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Betty of Hillsborough NJ (03/10/08)
I have attended Gibbs College-Piscataway, NJ for the Visual Communications Certificate program for the last year and change and am completed disgusted with the quality of education I received--and the outright lies I was told in the process. First off, the admissions process was a complete lie. I was told the school was accredited (and it is not). I was told I was special and extremely talented and they would make an exception and admit me on the spot (with they apparently told everyone else as well). I was told their would be lifelong career assistance, and I do not see how that is possible as they are closing all of the schools in NJ. Then after admission to school, I was still subjected to harassing phone calls and stops in the hallway conversations with my admissions representative looking to see if I knew anyone else who wanted to come to the school (because I later discovered they are required to meet a quota of new students per month).
The classes themselves are a joke. I would of learned more by sitting at home with a book on Photoshop or Illustrator, sitting in front of my computer. I do not have the skills necessary to get a job in my career or the portfolio to show for it. For example the pre-press process and printing process were barely discussed, and that is a key element that you should know if you are going to be a graphic designer. Not to mention there was no way to get an internship to gain valuable work experience! I was planning on attending another school and getting a full bachelor's degree; however, as the school is not accredited (even though they said they were) none of the credits I took are transferable. I owe almost $10,000 in loans for the worst education I have ever received. We (as in myself and other students) are seriously considering finding an attorney and possibly filing a class action lawsuit. This whole school and the corporation behind it are completely ridiculous and utterly reprehensible.
Thousands of dollars in loans for an education I did not receive as was advertised. Cannot get a career in the field I love, as I could not gain the actual working experience or all the skills necessary to be hired.
Sheena of Phila PA (03/04/08)
I learned a lot at Gibbs. I attended both of them in New Jersey- Livingston and the one in Piscataway. I already knew some things but I needed credits to attend other schools. I believe I received all of the help I needed for the beginning part. The rest was up to me. All of my teachers taught me very well. I learned economics, lit, college math and other courses. I have no complaints and I haven't attended school in such a long time and the faculty helped me with my internship. I even was accepted at a very well known college in new jersey but because of certain circumstances had to leave the state and I was even accepted at another very well known college. I'm currently doing accounting and criminal justice. Sometimes we cannot depend on the school or the faculty to do the job for us, but to do the job ourselves and research about a school. I will always keep and get a job, it's all about networking and negotiating yourself for your net worth.
I have good stuff to say about a school who accepted me as hard as it is for an African American female to get into some schools. You have to crawl before you walk. If you feel you haven't been taught the way you wanted to, it all should have been brought up to the Dean's attention
Lisa of Melville NY (02/06/08)
I am reading the posts regarding this school and I understand why none of you have been hired. There are so many spelling errors in your writings, it is sad. I went to Katharine Gibbs in 84-85 and went on to further my education to be the success I am today. A degree will only get you so far. You need commonsense too.
Marie of Rock Tavern NY (01/24/08)
Hi
I took a one year secreterial course at the NYC Kathanrine Gibbs school in 1982-1983. The tuition fee was $5,000. Upon graduation part of the tuition fee included lifetime job placement and free refresher courses.
I recently became unemployed after 25 years in the work force and called upon Katharine Gibbs to speak to a counselor regarding refresher courses and placement.
I was told that Kathaine Gibbs no longer honors their alumni with these benefits.
This does not seem fair to me.
Jasmin of Glen Cove NY (10/06/07)
I went to this Gibbs to become a Web Designer. They have two campuses. One is in Melville, NY and the other for what I wanted to take was in Plainview, NY. I took out thousands in loans and was assured that I would learn everything I needed to learn and find a great job in this field. This was untrue and a scam. First of all the courses are not nearly long enough for you to learn complex programming such as JavaScript, C++ and Visual Basic etc. You get one different class every day for five our over the course of eleven wekks. That is basically eleven days of schooling and then you move on to the next semester with new classes. The teachers did not have degrees and I later learned that most of them were fired. All of the people in my Web Design class failed miserably with the exception of one person who already had a working knowledge of Web Design and all the aspects of it. When I took time off and came back in January, they told me the course was no longer available and I could not finish. This meant that now I had to either start all over again and take out even more loans in a different program or just plain old deal with it. I spoke to people in the main office in Melville practically in tears. None were sympathetic to my situation and basically told me it was my problem. They also warned me not to take the issue to court.
