Student Stories
On Sat, 05 Sep 2009 at 17:28 a consumer in AL wrote:
I am in utter disbelief that I am victim to this scam!!! I was also lied to about accreditation and was told that Westwoods Credentials was the same as a standard 4 year university. I am a 4.0 Presidents list student and now am left with nothing to show for my sacrifice of time, money, family and sleep! I just learned of this bogus representation of accreditation…. I DO NOT FEEL LIKE I OWE WESTWOOD A THING FOR THEIR MISREPRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS. I … believed the lies Westwood`s Sales people pitch as being of the highest placement rate with the best and most qualified professors at any school because everyone is required to have worked in the game industry in order to be a teacher. All I want is to better myself and the life of my family and use this amazing artistic talent I have, in a career in gaming…. I am so lost at this point.
On Fri, 04 Sep 2009 at 01:30 a consumer in CO wrote:
The school consultant consistantly lied to entice me to come to westwood, my grandparents can even prove this since they sat in the same room with me. They asked several times if the credits were transfereable since they knew I wanted to persue a master`s degree elsewhere. Go figure nothing transfers. Funny how it says in the booklet some credits transfer but in all honesty NONE do. The reason is for the poor teaching quality and education that we recieve at this school. Even some gaming jobs such as … will NOT accept students from westwood college because we are not up to thier quality and this is a BEGINNING company just started not to long ago…seriously if we can`t get into a starting company then what can we get into?
On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 at 20:41 a consumer in CO wrote:
I am filing a complaint against Westwood College because their representatives told untrue statements to get me to join the school. One of these statements was in reference to a handout they gave me with phony job placement statistics. They claimed that around 90% of graduates got jobs in their field shortly after graduation. After doing my own research, I found that those statistics were highly exaggerated. They also told me that my credits would transfer to other schools and universities but that is completely untrue. When I tried enrolling in a different college, they wouldn`t even look at my transcript because they `…don`t look at Westwood as a real school.` When I later asked the campus president what schools the credits would transfer to, the only one she could think of was the University of Phoenix (another trade school). After I did my own research and found several complaints (recently, including a lawsuit in Texas involving the EXACT same complaints) I immediately dropped out. The charged me for the rest of the term and now I have a collection`s agency threatening suit against me. Soon after I dropped out I tried calling Alta (their parent company which I was directed to), but either no one answered the phone or I never got called back. The collections officer insisted that they tried to contact me, but only through receiving monthly bills. I feel like I (and many others) have been totally taken advantage of….`
On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 at 18:00 a consumer in CO wrote:
Went to Westwood, and have tried almost every University to transfer credits and none of them are transferable, and have a huge amount of debt for just an Associates Degree, almost double the amount of an instate student here in Colorado that has a bachelors degree. Even with my Associates I cannot get a job in the graphic design field….
On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 at 21:45 a consumer in TX wrote:
I am the father of [a daughter] who attended Westwood College … before she discovered that the Graphics Design Bachelors degree was worthless and actually not even an accredited degree. In this short time period, we have totalled about $8,700 in fees. We signed for the Sallie Mae loan so she could continue classes, after being lied to when she applied for the FAFSA loan…. I am deeply upset that we were taken advantage of in what should be an extremly illegal business practice. This ranks up there with Bernie Madoff. They all should be put in jail!
On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 at 13:12 a consumer in Ohio wrote:
I wanted to go to school so badly that I signed up for classes to take on-line with Westwood College. I was so happy, I could go to school full time and still work my full time job! I could get a degree within 3 yrs, another plus and it would be in multi-media- webdesign field, which I was very interested in at the time…. I wished I had never signed from the begining, 18% interest on in house school loans, that if I would have stayed would have amounted to 45,000 not including the Sally Mae loans I had taken out to cover the cost. It made me physically ill just looking at the note I had initially signed because I wanted to go to school so badly. Honestly, if i had known the total cost of doing business with them, I would have never gone to school there…. I am stuck in the mud with no way out! The american dream?? What a farce. Thanks, Westwood for making my life miserable.
On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 at 22:22 a consumer in West CA wrote:
I`ve had various issues with my loans and with the accreditation of the school. I was hoping to either continue to a Masters Program or transfer schools, but barely any school in-state will accept credits from Westwood.
On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 at 18:31 a consumer in TX wrote:
I attended Westwood College … from 2003-2004 to receive a degree in Graphic Design and Multimedia…. After determining that I wanted to move forward with my career at a much quicker pace and more geared to design using technology, I decided to look into Westwood. It seemed legitimate. Unfortunately, as my mother and I were sitting in the admissions office with one of the representatives we were completely lied to. I and my mother asked specifically if the credits that I acquired would transfer into ANY college in the state. We were told YES. At that point we were completely misguided. Had we known this to begin with, I would have never gone to `school` there. Now, I have 96 hours of college, of which 64 of them I can not do anything at all with. The 32 hours that actually do count are from … an actual University and a few from high school…. I am out almost $30,000 for my year and a half of Westwood lies. I thought that after I finished school there and received my associate`s degree, that I would be able to work and then when the time was right, go back to school to get a bachelor`s degree. I was wrong. Now if I were to go back I would have to start school off as a sophomore. No thanks! I was promised a great internship and an even better job placement program through the school. I found an off campus internship because I wondered with the little amount of knowledge that I gained, what the internship through the school would be like. Thank God I went somewhere else. I learned more through my internship than I did through any class that I took at Westwood. I am completely aggrivated that I went to such a lowsy school, and now all I have are my years in the industry. I feel like potential jobs have denied me of an interview because they read Westwood College as my primary schooling and would rather look the other way…. I greatly wasted any kind of effort for my education.
