Ashford University

I have been going to Ashford University for 2 years, and I have never had a problem with financial aid. I have read the complaints and people should understand that you have to finish so many classes, before you receive any of the extra money. I do agree that some of the teachers are a little lax, and others are very strict. I believe they need more TA's. I have recommended Ashford to others, and they are very satisfied with the school. I believe that you should go to school to learn, and not get the money.

I enrolled in Ashford University online, in Sept of 2011. I was told by my admissions adviser that it would only take financial aid four weeks to get to them, and I would have it by the end of October. October came, and they claimed that I needed to fill out more forms, and they had to discuss matters with the Federal Aid people, before I could get my aid. I didn't actually receive aid until Jan. 2012, and they told me I could only get $634 out of $7,990 in my aid. I had failed one class, due to the fact that my computer crashed the first day of class, and it cost me $400 to fix it. The adviser told me I would have to be charged twice for that class, and have to retake it. I would have to take five classes for the term, instead of four. It is clear to me that it is a scam.

The teachers don't have real subjects that you can do research papers on, and the whole degree is based on writing papers for every class. Most are repetitive in content. The computer class was a joke. The teacher was of no help, and had no teacher's assistant. At the end of December, my admissions adviser, and my academic, financial aid advisers changed. The financial aid and academic person became one, and no admissions adviser exists now. I have a student, who is my adviser, and it is a joke. He also works for Everglades University online, because I checked into getting in with them, and he answered my call as an academic adviser there too.

This is all fraud and against the law. They are clearly pocketing our financial aid. I saw a post by them today in my emails, that they just now are applying for accreditation regionally, so therefore, none of their credits will transfer to regional colleges to get a masters degree. This is so bogus. I am transferring out to our state college in the fall or before. I know I am not staying at Ashford. Also, I was told that even that there are minor degrees offered, I wasn't allowed to take any along with my major. It is highly annoying how they chose what curriculum and classes you take, and wont let you chose when you pay dearly for it. I am sick about my choice, and will be leaving there as soon as my balance is zero with them.

In 2010 I attended a few classes at ASU. I was told everything financial aid wise, was taken care of. I am a reservist so I asked about the G.I. Bill and told it had been applied. A few weeks before my classes were to end for the term, I received emails telling me I owed around $1,300.00. Of course, I asked what this was for, since I had been told my financial aid was all paid. ASU told me it was a left over balance. I asked them how it could have been left over, would you not know this or notify me of this before class. ASU told me it was my responsibility to know what I owe. I told them how could I know I owe something if I was told my financial aid was covered? Long story short, they later sent me a letter offering to reduce the $1,300 to $625.

Upon reading the numerous complaints, I decided to challenge them on this. I made a complaint with ASU and that got me nowhere. Now I am trying to attend another college and of course, they will not release my transcript, until I am paid in full. This seems so unfair! At least I know I am not the only one out here experiencing this nonsense.

First, it is disheartening to view all these complaints about a university. Education should be about development not pain and frustration. I was a former enrollment adviser at Ashford University. I loved working with the new students and felt proud that I was making a difference in someone's life. Ashford afford free tuition for their employees; which attracted me to the position. At this time, adviser's pay was based on the enrollments of new students.

Enrollment advisers were told to push students, get them to fill out applications before the student was ready to attend. This is demonstrated by the 68% withdraw rate at Ashford. My enrollment team went through 5 managers in 4 months. My enrollment numbers were low, but I had a 100% retention rate for my students. Soon as I applied for classes and the tuition coverage, I started getting write-ups for poor performance. I was not allowed new student leads, instead I had to cold call old leads, many over a year old. I had more phone calls than anyone on my team. I complained and stated that the business practices used were not in the best interest of the students. I was terminated soon after.

My student problems began in the Spring of 2011. All of a sudden, $900 was placed on my account and I was notified by email. I contacted the school and they said it had something to do to the fact that I moved to Missouri and that I needed to contact Federal Student Aid office. I contacted FSA and they had no idea what I was talking about and they recommended that I contact Ashford again. My Financial Adviser could not explain why I had the balance and guessed that it had something to do with a grant I received from the state of Iowa. I wanted to then attend a different university; but found out that Ashford would not release my transcripts until the balance was paid. So I paid the $900.

I tried to get into another university but found out many of my credits would not transfer to the program I wanted. So I opted to return to Ashford. On May 22nd, my home was destroyed by the EF5 tornado that ripped through Joplin, MO. I informed the school that I would not be able to attend classes until I figured out my living situation. In late July I found that I was dropped from course due to lack of attendance. I then had to go through many hoops to get back into classes. I completed two more classes only to find myself dropped again. I contacted Ashford as to why, all of a sudden I reached my limit on federal funding. They never gave me an indication that I was close to this limit. Had I known, I would have made other arrangements.

I was told that I would not be able to attend classes unless I could get private loans. I tried; however, most lending institutions did not recognize Ashford as a viable institution. Thus leaving me 22 credits short and a 3.64 GPA. In December 2011, I received an email saying I owed Ashford $1345 due immediately. Again, without my knowledge or any indication that I would have a balance. Not even a mailed statement, just an email. Again, they will not release my transcripts. I was also told that they could not do anything about the balance. I am unemployed and have no means to pay off this amount. I just want to be done with the school entirely.

I have gone back and forth with the student dispute center and they say there is nothing that can be done about the balance. Now I find out all of these similar stories and the investigation that Senator Tom Harkin is conducting on these institutions practices. I have worked in diesel mechanics for many years. When we have a customer who needs a $1345 repair done to their vehicle, we don't perform the repair and then expect that customer to pay for it, holding his truck in the shop until he does. Instead, we inform the customer first, explain the problem, show them what needs to be done, and ask for his permission to make the repairs.

When I explained this concept to Ashford, they stated they did not see the relevance to my situation. If, by chance, I did make the $1300 repair to the vehicle without the customers consent, under the consumer fraud act, I would not be able to collect the money. Even if that was the case, I would gladly cover that repair because I did not conduct my business ethically. I want Ashford to do the same. I believe that all these students filing these complaints are entitled to their tuition being reimbursed by the University. I hope we can receive some kind of justice, it is not fair to students to be treated this way. We need to come together and bring more attention to this problem.

I was misled by the advisers at Ashford, in a coordinated and slick manner. The promises made were about financial aid disbursements that would enable me to attend school, full time online. They told me I would get the first 30% of what I was entitled to after 7 weeks, and the rest around the 20th of January. My advisers changed in the meantime, and my financial adviser and student adviser were combined into one. I asked him around the 14th, if he needed anything from me for the money to come as promised. He played me and pretended it was coming as planned, to keep me in school, and logging attendance. He then said it might be a week late. The day it was supposed to arrive, he would call me back to let me know. He didn't call. After multiple complaints from me, he called to say I had to wait for two more weeks of enrollment, then another two weeks for processing. He then said I could sign a form that would make the money available within 7-10 days, much sooner, and he would email it over to sign it, and then send it back right away so I could get the money sooner.

7 days has passed today, and now it's a whole new story. Now he claims I have to wait for another quarter to end, and the reason is because of that document changing all the rules. In other words, he intentionally conned me into signing a document by making me think it'd result in a more timely disbursement, and now spun it and is using it to not disburse anything until another quarter. This is the 3rd or 4th time they have knowingly, and in a coordinated fashion misled me, to get me to do what they want and to hold onto the money.

It is clearly a well coordinated scam that involves an intentional system of false promises. I went out and bought a new PC based on their promises and representations, so I could attend online classes, and now have a power bill due. The money did not come and my power has been cut off. They make promises and habitually mislead people to get an enrollment. They do not practice truth in disclosure ethically, and if you rely on them in any way economically you will regret it. They lie regularly.

The education is below par. The teachers do not teach you anything. The only thing they grade is grammar, not content, and often the teachers do not know the actual subjects at all. It seems so far to be a huge scam, and a way for advisers to access student loan money made in the student's name, and a con game follows so they can play games with it ,and control it. You are stuck in a position to try to get a degree, even though the education is laughable content wise, since you have no real instruction, just a book. Otherwise, you will be stuck with a huge bill and no degree. Don't fall for it. The positive comments here, are made by advisers benefiting from the scam. On campus students are also involved in the scamming.

I entered Ashford University in October 2007. I was told by my academic advisor that I would receive all the courses I needed to receive teacher certification except for my student teaching. In 2009, I was told this was incorrect and that I would have to take a few classes at Rio Salado College and complete my student teaching. I continued because I felt that they had me. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in July 2011 with a GPA of 3.97. Due to health issues I was unable to immediately start courses with Rio Salado. Now six months later I apply to Rio Saldo and learn as of July 1, 2011 they are no longer taking students from my state. I am now $40,000 in debt. My student loans are coming due next month and I do have the courses needed for certification as a teacher in my state. When I contacted Ashford, I was advised that I had slipped through the cracks because of a bad academic advisor and they had now changed the program. Yeah, right.

I had a bad professor and appealed the grade. I lost the appeal, but I won with the academic board who could not understand the directions on a paper that lost ten points out of fifteen. I was to have the course dropped, as if it never existed; and that's when the nightmare began. Ashford did not drop the course and charged me again for the repeat. I dropped two other courses due to a medical condition which landed me in the hospital and was charged for those also.

Ashford tried to tell me that they had no provisions for medical emergencies, but I pushed it and they came up with one. I was charged for the two courses and upon my graduation, Ashford placed six holds on my account, keeping me from graduating with my classmates. My GPA was 4.0, and I worked very hard for that with my Master's in higher education specialization. I completed my MAED in May 2011, and it took Ashford a year to fix the appeal overcharge and several months to fix the other two courses.

They kept changing my account and telling me that they had done things that I did not notice. They told me that I ran out of money and owed $1,571.00 for my capstone and my graduation. I ended up in surgery this past Thanksgiving and called to ask that they work with me, as I would not be able to work until March or April 2012, not to mention the fact that I have been unable to secure employment with my degree from Ashford because I do not have a teaching certificate.

They must have known that I would need that certificate, and it would have been easy to complete it while I was finishing up my Master's. Ashford refused to work with me on what they claim I owe and told me that it was going against my credit if it was not paid immediately.

It was extremely difficult to reach anyone at the University. I was led to believe that my fees were covered, then received a bill. Unable to cover that bill, they sent it to collections with a 33% charge. I spoke to Patricia ** at Caine and Weiner collections. The first time I called her she was nice, and told me to contact Brian **. He never returned my calls and it was so difficult to get email contacts or other names. Then she called me back a day later and was extremely nasty and hung up on me when all I said was I was going to give Mr. ** a week to get back to me. In the mean time, I need my transcripts for Law School that they will not release.

I enrolled in 2009, and qualified for full financial aid from the government and full Pell Grants. I maintained an almost 4.0 grade-point average for almost the entire time I have been there despite several medical emergencies, 2 surgeries, 2 hospitalizations a week each, (one because I almost died), and living in a horribly abusive relationship while being a full-time care-giver of my disabled child. The classes are okay as far as content, and I am sure I would have learned more if the teachers were more involved, but it seems like no matter what you post, you pass the class. And I have seen teachers post glowing feedback on discussion posts with maybe 2 or 3 misspelled, confusing sentences, with no citations, and no capitalization, when the assignment was for an in-depth post of at least 200 words with at least 2 outside references.

Also, since I have 0 income of my own, I need my financial aid to buy my books, and to pay for my internet services and computer upgrades to attend the school. Well, my experience with the financial aid department has been terrible. Instead of getting stipends every 3 months like everyone else I know who has been in college and received financial aid, I get sometimes only 2 stipends a year. Like in 2011, I have received a stipend in March, and one in June. That's it. I failed a class at one point because I had no electric for 2 days, no internet for over a week, and no phone for 3 weeks and missed a deadline for turning in a final paper. I already had a low grade for that class because of internet outages making me late on several discussions, and I wasn't allowed to submit the final paper once my internet was working.

That took 30% off my grade and I failed. I submitted all my paperwork to the school showing numerous technicians had been out to my house, but Ashford wouldn't reconsider. I was told that internet problems are not a reason to have trouble with internet school. They told me I should have walked to my mother's house, (15 miles away) to do my assignments or I should have bought a laptop (with my student loans that they never send me on time) and walked to McDonalds with my 4 year old son and done all my homework there. And since I failed the class, even though I was desperate for my next stipend and it was due, I was told I would have to wait until I passed 4 more classes (so 20 more weeks) before I would receive another stipend.

Now this is in October. It has been 4 months since my last stipend. I have $0.00 to buy books, my electric is about to be shut off, my internet is about to be shut off, and my computer needs a Microsoft upgrade for me to be able to do my assignments correctly, but I have to wait 20 more weeks to get a stipend. I emailed my financial aid adviser and called over and over. He finally got back to me several weeks later and told me there was nothing he could do. I was supposed to pass those 4 classes without the books so I could get the money to buy the books to pass the classes. I finally threatened to contact the attorney generals office. He laughed at me, and said "go ahead, we are doing what we are allowed to do. You chose this school." I sent a few more weeks of emails and finally he called back on November 17, and had me fill out and email back some forms to put me in charge of all my money, even though he told me Ashford will technically still be in charge. He then explained that since I am only a few classes from graduation, my stipend amount won't be that much, just $839.50 and that it will come in about 14 days. I asked if there is anyway to get it sooner since I am about to start a class and need the money to buy the book. He told me "off record" that usually the money is issued within a few days and that if it doesn't come within a week to contact him again. Well a month goes by and no money is issued and I am emailing every single day, 7 days a week.

He got back to me on December 16, and says nobody ever told me $839.50, there is no way I would ever be entitled to that much, and the largest amount they can cut me is $299.00 and that I have to pass at least one more class before I can get that. Now I am in a class that I don't have the book for and am just winging it and because of Winter break, I won't be done with this class until the end of January. So I will not see my stipend until February or even March. So I am going 8-9 months between stipends. I told my adviser that's it I'm going to the attorney generals office and he laughed at me again, told me to do what I had to do it wouldn't change anything. I was so upset I hung up. So he sent me an email that is really snide saying "You hung up on me before I could discuss your options. Seems we always have the same conversation Shannon and you never let me give you answers. Instead we run circles. Please call me." Well the only options he had given me was to keep trying to do the work without the books or assignments, or to withdraw and quit.

