I am forced to research, do homework, read, interact, ask questions, write (and often in MLA style) and even call (yes, all of the professors thus far have provided a contact number).
I am not saying the FIT dissenters are wrong because everyone's experiences will be different, but my own experience thus far has been very positive. I was appointed an academic advisor, Jason, who is knowledgeable and was a great supporter, as was my very first professor. I thought I was feeling so overwhelmed I thought I would quit, but I was encouraged to stick with it. I'm pleased that I did because even though I was overwhelmed, I persevered. I put more effort in to it.
I'm anxious to finish my core courses and get in to my specialization, Marketing. I've got something to look forward to and won't sit on my butt waiting for opportunities with my eventual degree, but will be making them happen.
I just went through the enrollment process for the MS in IT. The whole process was completed in about a little more than a month. My enrollment coordinator fetched my official transcripts from my previous 2 schools, kept in constant communication with me, answered all my questions, sent me the books for the course which starts on the 8th of March. Yes, the book was a bit pricey compared to Amazon.com, but I live in South America, so I really don't have a choice. University Alliance marks the box as containing educational material, so it goes easily through the local customs, with Amazon.com it would get stopped by customs and very likely I would have to pay some tax on it. Yes, people are a bit silly in this side of the world, they put tax on educational books.
So, all and all, the enrollment process has been a good experience. Looking now forward to starting classes.
I am a UA student through FIT, and have found the program to be very reasonable. I do agree it is a bit expensive; however I can only compare it to my personal experience. Yes the community colleges I have attended were cheaper, however I was also a student at Cal State at Chico (online) and the price was very similar (remember this was their online program). For some reason the online programs are more expensive, which doesn’t make sense to me since I technically am using less resources, this being said, it seems to be industry standard. And yes it is cheaper than university of phoenix
Also, people should remember that FIT is a brick and mortar institution, which happens to have an online program. If you research their credentials you will see that they have an impressive lineup, with programs from autism study to aviation and engineering. It’s obvious that their focus in on military and former military applicants that didn’t take the traditional route straight from high school.
I can see how some may be turned off on how fast they are with the registration process. This is one thing that was a positive experience for me. I grew so tired of the incompetency of the public college system, with errors on billing, signing me up for classes I didn’t need and the general slowness of getting into qualified classes. This was not the case with FIT. The enrollment process was extremely fast, I was in a class in no time, and this was with my transferring of credit from numerous colleges/universities. I was even enrolled at Chico when my program was cancelled without notice. I was left stranded. FIT had a program and got me enrolled ASAP.
Take it for what it is worth, it’s just my opinion. I take two classes per quarter and I seriously studying at least 3 hours a day during the week, and all day Friday and Saturday. My grades are important to me and I have a 3.85 GPA. I enrolled in FIT as a junior, I am now a senior.
I completed the MSIT program at FIT. My experience with UA was for the most part positive. My assigned student rep was great--big kudos to Crystal. I was there long enough to experience a curriculum change. My rep worked with my payment plan. Initially, I had no choice but to purchase my books from FIT because lecture were delivered via CD. Eventually, that improved. Lectures are now delivered via streaming video and CD. For my last few classes I opted to purchase my books through alternate sources like Amazon and a book store near the University of Maryland. I saved 50 to 60 percent. When budgeting for education, I always include tuition, books, and lab fees. From that perspective, my out of pocket expenses were for calculators and graduation fees.
The low points of my tenure had nothing to do with UA. They only manage the administration process. My issues were with a couple of my professors. One moved our weekly live sessions or canceled at the last minute. On professor never held a live session except for the mid-term and final exam review. I considered transferring to University of Phoenix. But that would have been a bust. I agree with Bernie. You have to balance the positives with the negatives.
I never saw anything in writing until the final bill was presented just prior to registration. Come to think of it, I always had something "in writing" that pertained to tuition. All my communication with UA was via phone followed by an e-mail. After all was said and done, I am glad that I am an FIT alumni with the assistance of UA. Based on what I witness with people I know who attend University of Phoenix, my issues with UA were non-existent compared to the abscess molar pain they are experiencing.
I'm 2 classes away from finishing my Ms in IT degree so I can't turn back now. Online learning for busy professionals is not the same as classroom attendance at a campus. There are more things you need to do on your own and the professor is only there to grade your exams, papers and other assignments. My UA experience has been good. The rep would call me to remind me about enrollment, even put me on a payment plan. She also deferred my payments until my employer paid my tuition so overall they have been good to me. Some classes have been really challenging, others have been a joke, but that is the same way it was in college so you gotta take the good with the bad.
If anything I know I'll have a degree from a very good school such as FIT, unlike some people who waste their money on U of Phoenix, Capella, or ITT Tech.
I am enrolled at FIT through UA, and I was scammed by my first "enrollment coordinator" John Gilliam. Everything went smoothly until it came down to the books, I asked for the ISBN, and he said the book couldnt be bought anywhere, and that it was a "special book". He said it was like this for the first two classes. I winded up switching enrollment coordinators because I had a password issue, and it turns out John had no idea what he was doing. The second enrollment coordinator gave me the ISBN number for my second class, supposedly a 'special book' according to John. I called customer service orginally to complain about John, but supposedly his manager was out on maternity leave, so I just yelled at him and got a new enrollment coordinator. I am talking with Florida Tech directly about finishing my degree through them, as this University Alliance is turning out to be a joke.