On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 at 01:52 a consumer in CO wrote:
I graduated from Westwood over a year ago with a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising … and have nothing to show for it. I always thought of myself to be a smart person and thought I was going to better my future only to find that at the end of my degree I was going to be paying close to $700 in student loan payments. That is something they failed to explain when your first enrolling into school. They tell you that they will get you approved for financial aide or assigned with student loans that are `right` for your situation. The initial amount that you will be owing for your education was also a lie they don`t tell you that this is actually a $75,000.00 degree once all of that interest kicks in. With reassurance they told me not to worry about tuition because I`m going to better my future and they have job placement. They even provide you percentages of all the students that were employeed within 3-6 months after graduation…. I called to speak with there business office about job placement and that I needed help the woman I spoke with supposedly gave them my information because I couldn`t talk to anyone at the time. I didn`t receive any calls back only an email with web links of where to find jobs. This list had to have been a joke nearly all of them were either dead end resources or completely based in a state other than Colorado…. At this point what do you do walk away with a large bill and no degree at all? I felt I had no choice but to finish it out…. I know I was scammed and now I`m left with a hefty bill that I can`t pay for and nothing to show for it.
On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 at 20:57 a consumer in CO wrote:
I went to Westwood College and graduated under the impression that I could go get a Master`s degree at another college. Imagine my surprise when I found out that I had to get another Bachelor`s degree because the Westwood degree is WORTHLESS. The admissions representative said that the career development department would help me find job opportunities that couldn`t be found anywhere else; instead, they send me ads from craigslist. I can`t even put that I have a degree on my resume`, because many of the jobs I apply for tell me that they do not hire Westwood graduates due to lack of education and experience. After speaking with industry professionals at multiple workshops for game art, I have learned that Westwood students are the laughingstock of the art student world, and that for them to get a degree they have to go back to school somewhere else and get a real education.
On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 at 15:07 a consumer in PA wrote:
I was enrolled in the Game Art and Design Program at Westwood, but dropped out halfway through the program because several things didn`t seem right to me. First, the financial aid staff refused to provide me with an exact figure for my tuition. I made numerous inquiries, but the school refused to provide me with any paperwork listing my account, costs, etc. – the only figure I ever received was an `estimate` e-mailed to me when it was time to renew my FAFSA. After several months in school, a financial aid rep contacted me and told me I would have to make use of Westwood`s in-house financing to continue classes since my federal aid was short. This made no sense to me since the amounts dispersed by Sallie Mae were more than enough to cover the costs I had been told….
Second, they lied about accredidation. I was told by my rep that Westwood was in the process of being regionally accredited, and she led me to believe that this would be the case by the time I signed up for classes. It`s only when I dropped out and tried to transfer my credits to another school that I found out that their classes are only nationally accredited, and my local college will not accept them….
Please help, I was looking forward to earning my Bachelor`s, but Westwood may have ruined that.
On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 at 00:34 a consumer in CA wrote:
Im currently a student at westwood but have been forced to take out a great deal of loans at 19% interest…. They cant fill classes so they drop the classes I need to graduate therefore extending my grad date by almost a year…mean while paying close to 9000.00 for one class and books, just because they CANT put me in a class I need. My question in why make it a prerequisite if you can offer it … Ive been in hell for the past 4 years.
On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 at 17:27 a consumer in WY wrote:
I have recently graduated from Westwood College Online with a Bachelor of Science in Web Design and Multimedia. My career counselor has not been the greatest help in helping me obtain employment, and I do have a loan from Westwood to cover the expenses I was unable to receive student loans for traditionally. I am currently unemployed seeking work, in order to pay not just the debt incurred through Westwood (approx: $22,000) but also my federal unsusbsidized loans in excess of $50,000. Though I have not ran into employers who would not honor the degree, I have run into credit transfer issues from the local community college. I would have liked to persue an Associate degree in Fine Arts, and I do realize that Westwood Online as well as Westwood College Denver (north and south campuses) are applying for regional accreditation, these credits are not transferable.
On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 at 12:59 a consumer in TX wrote:
I graduated … and was Salutatorian. I got in touch with the office I was told would find me a job and they gave me no real substantial leads for a job. I have interviewed many times for entry level graphic design jobs and they always tell me I am underqualified. I spent almost $25,000 for a skill that I have never been able to use as of yet. The school loans are killing me after they lied to me!
On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 at 12:22 a consumer in WI wrote:
I was looking to pursue a degree…, a huge dream for me. WHen I applied to a regular four year university for this program I was denied and forced to look for either a different degree or a different school. I started searching the internet and found Westwood ONline. Here it said I could get my four year degree in exactly what I want in just a little over two years and all online. This was great sounding because I needed to work and I wanted so bad to pursue a career in this field. My advisor began to fill my head with excellent news of getting a degree and getting a job while still going to school. He told me that the degree would be good anywhere in the US and my credits would transfer in and out. After going to Westwood ONline for about a year I decided to set up my state testing for Health Care Administration. When I contacted the facility they told me that Wisconsin does not accept this schools degree and therefore I could not take the state testing. This was devistating, I need that test in order to get a job. I then decided to try and transfer into a WI university and finish up the degree since I had raised my GPA and was an Honor student. The university I applied to then said they could not accept any of the credits and I was forced to start over. To this day I am around $10000 in debt plus interest due to westwood and I recieve calls all the time about having to pay the loan off since I quit going to the school. I have been forced to work much more in order to make the minimum payments and sit here with over 40 credits worth nothing. This school has crushed my dreams and my wallet.
On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 at 17:34 a consumer in IL wrote:
Hi graduated from Westwood College Online … with an associates degree in Graphic Design and Multimedia. I have tried to find a job in my field and still cannot. I have tried to freelance and have had no success. I graduated with honors/Deans list from Westood and was featured in their online publication. Upon admissions to Westwood my rep told me it would cost $28,600 for my associates degree and I now owe Sallie Mae and Great Lakes(TERI LOAN) over $42,000. My degree has gotten me nowhere except a pile of bills….
On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 at 01:48 a consumer in CA wrote:
I went to Westwood for my Business accounting degree back in 2005 … They told me that my credits would be able to be transferred to any 4 year college and they would be able to help me with loans to help me get through school. I like others wasn`t told on how much the school would cost in total. After going to the school for about 2 Semesters I decided that I was going to try to just go to a 2 year community college so that I could take night classes. When I applied I was told that none of them credits I had received would work. In that time 10,000 of debt was already in my name and I didn`t even have any credits that I could work with….