Ten years later I am unemployed, owe thousands of dollars to private and federal student loans and my federal loans are now threatening to garnish my future wages and take my income tax yearly. My credit is destroyed and I have never fully recovered from the damage that was done simply trying to get an education.
Penelope of Newark NJ (07/12/07)
I have studied art and art history since high school so a few years ago I decided to at least get my associates degree for visual communications so I could rank high with other job opportunities. I decided to go to Gibbs college in Montclair (now in Livingston). It was a while since I have been in school and was excited because they promised me everything from grants to top notch teachers. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! I was covered partially by financial aid but still had monthly payment to the school and took out loans. I was ASSURED this would soon be allieviated as if I was on the DEANS list for the first two terms I would be applicable for a grant. PERFECT! I knew I could do that so the expense was low, right? WRONG I was indeed on the DEANS list but this may have not been a good thing because a CHIMP could have aced those 9th grade courses! Teachers with emotional and mental problems;teachers coming to school drunk or not at all. When I went to the financial aid office in the beginning of my third term to apply for my GRANT I was told that I was NOT applicable for this grant because I was too old. The grant was for kids who just graduated high school. I was floored! What was I going to do? I was out of work and had a family. I sacrificed time (they also lied about school schedules) I had to deal with teachers who had issues far beyond therapy and was asked by teachers to conduct classes and in the end came to find that what they taught I already knew.
Rosetta of Irvington NJ (05/22/07)
I attended Gibbs College in Montclair, NJ for a degree in Computer Network Administration. The sales representative told my husband and I that I would be guaranteed to make a starting salary of at least $35K a year upon completion. We struggled that year financially with two children living in a relative basement trying to make plans of how we would better our future and with the story she gave us figured that this would be the way out. We both worked full time during the day and I attended classes at night battling highway 78 traffic from Basking Ridge to Montclair. (with no air conditioning) All I could think about sitting in traffic was what the future would like for us in two years. The first red flag was when my instructor advised us that we could not open the pc's to see what was inside because they were new. That night my class sat outside for our break and discussed it jokingly unbeknownst to any of us that he was serious and that this uncertainty was indicative of what the next two years would be like. My class may have opened a pc three times in the two years we attended. (MAYBE TWO) I failed the basic A+ Certification test twice and then I gave up when the harsh reality hit me that Gibbs absolutely taught me nothing. My huge A+ Upgrading and Repairing PC's book has no yellow highlights and no sticky notes in it because we barely opened it. All of my school cd's that come in the back of the books are still unopened because guess what, we never put them in the pc. As I'm writing this, I just happened to look up on the shelf and open the book and scroll through it and noticed all of this. My books are still in good condition (hardly any notes) because we never really opened them. Now that I think about it, I believe in most of the classes we were just given handouts if that. You want to know what class I learned the most in, it was my career development class because I was already a professional, I just wanted a better education hoping that in turn I would make more money. None of this happened, in fact when I was sent on my internship (about 50 miles away) at a pc company I was further more humiliated when my manager I reported to asked me if I would fill in for the company receptionist because she called out sick. He asked me this after he asked me a question about a database and recognized that I had no idea what he was talking about. I answered the company calls for 8 hours sitting in the receptionist area feeling as if my whole world had turned inside out. I was humiliated and embarrassed to be sent to a PC Company having two years of college completed to experience something like this. All of this and all I have to show for it is $20K in student loans and 2K debt owed to Gibbs.