My daughter is attending Ashford on-line and having a horrible time. It seems that this school has a real pattern of misusing funds meant for students. I believe that there are two very simple reasons. One, is that many people are not going to realize that Ashford is cheating them. Ashford then gets to keep that money. But I believe that they make a lot of money through one simple technique, they keep all that lovely financial aid in their bank account for months and months, while they do their little runaround with it. It has to be millions of dollars each quarter, and the interest on that money has to be substantial.

Their scam starts almost immediately. You are given a choice between managing your own money, and letting them manage it. It is made clear, you should not manage your own money. They give you a very narrow window in which to pay for a class. They tell you that you can send the money in, but they might not open the mail for a period of weeks, at which point the money will be overdue, and there is a very substantial fine for being overdue. They can also fine for paying early. So, they make it clear, if you dare try to manage your own money, we are going to take it from you. We will make you regret it.

Has anyone else noticed that the online "teachers" do not exactly have a degree in the class they are "teaching", that they frequently do not grade or even read the papers (this is left for unpaid student volunteers, in other words, students with no degree at all, grading student work). They do not help their students, do not have to make a lesson plan, do not create the assignments (they come straight from the book), in fact, do not do much, besides write a few emails. For which I am sure they are handsomely paid but, with 15 or 20 or more students each paying about $1,500 for a class, the university is really raking it in.

Also, the textbooks they use a new edition for many, many classes. This means they will not buy the old book back, and they do not sell used books. No online book seller has the new edition, as a used book either. Just another scam. This college needs to be investigated, and a lot of changes made. Actually, I think it should lose accreditation, and all students be facilitated in switching to real colleges.

My daughter is just short of her degree. She has not had a stipend since June of 2011, and they say they will not send another until February of 2012, and that it will be $299, not the more than $800 they promised a month ago. She may have to drop out, and they say that if she does, they are going to keep all of her remaining money.

Solicited calls to my phone, have been called 20 times. I don't see how they think, having their calls forwarded directly to my voicemail is me showing them to keep calling. I'll never know. I will be filing a complaint directly to the governments no call list since I am on that. I renew every year.

I was contacted by an Ashford enrollment adviser while searching for an online college. I was upfront and told her I couldn't afford their tuition but she assured me on 5 different occasions that I would receive financial aid. She said I needed to go ahead and enroll and that I would probably be in my second class before my aid was approved. I emailed the FA paperwork 3 times, faxed it seven times and even requested a new FA adviser because the person I had never seemed to receive anything. Right after I finished my fourth class, I got an email from the school telling me this was my final demand for payment. At that point I stopped taking classes. The next time I heard from them was from a collection agency. I never received a single statement from Ashford.

I am now being threatened by a collection agency for payment and a charge-off on my credit report. I knew I could not afford Ashford's tuition and only enrolled there after I was assured I would receive financial aid.

I enrolled into Ashford University in August of 2011 and took my first class. I chose to attend Ashford because my husband attended the university and it seemed better than attending a traditional school. When I started the process in June, my enrollment advisor told me everything I would need to complete for school. This included my financial aid paper work.

In August I when I started my classes, I asked the school where my financial aid money was, they told me I didn't complete a financial aid form. I emailed them the form showing them it was completed and they still said they didn't see that it was done and that I would have to complete it again. So I completed another form, and they said it would take 8 to 12 weeks to complete the process. I then called them a couple weeks later to ask them where the process was and they hadn't even started with it yet saying that I needed to make changes to the form. So I made changes and they said it would take another 8 to 12 weeks. When I asked why it would take so long after completing it in June, they said that is how long it would take to process the form.

A couple more weeks went by, I called them, and the y told me I had more paper work to complete. I then asked for a new financial advisor. The new advisor walked me through the form to be completed again. He then said he would expedite the process to 7 to 10 days. Two weeks later and I still don't have an award letter, but the department of education has sent money to the school for me. I called them back, and they said I have another form to add to the financial aid packet and it will take 8 to 10 weeks to process. At this rate I will never see my money.

I was also administratively withdrawn from my class after completing all my assignments. It didn't matter if I had already completed my assignments. I was told I had to complete an assignment every 7 days. So I will probably never see my financial aid money, and will never be able to complete a class for the school. I am thinking of leaving this school and am going to call the department of education to make sure they get all the money back if the school won't give it to me. I don't want to get screwed over from getting my financial aid money when I go to another school.

Ashford called me a year ago and said that I owed them over $6000 because for 3 years, I was not told about an overdue balance that kept rolling over. They allowed me to continue taking classes all that time. After frantically trying to get in touch with someone at the university (apparently, my financial aid officer who has been changed several times was "not available"), I quickly paid $2000 on a CC and then had to jump through various hoops in applying for more money through the parent plus loan program. I was awarded this amount and was told that this would be enough to cover me through graduation.

Now, they're telling me that they are holding my degree until I pay for almost $3000 more! I am unable to talk to someone at the university or get a clear picture as to what is going on as the online system never seems to reflect the correct information, and neither does Ashford staff! Ashford always calls on Friday afternoons and obviously, I am not able to even speak to someone until the following week. I have documented all of the correspondence between myself, my father and Ashford. This is insanely frustrating and I am tired of crying about it. Somebody needs to stop these people!

I am a student with Ashford University. I receive grant benefits from FAFSA and Department of Veterans Affairs' Post-9/11 GI Bill. When I first registered with Ashford in August 2010, I was receiving a grant by the military for spouses called the MyCAA program and was approved for a Federal Pell Grant. When I transferred to Ashford, I reassigned Ashford to the MyCAA and Pell Grant to transfer my benefits. MyCAA made three payments on September 15, 2010, October 21, 2010, and November 6, 2010. MyCAA paid at 100%. Also, my FAFSA was available on my account as a safety net which has left me with no balance responsibility.

When my Post-9/11 GI Bill was approved, their first payment was made to Ashford finance department on November 22, 2010 in the amount of $2,250 which covered three months for classes starting on November 16, 2010, January 4, 2011, and February 8, 2011. From then on, they paid 100% in full, totaling $10,750 from November 22, 2010 to August 31, 2011. Each of my classes with the military grant program is $750 per class. When I file for FASFA, I always upload my tax information through the link they provide that will take you directly to the IRS.gov website and upload all of your tax information that they require. I have been approved for a Pell Grant up to $3,200. When corrections were submitted by the school on September 15, 2011 and was reprocessed based on my income, I was then awarded and approved for a Pell Grant up to $3,100.

My financial advisor at Ashford emailed me on Thursday, September 15, 2011 to advise me that she spoke to their Financial Aid office, and it turns out they overpaid me too much for Pell. So my next question was, how much was I approved for Pell and how much is the overpayment? To break down the payment history, I was paid for my Pell Grant refund owed to me $150 on November 21, 2010, $750 on November 16, 2010, $750 on December 3, 2010, $664 on February 23, 2011, $750 on May 24, 2011, and $1,650 on July 7, 2011, totaling $4,714 for the 2010 to 2011 fiscal year. So my financial advisor at Ashford emailed me explaining that the Financial Aid office contacted her, and they have discovered that they paid me too much Pell and are requesting that I pay back the entire $4,714.

I was outraged because if I am approved by FASFA and awarded by Ashford $3,100 after corrections were made based off my income, then why would I pay back every single penny of the Pell they have ever paid me? My financial advisor at Ashford advised that they told her - and I quote - "The student EFC was higher on the ISIR received July 26, 2011, so COD automatically returned the funds as the student is now eligible for less Pell." This did not make sense. So I then asked her exactly how much was I approved for Pell based on the Financial Aid's office. She advised - and I quote - "You were originally awarded $3,064 in Pell for Academic Year 1, and $1,650 for AY2 Pay Period 1 for a total of $4,714. They sent back $3,664 of those Pell funds and that would be what was owed." Again, this did not add up or make any sense because based on FASFA's website, they submitted my corrections on September 15, 2011 and I was eligible to receive a Pell Grant up to $3,100.

So I then called my advisor at Ashford via telephone and she informed me that I am required to pay back the entire $3,664 because the school paid back Pell $3,664. This still did not make any sense. I was more outraged. She offered to let me speak to her supervisor which at that time I declined because for them to ask for me to pay back that amount of money that was refunded to me, which by law I am entitled to if my benefits covers me at 100% and all of the money that I have going into that school from the MyCAA grant program, to a Pell Grant to now the Department of VA Post-9/11 G.I Bill, then why am I owing any balances? She was not able to explain to me why I would owe all of the Pell money back.

So my outlook on the entire situation is that now Ashford is telling me I was approved for Pell for $4,714, but because they overpaid me - which they are not telling me exactly how much they have overpaid me (I keep getting I need to pay back $3,664) - that's saying to me that I was never awarded a Pell Grant to begin with starting in 2010 to 2011, or only awarded $1,050. When I was attending Saint Leo University prior to transferring to Ashford, I was already approved and awarded Pell which whatever the balance was left over was transferred to Ashford when I switched schools. I completed the FAFSA website correctly as instructed whenever you change or update schools, so there was no fraud on my behalf. And there was no need to redo any FASFA for that year until I filed my taxes for 2010 in March of 2011.

The issue I am now having with Ashford is that if I was paid $4,714 and my award with corrections were $3,100, then their overpayment to me would be $1,614. I do not understand why Ashford paid back $3,664, and why would they ask me to pay $4,714 which will keep me from graduating until I pay the balance in full? I explained to my financial advisor at Ashford that someone in their Financial Aid department entered some incorrect information and dropped the ball. Either someone in that office is committing some type of fraud or they just simply cannot add and do math. There should be no way as a military spouse and student with approved grants (no loans) that I have a balance due to Ashford overpaying me in Pell money. No one can properly explain to me in depth or detail what my true overpayment balance is.

I told my financial advisor at Ashford that they need to get an auditor to review my account, and to not contact me until they have fixed their errors. They are wrong for trying to make me pay for the errors they have brought upon themselves. I can see paying the difference, but I do not see any reason why I would have to pay back $3,664 in Pell money unless they only approved me for $1,050 for the entire 2010 to 2011 fiscal year and having tuition paid at 100%. I have contacted someone with the military base legal to seek legal advice and possible representation to file a lawsuit against Ashford University for fraud and negligence against me for coming up with this bogus balance of money they have paid me which is owed to me because of their mistake, and not handling my account properly as a student which I trusted Ashford to handle for me.

I am due to graduate by 2012. I am enrolled in two classes every five weeks, which is accelerating my graduation date to February 2012 instead of July 2012. I am being told that I will not be able to graduate until the $3,664 balance is paid in full. This is wrong. I hope to get things resolved, but I'm extremely emotionally upset with them, and I do not plan to return to this school for a master's, nor will I recommend this school. I have also filed a complaint against them with the BBB. My legal advisor with the military is making calls and trying to get to the bottom of this. My feedback from Ashford is now they are looking into everything to see what went wrong. Regardless, I only have six classes left. I am too far in to quit. Even if I had to pay this money back, I was informed by base legal never go to a for-profit school. They are all about money. You best believe I will not be returning for a master's degree with them. I will graduate and write this off on my taxes as a deduction. I pray no one else has these issues either.

Ashford University is a rip off. My wife enrolled and the federal government released her financial aid but she never received her disbursement. I am trying to get someone at the college for help, but it is a futile effort to say the least. The US dept of education, the IA state dept of education, the IA attorney general, and IA senator **, have all cited the school for ethics violations. The parent company is currently and rightfully being sued for their shady practices. I have nothing good to say about this school.

I had a financial screw up with this university! Consumers beware! I was never placed as the correct level student after the review of my transcripts upon transferring in. After deciding to change my major, I found out that I had an outstanding balance, which should not have been the case. I called the individual who manages financial aid at least 12 times and he has never returned my calls as of this date.

I argued this for 6 months and they were not willing to remove the amount. While trying to work this out, I made payments and then choose to stop due to their lack of actually working on this issue. They sent it to an outside collection agency and I now cannot get this off my records or even get them to return calls. I just called the school again and because they sent to an outside agency they no longer have my records and are not willing to help me resolve this issue. This is now listed on my credit report and hindering my family from purchasing a new home.

Like many of you, I have the same story; how Ashford university had lied to me and had manipulated me. I enrolled in 7/09. I had a very nice, yet aggressive enrollment adviser. I did a review of the school and nothing bad came up. (I am just now seeing that all of the negative press just came to print in 2011.) I received my BA in Social Science with a concentration in Education in March 2011.

I was told I would be able to become a certified teacher when I was done, which was a lie, and that I would be done the program in a year which was also a lie. Though these lies were told I did still have a good learning experience with Ashford. I had a financial aid issue once and they quickly took care of it, though I had to demand to speak to management and make several emails and phone calls. I finished my degree and was considering going back for my masters.

My enrollment adviser told me I had been over awarded as a dependent student; when I am an independent student; therefore I could not get financial aid for the masters program. I then was told that they would look into it and let me know why my finances were mixed up. Two weeks later I get an email saying everything is fine if I agree to pay 5k by the end of my 4th graduate course. I was shocked, how did I end up owing 5k when I just graduated with a clear account. Ashford told me that since I was (wrongly) over awarded they had to send the money back to the lender. Therefore; I had to pay them. I feel like this is wrong and sketchy on so many different levels. How was I never notified and why are they just now seeing this. I asked if I could pay the lender back instead and they are telling me no. I called FAFSA and they said they have never received any returned funds. Now I am reading all of these complaints and, upon research, am finding many more stories similar to mine. I plan on fighting this and hope others do as well. They should not be able to keep scamming people like this!

I had a horrible experience with this university and do not want the same thing that happened to me to happen to someone else. I started with AU because they bragged about being a military friendly school and stated their pride in working with military families. In the beginning, they will go out of their way to get you enrolled and then, the support and friendliness stop there.

I took several classes and then took a few weeks off due to an uncontrollable health issue. My adviser stated that it was no big deal, that I would be placed in the dropped status, and after a few weeks, she would change my status back to active. I have the emails to prove it. That was in May and I have not heard from her since. She has not returned any of the countless emails or phone calls I have left for her since May.

Last week, I received an email from someone with AU's collection department stating that I owed $900.00 and it had to be paid within 15 days. This was the first correspondence I have had with anyone from AU. Apparently, they have some shady billing practices and the GI Bill, that my adviser assured me would not be affected by her changing my status, had to be refunded.

Now, they are coming after me for the money. No letter in the mail, no phone call to clear up the confusion, just a hateful email from some jerk hired to do their bidding. Please do yourself a favor and do not enroll here. I have several friends and family that are students and none of them have anything good to say about this university. Most of them quit just as soon as they start and have similar horror stories.