On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 at 00:36 a consumer in Tx wrote:
I attended Westwood College of Technology from August 2007 to May 2008 where I graduated at the top of my class with honors. During the admissions process I expressed interest in the Medical Insurance Coding and Billing program and asked how much the cost of the program was. The representative told me that the job placement was about 97% and that financial aid would not be a problem. I was a recently separated, unemployed, single mother, the cost of the college was of great importance, however I never fully knew the cost until I graduated and started receiving letters from Sallie Mae. I did receive a federal grant, student loan from Sallie Mae and an Apex loan from the college to help with the cost. The Apex loan was $150/month for the entire 9 months I was enrolled. I was never told how much the interest was on the Apex loan…. Towards the end of the program, I began hearing stories about other students that never found work in their field of study. I thought I was better and would find employment. What I found was most employers didn`t recognize Westwood as a reputable institution and they wanted a year or more experience to work in the coding and billing field. We were also told that we would be able to take the CPC or AHIMA accreditation test right out of the program. In speaking with other Coding and Billing professinals, you have to work in the field for two to three years to fully understand all the aspects of the field in order to pass the test…. [A] representative asked me to talk to a prospective student and tell her about the program, so I did. She was a lower class single teenage mother … and I closed the sale for the rep. I feel so bad in doing that, knowing what I know now.
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 at 23:01 a consumer in GA wrote:
I attended the college … online. When I was speaking to their admissions officer, that person stated to me that they were regionally accredited and that as part of their accreditation they must have a 70% or more job placement rate within 6 months of course completion. I left the school due to working too much and slipping grades. I recently decided to go back to school and tried to get credits transferred from Westwood Online to my new college. What a surprise I got, they are not regionally accredited as claimed. In fact they have been under review and eligible, but have not been accepted for regional accreditation. I now have over $30000 in loans for an education that I cannot use anywhere. I feel I was lied to intentionally in order to get me to attend the college so that they could make money.
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 at 16:59 a consumer in wa wrote:
I recently graduated from Westwood College Online…. I must say that I feel I have WASTED tens of thousands of dollars and have gained very little. Not only was I ever told what my final tuition cost would be, or have ever been given a complete break down of my charges, but the instructors all seem like housewives with too much time on their hands. Very few of the instructors knew the material enough to be teaching it. In fact, they didn`t teach it. They had us read books and answer questions.
Now, once I have graduated, I have not received any help in obtaining a job except for some `good websites` to check out to help me find a job…. I`m so angry that I ever `attended` this school and its almost embarrassing to say that I graduated from there.
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 at 14:38 a consumer in CA wrote:
I attended Westwood College Online…. I was never fully informed on the amount of money I needed to borrow to go to school, I had to pay money directly to the school every month and I was always transferred to different people, and no one could ever tell me my balance, just what my next month`s payments were. I ended up having to drop out 6 months prior to my graduation because I could no longer afford the higher and higher monthly payments. Now that all my loans have come full circle back to me…I owe about $90,000….
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 at 12:25 a consumer wrote:
westwood is a joke!!! i have similar stories as the rest, got told lies to sign up. learned nothing while attending. and was told at the end i was over awarded and they wouldnt let me walk with my class unless i paid the 1300 i owed them. this was 2 weeks before the ceremony. i told them that was bs i had family coming from out of state, they let me walk, but now i have collection companies contacting me wanting there money. i cant get a job, … sheriffs warned me that degree wasnt worth anything. too late now. i owe almost 80000 in school loans, my credit it ruined and i cant get a job or go back to school because of my credit….
On Sat, 15 Aug 2009 at 23:57 a consumer wrote:
I am a former student at westwood in the CAD program … They told me when I signed up with the recruiter that it would cost $4000.00 per term. The actual cost was over $5500.00 per term, plus books, lab fees, administration fees, etc. I was told by the recruiter that I would have a job by the end of my first term, and that since I already had experience in the construction field, they would not start me at an entry level position. She told me I would make 60 to 70,000 a year to start. She told me it was an 18 month program which gave me a Bachelors degree. However, it is a 20 month program for an associates degree. (The Bachelor`s degree was the reason I signed up to begin with). They would not give me clear answers to my questions regarding costs. They would not refund me all the money I was owed for returning unopened books. The classes that I took had nothing to do with computer aided design, with the exception of a couple. The teachers did not teach me anything about the subject I was there for. They were more interested in making buddies with the students. I went there for 3 terms, and I owe almost $16,000.00 after my pell grants. They made me get what they called an APEX loan on top of the Sallie Mae student loan to cover `estimated costs` of tuition. When I left, they charged me $150.00 to leave. This fee is only there to discourage students from leaving. That was said by an employee of Westwood. I have been very frustrated with what I have received from westwood….
On Sat, 15 Aug 2009 at 19:53 a consumer in AL wrote:
I graduated from Westwood College Online, with honors (3.83 GPA) in March of 2008. I have been searching for a job in my degree field ever since. I have spent hundreds of dollars on portfolios in my attempts to gain employment. While attending Westwood, they boasted that they had over 90% placement after graduation. All I have gained from working hard for three years to earn my degree is a huge amount of loan debt, and collection calls during Church. I am unsure exactly how much I actually owe at this point because they signed me up for several loans, with several different companies. I take full responsibility for taking the loans, and I fully understood, at the time, what I was signing up for. However, I also kept thinking about the 90%+ placement, and the better life I would be providing my family….