Diane of Bronx NY (04/09/07)
Hi my name is Diane and I am currently attending Katharine Gibbs School which unfortunately is the biggest mistake I've done in my life. I entered the Criminal Justice program hoping that I would go far but its only set me back. A majority of the professors are not qualified to teach Criminal Justice classes. They had a professor from the Hotel and Resturant program teach us a Terrorism course. We had 3 deans in the past 2 years and they still havent shown that they care about the students.I honestly feel that all they seek is money from the students. I was on the Honor's list twice with a GPA of 3.35 and now my GPA is 2.5. The professors I've had do not show us any hands on trainig and if we were to graduate we would not be prepared for the outside world. They have also sent me numerous of collection notices stating I owed them money, which then was voided when I treid to investigate further. I have failed my classes and not on purpose. I have put my all into my studies and professors did not show any consideration about anything. They show me that they really do not care. My mother has been sick and I've had to miss a few days of school and work just to attend to her needs. I also lost my dad a four years ago which brings a burden on me because financially I can not afford to repay a loan of $20,000. What I make at my job which is part time and not stable I can pay for only my bills. My mom does not recieve much from SSI and it goes to bills also. I also have been told that in about 4 years if I continue my education I would have to pay for my classes because my funds from the state will expire. Nonetheless, I have a -$4,101.00 credited in my account at school. I have tried to claim it but I am always given an excuse. I have tried speaking to various people and they all give me a different answer or have no answer at all. If anyone reads this and you think you can help me please feel free to contact me at diane.boyd@my.gibbsny.edu. I will highly appreciate any feedback I can get to get to the bottom of this. Finacially I will not be able to repay a $20,000 loan.
Diane of Bronx NY (04/09/07)
A majority of the professors are not qualified to teach Criminal Justice classes. They had a professor from the Hotel and Resturant program teach us a Terrorism course. We had 3 deans in the past 2 years. The professors I've had do not show us any hands on trainig and if we were to graduate we would not be prepared for the outside world. They have also sent me numerous of collection notices stating I owed them money, which then was voided when I tried to investigate further. I have failed my classes and not on purpose. I have put my all into my studies and professors did not show any consideration about anything.
Boswell of Smithfield NC (12/31/06)
I attended the Katharine Gibbs School for the Digital Media and Applied Science program form 2002 - 2003. I finished the program with 3.68 GPA. The reason I chose Katharine Gibbs was the fact that they promissed a regimented and concise program with 100% job placement after graduation. It has been 3 years and I have yet to get a Job or the help to find a Job in my field. Nancy Klein who is in charge of the job placement advised me that they no longer guarantee job placement and to set up an account with Career builder or Monster.com. I am stuck with a $30,000 student loan and had to file bankruptcy, because I couldn't find a job to pay my bills.
Susan of Lynn MA (09/16/05)
I went to Gibbs College and still dont even know if I graduated. I never received my degree diploma and never received an invite to the graduation. I spent $18,000 in loans and grants to go to a school that taught me nothing. I went in as a professional, already in the field. I am a professional photographer having most of my work go to graphic and web designers. I thought I could corner a good market knowing all aspects of design. Gibbs promised that I would learn that to ehance my career. All I did in 18 months was fight for my education. Very incompentent teachers, curriculum, admissions counselors that lied through thier teeth to get you signed up. I never even was involved in my loan and grant process. The amounts that I have to pay back are abusrd compared to what I learned. I never had any loans or grants made directly out to me, they went directly to the school. Many students were in hallways and not attending class. When they had to finally get in class to go through finals, the teacher had to start over again for them to learn. My flash teacher knew nothing about action scripting, only new Adobe Premier and was teaching flash. I dont know the program today. I was in more graphic design classes than web design. I was told I would learn coding and development. I learned very basic HTML. I was put in all sorts of wrong classes always fighting about my schedule. I wrote a 6 page letter to the president of the school after my program and he was going to let me take classes over. I took one over, could only take them at night due to a part time job and their schedule. then the classes stopped at night and I was no longer able to retake the classes I learned nothing in.