It is extremely overpriced. They are great until you're enrolled and then, they will never return your calls or emails again. They say that they are military friendly, but they are not looking out for our military. I plan to tell everyone I know and spread the word about the shady practices they exhibit. I also plan to contact every attorney general's office, the VA education benefits departments, the BBB and any other entity I can think of to get this place shut down.

I had a teacher give an assignment that had no opposing side. I appealed the grade and the school upheld the teacher's grade! I am a 4.0 and the assignment was "state whether or not you agree that death penalty is unfair to minorities". Give proof of those that oppose your view. After much research, there is no opposing view! Although people are for or against it, not one person felt it is fair to minorities! My grade was lowered by the teacher and accepted by the school as "fair"! After tons of research on Harvard, Cornell, law libraries, Ashford library --there is no opposing view! I have documentation and emails. I have nowhere else to complain to. Does anyone know what else can be done?

However, there are more complaints on this school.

I started in Ashford University on 28 Jul 11. I turned in all applicable FA on 29 Jul 11. It is 27 Sept and still no FA. I am frustrated with this process because AU was so excited and persistent about getting me started with class. Their constant phone calls to ensure that things were going smoothly gave me the perception that they were top notch, maybe the academic dept. but certainly not the FA dept.

I have called numerous times in hopes to get some answers to when I can expect FA to kick in to pay for these classes they were so adamant about signing me up for. I am not happy with the FA process, How long does it really take to overlook my paperwork and release the funds so that my account can be paid in full? It is discouraging because I feel I was set up and badgered non-stop to get started. Now that I'm a student, the phone calls have stopped. Matter of fact, I can't get my AA or FA adviser to even return my calls. I chose AU because my husband was attending, however he didn't need FA because he's receiving FA through the military. If I only knew I would have to go through such a rigorous process I would have taken a different route. I do not recommend this school, unless you have an alternative way to pay for school that doesn't involve going through AU's FA dept.

I owed a credit on my account for a failed class and 3 classes I withdrew from. I received my financial aid (student loan stipend), and they called me today to say that I owe them a payment. Well, they took what I owed on the balance from the financial aid because I now have a credit of $6150.50, yet Bethany ** or Nicole ** took upon themselves to remove me from my next class which starts next Tuesday. This is not legal and I feel that they are skimming money from students who are not aware of what their finances are at the university. I want help as soon as possible.

I left a voice mail to Dr. Elizabeth **'s Executive Assistant, so hopefully, something will be done as soon as possible. Do no attend in this university. Save yourself and money by attending in a normal school. This is a for profit university, and you will feel better if you do not have to deal with all the nonsense that this university puts students through.

The problem I have with Ashford University is the mediocre quality of the classes and the level of work they accept for the classes.

I was an employee there as well as a student. After taking a few classes there and seeing the quality of work that the school accepted for their courses, I was appalled.

The classes are set up with about 30 students to start with. Part of your grade is determined by responding to others in your classes. It was hard to find 3 intelligent people to even respond to in the classes. Most work was illiterate gibberish that was very hard to read. The level of grammar comprehension was terrible. People would write 15-20 sentences all jumbled together without a single punctuation except at the very end of their post.

There would be tons of grammatical mistakes. A lot of the posts looked as if someone was sending a text message to someone on their phone with tons of shortened abbreviations. Honestly, most students looked as if they only had a junior high reading and writing comprehension level.

The thing is it is a writing intensive program so grammar needs to be graded just as much as content. A lot of my assignments had minimum word requirements like 250 words, for instance. Again, 90% of the people in my classes did not get close to this number. Most posts were less than 100 words. How can you give someone even 75% credit for turning in 50% or less of the assignments?

I checked in the companies internal tracking system and a lot of the students in my classes had been attending Ashford at least 1 year and sometimes 2 - 3 years. It seems as if as long as you turned in work, they would give you credit and try to pass you along.

I knew a few people that were teaching assistants or actual instructors. First off, the instructors are more moderators than teachers. All you need is a bachelor's degree to qualify to be an instructor. Then you just take a few weeks course online and you can be an instructor there. The TAs and instructors are bound by university policy on what they can give credit for, and if someone does the assignment, they must give them credit.

I found out that this was pretty much because if the students wants to go there, they will do what they can to pass them. The reason is simple, as long as the student keeps passing classes, the school keeps getting the students' financial aid. The company doesn't care if you learn or not, they just want to get as much money as possible.

This is obvious fraud, they are not providing a bonafide college education.

I inquired about this school. I asked about the financial aid repeatedly, and I was given several different answers. I told them I was going to withdraw. And they said I would still owe the school. I had only been in class for three days. I don't recommend going to this school. They don't even deserve that.

I looked in to Ashford University, like, last year I believe. Well I haven't returned calls because I just started working and I can't afford it. I actually answered to hear what they offered and told the lady that I wanted something near radiology and she said I could do it through them, they don't even offer a course for it. Last time she called, I couldn't hear her. Her manager called me back saying someone was pretending to not hear, that if I wasn't serious I could stop wasting their time or mine. How rude! And I just saw all these complaints right now. I am not talking to them after this. Thanks for the reviews guys!

I withdrew from Ashford University over a year ago. I was told by them that their teaching degree would transfer to any state with no further testing. That couldn't have been any further from the truth. It's now a year after I withdrew and they have continued to call and solicit myself to comeback. Two weeks ago, I asked them to stop contacting me as I would never go back. After that conversation, I received an email stating that I now owe them hundreds of dollars for classes I took over a year ago.

I began taking courses at Ashford University online in January 2011. After taking my second course, I was told that I would no longer be able to take any courses until I send over the requested documentations. It was explained to me in the beginning that I was receiving financial aide prior to me starting any course. Around March and April, I was dropped from the school due to failure of documentation (that I submitted on many occasions). Not only did I send them to my financial adviser, but also to others in her department. I was told that my documents were received and I had to call to ask them to release the hold off of my account.

In July, I was contacted by their collection department, someone by the name of Victoria. She was extremely rude and instantly demanded a payment toward a balance of over $3,500. I asked her what was this in reference to. She said that she didn't have any information in reference to that. I immediately contacted my financial adviser and the school's financial department. April didn't respond, and others at the department once again stated that they never received my documents. I sent them the documentation once again and I still have the proof.

Finally, after a few days, April called to say that she received them and I now have to complete a new FAFSA which would allow them to pay the outstanding balance. I was upset because before going to anyone other than her, being my financial adviser, I felt that she should have been on top of this situation. I completed the FAFSA and was later informed that my account was sent to collections. I explained the situation to the agency ERS and they asked me to send them proof of emails, which I did.

April emailed me to say that I have to send them an agreement of payment from the collection agency. I asked her why must I agree to this when she already explained the process and said that they would cover it. She didn't respond to my email. I called her the following week and she gave me a list of things I needed to do (which meant to start making payments). She says that my financial aid was never sent off from the beginning because things weren't complete. She was trying to make arrangements for re-entry. I explained that I was interested in that unless this problem gets resolved. If things weren't complete, I should have never been able to take any courses. I have been doing everything they asked of me and now I'm responsible for this payment.

I attended the University for about 13 classes only. The financial aid was a mess but it eventually got "fixed" (for lack of a better word).

I decided to transfer. I know how these schools work with transcripts so I got mine while still enrolled and with a zero balance. Anyway, I withdrew and had almost $2,400 in my account. I was informed the account would be audited and I may get some while the rest go back. That's fine either way. It gets done and it all goes back.

30 days later, I get an email from collections saying I owe $1,182 (cost of a class?). There was no explanation despite my asking. It could be a scam for all I know.

The major issue with Ashford is the financial part. Withdrawing semesters and their own ledgers apparently are not being a true indication of things paid or the billing. I wouldn't recommend the school.

I was contacted by an Admissions Advisor via phone on December of 2006, soliciting what a wonderful online program Ashford had and how I could complete a degree in Teaching within three years. I explained to the advisor that I had no interest in teaching, that I had a background in Nursing and that if and when I continued school, my plan is to pursue my BSN.

She went on to tell me how since I was a stay at home mom, I would be wasting the opportunity that I had with their online program. After a month's worth of harassing phone calls from the school, I agreed. Really, what could it hurt? I continued with Ashford until my responsibilities to my family and my husband's business became too much with the course load involved (a new course every five weeks).

I attempted a Management course, logged in to Blackboard, went over the assignments and knew that the course would be outside of my ability at that time. So, I emailed my advisor during week 1 of the class telling her to remove me from the course. At that point, I called my advisor two days later and notified her that I was not able to continue my studies with Ashford and I was withdrawing. She completed the paper work and I thought every thing had been handled, that was Sept. of 2009.

On December, I received a phone call from Mr. ** advising me that I owed Ashford $1,200.00 for the last class (Oh yeah, they increased your tuition from $780.00 a class to $1,200.00 a class after your first 6 classes that were almost $400.00 a credit hour for UNDERGRADUATE degrees). I explained to him that I had dropped my final course and did not owe it. He advised me that my advisor failed to remove me from the class until Day 2 of week 2 and that I still had to pay for it. I called my advisor and told her the situation. She apologized and said that she was correcting it.

I haven't received anything else from them or a collection agency. I just enrolled at my local college to complete my Nursing degree. When I contacted Ashford for my transcripts today, theY informed me that I can't have them because I still owe them $1,200.00!

I expressed interest in the school sometime ago during an Education Expo held at work. They called me right away and the information at hand sounded good. A short time later; my youngest who was a sophmore in college decided to change schools (a much more exensive school). So my plans got put on hold. When the advisor called back I informed them of this and that it would be impossible for me to attend at this time due to financial situation. The calls stopped. "Great!" well a couple of weeks ago the calls started again; wanting me to enroll.

I explained the situation to them again and advised that my college plans are on hold indefinately and do not call me again. I have received at least 2 calls a day from them since that time. This is boarderline harrassment. I have told them time and time again that I am no longer interested and to note that in my file and remove me from their call list. They have not. The caller always says "Well there is nothing noted in your file; I'll make sure I put that in here. Sorry." Then the next day I get another phone call. I amgoing to report them to the Attorney General's office for the "Do Not Call" list,since they have been informed repeatedly to remove me from their call list. I suggest anyone that has a problem with them to contact your Attorney General Office and the BBB.

After a very short enrollment with Ashford, my husband Brian decided to discontinue his coursework. During the enrollment process, Brian was advised by his counselor that all of his expenses will be covered by financial aid, including the one-time $1200 technology fee.

After receiving no statements from Ashford, Brian received an email from the Ashford collections department trying to collect a debt and threatening collections with a 33% additional fee. It appears that the debt is a direct result of the technology fee that was somehow not covered by financial aid. Brian had only taken three courses with Ashford, had continued technical difficulties downloading his course materials, and definitely did not reap $1200 worth of technological benefits from Ashford.

After the email to Brian, I was added as an authorized person to his account in an attempt to resolve the debt on Brian's behalf. I continued to attempt to correspond with Mr. ** via email, as this was how contact was initiated and this method of communication is easiest for Brian and I given our work schedules. Mr. ** blatantly ignored all emails and Brian has now been sent to collections. We are receiving daily calls at our home from the collection agency and yet, still no communication from Ashford.

I expect the collection action to be discontinued, our credit record to be cleared, and be contacted by someone of significance at Ashford to resolve this debt.

I was enrolled in January 2011. I was told not to worru about my financial aid even though some of it was spent at my previous school. There would be plenty to pay till the next enrollment perios and I would be able to buy a computer. After three months I owed $425.00. I finished my fourth class and owed $2658.00. I asked how this could have happened when I was told I would have enough. I was told it was due to my previous enrollment. I told them I know you all KNEW that when I started. They initially told my I had extra then owed.

I have been trying to get in contact with a financial advisor from Financial Aid to resolve an issue and explain to me why I owe a $564.00 balance. I received a call from someone from the collections department at Ashford University telling me that I owe $564.00. I withdrew from the Universtiy at the end of April and was told that if I completed the 3rd course that I would not have to pay out of pocket.

I was instructed that a financial aid officer would be calling me and he never did. In fact, I've only spoken to him once since November and that was when he explained that I had an overage that would carry over to the next course. When I received the call from collections I was confused and could not get answers from the agent Chris. He simply stated very rudely that it was my responsibility to log onto the portal to check my balance. Now I am getting threatening e-mails stating that I may be charged up to 33% extra if I do not pay the money within 5 days.

As of today (06/29/2011), I have many, many issues regarding this school. I am at my wit's end! I do not know what to do - no one to contact any further on this issue.

I have made a complaint yesterday and I have an even bigger one today with Ashford and Bridgepoint. I was informed yesterday by Ms. Christina ** that if I do not agree to make arrangements to pay the school for the money (that was sent back to my lender) owed to the school, I will be put into collections.

I am unemployed and am trying to find a solution for this very quick. After no response from anyone at Ashford yesterday and this morning, I called my FAFSA representatives, who in turn directed me to my lender. I was told by my lender that the "funds were not in fact returned by the school", that I am in good standing with my lender and that I need to contact the school on this matter because they do not have any records indicating anything of sort.

I asked the representative one last question after feeling such dismay, " Can you see anything in my records of any return dated for 5/31/2011?"

He indicated once again, " Mrs. **, there is nothing showing that any funds have been returned on the behalf of the school."

Wow. Not only has this school claimed that they have sent my student funding back, but are trying to make me pay for a debt that already has been covered; and alter my financial status to cause me even more harm.

I am at my last! There are no e-mail responses or even a call back. Please, someone help me.

After entering this school, I had very good intentions for my education. I am a single parent with 2 other kids in college that goes on campus to other schools. After losing my business I was unable to afford books or any supplies or upgradable material for my classes. After sending my children to school with the better equipment, I felt my grants and loans can cover at least my books and internet fees.

I have constantly questioned the finicial aid department on the status of my loans and disbursements and after periodic changes of conselors, I was always unsure when or if anything was going to get done. Well classes have went by and the bill is constantly going up and books can not be purchase, I had managed found away to maintain my average within a little failure here and there because of no books( there is only so much research the a person can do). With the money in my account after 4 months from the orignal date, my classes were paid for and they did not schedule me another class, I decided to transfer! WoW, bad mistake!!!!!!!!!!!

After payment of the school, I had $1400 in my account that can be expected to be returned to my lender...within a month I was in turned billed for $3800! Where is this fair? I have tried to contact them and I will only get a voicemail and after countless emails, we only play tag on the internet! This is rediculous... And there is no one to help the students that really tries! What else will the government allow these companies to take from the poor??????????