On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 at 00:44 a consumer in WI wrote:
In January of 2008 I inquired about Westwood College Online for a Criminal Justice Degree. From that moment on I was harassed into finally attending their college. I wanted to go back to school so bad and the recruiter would call me starting at 6am everyday and try to talk me into going to their school. I asked her to stop calling once and she never did. She would write me emails and even talk to me through AIM if I didn`t respond to her voicemails that she left me. My mother even got on the phone and asked her to stop calling me. Finally I ended up giving in mainly because I wanted the harassment to stop. They had me sign all this paperwork at once for loans, enrollment, etc. I didn`t even have a couple days to look over everything because they would call me numerous times a day saying they needed me to sign everything right away. Once I did I ordered my books and got into classes. I didn`t realize what I had gotten myself into. I would call to make sure that their school was accredited and they promised me they were. They also promised me a degree when I was done with everything. They told me if I ever switched schools my credits would transfer … I finally drew the line in March when they said they wanted me to take out a $10,000 loan for one semester of school! I told them I needed to stop going to their school. They gave me a hard time and tried to get me to stay but I wouldn`t. I just got the bill in the mail for how much I owe and they are charging me $28,000 for ONE YEAR OF SCHOOL. I am starting at a new school in September but NONE of my credits transfer! I have to pay $28,000 to a school that did NOTHING for my future!! I called Westwood and asked why they told me they were accredited when they are clearly not and they said that I signed something saying I knew that my credits wouldn`t transfer and that a degree from that school was not an actual degree. I asked for them to send me a copy of that document and they still haven`t sent it … I was lied to and deceived so much.
On Tue, 04 Aug 2009 at 17:10 a consumer in NY wrote:
I`m currently a student at Westwood Online literally struggling my way through this `experience`. I came to Westwood excited trying to earn a graphics design degree … I really think that I am being blindsided by these people. I get student loans and i`m on a payment plan, but i am so far in debt from these people that I sometimes want to cry. one minute they tell me I have enough finances, the next I am asked to apply for a private loan or that they added more to my Unisa payment program. I pay $150 a month for something i don`t even know where it`s going to.
On Fri, 31 Jul 2009 at 15:12 a consumer in OK wrote:
First Westwood rushed me through admissions as fast as possible… calling me two or three times a day and I was not even made aware of the accreditation issues at all… and to be honest I didn`t know that there should be… I figured a college was a college or at least it should be… and I just wanted to get an education. After that I started noticing other things about Westwood such as how hard it was to simply check my loans status on the website… and how huge the tuition was. I remember reading on the website that it was going to be 13,000 and thought that was still pretty steep but I was only planning on going for one year since it looked the price went up in subsequent years. However it wasn`t until a couple weeks ago (a year into college) that I found out that I basically had to pay 25,000! For just one year! At which point I immediately called up their financial staff as I was NOT made aware of the second 9,000 dollar stafford loans AT ALL. They didn`t tell me they was taking it and basically had the attitude that I should have known that was going to happen because I signed the master promissory note and so they could take as much money as they wanted to. Additionally… in the entire time I spent going to Westwood`s college only 3 out of my dozen or so professors had English skills on par with me… and furthermore the tests are a joke… A monkey could have passed both of the classes I just finished without opening the textbook. The feedback that the teachers had over our assignments were so general I thought I was getting my horoscope read. Overall Westwood has been the stupidest thing I`ve ever done in my whole life and I`m ashamed to even talk about it and I have no idea how to fix it.
On Fri, 31 Jul 2009 at 12:23 a consumer in tx wrote:
I was convinced to go to Westwood College in November of 2008 and against my better judgment I decided to go for it. I started classes in January 2009. I was told that my degree was going to cost around $15,000 and I would be finished by December 2009. I attended Westwood for one and a half terms before I finally was able to see the paper work that showed exactly how much it was going to cost to finish my degree. The total was around $31,000.00…. The day that I was informed of this, I left and never returned back to school. In fact, I informed them that I was leaving and going back to my last school through several emails. By that time, I had already racked up around $9,500.00 in tuition and fees for the months of January through May. And of course, the credits that I did receive will not transfer to my community college which I was told would transfer because Westwood “is” a Texas accredited school. I was also forced to take a class that I could have tested out of, however, they failed to tell me this until it was too late for me to test out of. I would not have taken that class if I was aware of its cost.
I owe Sallie Mae around $3,000 and the school loan program around $5,500…. Is this something I am just stuck with , because of the fact that I was lead to believe lies by someone I trusted, and I didn’t know the right questions to be asking and I didn’t force them to show me everything up front?
I feel that students should not have to worry about their financial world falling apart on them when they are enrolling in school. That is one of the main reasons we go to school, to better our education and to make something better of our lives. I have been to a few universities and never had to worry about anything like this, and there were not salesmen (whom I later found out have a quota for the number of students they have to enroll each term) trying to sell me an education. They went as far as telling me not to worry about anything, it will all be taken care of by the government and the school loans.
I feel I was taken advantage of and it is just not right. I wasted 4 months with Westwood, which put me further from my goals. I have worked very hard these last couple of years to obtain a college degree while working a full time job and this has taken a huge toll on me financially as well as emotionally.
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 at 00:59 a consumer in MT wrote:
Today, I was contacted for even more money. Tomorrow I will attempt to contact their financial aid department to try to get some answers, but most likely I will have to drop out with more then 30,000$ of debt and a useless education as I have run out of funds and options. Westwood is a high pressure, deceitful company. I am terrified for my future and am at a complete loss for what to do.
On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 at 12:40 a consumer in IL wrote:
I graduted from Westwood college … in 2004 with an assocites degree and in 2005 with a bachelors degree. I have yet to find a job in my field. i was told 97% of students end up with jobs in their field after they graduate and that they offer career placement. When I went to meet with someone regarding career placement they told me to take classes over again, when I graduated with A`s & B`s in my courses…. I`m very upset that I am in 40K in debt and have nothing to show for it. It was a complete waste of time and money, they are a complete fraud. My … also took courses online in 2005. She attempted to transfer her courses…, which they did not accept due to Westwood College not being an accredited school. We were told it was an accredited school. She also wasted time and money. We are very upset, we were lied to when we signed up and charged way too much.
On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 at 04:18 a consumer wrote:
I started Westwood in march 2005…. I have stuck it through due to the large investment I made. I have taken classes that either were already transferred or were not necessary for my degree. They conveniently changed the course credits which had classes I already took by their original structure and when changed those classes were no longer necessary, so I had to pay for extra classes. The financial aid at Westwood is a disaster and when you need help or a better understanding of your loans, forget about it. There is much more like their lies about career services and lies about their connections with companies of your interested industry, so on and so forth. The list of your investigation findings, is only a small fraction of the Westwood College scam.