Kisha of Bronx NY (08/21/05)
I attended the Gibbs school from 1992-1994, I studid fashion design & merchandising. I was told that when I graduated I will have the oppertunity to earn at least $45, yearly at many compnaies in New York. I was told that I will receive assistance in finding a job- which never happened. Also aslo we was force to learn so many courses in such short time. It really didnt mater if you studie or came to school- some how some wat you would pass I guess it was to kept or get a high graduateing class. I would never recommend any one to the gibbs school because all they want is your money and have no real interest in educating you or providing you with real a chance to receive a the great job they promisse you.
Rena of Deerfield Beach FL (05/03/05)
I was a student of Gibbs college in montclair. Majoring in Visual communications, everything seemed great (at the initial interview) I explained to them from day one my over all goal was to receive my Ph.D. So I had asked them more than once if they were fully accredited.. they told me yes!
Also I had received grants and loans for the beginning and they told me that I would receive the same grants and loans for the 2nd half of my time at Gibbs!
Well the time came for loans and grants and I was denied for both! Unfortunately this made me have to begin looking else where. I was very angry due to the fact I had put so much time work and effort into my education! I am putting myself through school! My income at the time had reduced not increased so it was at no fault of my own that I couldnt get the grants. Meanwhile I then learned while looking into other colleges out of state that Gibbs doesnt hold a high accrediation, therefor most of my credits id not all would not transfer! I was extremely mad, but was trying to handle things in a adult manor. I found a great animation college in Florida! I love it and the people!
Denise of Ludlow MA (04/05/05)
Upon applying/registering at the schoool, I was told by their representatives that their credits are transferrable (at least some) at any school. What they neglected to tell me was that no school accepts their credits, because they are not regionally accredited (like NEASC)... so now here I am goign to Springfield College and their telling me I can't have my credits transferred. I've contacted the President and Dean of Gibbs College on several occasions to see what they could do for me, perhaps give me some of my money back due to the lies and deception (to which they continued throughout my time their), but they practically refuse to help me. So here I am, very little education in the field of animation, no transferrable credits and lies beheld by Gibbs.
I have gone to a facility to which lied to me for my money basically, and now left with credits I can't use and no education received... I've received nothing for my time and money and wish for my money back.
Sean of Albertson NY (03/18/05)
I attended Katharine Gibbs School in Melville New York from October
2001 - March 2003. I went for an Associates degree in Computer Network Operations and received the degree in the 18 months that they promised. I paid a total of $30,000 to attend a school that I later found out wound not help me get a job or a Bachelor's degree.
When I started there, I was told by my advisors at the school that all I needed was an Associates Degree to find a job in the Computer/IT World, and the school is completely degree-oriented, however, that couldn't be further from the truth. I needed to get specific certifications and the school failed to provide me with the education required to receive any certifications that the IT industry demands. I also found the fast teacher turnover rate highly suspicious. It seemed every semester there were all new teachers. Some of the teachers were not even teacher certified and did not provide me with the education in order to graduate, get certified, and get a job in the IT World.
I was told when I started that they offered job placement which was far from true. After graduating, I contacted the school several times in hopes of them helping me find a job. I spoke with one woman, and the next week she was no longer working there. I spoke to another woman, same thing. I spoke with another woman who just never returned my calls, and it was at this point, that I stopped trying. I've spoken with other Gibbs graduates, and they had the same experience and have been left feeling as helpless as me.
Realizing that Gibbs had left me $30K in debt, and nothing to show for it, I decided I needed to go back to school to pursue my Bachelors degree. After applying and working on transferring my credits over, I was told that Katherine Gibbs was a non-accredited school which means NONE of my credits would be able to be transferred. Katherine Gibbs failed to make me aware of this. I would not haev attended had I known I couldn't bring those credits elsewhere. I have spent over $30K to attend a school that is not accredited so all that knowledge I gained not only means nothing to prospective employers, but to other Colleges as well. Now I am paying off loans with money I do not have because I couldn't get a job with a degree from Katharine Gibbs.