In October of 2010, I was notified by Ashford about attending their university. The intake officer made it sound like this was a great choice for me and I decided to change the school I was attending and take on-line classes through Ashford. This was a big mistake on my part. I found out the intake person either lied outright or told half-truths. Ashford took all my financial aid held to monies that I needed to survive and buy books for my education. I had assignments disappear, was accused of plagiarism, something I have never done, and signed up for classes that I never agreed to and didn't know anything about until I didn't receive my money that was used to pay for a class I never agreed to take in the first place, and at that time I had a balance of over $3,000. This was the last stroke, I called the school to advise that I was dropping the school and going to another school.

In the months I attended Ashford I received All A's and two C's. One C was due to the fact that I was considering leaving the school and turned a last assignment in late the other was because I was accused of plagiarizing and given a zero for my last assignment. I feel that the advisors are incompetent and the school is only about money and that they do not care about their students. The money that was used to pay them I have to pay back so in a sense I am their employer and I would not keep on an incompetent employee. then to top it all off they notified me that I owe them over $600 dollars because I failed a class. I did not fail I left the school because of their incompetence. I would not recommend anyone enrolling at Ashford especially their on-line classes, they do not give you a book credit, charge more than what they will originally tell you and the advisors are not competent and not very smart. I should have known from the beginning when they kept sending for my transcripts to the wrong school and the advisor asked me if I attended another name!! Now, I went directly from my previous school to Ashford, come to find out she was sending the information to the wrong school. I made a huge mistake in attending Ashford and I would not want anyone to go through what I went through!!

Here is a taste of the documents I gave to Ashford and other various authorities. After all this hassle, I got a letter from Ashford telling me they were "dropping" me and reporting it to the Student Clearinghouse as such. I can't make it much clearer than to tell them blatantly I "withdraw". I responded to the letter telling them as such as after 2 emails regarding the matter never heard anything. I know I was cheated out of my money through their employee's conveniently losing all my pertinent paperwork. I have more information, but here goes with the vital information.

I am writing to notify all concerned departments that I, Caroline **, am withdrawing from Ashford University, LLC. I have decided after the ordeals I have been through at this for-profit "university", my educational goals will be better served in a traditional public/private university setting. Since I started with Ashford in January of 2009, it has been nothing but sales, negotiations, and misplacing of various (and sensitive) financial documents. These were mainly lost by Rodrigo ** my (and I use the term loosely) Financial Aid Advisor.

After we had told many individuals that both I and my husband had been the victims of identity theft in the past. Anytime my advisors in any department were changed, I was never notified and would only become aware of the change after I had gone into my Student Portal to email the intended party. My decision to leave Ashford comes mainly from the fact so many documents were lost and the most mandatory being my "Change of Circumstances" for the 2009/2010 school year, that was mailed to Ashford 4 times. It makes no difference now since I am of the belief Ashford/BPI either got my Pells for last year and kept them, held onto the paperwork too long to avoid paying me monies I would have been owed, or lost my paperwork through general mishandling.

I am sick of dealing with Ashford's lackluster "customer service" and blatant avoiding of my legitimate questions. I have to pay most of these monies going to Ashford for my tuition back to the government (from my loans), therefore, I should not have to leave various emails/voicemails just get a simple question answered. It seems I can never get anyone on the phone in any department. I have notified parties at Ashford already that I filed complaints with the Attorney General of PA, The BBB of Iowa, The Higher Learning Commission, and the Board of Education (Iowa division).

Scott and I also have contacted an attorney regarding my/our situation. I know you have been investigated last year and this year on behalf of students and shareholders alike for fraudulent practices. I have seen numerous students who have gone through similar circumstances with Ashford, listed on various complaint boards. I have also seen the Frontline report on "for-profits" where a former Ashford "Admissions Advisor" spoke of the way they are expected to "close on at least 12 students" a week, and hit a sore spot for the student where they see the only way out of their situation is by attending your school. As a result of my experience, and the research I have conducted, I will expect my transcripts be sent within a timely manner when they are ordered and that at least some of my credits transfer-since you are accredited. If this poses an issue as well, this information will also be passed onto our attorney.

I am writing to you in regards to several financial issues I have had (and am still having) with Ashford University owned by Bridgepoint Education. I was assigned a new Financial Aid advisor some time late last fall (however I was never notified by the university, and was soon to find out this would become a trend). I began sending documents to my new advisor Rodrigo ** as instructed, and suddenly my financial aid folder began missing paperwork. On average, I have had to send every piece of financial information on an average of 3-5 times as documents keep coming up missing and then it is held against me.

My husband (who was assigned the same advisor had the exact same issues). In fact when we had to keep calling Financial Aid about the documents, it was remarked by other staff members that we had "very thick folders". My concerns started months ago when it took repeated faxes, e-mails, and several voicemails (since no one ever answers their phone) to follow up on anything. Then when we would get a hold of someone we would be told yet again that there were documents missing that had been sent in already.

They came up missing with no record of ever receiving them.

We sent documents again on 3/31/2010, after we both had called and for an update on the Circumstances form and were told there was more missing documentation that we "never sent in". At this time I was informed by my new advisor Jim ** that I needed to send all my paperwork in again so I did. Scott (my husband) kept calling over the past several months and finally got his retroactive funds in August of this year. Nothing on mine yet, so I sent them in for a third time on 7/08/2010 and heard nothing. I finally sent my new advisor Jim ** (who I was never notified of, even though I had requested a change several times) an email on 09/15/2010 asking where my paperwork was in the process, and still heard nothing. It should be noted that when you send in this paperwork they tell you there "is no time frame on how long it will take to be processed". Two days later, I contacted the Ombudsman Office on the campus.

They have me a great lady named Carmel who also got me in touch with a manager in the Financial Aid department (which I was told before through people in Financial Aid, I could not speak with). Rebecca ** has been actively involved and is working with her supervisor and one in processing to attempt to get my funds. However, this also has taken many repeated phone calls. I am writing to you because they are telling me they have no record of any Change of Circumstances paperwork before 07/08/2010, and now they are telling me they will not award me retroactive funds for 09/10 because I filed for a change after the beginning of July, when in actuality this was the third time I have sent in this paperwork this year. They state they are only allowed to award funds at certain times by the government.

Fine but then Bridgepoint Education should have to pay me what Ashford owes me since it was their mess up completely. Now due to the inept actions of the Financial Aid department I am being refused monies that I am owed and now need and we have no money coming in, and I will not be able to continue going to school without it. Rebecca told me if she had been involved sooner she could have resolved it but once again Ashford never told I was allowed this help. If I ran my business this way, I would have no customers at all and would be sued right and left.

The bottom line is, I want and need these retroactive funds and am now being denied due to something that was the fault of this incompetent and lazy department of this shoddy online university. I also just saw they were being investigated by your office and the Office of the Inspector General last year for similar complaints by students. I also noticed that they are currently being investigated by The Kendall Law Group on behalf of the shareholders for fraud in regards to marketing practices. Your assistance in getting what I am owed would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to call me or e-mail with any additional questions. Once again, thank you so much for any help you can give.

I have previously submitted my issues regarding Ashford University and felt I should get an update out here. I am trying to enroll at the University of Phoenix so that I can complete my Masters program. As I am a 100% financial aid student they have been working hard getting me the funds I needed to start.

I went to the website, www.nslds.edu.gov which will give students a list of all the money they have used to fund their education. It stated that Ashford used $9,087 for classes between January-April 2011. I was dismissed in December 2010! I contacted Ashford and they stated they would send me a form to fill out to cancel my student loan and would "take care of the rest".

I don't know why they haven't taken care of this when they dismissed me but have taken 5 months and only after I called them to start the process. I was dismissed for "taking too long" to complete classes, I would have been 7 weeks over their time frame when I graduated. I was also never notified by anyone at Ashford regarding this rule or any warning.

I did take off 3 months when my father died in October 2009. After speaking with other universities like Phoenix and Grand Canyon University, they stated they have never heard of such a thing. Anyway, for all of you who are reading this and considering Ashford, don't go! There are so many complaints right now about them as well as fraud investigations. I have contacted the Attorney General of Iowa regarding this situation and would encourage anyone else who has experienced issues with Ashford to do the same.

I have spent $32,000 on an education that I do not have a degree to show for. I have to start all over and pay the money all over again to obtain my degree. I have spent so much time getting the run around from them when I called to clear up my financial aid so I can start with a new school. I have received harassing and threatening emails and phone calls from the financial aid department stating they are sending me to collections for a $110 graduation fee that is still pending.

When I told them I was not graduating because they dismissed me they stated I still had to pay a fee because I was a student there. They also stated that my credit would be ruined if I didn't pay it. They are a bunch of bullies! I have worked for 2.5 years to get this degree and it is so disheartening when all my hard work, time and money is down the drain.

I enrolled at Ashford University in February of 2011, and thought everything was going to be great until they received my financial aid. They received my financial aid which all together between grants and loans totaled $6,197.00 dollars. I took two classes with them and it costed me $3,522.00. On April 8,2011, I received a check in the mail for $100.50, while my account did and still does show a positive balance of $2,575.00. Besides all that I was not getting returned emails or phone calls and had finally had enough. I called and finally got a hold of someone and told them that I was not going to register for the next session and that I was going to finish my current class, that I had a week left in and was transferring.

They still have my money and it has been almost a month. Today I get an email that states they cancelled future financial aid and are sending back $2,931.00 to my lender and there is a possibility that I will owe them money. And I do not understand why because my classes are already paid for, but it shows in my account a positive balance of 2575.00. Anyway they are ripping me and countless others off and do anything else but do not enroll here. You will be sorry. I was a transfer student and Ashford is very vague about answering questions. I am going back to my other school as they are very up front about how their financial aid works and they give you a specific date on which you can expect your excess funds. There are better schools.

I have been at Ashford since Jan 2011. The school has been a nightmare since the day I contacted them. First are the horrible intake counselors who told me nothing but lies and would not call back or email me. They kept telling me I was late on my class work and I had not even started, I was starting the next week. My co-worker finally called her counselor who took over. Things got a little better. Of course, the first counselor said I could not transfer counselors, funny how I did, huh?

Then the financial aid nightmare started. My husband was rushed to the ER right before I started college, and the financial aid counselor called to tell me I had not completed my forms and to leave my husband's side and go home and complete them. Guess what I told him? Then the jerk called back in an hour and said he found the paperwork, so never mind. Then he called two days later claiming he never said he found the paperwork. He called and harassed me so much that I asked my adviser to give me someone else and make him stop calling me.

Then they gave me another financial counselor who was okay and helpful after you figure out what questions to ask her. Well, I just talked to her last month and she said she had everything, no problems. I was good to go. She kept telling me I had not submitted my tax returns and they were going to cut off my financial aid. They threaten this a lot so I get used to it. I finally figured out she wanted the 2010 tax return, not the 2009. I had not filed it yet, it was not April 15 yet.

Now I get a letter again today, saying they are cutting of my financial aid because I refused to submit a paper and they were trying to call me all day and couldn't get me on the phone. There's no name on the email, and the email was not from my financial counselor. I was at my desk all day. There were no phone messages. What a lie. I had my cell phone with me also. They have called me in the past. And, the link they sent me to fill out more paperwork is not a real link!

So, I call back, ask for my financial adviser and was told she wasn't my financial adviser any more. No one is! I left a complaint with the supervisor, want to place bets if anyone calls me back?

If you want stress, headaches, and constant irritation, go to Ashford. The classes are great, the financial department is beyond your worst nightmare. And, it never ends! I've gone for a month without harassing letters form the financial aid department, that's a new record. And don't forget they are going to turn off your financial aid. Don't use this college!

I began with Ashford University in May 2008. I was going to attend my alma mater, University of Phoenix. But Ashford stated they were $200 cheaper on tuition and the courses were exactly the same. I did have some personal issues happen. My father died in October 2008 and I took a couple of months off from school. According to my academic advisor, this was fine because they understood that life happens and as professionals, their students may take longer to complete their degree. Well, a month ago, I got an email telling me I have been dismissed from Ashford University for taking too long to complete my degree. I have 9 credits left (3 classes) which include my Capstone. I will have taken 7 weeks over the time they consider to be too long. I will lose all my credits and financial aid. I was never given a notice before this from anybody at Ashford University.

When I tried to contact anyone, my financial aid advisor to the person who sent the letter, I received no response. Only after I told them I was going to contact the detectives on the fraud cases against them did I receive a response telling me that I could appeal their decision. Since then, I have received numerous harassing phone calls and emails from their collections. They have told me that they need my $110 balance paid off or they are sending me to collections. I have spoken to the man who calls me. I sent emails and left messages. I explained that I was a 100% financial aid student and was appealing the dismissal, so I was not going to pay this balance until a decision comes through. They sent me another nasty letter telling me if I do not pay the amount, they are sending me to collections and it would ruin my credit. I am so upset that I did not go through the University of Phoenix. I never had any issues with them. And they have even helped me with suggestions during this ordeal with Ashford University. I wish I had done more research on Ashford before choosing them for my master's degree.

Basically, my experience found Ashford University to be dishonest and unprofessional. Once enrolled, only the finance department was accessible. I wanted to pass along my experience at Ashford University, as it has not aligned with your website's mission statement of social responsibility and educational focus. I enrolled at Ashford University after my enrollment advisor (Nicholas **) completed what he deemed a conservative pre-evaluation of transfer credits. He provided a recorded, verbal guarantee of the maximum course work needed to complete my degree. Two courses in, the official requirements arrived to inform me that the original expectations would only complete three quarters of the degree program.

At that point, my previously ultra-accessible enrollment advisor was nowhere to be found. In his defense, he apparently received a promotion and did not feel that a return phone call was necessary, even to this day. In what now seems to be an Ashford University administration tradition, I also never heard from Nick's boss (Chris), or Chris' boss (Marcus **). Unable to reach the enrollment department after numerous attempts over the next few weeks, I withdrew from the scheduled future course work and spent the next several months trying to resolve the matter myself by tracking down anyone at Ashford University that I felt could possibly help.

Unfortunately, the lackluster customer service continued, so I decided to file a grievance. The official 30-day formal grievance process began on 29 Sept 10 and is still in progress almost four months later. Every attempt to follow-up on the matter has resulted in the same--the investigation is currently in the final stages message from the resolution coordinator, Helen **, starting as early as 5 Nov 10.