On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 at 19:48 a consumer in il wrote:
I just finished my degree at Westwood because I didnt want to give up. What a mistake. I finished 3 1/2 yrs and am now in 76K in debt. I have been so ripped off and feel like a fool. I have learned nothing I couldnt have taught myself. I think this is the biggest mistake I have ever made which was to go to school.
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 at 18:42 a consumer in CA wrote:
I decided enough was enough and tried to enroll in Santa Monica College. SMC is a great school that has an extremely high transfer rate to the UC school system. When I recently spoke with a councilor at SMC I learned the `credits` i earned at westwood college are not transferable to real colleges. That the UC system does not recognize them. Because of this `school` I am over $16,000 in debt to sallie mae and private apex loans. I have wasted two years of my college years being lied to and had my hopes crushed. I am currently unemployed because of the economic collapse and my loans that I am refusing to pay are going to go into default soon. I am at a loss. I do not know where to turn and I feel the walls of this debt closing in on my life and I feel like this is going to ruin my life before I even get a chance to start one. If it were not for westwood colleges lies and deceit I would have already graduated from a UC school, and I would currently have a career.
On Sat, 18 Jul 2009 at 15:17 a consumer in FL wrote:
In 2005 I contacted the Univ. of Colorado at Denver to enroll in a Bachelors Program. The admissions department told me that none of my credits would transfer towards the degree and that I would have to start over…. I talked to admissions at USF and was told the same thing…. At the time of enrollment at Westwood, I was told that the program was accredited and that my course work at Westwood would be transferrable towards advanced degrees. They also sold me books and materials that I never used or was even required to bring to class as well as the fact that I feel they pressured me into financing the entire `degree` that I earned.
On Sat, 11 Jul 2009 at 17:39 a consumer wrote:
I am a former student(victim) of Westwood College, Los Angeles CA. $30,000 later and no transferable credits I find myself in a city college admissions office pursuing actual education. I was horribly mislead and lied to, and in my ignorance and desire to succeed I was taken advantage of
On Wed, 08 Jul 2009 at 16:59 a consumer in CO wrote:
I am a current attending student who graduates this month…. They do a lot of false advertising, the representative who met with me about 3 years ago said the loans could be paid off within 10 years. Doing the math there is no way that is possible. The interest is at a killer rate. These loans aren`t meant to be paid off, they want profit.
On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 at 16:01 a consumer in co wrote:
As a alumni of Westwood, I look back in great disgust and regret of my decision to attend. Promises of job availability and earning fall far short of reality. I completed the bachelors program they offered in approx 30 months for some $56,000.00 I repeatedly had to talk with financial aid about charges to my account. I always felt that there were many errors in their billing…. I even helped teach one of the math courses because the teacher was that incompetent. My whole experience there was a sham, and now I`ll be paying for it for the next 20 some years.
On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 at 01:06 a consumer in il wrote:
I dont even know where to start. I am furious! this school is a joke, lie, scam!! i attented for one session and now owe close to $4,000. I was lied and manipulated too
On Wed, 01 Jul 2009 at 02:21 a consumer wrote:
I am going to be graduating soon and I feel that I have been cheated out of my education. I have had classes where teachers have said that they are not knowledgeable in the program that they are instructed to teach due to lack of proper staffing. I had a class in where we did nothing but sit in class with no assignments and the teacher admitted to not knowing about the program she was supposed to teach and at the end of the term everyone in the class recieved an A after doing no work and learning nothing. I am now worried that I will soon be done with school and have no knowledge in the animation field. I was promised that I would learn everything that I need to be sucessful but that was a lie. I and many other students have complained but no one is interested in listening and soon I will have a degree that is of no use to me and will be in debt. I lack the proper experience and knowledge to even be considered for a job. I have paid for books that I have never even used. And I recently heard from a teacher that the school is thinking of taking out classes that we have paid for and will no longer count and will be adding new ones to proceed in the process of getting accreditation.
On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 at 08:08 a consumer in CO wrote:
I attended Westwood in 2007 and was completely mislead by Ron … when I sat with him to find out if the college was right for me. I made it clear that I wanted to pursue further higher education once I was in my field and was never told that the credits from Westwood would not transfer and that I would have to retake and repay for the classes I had taken at Westwood if I wanted to get a degree at an accredited college.
On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 at 17:34 a consumer in CO wrote:
I was a student of Westwood College in 2001. I was told upon enrolling that if I decided to go to another college they are accredited and my grades would transfer. I had to drop my classes at Westword College and was told the grants and loans I had received would go back to where they came from. I currently still owe the goverment over 11k from this event and recently I decided to go back to college and found out at of 06/23/09 or the week of that none of my credits could be used because they were not accredited…. I feel I was defraud as saying I`m going to an accredited college when I didn`t and therefore the college collect my loans and grants which now I can not get because I am in default. I am now having to pay out of my own pocket for school when in the first place I may not should have been going there or eligible for a school at that level…. How does someone let this go on for so long?
On Wed, 24 Jun 2009 at 16:34 a consumer in fl wrote:
I attended and graduated Westwood Online. I was definitely told by the `recruiter` they were fully accredited and that I would land a great job after graduation. She told me my age was no biggie and that the classes that I would get would teach me something new an useful AND be relivent! The kicker is that in my last term, I think an instructor let it slip, that those of us that graduated would be working low level jobs for quite a while before we started seeing any success. That`s not what I was told. Now I have a ton of loans (70k), most of which I am not sure where they came from. I can`t get any documentation stating where money came from or went.$500 (or more) a month when I have a family of 5 is just too much. The crazy thing is that I defended this school until my eyes were opened in that last term. I got hosed with a degree that is not worth the paper it`s printed on.
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 at 14:37 a consumer in TX wrote:
I currently have approximately $51,000 in student loans accrued while attending Westwood Online from May 2006 to Aug 2008. When I signed up with them, I knew they were `accredited` but they did not make it clear that a national accreditation would not transfer to regional colleges. None of my credits from WOL transferred to my Community College and I have been forced to start over. They also did not warn me of any `cap` on financial aid, which has made it challenging to get funding for my Community College classes. Their site also says `Online programs not available in all states, e.g. TX, MA, MN, and IL.` and yet they signed me up and billed me for classes, even though I`ve lived all but the first two years of my life in Texas.