I work on the Space Coast with several folks who attended brick/mortar FIT. Good school with great local reputation. Therefore, I decided to enroll in the FIT online MBA program. Have to be realistic, classes are not Harvad or Wharton, but neither are the entrance requirements. As an online student, you have a much greater responsibility to learn, no profs to spoon feed you. If you only do the minimum required to pass the class, you will not learn as much.
Any case, in my opinion, UA is not doing FIT justice. I've had several experiences where I did not appreciate the levels of customer service. Once enrolled, you are assigned a student rep, and I expect your experience depends a lot on the competency of the assigned rep. To be fair, for one event, the FIT MBA program coordinator resolved the issue quickly. On another, I am still waiting for him to reply to my emails.
This is my first online experience, so unfortunately I have nothing to compare with, but I hope this help future online students.
I work full time for Florida Tech and can say that this complaint is spot on. The Univ Alliance portion *is* a scam that is 100% oriented towards maximum profit. There have been protests on campus because we are becoming a certified diploma mill. A degree from FIT will soon not be worth the paper it's printed on.
The business of degrees is extremely unfortunate. The only losers are the people who are trying to improve their lives. I am currently enrolled at FIT online through University Alliance. I thought I had found something solid and with out question that I will improve my life with Florida Tech. Now since I have been seeing Florida Tech's advertisements in my Yahoo inbox (like I do Devry and all of the other's to stay away from) I began to get suspicious. Which leads me to this forum. Florida Tech is regionally accredited, so what more does one have to investigate? This question is sort of rhetorical. But I guess all I have to say is [censored]! I thought I was done with the painful research for good education.
I have had some good experiences and some bad ones as well, it will take some more time for me to be able to have a good take on whether the program is bogus or not. I am not 100% happy with University Alliance reps, they are fast talkers and tried to charge me twice for books one term. I did my own research on the situation, and told them that they could shove the whole program up their a--, if they thought for a moment that I was stupid. I told them the books had been paid for by financial aide in some pretty obscene words, and got a call back apologizing for the so-called mix up. Who in their right mind would pay for something without doing there own research is beyond me. For me, I think I will stay at Florida Institute of Tech. for a little while longer, and then transfer to a different school to finish off me degree.
I have been enrolled in Florida Institute of Technology and say that the program is run more like a business rather than a higher education institute dedicated to its students. University Alliance actually runs the program and pushes CD's and workbooks for each course along with the necessary books. Each class has required text and supplements totaling $250+ shipping. I spent less than this in materials for 5 classes (1 semester) at PSU. Also $650/credit is too high for a program that offers no hands on experience with Information Technology, Limited professor interaction and no career-job placement services. I attempted a business modeling class that had a software program Vensim. The class started with 18 students and ended with 4 finishing it. The professor gave no guidance, figure it out yourself attitude. The drop policy gave no refund after 4 weeks and I was out $1800 as was the rest of the class who dropped. University Alliance and Florida Tech dropped the course from the MSIT program after our class, but gave not refund for the debochery of a class! The professor encouraged me to stick it out, but offered no assistance before the mid term. I think I could have simply purchased 11 books, read and do chapter assignments for each and get the same education that I recieved from the University Alliance/ Florida Tech program. Could have saved $24k
you guys are all gay and suck balls!
I've used University Alliance to complete an Executive Certificate through Notre Dame and am currently using them to complete my MS at Florida Tech. I have no complaints about them and have been very pleased with the service they have offered. In fact, they have treated me better than some of the "brick and mortar" schools I attended for my Undergraduate Studies.
My wife is also enrolled in a University Alliance program at Villanova and has had no issues. The technology used for their classes is far superior than any other online university I've attended. I haven't had to go through the financial aid processes mentioned by other posters, but have had no issue with billing, scams, etc.
The education I have received thusfar has been outstanding and directly applicable to my career.
University Alliance representatives are scammers. Initially I sent ALL the enrollment information filled out my FAFSA and waited for my acceptance letter. After countless emails from the University Alliance rep over several months I kept being told that my application was incomplete. I even emailed the so called rep after I faxed another set of applications and reference letters. Next, I wanted to know how to get my credits transfered but that question never got answered in the upcoming months. Then I finally get an acceptance letters so I look forward to getting my financial aid and starting classes. But yet another twist, the University Alliance rep wanted me to give him a credit card number via email so I could pay my tuition up front--yeah you heard me up-front. BIG RED FLAG! Of course I refused and asked why I would pay up front when I had already applied for a student loan. Answer from rep--this is how we do it... we (meaning the University Alliance) charge your credit card then you wait for a loan check which you can then pay off the credit card. After working in a college financial aid office the thought of this makes ZEEEEERO SENSE. The emails from me asking questions never received replies back--so I called and the rep tried to fast talk his way into getting my credit card number. NO SUCCESS--I'M NOT DUMB. So I called what I thought was a University of Scranton Financial Aid department who seemed to co-sign the idea of me paying the University Alliance up front. QUESTION > If I could afford to pay for my education up front by charging it or writing a check why in the
H--l l would I apply for financial aid? Perhaps others have given out their credit card to University Alliance but I don't even have a credit card. Scranton University's website and the University Alliance website do not indicate that full payment up front is needed to start classes--both sites promote the FAFSA--so why would some idiot think I was stupid enough to give out a credit card number--OH Yeah they think I'm dumb--but isn't that what all scammers think. If University of Scranton is a real online degree program then they should handle all aspects of the enrollment/fin. aid process and eliminate University Alliance. I'm so angry so much time has been waisted trying to get enrolled instead finding a real school Now it's back to the drawing board to find a online Med before my license expires that takes financial aid, accepts my transfer credits and that fully discloses all aspects of the program.