As a transfer student, I should be nearing the completion of my degree. Instead, after six months in limbo, my educational goals have been delayed indefinitely; I have missed the opportunity for tuition reimbursement through my employer, and have wasted huge amounts of time and energy. This entire process and experience with your university has been extremely frustrating due to the lack of customer service, urgency, and concern for student issues. The effort and service provided has been so abysmal that it is almost comical, certainly ironic, considering that Ashford University is an institution of higher learning responsible for developing others.

At this point, I do not expect anyone associated with Ashford University to listen, but hope that voicing my concerns to Bridgepoint Education, as well as through other local, state, and federal entities will allow future unsuspecting students to benefit from my negative experiences. Thank you for your time.

I enrolled at Ashford and applied for all its loans. I am a full time student and single mother so I was looking forward to my excess funds covering the cost of living. I have been through at least 6 financial aids now and I keep getting a different answer to the question. Where is my money? They finally sent me a form to fill out and sent me a check for $501.90. When I called to ask where the additional $3,000 was they made a lot of excuses. I finally got an e-mail telling me that a check for $1,000 will be sent to me after 14 days.

I am still waiting and I see that it is still not the balance on my account. I am outraged as this is my money, money I am required to pay back so I am entitled to it. I want to quit but then I lose everything. Ashford is a scam. They should have been upfront with me to begin with. I am going to the Better Business Bureau if all of my funds are not given to me. I am struggling now with debt that I assured myself school loans would help cover. I am devastated because I thought that this was the right choice. I am now in debt to the government for school loans, money that I cannot touch. I had to pick up a second job to help make ends meet and that barely pays daycare. I wasted time waiting on that money and had to borrow money to pay the phone bill just to have access to the web site to take the classes. Now I am sick with regret and there is no way out.

Ashford University are a bunch of lying crooks. I'm a 43 year old Active Duty US Army Supply Specialist/E-4, stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. Back in July 2010, I received a phone call from a representative from Ashford University named Lloyd Evangelista. Lloyd and I hit it off immediately, because he is a "military brat", and he promised me that Ashford would not take my grant stipend check. Well, after the financial aid rep confirmed with me to wait for 2 more weeks and months, still no to stipend check! As a matter of fact, my online Ashford University portal financial account states that, I owe them more money! Ashford reps are dishonest and greedy! Now, I have no funds to even catch a Greyhound bus to my home in South Los Angeles, and to pay bills (no Christmas etc)!

I assumed all was in order when I received notification that I met the graduation requirements to participate in the graduation ceremony in October, 2010. I continued in my classes and I received my last refund/stipend check in early October which in my mind implied that everything was paid in full.

The representative stated that it was never deducted and I received a stipend of the balance. I was given a number to contact my financial aid advisor (who I had never heard anything from and is my third or fourth advisor since I've been enrolled in 18 months).

I asked her why did she not contact me about the owing the fee and it appears from my statement that it was paid. She responded that it was my responsibility to contact her and that financial aid does not pay for the fee and that they do not offer waivers on the fee. I told her that it was not even a matter of waiving the fee. I asked where does it state that financial aid does not pay the fee and besides I could have paid the fee from my stipend if that was the case.

At no point did anyone contact me and it appears on the billing that I had paid the fee. For months, from July to November, not once did anyone even state that I still owed the fee. I am presently unemployed and I literally do not have the money to pay for it. I am now having to pay over $17,800 in loans for a degree that I cannot even get transcripts for. It was not enough to have to wait 14 weeks to get the stipend and now for $110, nor are online students offered any career services (I tried to get career assistance and was told that they will look at my resume, but that is the extent of it). I cannot even get transcripts. I cannot apply to jobs acknowledging that I graduated because of this and now I received a collections email that I will have to pay an extra 34% if I do not pay within five days.

I asked the Department of Education Ombudsman office for assistance, but the rep assigned my case was either incompetent or was afraid of the company as she never submitted my verbiage and incorrectly summarized my issue, of which the case has been closed. (I have all documentation needed) I almost felt like they worked together and that they attempted to sweep it under the rug. I have documentation of my ledger, my grades, Bridgepoint Educations pitiful response letter, emails from the Dept of Education closing the case.

If you tell me that I do not have a case, then I will try to get the funds somewhere to pay for the fee and try to put it behind me. For me, it is the principal of the issue and the arrogance of a for profit company that is basically taking federal dollars and not really offering anything in return. The company is not trying to help graduates find work by offering no career assistance. They hold onto stipend monies for up to 14 weeks. Customer service is a joke and it appears that all of the financial aid reps are on the defensive and treat students like they are ignorant. Don't get me wrong. There is a place for for-profit educational centers, but ethical responsibility is a necessity and I believe that Bridgepoint education is not ethical.

I have available the response letter from Bridgepoint Education that does not address my issue, but turns it totally around. I have my response (Please see below) that sent to the ombudsman who never forwarded it to Bridgepoint (which I sent to TR ***, the Vice President of Finance, who seemed to have the arrogant attitude so there is no way he can deny that he did not receive the information). I have all the emails and conversations relative to this:

"Lisa did not forward to you my response to your letter. Please take note of this because I will be bringing this to the media and my attorney general's attention as well as my congressman. This letter does not adequately address my complaint. In fact, it does not address my complaint at all. They twisted everything that I submitted. The letter incorrectly attests that I stated that I was told that "all I needed to do was to submit the petition to graduate form to graduate." I am insulted that anyone with good sense would think that a petition to graduate would suffice as a graduation requirement.

I stated that when I submitted the petition to graduate, I received an email stating that all was in order for me to graduate and the petition was approved. As the form indicates that the fee would be applied to my account and as you can see on their submitted attachments, it did appear on my account. There is no debate that the fee was to be paid by myself and that it should be on my account.

That was never the issue. The issue that they failed to address was that they never indicated that financial aid could not be applied to the fee and when they mailed me the stipend (the balance after all expenses are paid) in October approximately a week before the graduation ceremony implied that all financial obligations were satisfied. It would be great if they can offer their definition of stipend.

There was no reason for me to believe otherwise that financial aid would not cover the graduation fee as it covered the technology fee.The letter also incorrectly attests that my complaint was that no one told me about the graduation fee. My complaint was that from July to November, 2010, no one contacted me to notify me that financial aid would not cover the fee. If that was the case, I reiterate that I could have taken the money from the $1900 stipend check that was sent to me in October and applied $110 to the fee. If that meant cashing the check and sending Ashford $110, then I could have done so.

That is my complaint. I received notification on November 15th a week after my completion date of November 8th that a balance was due in the form of an email. Why could they have not sent an email in any of the months prior to November that financial aid does not cover the fee? The response that Ashford University provided was an insult as they are insinuating that I just do not want to pay the fee. I told them that I do not have the money to pay the fee as I am unemployed and I felt that had they informed me that financial aid did not cover the fee, I could have made arrangements to pay the fee before I completed my classes. They told me after the fact. This letter was just an example of Ashford's arrogance.

They did not address my complaint at all. I also requested that they put a system in place to make it clear to students that financial aid does not cover the graduation fee, so no one else would experience this since over 85% of the student population is online and has some form of financial aid. I guess that request is also out the window. It is not enough that they do not provide any career counseling for their online students, make students wait 14 weeks for their aid and now they want to hold my degree hostage for $110. They got $17,600 from me and withhold my degree for $110? It is the principle of the issue for me now. This is a lesson learned and I can truly understand now why for-profit schools are given a bad rap. Ashford has already made money off of me and the Federal Government and now they are just ready to move on to the next body."

I also submitted this to the BBB in Iowa, who stated they referred the case to the BBB in San Diego of which Bridgepoint Education handles it. When I first looked at Ashford's profile on the BBB website, they were not members of the BBB and they had a rating of C-. However, Bridgepoint Education in San Diego was a member and had a rating of A. If you look on there today, you will see that Ashford now has a A rating as well. I have not heard from them at all and cannot get a live voice so I am very doubtful that I will get any fair response from them.

To be honest with you, they are such a huge company. I would not be surprised if there were politicians that are investing in Bridgepoint and the legislation regarding for profit universities proving a history graduate career success will not be forward. If you cannot help me, I will just get the media to help. I want the public to know what these schools are doing. I worked hard for this degree (3.86 GPA) and I will not allow them to treat me like some poor ignorant woman who does not understand the process. I am very clear on the process and I do not want them to get away with it. Can you help me?

Ashford is holding my excess money past the time they said they would refund the money to me. I was told 14 days that I would have a check set up to come to me and they we are going on three weeks almost four weeks that I have not heard anything. I constantly call and nobody has answered for me or called me back. They just keep telling me they are behind but I do not believe this is the case. They were not behind when I submitted my request for my funds and have given them all the information they needed. I pay interest on this money and they refuse to mail it to me. I have complied and have confirmation emails saying they will refund the excess funds to me within 14 days.

I am really surprised at some of the comments that appear on this site. I have been enrolled with Ashford University since September 2009 and have found it to be a good experience. Some of the people who are complaining about the financial aid package need to remember that the money comes from the Government who decides how much you're supposed to get. If you can't afford the books, by the way, you simply need to find another school and quit whining about it.

There seems to be a huge misconception regarding Financial Aid to receive title four funding (Loans/Pell) you must have a third party that administers these programs. The students that are complaining about Ashford "holding" their money is false. It can take up to 45 days for the release of funds from the third party. All Ashford can do is requesting your funds be released.

I have been attending on-line courses with Ashford University since July of 2010. I have had a good experience with the University so far, however my last class ended in disappointment. I had submitted my last paper in a timely manner and within the standards of the University. Unfortunately the submission was lost in data bit bucket, so I received a zero grade. I fully understand the position of the instructor and the limitation in which she most operate. So I filled out an appeals form and received what I feel was a canned response.

It was stated that no fault had been found on the part of the instructor, which was not my contention in the first place. Being familiar with the software used by most universities for submitting work, I feel that no attempt to uncover the problem. It is either a lack of effort or worse a lack of competence, both are inexcusable from an institution of higher learning. The software in question contains markers when a submission has occurred and notations as to the acceptance or rejection due to corrupted data. Most instructors at any other university have been trained to find these anomalies within their user interface software. I find it unconscionable to be ignored and cast off by someone whom I feel has been hired by me and others to do a competent job. It has made me reconsider my judgment in hiring them and I am now considering ending our relationship.

My experience with the online component of Ashford University was impossible. Before I enrolled, I don't feel that I was told all the relevant information and many times throughout the year I went to school there, my questions were never answered fully or in a timely manner. It's taken a month to get a hold of someone who knew what they were doing to be able to pay my balance.

The instructors were not helpful in answering questions regarding course material or going into further detail about what they were looking for in the papers that were required. One instructor simply never got back to me. I was told different rules and regulations almost every time. I called and finally requested to speak with a supervisor who wasn't much more help. The financial aid officers wait so long to get back with me, my academic advisor withdrew me from the school. I'm now another $13,000 in debt and have gotten nothing in return.

I wish I had read all these complaints about Ashford before I signed up. My experience has been so similar to everyone else's. It seems almost silly to add it. I was lied to about everything from my financial aid to the way classes would be scheduled. My "recruiter" assured me that I would not have any 101 level classes while they evaluated my transcripts. So there was no possibility of my paying for something I would already have credit for taking.

Something has to be done to stop these people before they make the government close down distance learning programs in general.

Below is the letter I sent to the BBB of Iowa and the Iowa Board of Education, and the Attorney General of PA. Currently, after being told I was eligible for my 2010/2011 Pells to be sent to me (9/16/10). They are still holding my money and collecting interest because my account is now "under review". Surprisingly, it only went under "review" after they were informed I had filed complaint. My husband and I have both been taken by them.

I am writing to you in regards to several financial issues I have had (and am still having) with Ashford University owned by Bridgepoint Education. I was assigned a new Financial Aid advisor some time late last fall (however, I was never notified by the university, and was soon to find out this would become a trend). I began sending documents to my new advisor Rodrigo ** as instructed, and suddenly my financial aid folder began missing paperwork.

On average, I have had to send every piece of financial information on an average of 3-5 times as documents keep coming up missing and then it is held against me. My husband (who was assigned the same advisor had the exact same issues). In fact, when we had to keep calling Financial Aid about the documents, it was remarked by other staff members that we had very thick folders. My concerns started months ago when it took repeated faxes, e-mails, and several voice mails (since no one ever answers their phone) to follow up on anything. Then when we would get a hold of someone, we would be told yet again that there were documents missing that had been sent in already.

The case I am writing to you about is specifically regarding a Change of Circumstances form that would allow me to be eligible for Pell Grants. Ashford based our financial award off of our 2008 taxes last year even though we told them several times that my husband has been unemployed since September 2008, and I am an unemployed full-time student. It was not until January of this year, we were even notified there was a form we could fill out to note special circumstances in which we would be awarded our Pells (another case of Rodrigo dropping the ball). We both live solely off my husband's money and being as such sent in our Circumstances form on 1/14/2010, along with supporting documentation and our independent verification forms 10/11 as required. They came up missing with no record of ever receiving them.

We sent documents again on 3/31/2010, after we both had called and for an update on the Circumstances form and were told there was more missing documentation. At this time, I was informed by my new advisor Jim ** that I needed to send all my paperwork in again so I did.

Scott (my husband) keep calling over the past several months and finally got his retroactive funds in August of this year. Nothing on mine yet, so I sent them in for a third time on 7/08/2010 and heard nothing. I finally sent my new advisor Jim ** (who I was never notified of, even though I had requested a change several times) an email on 09/15/2010 asking where my paperwork was in the process, and still heard nothing. It should be noted that when you send in this paperwork they tell you there is no time frame on how long it will take to be processed. Two days later, I contacted the Ombudsman Office on the campus.

However, this also has taken many many repeated phone calls. I am writing to you because they are telling me they have no record of any Change of Circumstances paperwork before 07/08/2010, and now they are telling me they will not award me retroactive funds for 09/10 because I filed for a change after the beginning of July, when in actuality this was the third time I have sent in this paperwork this year.

They state, they are only allowed to award funds at certain times by the government. Fine but then Bridgepoint Education should have to pay me what Ashford owes me since it was their mess up completely. Now, due to the inept actions of the Financial Aid department, I am being refused monies that I am owed and now need and we have no money coming in, and I will not be able to continue going to school without it.

Rebecca told me if she had been involved sooner, she could have resolved it but once again Ashford never told I was allowed this help. If I ran my business this way, I would have no customers at all and would be sued right and left.