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 at 12:12 a consumer in CO wrote:
I am a former student of Westwood College and I attended that school in the fall of 2005. The degree I was going for was a bachelor`s in Computer Science with a minor of Game Art and Design. First thing that shocked me was that I only went to the school for a year and I was in debt over $25,000. Each semester that I registered for I got a bill saying that they charged $4000 to my school loan. I was not aware that the tuition was so expensive, plus I had no idea that they added additional loans on to me the more supplies and tuition I had to sign up for. Then my classes were horrible. My math class that I took which was high school level algebra I passed with flying colors but the same level in class in high school I almost failed. Another one of my class was called intro to Game Design and all we did in class was play computer games, which these games were supplied by the teacher so what I don`t understand it why it cost so much for me to sit around and play computer games when I can do that for free at home. Then they had my dad co sign on a loan without telling him that he was a co signer, the lady told us that since I was still under 18 he would have to sign which makes sense but he was not aware that it would make him liable for my loans. It was a horrible school and horrible teachers and classes, this school has completely ruined my life.
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 at 21:17 a consumer in Oh wrote:
I am a former student of Westwood College. I am disappointed to have recently learned that all their data was falsified as to employment rate statistics and credit transfer. Also, I asked Westwood to send me a detailed report of all my financial aid. I compared it against the National Student Loan Database, and NOTHING matched. Even one of my grants hadn`t been used.
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 at 19:45 a consumer wrote:
I feel like I have been tricked into going to there college as I was not made aware of the total costs. I am afraid now I am going for a worthless degree that I will not be able to afford down the road as an degree is my only chance at getting a good job and having a good life. I have never been told about the final costs. They made it seem like the max I would have to spend was 8,000 a year so I thought it would be only 32,000 for an bachelors. I find out by reading more into it on the credit hours it will be way more than that. I have already served a few terms and I am not sure what to do… They did make it seem like they would help me find a job and everything.. I am stuck in a bad position now…
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 at 20:00 a consumer in Co wrote:
Westwood College has ruined my life! I can not find a job, and I am now paying almost $800 a month for student loans. The classes were a joke and they lied to me quoting I would only pay $36,000. In reality I am paying over $77,000 for a degree that no one is taking serious.
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 at 22:19 a consumer in CO wrote:
I recently graduated from Westwood with a B.S.(appropriate, am I right?) in Game Art and Design. Now, where to begin… During admissions, during which my parents were present, we were told that they had both a high placement rate for my program, and the kicker: that they had a working relationship with Microsoft.(They use the windows OS, and that`s as far as Microsoft goes with westwood) Secondly, there is a serious lack of industry pertinent information. My program director looked at me after I graduated and said `You are the best modeler we have at this school. If you can`t get a job I`m going to be worried.` No job yet. I learned all they had to teach, and even went out on my own to learn things they had not taught me, but still no job. They have NO links to the video game industry, not even with the 4 companies in our state. They do have the capability of teaching you a very basic skill set, but when you graduate, you are not industry material. They are charging us a ridiculous amount, for a quite inadequate education. Aside from all of that, the quality of kids they let into the program is ridiculous. These kids play video games their whole childhood, then get sent out here to college, destined to fail miserably because they have ZERO artistic talent. But if they stay at Westwood for X amount of time, their admissions rep gets a retention bonus. Fantastic, right? My parents and I are both quite upset with the institution. I went to college so I wouldn`t have to work the average nine to five, but now I`m back at that position, except for the fact that I now owe roughly $500/month. So in the big picture, instead of higher education advancing my situation, it took me a giant leap backwards. I think the program of Game Art and Design should be shut down, if not the entire institution. I also heard a tidbit that actual percentage rates for my program are under 5% when they advertise 80%.
On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 at 00:52 a consumer in CA wrote:
My nephew attended Westwood College…. He had no idea the degree was bogus until he applied for a master`s degree and was told that WWD College not accredited. He now holds a worthless piece of paper that cost $50,000 plus and a loan still owed. His first job out of WWD? Ten bucks an hour.
On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 at 21:20 a consumer in CO wrote:
Talking about my experiences has made me sick to my stomach for so long that I have avoided addressing it since I graduated in 2005. I graduated at 40 years old as an older women observing the activity that was so upsetting to me, from the instructors point of view and the students point of view, I was left feeling stuck with nowhere to turn too to get help or to be able to back out of my commitments at Westwood. We were all trapped to some degree, instructors included. Many instructor spoke of their frustrations with their experiences there, many were not qualified to teach, had had personal problems that were not appropriate and not conducive to a learning environment… On every students tongue was a grievances about everything from Financial Aid to being forced to buy text books that were never used, or wishing they could transfer out to another school knowing that they were mislead and were not able to do that. It was an extremely unhappy time for me, especially seeing the final cost when the loans came in. I feel ashamed to have been associated with Westwood College.
On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 at 23:16 a consumer in NE wrote:
Between my nelnet loan and my other school loans my 4 year college cost me $94,000. I was Informed when I first enrolled in Westwood that I would recieve my all of my certifications along with my degree in Computer Network Technology. My Advisor told me that there would be no additional costs or fees and that I would recieve my A+, CCNA, MCSE, and other certifications with my degree. This was lie! Promises of career advisors to help locate a job within the career field was another joke. Most of the jobs that they offered either required that you had the experience and certifications before hand or had nothing to do with the field in which you were studying!
On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 at 13:13 a consumer in IL wrote:
I am a current student at Westwood College … and i was told that when i signed up that the school was accredited nationally but was not told what that meant and that some school`s would accept their credits. Also i have gone to several companies and they all claimed that they do not recognize Westwood as a school. I am a criminal justice major and have visted many poilce departments and agencies who all claimed that they do not recgonize Westwood or their degree`s. I was mislead and I am constantly being told that the school will get accredited soon, they have been telling me that ever since i found out the difference between national and regional accreditation. This school constantly lies and decieves student`s and the teaching is terrible. I am very unhappy with Westwood and I fear like most students have said who graduated that i will not be able to get a job in my major`s field of work.
On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 at 13:13 a consumer in WA wrote:
I attended Westwood College Online for a little over a year, I had federal student loans and One personal Loan to go to this school and right before my second year started I could not afford the amount they said that I would have to pay out of pocket if I didn`t get another personal loan along with my federal Student loans. So I dropped out and Moved on. Then a few months later I get a Call from a Collections company saying that I owe them $7000+ for my classes at westwood. I was floored. All of my student loans and Federal student loans paid for all of my first year. And the start of my second. So I called Westwood and Left message after message for the financial Aid dept to find out why I owe this money. No response and now I have Williams And Fudge calling me daily to get money I dont owe the school. My first year of school I ended up taking out $14000+ in federal student loans and personal loans that all went to the school and they say I owe them money for classes I didn`t even get!!! Please help me they are ripping me off.
On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 at 18:58 a consumer in Tx wrote:
I really feel as though I was cheated attending Westwood College, I didn`t learn a thing in the two years I attended that so called school. I also feel that I was over charged, and it was a total waste of money. They told me that I had loans to cover my tuition and now that I`ve finished they claim I owe them 3,000 dollars and I really dont understand why. Westwood really robbed me of 2 years Of my life. I havent been placed with a job yet, I feel like I have a degree that I cant use. Westwood`s reputation is so bad no-one wants to hire their students and with good reason because we didnt learn a thing…. I want to go to school in a different field now, they`ve killed my interest in computers but my credits dont even transfer. Believe it or not my ending gpa was 3.69 which some would consider great but a monkey can do what they teach you to do. I just really feel cheated….
On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 at 09:16 a consumer in CO wrote:
I graduated with a degree that has not helped me in my career, and the education they provided was completely false. I learned nothing in the program, and was then subjected to paying well in excess of 20,000 in student loans for the program, which I still owe almost half of that in repayment of loans 10 years later. They don`t provide job assistance, as was promised, and I am currently unemployed, and about to lose my home, after being unable to secure work for the last year in my field. I feel that I paid this large sum of money for a piece of paper that has not benefitted me in any way…. A complete sham….
On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 at 15:20 a consumer in CO wrote:
My situation was a little different than most, in that I was over 50 when I started there.
I completed both my two year and four year degrees at Westwood. When the discussion came up about changing to a four year degree program, I specifically asked if I would be able to get a substitute teaching certificate after completing the four year program. “Absolutely” was the answer. Upon applying for the certificate with the state of Colorado, I was told that Westwood was not accredited in the state of Colorado for this purpose. They out-&-out lied to me…. I have been turned down enrollment for an online masters program (from on online school) because the Westwood degree is worthless.
On Sun, 07 Jun 2009 at 23:47 a consumer in IL wrote:
I attended Westwood College Online from 2003-2006. I obtained a worthless B.S. in computer network management. I was mislead about the cost as well as `impressed` with the national accreditation. I was unaware of the various types of accreditation and that the credits would not transfer. I am currently a little under $50k in debt with Sallie Mae for these student loans. I wanted to further my education but now I have to start from scratch.
On Sun, 07 Jun 2009 at 18:08 a consumer in Co wrote:
I graduated from Westwood North Denver in 2004. I was told about the job placement assistance, and retaking classes for life after graduation. I went to them numerous times after graduating and they could never find me a job. I don`t think the program is even offered there anymore if I wanted to brush up on some classes. I was also told the were an accredited school. I am now back in school for my teaching degree and I have to start from scratch because none of my credits transfer to any school in Colorado. I even had to pay them for a copy of my transcript that doesn`t transfer. Westwood was a horrible school that I invested a lot of time and money into.
On Fri, 05 Jun 2009 at 21:38 a consumer in UT wrote:
I attended Westwood college from 2002-2004 and was definitely given false information not only at the time I enrolled but throughout my program. Job placement was a joke with the only positions given for my consideration being plucked from the newspaper classifieds or only offering minimum wage. I was apalled to have instructors in my major classes who were at that point taking the same classes during the day and teaching them at night. My husband also attended Westwood in a different degree program and faced many similar problems…. We have been left up to our eyes in debt we cannot repay due to our poor decision to attend Westwood instead of a REAL college.
On Fri, 05 Jun 2009 at 20:35 a consumer in CO wrote:
I went to Westwood College from 2003-2005 and was very dissatisfied. I am unemployed and they NEVER helped me find a job. All I ever recieved was cut and paste e-mails from Craig`s List and Career Builder – ones I could find on my own…. I am now paying off a HUGE student loan that I can`t afford because I`m unemployed and I let anyone who will listen how bad Westwood College was….
On Thu, 04 Jun 2009 at 02:52 a consumer in WA wrote:
I`ve had concerns even while i was enrolled regarding quality of education, cost of education, and the worth of the supposed credits I was getting from Westwood. After 3 years of attending, I owe what seems to be getting closer and closer to $100,000 in student loan debt for a useless degree for a career field that doesn`t pay half in a year than the cost of that `education.`
On Thu, 04 Jun 2009 at 18:26 a consumer in CT wrote:
i attended for only 2 terms begining with Feb 2009, i was told so many lies and pressured daily to just DO it, they stuck me in a 5 week SHORT TERM that barley taught me anything yet they charged me $4,000 for this short term, then 4000 for the next term. They keep switching employees so every time i contact them i am talking to someone else…. They need to be held accountable for their lies!
On Wed, 03 Jun 2009 at 14:23 a consumer in co wrote:
I started my enrollment with westwood college in January of 2006 … I was told then by Kathy … (enrollment rep.) That there would be no problem with transferring my credits from westwood to CU to continue on and recieve my masters in Architecture, that they were acredited and cheeper … I later found out around 2 or 3 months before I graduated from my 21 month program that, Not only had they lied about cost but i cannot transfer my credits anywhere to continue my degree…. Not only was my degree worth nothing but I am in debt for 35000 dollars (and getting higher) because of it. I, at first, had the appex loan that they lied to me about and said it would only be at 6% and later turned out to be at 18% interstest rate. I then recieved a salie mae loan to pay the appex loan off and just have that as my main loan. And now that whole mess is so beyound me that im not sure how to explain it. All i know now is that now slaie mae wants 1200 dollars a month from me, and it looks like i have more then one salie mae loan…. The intergrity that i was told westwood was, their reputation as a school was all a lie.