Interesting bit of info. For-profit schools get 90% of their funds from federal monies. Bridgepoint went from $28.62 million in 2006 to $454.32 million in 2009 (just from keeping and drawing in the wary and unsuspecting). We are currently thinking of filing a lawsuit.

First let me say that anyone taking classes at Ashford University should first enroll into a local community college or one in-state with online classes, you will save thousands of dollars on tuition and far less problems with your financial aid money.

Now the problems, mine is the same as many here, the financial aid department. They are notorious for lying to students about their money, holding funds and giving students the run around. They do attempt to enroll people in useless classes just to get the money. The people in financial aid are very rude, not very professional and clueless about people needing funds to buy supplies and pay for school expenses.

AU makes the threat that if you withdraw it will mess up your financial aid for a year, not true, just have your paperwork completed at the new school you choose and the rollover will be flawless. They tried to pull that on me and when I enrolled at the local community college with online classes, everything went perfect and I got all my financial aid money at one time and within 2 days after the school received it. Ashford is a ripoff. Do the research and save yourself a lot of money.

I am currently attending AU, this will be my second course. I am already having problems with my finical aide. Before I enrolled in this online course, I talked to my academic advisor who nowhere mentioned anything I'm going through now. I've talked to several representatives only to find out it's something I have to pay for differently.

I also understand I read the handbook of FA perfectly but as I speak to someone else about my FA, it makes me feel dumbfounded. I enjoy my classes at AU but I feel you're getting overly charged for your courses as well as technical fees and books, for what I was told was free with the course. I was advised to take out to separate loans that will not cover my expense nor reimburse me also. I feel that if I continue to attend AU I will be in so much debt before I can start a career.

This school does not tell you of hidden fees. When I first talked to Carey ***, he did not inform me that the class EXP 105 was something I did not need to take. They stick to you and there's nothing you can do about it because they charge you no matter what. Each class is $1116. They tell you you're only taking 8 classes with the exp 105 it totals 9, plus they do not tell you that the $1116 does not include materials of $75 for each class. They are very secretive.

You don't know until its too late. Plus they are holding my Pell grant money that was suppose to come to me. I signed a statement that they are to release my funds to me. They do not call you back on a timely matter and when you ask them for a breakdown on what you are being charged for, they cannot give you an answer. They kept saying I don't know yet we don't know.

How is that if you know darn well what classes I am taking for the year? They try and take all money given by loans and grants. They are sneaky. My sister and I enrolled there and both figured out they are a shady school. Grant money is used for you. Not for them to make up or stick you with things you don't need so they can charge you. I do not recommend a school who has no class. They are stealing from us and the government.

This school is desperate and is only after your money. First of all, they are pandering to people who are already in an unfavorable situation. Their ad popped up when I was applying for disability benefits, i.e. housing, food stamps for my brother. I thought this might be something helpful and inquired about the school. They emailed me which all I really wanted, but they won't stop at that. They won't stop calling even after I told them at least 10 times to stop calling! They are harassing me! My brother doesn't live with me and I explained why I inquired. I initiated the contact and it is my right to end it! They are totally insane. They have several horrible reviews. Do not use this school! They are scam artists! I am about to file a police report against them for harassment.

I have read many of the comments and complaints on Ashford University. My experience with Ashford has been a good one from the beginning. My enrollment advisor was helpful and stayed in contact with me until I was completely enrolled and even called me after I started my first class to make sure everything went well. My academic advisor is always a phone call or email away and always returns my calls immediately if I have to leave a message. I've even had to withdraw from a couple of classes for personal reasons and she's always been prompt about that and setting me up in a new class. My financial aid has never had a problem either. The books are custom to Ashford and I do feel that they are too expensive especially for an ebook but what can one do? I just buy the books and suck it up. Because of the accelerated classes, the books have to be customized to fit the speed of the class. I do recommend Ashford to anyone looking for an online school.

Ashford University is a nightmare. My son was pushed into enrolling and we started paperwork for financial aid. Ashford never got it right. They kept calling him saying that the paperwork was wrong and he had to fill out the same forms over and over. He took two classes while all of this was going on. Finally, he got an email saying that he was dropped from the university with no explanation.

About a month later, he got an email from one of their collectors saying that he owed them $3700 and must be payed within 15 days. The email address it came from said not to answer the email because he will get no reply. They only had an address to send the money. Now they are telling him that if he don't pay within 5 days, they will add 33% interest.

He is unemployed and has no means to pay it. There is no way to contest the debt because there is no email address or phone number to call, only the address to send the money. He can't even negotiate payment terms because there is no way to contact anyone at the school. We can't get pro bono legal aid from Iowa because we are not residents. There is no legal aid service in our home, state of Massachusetts will take the case. We are out of options and don't know what will become of this situation. About all he can do is to declare bankruptcy which will of course ruin his credit for several years.

I had enrolled with Ashford University Online while living in NY. I moved from NY to TN approximately six months after I started classes. I had let Ashford know about this move one month before I moved. The move being in July, they contacted me in October and stated that the GED that I had submitted was now not adequate since I now lived in TN, and that they needed a copy from NY state.

I was given 3 weeks to contact NY, fill out their paper work, and NY to send a copy to the University. The University did not receive the copy from NY state within that three weeks, so they took me out of classes. They are now saying I owe them 20,000 exactly when a letter they sent shows I only owe them a little over 600.

Recently someone contacted me, did not say what agency they were with, only that they represented Ashford University wanting my banking account information, so they can start taking out money for this 20,000. This person did not even identify themselves until the end of the call and still did not identify the agency they are with, and gave me a number that goes directly to their desk. This just seems very odd to me. Ashford itself has not sent me any paper work saying I owe this much, and now almost a year after, they took me out of their school someone is calling and not properly identifying themselves, and will not except any payments unless I give them my banking information. It just does not add up for me.

Since before August 28, 2008, shortly after I enrolled at Ashford and the first date I memorialized my status request in writing as is evidenced by an attached email. I have been inquiring as to the status with Ashford University as to the financial aid I was told verbally that I qualified for. Since that time, I have received nothing but Pending Review until I received a collection notice in the mail from Williams & Fudge for $3,920.00 collecting on behalf of Ashford University Online.

The fact is one of the reasons I attended Ashford University Online (for the short time period) was that I was told I qualified for financial aid and wouldn't have any out of pocket expenses as during the enrollment process. One of their questions to me was whether or not I had filed a FAFSA to which my response was in the affirmative as I had been looking into going back to school for some time. The admissions representative asked if I would authorize Ashford to obtain my FAFSA and I did everything requested of me by inputting on the FAFSA that Ashford was the university I wanted my FAFSA information transmitted.

Upon her review of the information, I was informed that I qualified for a full Pell Grant of $4500 and if I completed my course of education, I would stretch it out over two separate school years and hence would receive $9,000 in Pell Grant money and the rest would be financed through a Federally Guaranteed Student Loan. It was requested that I fill out one specific Financial Aid documents, aside from filling out the financial aid information requested online during the enrollment process and take an entrance and exit quiz online with regard to the student loan. I submitted all of the information that was requested of me and timely.

After reading some of the comments, I wanted to share my experience. I have had very little to no problems with Ashford. I filled out some info at a college fair my work had. I was contacted later that day and started the process. I had a rough experience with ITT Technical Inst so I wanted to make sure I looked into Ashford. All that I read and the folks I spoke with had positive things to say. I found the recruiter and admissions staff to be very nice and answered every one of my questions. I never had a problem getting a hold of them. In fact, it seemed like they called me nearly every day to ensure I had everything. Ashford paid for my books for the first class which was very helpful.

After that I had to purchase my own and even though I felt the cost was high it still seemed within reason. Not all books are eBooks and so you sometimes have to pay more for the actual book but not too much of a difference. However, through some searching I have found the same books (brand new) for sometimes a 1/3 of the cost. They are international books and the only thing different is the cover and some of the case studies. They work great for class though and I have not had an instructor state I cannot use them. The disbursements for my financial aid has been very prompt and my financial advisor gets back to me within a day or two if I have questions.

It is unfortunate that some people have had problems. Some of these complaints seem a little crazy. They are trying to run a business/school and no matter where you go there will be problems. I have never been told I can use only Ashford's books. I was only cautioned that they would not be able to track them. For those who felt that some of the content was wasted...the first class is kinda self explanatory but that is just to get you back into the rhythm of going to school again. After the initial class, I feel my classes have been very informative and the books are very detailed. I am a Business Administration major and I highly recommend Ashford University!

I earnestly made a personal effort to attend Ashford and comply with the school's requirements. Christopher and myself spent many conference calls with Sallie Mae in order to stop disbursements to CTU (my prior school) so that future disbursements can be made to Ashford University. According to Christopher W., my Stafford loan was transferable to Ashford, and based on his representation, I agreed to enroll at Ashford. When Ashford notified me that my requirements were "100% complete", I acted on Ashford's permission to begin classes believing Christopher's representations. I know that he committed falsehood by leading me on into starting classes before my financial aid was in order, knowing that Sallie Mae has not been resolved. I hold him accountable for remaining silent about that, otherwise, had he been forthright with me in a timely manner, I would have avoided entering any class at Ashford.

When I asked Aska and Adela why they are requesting for my 2007 income tax papers, their answer was both vague--"for our files". I began to feel lied to. Christopher W. accused me of closing my Stafford loan when he walked me through all the calls to Sallie Mae and instructed me what to say to them again and again through a 3-way call. I obeyed his words to Sallie Mae. Because of his actions, my Stafford loan was closed.

Sallie Mae told me for the first time on March 16, (2009) that my loan was closed. Because of Ashford's negligence and misrepresentations, I'm out of online college, and my plans to get a degree has been interrupted, especially the $240 tuition credit program I was in with CTU. That's gone--because I listened to Christopher W. deception. They ignored my notice to cancel my courses, and wrote me several times instead reminding me that classes were in order. Ashford charged me tuition and has sent it to the credit bureaus. Collectors are on my back to pay.

I am a current student at Ashford University and I feel this school is a big rip off. I never heard of a school charging you for classes that you haven't attended yet. They charge you for two additional classes out of your financial aid/loan money and I think they are storing the money for them. I did not give them consent to handle my excess funds and they take it out anyway. If anyone is having this problem you should report them to *** or email a complaint to ***@***.gov

After earning an Associate in Liberal Arts, I transferred to Ashford to earn a B.A. I finished in 18 months with no problems with enrollment, advising or financial aid. I plan to pursue my Masters with Ashford as well. I wonder if the complainers are reading the information correctly and following through with their end of the deal.

Back in spring of 2009, I had enrolled in Ashford University. I was able to take the introductory class but due to medical problems I was unable to continue taking any more classes. I had expressed this to a woman who's name I can't remember, unfortunately. The last time I talked to someone else, they claimed that they had to return financial aid money because I did not take another class which just so happened to be a class that I told them I would not be able to take because I was going through some medical problems. Now they want me to pay for both classes.

I was attending classes at Ashford University online and decided to stop upon completion of one of my classes. I received financial aid and stopped with a zero balance along with over $2000 left in my account of unspent loans. I received this letter from AU and as it turns out, they say that I need to pay a balance of $54 and if I don't, I will have to pay an interest rate of 33-1/3% interest on this. I wanted my official transcript and I am not entitled to it because of this trumped up balance, which should have come from the loan balance. Please help. Their letter is attached

"Despite our efforts to resolve your delinquent status, payment to settle your balance has not been made. This is your final notice and last opportunity to pay. Unless we receive a check or credit card payment within the next 5 days, we will send your account to a collection agency. If this happens, you may incur collection agency fees up to 33-1/3 % of your balance. Enforced collection of the balance due may impair your credit rating. Contact our office immediately to submit payment and avoid collection agency assignment. Pay your bill in full, either by check or credit card.

I started Ashford University back in November of 2009. I read a few of these complaints and they are bonkers! I have had nothing but positive experiences at Ashford. People are complaining about financial aid holds? If you go to a campus in your area, it would be the same thing. The enrollment counselor says that it takes six to eight weeks after you start to receive the funds. That is clear to you from the beginning. The Pell money gets applied to your tuition first and then the loans. The remaining money that you are waiting for is the loan money that will need to be paid back.

You tell me a loan company that will send you money in less then a month. Plus, you need to pass your class. People should not be going to school so they can get extra money. They should be going to school to learn. Ashford needs to make sure you pass your classes as well. I think it's absurd that people find crazy things to complain about. You wouldn't have had that money at all if you weren't in school. What would you do then? Mark my words, you wouldn't get it sooner elsewhere either.

I have been attending Ashford University for two years. Up until this past January all was going well and then it seemed to fall apart after the University changed it's online design and also went to outsourcing all it's financial's for online students. My husband enrolled in October and he qualified for financial aid and we now have over 100 pages of corrispondance with Ashford and it is growing as we speak. It is going on 9 months now and we still have not received a dime of our pell grants or aid for my husband. They managed to hold my pell grants and I am going on five months now and still waiting to receive the disbursement of our funds. We now have to file hardship letters because we have bills piling up because we rely on this aid to live through the summer because I am off work for two months (I am a teacher and only work 9 months out of the year). This has been so stressful on our family. We have shut off notices for our electric and our water and also our internet and phone. We have made several complaints and are working with the department of education right now and they said they have one person who is working with Ashfords complaints along with Kaplan Univeristy. This should tell you something. Beware of this school. We are so disappointed in this whole process.

Oh, the person who thinks that we are just going to college to get the aid and that you know ahead of time about the disbursement, this is true if you sign the waiver for them to do this. I did not and they are suppose to dispurse your funds within 14 days of receiving them. Please do not lable people without getting the whole story. I have seen more complaints about the financial aid than I have seen positive ones. I am going to school to get my BA and get an education and I qualify for aid because I do not make enough money. It is my right and I have to pay it back, not the school. I think waiting over 9 months is too long for anyone. We are getting ready to go on our local news this next week and talk about our experience. Ashford should not be able to do this to it's students, and we want people to be aware of this.

Wow, wish I knew this a month ago. I am sad to say, I have been sucked into their traps! I am currently having the exact problems with financial aid. They have lost my papers, including my tax forms from 2009/2010, a total of 7 times now. So how is getting my personal info? I've had 3 financial advisors...my first was fired/quit, my second said he was never my advisor he was just helping out, my third is a guy that wasn't even working there yet! He was in training and was listed as my financial advisor for 2 weeks! He started today, not 2 weeks ago. I tried to drop them, but I would have had to pay them out of pocket for my class (their FAKE psychology course that counts only as an elective). They put people into this class to secure them into financial responsability.