On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 at 19:50 a consumer in tx wrote:
I am an ex-student of westwood who stopped attending because it was going to be too much and they lied to me at admission as far as their history, reputation, my out come after graduating and rest of my life…. My loans are killing me.
On Sun, 31 May 2009 at 14:29 a consumer in NY wrote:
Everything i was told by my recruiter was a lie. I flew … to Denver with the promise that i was getting a quality degree and that she would be there to help me every step of the way. After my first day of school, she promptly disappeared and i learned from one of my teachers in the game industry that you don`t make 100k a year off the bat like westwood promised, but rather you`d have to be in the industry upwards of 15 years to even think about that kind of money. He then suggested to me that `if i really wanted a quality art degree, go to Denver community. It`s cheaper` … After gaining massive debt myself, and finding immense dissatisfaction with my classes, i decided westwood wasn`t for me. It was at the point that they tried their utmost to coax me to stay, even suggesting i try westwood online….. I did westwood online for a semester, and it was TERRIBLE. There were literally just an e-mail for you to read about your assignments and you basically learned from the book. Teachers were barely present. One wanted students to sign into a MMO called `second life` to `hang out` it was an utter joke. The interest rates were off, and did not match the amounts i was paying. I always felt that i was wronged somehow at westwood. 7 out of 10 of the students that i`ve gotten to know in my short time there also left as well…. it`s a relief to know that i wasn`t the only one wronged.
On Sun, 31 May 2009 at 14:58 a consumer wrote:
I graduated from Westwood college in 2006 and now owe about $58,000 in loans. Their `job assistance` consists of emailing me ads from craigslist and monster.com, ads I could easily find myself. This school is a ripoff….
On Sun, 31 May 2009 at 15:11 a consumer in TX wrote:
I attended Westwood College and attended for 2 and a half years. All I recieved from westwood was over $22,000 dollars in debt to salle mae and no degree and no job. A lot of broken promises and grief, can you help?
On Sat, 30 May 2009 at 15:40 a consumer in CO wrote:
I graduated from Westwood College in October of 2006. I regret that decision every day. I feel like they did not help me at all….. They did not have teachers who taught us anything. The main criminal justice teacher (they basically had about 3 people that taught all the classes we had to take) they had was a retired police officer who told us stories about his past work experiences. He would show us youtube videos of car crashes and `funny` videos instead of teaching us anything…. I have about $60,000 debt and nothing to show for it at all. I now work as a security officer because I can`t compete with people who actually received an education at a regular college. For the money I spent, I could have gone to a real university instead of wasting two years there…. I received no help regarding getting a job at all. Their commercials are so false in that regard. Every day I hope that I can get help. I`m drowning in debt because of this `college.` I pay about $775 a month for the worthless degree I received.
On Thu, 28 May 2009 at 21:09 a consumer in sc wrote:
My daughter … did online course through Westwood Online. We were told it would be $3450 for a ten week course. She dropped out after only ten weeks when we found out the college had taken out a loan in her name for around $3000.00 that she knew nothing about. In the end she ended up owing about $10,000 for only twelve weeks.
On Sun, 24 May 2009 at 17:54 a consumer in CA wrote:
I was ripped off by westwood college. I wasted many years on a fake education and untransferable units that isn`t worth anything in the real world. I was lied to by an Westwood agent when I first met and they told me that all my units are transferable…at the end none of them were. Thier unqualified instructors & staff were constantly quiting their position or being fired left and right. A few left in the middle of our quarter and left us hanging without instructors and westwood refused to give us refunds for those classes after many of us complained and asked for our money back. Many students wanted to leave but they were discouraged to do so because they knew their units were not transferable so they stayed. I was never helped getting a job when I asked which was part of the deal. Thier accrediation & quality of education is worthless. Please help.
On Fri, 22 May 2009 at 14:40 a consumer in CA wrote:
I was ripped off, and taken advantage of by Westwood College Online. The school is a complete fake and phony! The financial aid department at Westwood Online NEVER could give me a straight answer on what I owed for each term. They are completely disorganized and the school should be shut down.
I`ll never recommend Westwood Online to anyone. Everything that you guys are investigating is True. The school doesn`t offer what they say they will, the financial aid department rips people off.
The President of Westwood Online should be ashamed of himself!!!
On Mon, 18 May 2009 at 22:08 a consumer in SC wrote:
Once all the paper work was sorted out (which took about six months) my rep immediately made me take out the loans I would need. She told me the EXACT amount that I would need to take out to cover my first year. She said IF and only IF I could not get that amount that I would have to make monthly payments to cover the difference. Luckily, with the help of my mom, we were able to get the right amount…. The first term started out with many complications with technological issues but once those were sorted out I found that the work was oddly easy…. The second term is when I found out about Westwood. The frauds and what not, so I dropped out halfway through the second term. As soon I was officially out of the school, I get slammed with a $150 dollar payment on a 3000 dollar loan that I knew nothing about. When I called and asked what it was for, they said that I owed them money because the loans and grants didn`t cover the whole tuition. Of just that one and a half term, when all the loans and grants I had were supposed to cover the whole first year. Now I am stuck with a $150 dollar payment that I can not afford and it is putting a dent in my credit score every month it goes unpaid. Also I was told by another rep from a different college, that this loan that I knew nothing about would greatly affect my eligibility to get financial aid at another college. And to top it off, because it is ruining my credit, I wouldn`t be able to get loans to go back to school.
On Mon, 11 May 2009 at 03:30 a consumer wrote:
I have been attending Westwood College Online since 0ctober of 2008. I have had concerns about their practices before but didn`t think much of it. I noticed that there were a few things that they just didn`t clarify to me, like the loan that they said I didn`t need, and they enrolled me without informing me that I had a loan. I was wondering what are some of things that are misrepresented by other Westwood students or staff.