First they "waive" the $55 enrollment fee...wow they're my best friend! Then they enroll you into their (fake)psychology class while they get your transcripts and financial aid in order. So, warm and fuzzy feelings again, they promised to take care of me. My transcripts were received, guess what? I had 63 units accepted to ELECTIVES!! Almost my entire AA degree was put into a catagory that doesn't count for anything...but my enrollment counselor said I was looking good and was over half way there before any of this. LIARS! My graduation date is set 4 years from now! In a sense I have to start over with nothing. $70,000 for a BA? This school is a JOKE and a SCAM!! Do not go any further! Be careful when calling, they actually enroll you fom your first inquiry call. I called in to ask questions and little did I know the lady was asking me for payment information within 10 minutes of talking to her. I said, "wait a minute. I'm just calling to ask questions about this school, I'm not trying to join it yet." She was irritated that I didn't just go with it.

The admission advisors are great at selling you a great picture, but it is not real. Their financial aid department works the system to their full benefit. If they "lose your information enough times and accidently send the wrong forms to the processing center it will continue to delay the process. When the process is delayed, YOU the student are forced to continue taking classes until it is done and an award letter is received. If YOU pull out any time before any of this the least you will owe before 2 weeks is $55 registration fee & $ to get transcripts. If YOU go past the 2 week mark of the first class(they will push you to go past with bullying tactics, they called me a quiter) YOU are responsible for about $700 out of pocket for no units, and a big headache! If YOU complete the first class, this is what they reccommend, you are responsible for the ENTIRE cost of that class about $1300.

Financial aid does not take effect until week 7-8 (but with their stalling it is MUCH LONGER!) Any way you look at it the student is locked into a financial nightmare! I have to complete my 2nd class (the book is EXPENSIVE Ashford books only) just to HOPE my financial aid is complete so I can DROP them. They warned me that it could take up to 3 or more months to get it all in order and in that time frame I had to remain a student and continue taking classes...I asked for contact information for Jane McAuliffe the DEAN of Ashford and they refused to give me her information. What university doesn't allow a student to contact the dean if they feel there has been unfair treatment? They offered me counseling because they thought I needed help (mentally) Yeah, after this ordeal I just might!EVERYTHING depends on ASHFORD. Don't put your finances, time, or education in their hands, they are THIEVES! I hope there is a CLASS ACTION SUIT filed against them, how do I start one? I'm up for the fight!

Everything has been fine accept for the financial aid portion. I am self-employed and it was important that the Pell Grants and loans that I received covered my off campus housing and tuition. I was told that books were to be purchased separately, therefore, I would need this money to cover these costs as well.

My first problem with the school was when I inquired with my financial aid counselor about the amount left over after applying my grant and subsidized loans. I also received an unsubsidized amount to cover my housing since I did not have other income coming in at this time.

The first disbursement was received and sent almost 2 weeks later after the school had deducted the amount needed for the 4 classes for that disbursement. The second disbursement I had decided that I would pay as I go and all funds were to be sent to me.

Well, I look at my account and I see that my funds were received for both the Pell Grant, the subsidized and unsubsidized loans were posted 12/10/09. I was told that I would receive my funds as soon as they posted to the account, but that is not what happened. I emailed and called my financial advisor and was told that the funds were mailed out. She then preceded to send me a stop payment form so that they could reissue the funds. I asked for the check numbers and was told that the check number was 121009, the date the disbursements were received. When I brought this to their attention and told them that it looked like they were trying to hold funds to receive interest, I was suddenly sent my check in 2 business days. The date is now 12/30/09.

Currently, I am having problems with my financial counselor (same one) who will not send me a breakdown of my financial aid for this financial year, so I told them to take me out of the current class and I would not be attending until they straightened out my financial aid.

They told me that I had to enroll by June 22nd or I would be removed from the school and would have to pay my funds back to the school. So I have signed back up, but I made sure to have my transcripts sent to another school as well as my FAFSA because I have a feeling that I will not be getting my financial aid from this school.

I am going to make a report to the ED Office of Inspection so that they can make a formal inspection of their practices. There are too many complaints being made and it is making it impossible for well-meaning students to complete their education if they are unable to utilize the aid available to them.

Other than the financial aid portion, I have had a good learning experience with Ashford and the material posted allows me to use what I learn in the real world. I don't understand why the instructors are there accept to post the materials because very few add anything to the learning experience. My learning experience comes from the other students, the readings, discussion questions and the writing.

In regards to one particular person posting that feels that those of us complaining about the disbursement of our financial funds must obviously not be aware of the use of financial aid. Let me point out to you as I did to my financial aid counselor that these funds are used for tuition, books, computer, housing, and anything related to your educational experience. In case you haven't noticed, there are many of us who were displaced from our jobs and unfortunately the additional cost of going to cost must be covered completely in addition to having the funds to cover housing to some extent.

I'm happy that you have not had any of these problems, but as you can see from this complaint board that there are more of us unhappy with the financial aid process than you are probably aware of. I have had to withdraw so that I can prepare for the possibility that my financial aid may not be covered as my financial advisor will not respond to me and I have copied her on emails regarding my schedule as well as directly contacted her by phone and email.

This has also caused me emotional distress which has caused me to be very sick from my diabetes. It's important that I keep my stress level at a minimum and when I worry about money, it causes my blood sugar and blood pressure to raise. Currently for the past 3 months, my blood sugars have been very high and as of this writing, my blood sugars have been running in the 300's & 400's. Dangerously high and affects my ability to sleep, concentrate, and feel able to work on my studies. In addition, I have been trying to find another school in which I can receive financial aid while attending a new institution, but having enough money to complete the last 4 classes at Ashford University.

I an enrolled at Ashford, for my BA. I decided to go with an online college for a number of reasons. I did my research and knew about the complications most online colleges have. Such as financial aid, Pell grant and how people often have troubles with it. I also read about the technology fee that most online colleges have, and the time it takes for some one of any use to get back to you. I am having a problem with my financial aid at the moment. The person I spoke with was very compliant and I was able to reach her with in a day. She put a rush on my award letter and apologized. I hope upon hope that my aid reaches me.

That is not my main concern. My concern is that all of the books are now in PDF format. These books have multiple errors in them! As if some one just scanned them with out reading what the had scanned! I am in my second class, and so far I haven't really learned anything. The books I have read so far are amateurish! They don't even follow the title of the books. The information provided is pure common sense! I am hoping things work out because it is a little late to back out now for me. These two books I have read are Ashford books so lets help the third is much better. As for my Pell grant and financial aid. I honestly don't know. I'm not learning anything. The books are horrible, and there new system of Ebooks is pure crud! Financially I am not aware of any problems, however there may be consequences later on.

I am currently having problems with AU. Mostly it is about financial aid as they are holding Pell funds for classes that are being paid for by the government! I know they are not to be holding Pell funds and I even signed documentation the FIRST time they withheld the funds for them to release the funds to me.

Secondly, I feel that I was pushed and manipulated into taking a course that I did not need. it took AU over 5 months to get my transcripts!! I was pushed into the UNnecessary class EXP105. I had enough credits tranferring to NOT need that course yet my Enrollment Advisor (A.M.) was very adamment about my getting started. I started this process in May with them... even after 5 months nothing was 'straight'; my degree status was wrong, my finacial aid paperwark was wrong 'somewhere', they wouldn't accept my GED transcript so I had to run around and figure out how to get that from an overseas education center (this took weeks)..it has just been crazy! I don't feel that classes are very beneficial; basically if you read the book, you know the info...it's not rocket science.

Oh, speaking of books... what a racket they have here!! Their books are VERY proprietary!! You can ONLY use ASHFORD books. If you look hard enough you can find people selling/buying used books. I have gone to the website I was given for AU to buy back books... what a JOKE!! As of yet, they have not been buying ANY of the particular books I have... imagine that!

I say, if you are considering AU, KEEP LOOKING!! Even try a local community college if you are just starting. There should NOT be this kind of nonsense going on... I am surprised the government (MyCAA and Pell) hasn't looked into this more, but I hope I am making my voice heard!

I had 1 advisor the entire two years I was there who e-mailed and called me on a regular basis. The financial department isn't the best in the world, but they had been prompt with me over my two years there.

I enjoyed all the classes and found them very informative. It set me up very well to apply for, and get accepted into, a good MBA program with an AACSB accreditation. I have no complaints at all and was glad to find Ashford and use their services to further my academic career.

It is a different experience for everyone that attends, but I have talked two other individuals into enrolling there; both of which are doing well and have zero complaints. If you don't like the university then stop going there but it is a fine institution.

Last May (2009), I graduated with an associate degree in education and wished to pursue my education further and searched for a program online. I discovered Ashford University through several search engines and did my homework, or so I believed, on them. I was contacted and led on to believe they were a legitimate university who would assist me on my way to completing my bachelors and shortly thereafter my masters degree.

After only five classes and many issues with the processing of my financial aid, I withdrew from Ashford at the end of March 2010. I received many different advisors during my short time with the school and never had phone calls or emails returned in a timely manner. After several weeks of waiting, I finally received an itemized email from Ashford stating my final balance of just over $4466, which I paid reluctantly from my bank account. I continued to call requesting the information to withdraw permanently from Ashford because none had been supplied to me, and was told I was already withdrawn from Ashford University. I paid my final balance and it cleared my account April 8th, 2010.

Today. I received an email stating there was a "Post withdrawal disbursement" in the amount of $464.25 that was to go back to me or to my lender. I called in regards to this and was told that in fact my final bill was now $3731.25; however, my check that cleared on April 8 was the total balance of the bill I had received.

They gave me a final bill and never sent me another bill until I called to ask information with regards to the email I received today. I was told that the $3731.25 was a balance they sent back to the lender for classes I never took. I am now being told I have to pay them back this amount, even though it was sent to them for classes I was going to take but never did because I withdrew from their school.

They now want me to pay them for classes I never attended, for funds they received for classes I was going to take and never did, that they had to send back. How do I owe them money when I never attended those final classes and they had to send back the funds? If the funds were sent for pending classes I never attended, the final bill should be back to zero after I paid off what I had attended.

I was in a bad spot in life so I decided to continue my education. I thought it would be convenient to take classes online. I spoke with Ashford University Online and they convinced me that this school would be the answer to all of my problems. It wasn't, it was clearly just a scam, a racket to sell books and suck education dollars out of the government. The information they "teach" is absolutely useless, you will never further your career with what you learn there.

They provided me with books for the first course and then I learned that in order to complete the remaining courses that I would have to purchase new books for hundreds of dollars every couple of months for the next several years. I jumped ship at that point. If only I could show you the content of these books, useless. Don't go to this school.

I enrolled in Ashford University in Nov. of 2009 to take classes online. My wife had already been enrolled in Ashford for over a year and really liked how things are set up there. There was a some differences on my FAFSA and her's, so Ashford wanted me to explain why. I explained why and thought that was the end of. A short time later, I was told that the amounts on my FAFSA and W-2s did not match. I sent copies of our W-2s and thought that was it. I was then told that I needed to send proof that I was a U.S. citizen, after spending 22 years in the military between active duty and the reserves. I sent a copy of my Social Security Card and driver's license like they requested.

A little over a week later, I was told that was not good enough. I had to send my birth certificate and certificate of birth abroad. I sent that and was told to send my wife's W-2 again. I had sent Ashford mine or my wife's W-2 at least four times. After sending our W-2s a number of times we get told that we had to contact the IRS and get a summary of our W-2s which we did. Finally, after a six months I was contacted last night for additional information. I contacted FAFSA and they said they released my financial aid a day after I filed my application, so it is not the government holding up mine and my wife's financial aid but Ashford.

Ashford managed to get my G.I. Bill taken care of in no time. What I find funny is our daughter will be graduating this year and attending college this Fall. It took the University, she will attending three weeks to process her financial aid and she filled out her paperwork way after we did. I do not have an issue with the academic side of Ashford because I find their classes very user friendly and he instructor are very dedicated.

If the Financial Aid Department was as dedicated and willing to help as the instructors I think Ashford's complaints would go down. This entire incident has been causing us a ton of stress. The not knowing what our status is, trying to work full time, go to college, and deal with the time it takes to resolve this issue.

My main complaint is that my enrollment "adviser" enrolled me in classes before my transcript evaluation was completed. Once it was completed, it was clear that I had completed some of the courses required by Ashford, but they made me complete them again at a cost of $1,000, and the reason they gave was that I was responsible for making sure my previous classes met Ashford's requirements.

Even though my previous classes were taken in the 1980's and I had no way of knowing what they would, or would not, accept. I'm in debt because of their lack of communication. I was told that I could complete my degree in 18 months. In reality, it took 24 months and I incurred $20,000 in student loan debt.

My boyfriend and I are currently enrolled with Ashford University. We both are on financial aid plans, as neither of us make enough money to pay for college out of pocket. Our experiences at Ashford have been poor, to say the least. Every time he or I call and attempt to talk to one of our financial advisors, we go straight to voicemail. Nobody ever answers, and the only way he has even spoken with his (Bryan) is to go through half a dozen other people. To get to the point, however, Ashford is willfully holding money that he is entitled to through his financial aid.

Periodically throughout the academic period, any excess funds are disbursed and he would receive a check for that amount. There are 8 classes per academic period and you are thus required to pay for 8 classes. He has paid for 8 classes, but he failed one. He was sent a letter by his academic advisor stating that retaking the course was an out of pocket expense and they would reschedule it for a later date.

His financial advisor, however, refuses to disburse the rest of his funds, stating that they are allowed to keep his money because he failed that one class. He is not on academic probation and the circumstances surrounding his failing of the class are currently under investigation. His grade mysteriously dropped over 20% overnight, resulting in the failing grade. The financial advisor, however, still refuses to send the money, even though he (my boyfriend) is supposed to receive it.

Where can I start with my list of complaints with Ashford University. I transferred to AU from Grays Harbor College in the Spring of 2009, my first class starting at the beginning of March. A lifespan psychology class that I had taken at Grays Harbor and gotten an A in, I was told it was "required for all AU students to take it", then came the computer class, in my professional life I worked on the computer systems for radio stations programming their automation systems. I tried to explain this to my adviser but once again "required".

This "required" class turned out to be nothing more than how to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint with a week of Excel thrown in for good measure I guess. Financial aid is a whole other nightmare. I am qualified for Pell Grants because I get Social Security Disability in the amount of about $850 a month. I was very clear that I live on a very small pile of peanuts and that buying textbooks would be a major burden on me but they insisted that texts were an out-of-pocket expense. To finish out the 2009 school year I had to use student loans but I did not see dime one from those loans until just after Christmas.

I am still enrolled at Ashford. I currently have nearly 70 credit hours and have yet to take a 300 level class of any kind. I have been considering speaking to an attorney to explore my options especially since I have found out the school I want to attend for my Masters will not recognize Ashford's degree.

Where do I start? First, I was very adamant about the need for grants to cover almost all of the cost. I would email financial aid, before registering, and ask them very specific questions to get very generic answers. When those answers didn't get me to register, I was given answers that were misleading. They used a play on words. When I was enrolled in or about June, I qualified for 1/2 Pell Grant for spring semester, so I was told to quickly apply for the grant again so that my next classes would be covered, mostly by them, which I did.

Then they kept pressuring me to apply for student loans, even though I really didn't want them, I agreed, since I didn't expect much (less than $1500 for the entire degree). Well, was I in shock when I received a statement. All student loans maxed, and they received grant money. Every time I attempted to contact them, I would again get very generic answers, how I agreed to loans etc. Oh, yeah, have I mentioned that the first class I entered was computer basics for idiots? Nothing was transferable, just their way of sucking you in. The second class was just as dumb. I didn't learn a thing, other than the ** you can submit the higher your grade is. It was like a giant gossip corner.

Responding to other submissions, it was **! During this time is when I learned about the whole financial thing. Then trying to withdraw was even harder. They actually tried to get me to take a 3rd class so that financial aid would pay for most of it (and I, of course, left with the balance). Now almost 2 years later, I have a company calling me, who won't tell me what it's about other than it's in regard to Ashford, but in order to find out what it's about, I have to give them my social security number and full birth date. What do they think I am, a complete moron?

I looked this company up online and it says they are a collection agency (and not a very reputable one with multiple complaints). Now, I don't know why they would have a collection agency calling me since I have no record of any money owed them, just my student loan. I personally think they received federal Pell money for not only the spring semester, but summer. Is there a way to check on this? I'll tell you, it's very tough to get your money back from them. (or back to loans in my case). It's very tough. Stay away from Ashford!

I have been attending Ashford from Iowa online for over 9 months. They coaxed me into signing up and taking classes before my financial aid went through, and convinced me I would qualify for help. I was naive and fell for it. 9 months later, I have a huge debt and no aiding funds. Everytime I call, they tell me to fax another paper in, and then wait. I waited and nothing happens. My financial aid advisor will not pick up her phone or call me back, or email me back! They keep sending me loans that I'll have to pay back. I do exactly what they tell me to do to send them back, but they will not take them off my account, saying it has been too long now!

I told them I want to withdraw and get this mess figured out, and they told me if I withdrew I would no longer be eligible for the grant funds. So, in order for them to keep giving me the run around on my grant funds, I have to keep attending this screwed up school, and make my bill bigger! Does anyone know who I can talk to that will actually do something about this? I ask to speak to someone above them with more authority, and they said there was no one above them. They are as high as it goes! Surely these people are not in control! If anyone knows who I can talk to, please post it!

First, please register a complaint with BBB regarding Ashford if you have had a negative experience. Second, contact the staff at Bridgepoint Education (who own Ashford). Ashford's invoicing and billing processes are terrible. They feature misinformation, run-around, staff finger-pointing, and inexperienced and poorly trained staff who have no ability to solve problems.

Getting my tuition refund required over two weeks of near constant phone calls and emails to the staff at Ashford. I find it shocking that Ashford, who claims they are an accredited university, could process my payment in 1/2 day but required 14 days of multiple emails and phone calls from me to finally credit me my money. I will never return to Ashford based on this experience. If this billing and invoicing process is any indication of how Ashford runs its systems, I feel so sorry for its current students.

This failure to communicate promptly, and the finger-pointing and run-around are all signs of a scam. A quick search on the Web reveals many similar experiences from people dealing with Ashford, and I am not surprised to see Ashford University rates C- at the Better Business Bureau. I hope through this review I can prevent others from making this same mistake.

Last fall, I was ill and injured, my kids were ill and my brother had a stroke. I asked Mark ** for a few weeks off school to recover before beginning my new class. He said he would alert my academic adviser, Fran **. I called and emailed several times, but never got a response. I logged into my online account and saw that I was registered for the class. I emailed the professor to let him know that I was not supposed to be in his class and why. He looked into it and emailed me that I would need more help than he could provide.

They counted my emailing him as class attendance, therefore, they gave me a grade of "W" and charged me $1062.00 for the class. I complained and was told to submit proof of hardship for a refund. My standing was okay, so they re-enrolled me in the course in question which I completed with an "A". There was a break for the winter holidays and class resumed in January. The university introduced a new virtual classroom setup. This crashed my computer and took over 2 weeks to resolve. I am behind in my class now and have had to fight to keep from having a grade penalty. My trust is wavering, I am not sure if I should withdraw and find a better institution or finish this course? I'm sure they will charge me for it no matter what!

I have been going to Ashford soon to be a year now and at first, they were doing good with my financial aid but now it seems they are really having a lot of problems going on. They hold funds that are supposed to come to me. Then when I have questions about my status of my financial aid, my financial adviser gets upset because I am trying to get in touch with her.

Then when I asked my Academic Adviser to get in contact with her, she sent me an email that was letting me know that they both had an attitude. I was just worried at the fact that my account was stating none as my financial aid. This was not right at all then the funds that are supposed to come to me has been sitting there for almost two months with no results. This school academics are great but its financial aid really sucks.

after speaking with the enrollment advisor he assured me that I would be able to transfer my previous credits from another school and gain my remaining credits from ashford at which time I would have completed two full years and earned a certification in that field of study that I would be able to transfer to ashford and continue my studies on toward a Associate degree. I faxed every single paper he asked for and attended classes for two months and all of a sudden the paperwork they received was not completed according to their school and they blocked me from taking classes and saddled me with a debt.

I was also schedule classes that I had taken from my previous school which means I was now out of pocket for books regarding classes I had already taken, this caused an undue hardship on me because they attacked my emotional side, my age and my determination to complete college and used that to bait me into attending their school and after taking a few classes they blocked me with no warning and now I am fighting to get this debt relinguished and my peace of mind back but right now its another uphill battle that I was not prepared for at this time in my life.

Was unable to complete a course due to #1- no communication or responses #2- Financial aid money was not sent to me in the proper time or even the proper amount #3- am now in pause mode regarding my school situation and am unable to continue with my schooling due to the school not following proper procedures #4- Funds are being taken from my account but I am getting no document to for when and when

I really loved going to Ashford University, that is until I finished. I am owed 1700.00 from financial aide. They said it was in compliance with the u.s. government to hold that money for 45 days from class completition. After that it would be released but would take another 2 weeks to mail out. I did not read in my agreement with the govt. about this 45 days. (Nelnet) I can not understand this and he said that was that. There was not anything I can or could do. I really could use the money as things are very tight. He was motone and said he would make a note and check on it at the end of the 45 days. I am not holding my breath. This is a lousy way to finish such a great experience.

Basically none of my answeres or concerns were answered in truth. My financial aid paperwork wasn't handled properlu and the only reason I found out was because I called. Due to a personal issue I spoke to my academic advisor and I was instructed to fax in some paperwork and I would be re registered to start a new class on May 12th. I logged in and there were no classes posted. I called several time and no calls were returend. I then received an emial stating I had been out of class 29 days and that I owed the school money. When I called to inquired about the emial the person I spoke to was very rude and after speaking to him the remainder of my phone call was holding and being transferred. I have yet to hear back from anyone from the school.

After comunicating extensivly several times with the enrollment advisors and being reassured multiple times that All my tuition would be covered by my grants, which was re-confirmed by my advisors during the begining my first week of classes that all my paper work had been finalized and all my tuition was being paid for. However during the middle of my 2nd week I recieved a notice that I had no student aid and nothing was being paid for and that I was going to have to take out 2 intrest loans to attempt to pay for my tuition. I tried repeatedly to call and e-mail them to figure out what was going on and try to resolve the matter. But all I got in return was having my calls and mail ignored for the past week. 3 days into my third week of class after repetedly calling I finnaly got in touch with someone to actually talk to me.

As it turns out I had been lied to and misinformed and minipulated from the very begining about my student aid and tuition coverage. When I tried to find out more about my fed. student aid and what else I could do to resolve the matter they kept trying to change the subject and get me to take out multiple intrest loans. When I continued further to find out more about my fed. student aid options they kept transfering me to other advisors and giving the run around. I called around locally tried to get advice from the local board of education,my old high school and a semi-local technical college they were all very suspisious and told me not to enroll or sign any thing further and dissenroll ASAP. It took 2 days to get into contact with them just for that.

I was having so many difficulties with my financial aid at Ashford university, that I decided to take a break after my grandmothers death, and what a big mistake that was. They had me registered in classes that I did not ask for. I took a leave of absence, and decided not to return, and why did I do that. They started calling saying I owed money when I never received any type of money from them, so I asked them to explain to me what I supposely owed them. I was supposed to receive financial aid. Now they have a debt collection agency calling me day, nights, and weekends, why is that?

Debt collecting agency alw which other people are complaining about as is, is continously calling me, so I asked them to send me something explaining to me how I owe anything. My credit is already a mess, and adding this on is even more fustrating. I need help now!!!

My program kept getting scheduled incorrectly and I could not get any follow-through from my assigned academic advisor, H. Hancock. She sent emails, then didn't read my replies, which became obvious the first time I finally connected with her by telephone. At that time, she had to be made to pull my messages up and read through them, and even then, she kept trying to stop to talk about something else. She would tell me she had fixed a scheduling problem, and days later, it would not only still be wrong, the accounting department was sending me invoices for tuition. This happened three times before I just gave up and withdrew.

This was back in November, 2008. Since that time, despite emails and voice mails, she has continued to cheerfully call me and email me monthly, wanting to know why I'm not enrolled in a class and what my intentions are. My last two voice messages back to her have been left at shriek level, and it's made no difference!

So far, I have not yet been pressed for additional money or threats about withholding any credit. I pay in full for every class I take, anywhere, and do not use grants or student loans, but I am concerned that Ms. Hancock's conduct may be indicative of a bigger problem at Ashford and that this may not be the last I've heard from them.

In addition to this I was constantly harrassed by Ashford University to pay them $16,271.00 even though I was still attending school, they then put me in a collection agency nemed Cain & Weiner who also harrassed me by calling me all times of the day and night even at work.

The economic damage is that I need this money to continue my education because books are very expensive and it is very frustrating for a University to take tution money that I will have to pay back to my Lender Wells Fargo and this money isn't being used by me for the school I am currently attending.

I have been threatened by the university that if I do not pay a fee that I was not aware of when taking a break from taking classes my credit will be jeopardized. The admission counselor I joined the school with is conveniently no longer employed there and the school is saying I agreed to a $1800 fee which I did not since my employer only pays for credits and I as the student pay for books. I see this is a trick and others have complained online. I don't want to ask my work to pay for something that is not legitimate nor be harassed if not legit either if this is a scam!

Very disturbing to agree now to pay something I did not agree to. I was faxed over my and another student's application which I did not sign, they said i and the other student signed electronically. This did not happen at my other college (University of Phoenix) please advise.

I am a single disabled mother who wanted to go back to school. I called Ashford University in April 2006 after I saw an advertisement on the internet. I first spoke with an enrollment counselor by the name of Eric. He told me that vocational rehab will pay for any additional expenses after my pellgrant. I told him that that was great, but I needed to call my counselor before I enrolled. He told me that there was no need to and I needed tojust get the process started. I filled out all of the paperwork including the financial aid and I started class thefollowing Tuesday.

In the meantime, I left a message formy vocational rehab counselor. I found out that Ashford University was not on their approved list. I called Eric and he told me that yes they were that I just needed to talk to their vocrehab specialist. It took her a few weeks to call me back. When I found out that Ashford was not approved and that I still had to pay for the class I was enrolled in because I was in the third week of class, I decided to finish that class and then transfer to an approved college. My class ended in the last week of May. I enrolled at theUniversity of Phen. and waited until Ashford released my financial aid as they had setthe dates up for an entire year so I could not get aid anywhere else.

I called Ashford 2 x a week and was told everytime that it would be done that week. After 4 weeks and it was still not done, I came up with a plan with my voc rehab counselor to go back to Ashford and use my pell and a little bit of student loans at the same time as a local college which they would pay for. So I called Ashford back and they put me back in classes. I talked with financialaid at the time (Martha) and she said that everything was fine on her end. I am a straight A student with a 3.9 grade point average.

In August I noticed on my student account that they refunded my student loans and pell grant. I called Marthat and left her several messages. When she did not return my calls I spoke with another financial aid counselor. I was told that they sent my financial aid back and was repackaging it for the 2007-2008 academic year instead of 2006-2007. She said it was just a formality. then in December, there was still no money on my account.

I then called in September to check the status andspoke with Chrystal, shesaid that the counselor before her did notnote it on my account to resend the email and she would put a rush on it. I did this and called to verify she received it on September 3. At the same time I enquired anoutmy pell for the 2008-2009 year. She told me that I was still in the 2007-2008 year. I did not understand this as I was in the end of my second academic year there. She said that when they repackaged my student loans they forgot to process my pell grant for my first year and left my student loan year in the 2006-2007 year. I was just out a full year of pell grants and she was sorry. I was furious. She said that I should have the additional money that I requested by the end of the month.

In october I called several times. I was told they were still working on it.Finally I received an award letter stating that my money wsto be disbursed in November. I also receieved an email saying that student loans would be sent to students on the 7th and 14th week of the students academic year. I again called and this time my counselor was changed to Sandra. She told me that the additional money that I requested did not was not included int the disbursement dates. I would get it as soon as they received it. On Novemebr 18 the first part was posted to my account. I noticed that a check for 338.00 was posted tobe sent tome.I called Sandra on November 20 and she then told me that I get 30% on week 7 and he remaining on week 14. The additional 2,000 isnot in the first 30% because it came to them late, but I would get it on week 14. This will be after Christmas before I see it. Everytime I call I get a different story.

First I was shorted 4500 dollars in federal pell grant money. Was lied to from the beginning. I was also counting on the additional student loan money or I would not have requested it. My children are not going to have a Christmas now and I fear that they are holding the money because they are in financial problems.