Colleen of Levittown NY (02/04/05)
I was a former student at Katharine Gibbs. The staff at the Melville Campus is very nasty. I went to the Hotel REstaurant Management Program and Graduated. The discriminated against me because I am disabled. The dean's secretary is a nasty person. I would like my $18,000 back for pain suffering and humiliation. I felt I was accepted as a token because I was disabled.
The school denies ever being nasty towards me and they told me they would help me find a job and only set me up on 4 inteviews. The president is very nasty also and does not care about anything. I feel nothing was used when I went to this school and I am upset I paid $18,000 and Had to buy a new wardrobe beause they told me you must wear a skirt to the school and I am upset about that too. Most office job you can wear pants 99% of them wear nice dressy pants. When I had a complaint against them the just ignored me and told me I am not allowed to have money back.
And when I complained to corporate office the dean and the assistant dean verbally harassed me and said how dare you go over our head. Please help me about this. I was verbally harassed by the Dean, Assistant Dean and the President of Katharine Gibbs. They called me at my house and did not care if i was disabled or not. I want $25,000 back for pain, suffering and humiliation. The school does not assistant you in finding a job, instead they verbally harass you and I cried everyday when I got home for being harassed by the nasty staff at Katharine Gibbs School in Melville, NY.
Josue of Union Beach NJ (12/29/04)
I have a few complaints regarding this school. First complaint is that I was told several different times that my loans have changed starting from only paying 900 to now paying 7000. Then they said I wasn't able to get a loan and needed a cosigner or I couldnt graduate without paying the school 4,000 before graduation. They told me this 1 month prior to graduation. When I had threatened to take legal action, the next day they said I was approved for a loan. I was supposed to graduate on December 23, 2004. 3 days before graduation, they had told me they forgot to give me a class, and said I would have to start another semester. In addition, because they only do graduations once a year, I would not be able to graduate until December 2005. I will not be able to receive my certification until Dec 2005 as well. This school is beyond ridiculous and I am just at the point where a good lawyer is needed to proceed with legal action.
Sabrina of Brooklyn NY (12/11/03)
This school has too many issues that it cannot all be witten in this little space. I along with many students who do not wish to complain as I am doing are having minor troubles that may soon be major with this school if they keep happening. first many of us don't have computers at home , therefore, we use what the school has to offe us, only to find out that, an award program is being held in our only space to study. even going to use the student lounge is not possible due to staff of gibbs using it to accomidate their guests for lunch. So where do we the stuents go from their. Every one needing to use a computer and none available , with this being the season of finals. This is unfair.
When I adderessed the issue to the chairperson over student affairs, he basically tried to manipulate me, telling me it was only two hours and what do I want him to do . I want the chairperson or whoever in in charge to use to the thousands of money they are recieveing from us, the students, and rent out an appropiate space for such functions. Though there are many other important matters that i will address , this is just the start. Many students had to settle with unsatisfactory grades, not having access to computers, many of us has been inconvenienced by having to travel back and forth, from one building to the next for things that were not that serious, but because the school is not as organized as they should be, we the students are the ones going through the trouble.
Mark of Lindenhurst MY (12/10/03)
I attended Katharine Gibbs from 9/98-6/99 and graduated from the Computer Technical Support Course with a 3.6 GPA. Upon graduation, I had not learned anything that would have helped me in the computer field. The school guarantees job-placement, they sent me on a total of 2 interviews, neither of which I was even remotely qualified for. I eventually worked for IBM on my own after months of searching, where I finally learned the skills I needed - on the job.
When you apply to the school you are always told to go through the front doors. Once you are a student, you are to enter/exit through the student entrance in the back, and that's when you are hit with reality. Gangster rap blasting in the parking lot, fights in the hallways, people standing in front of the entrance doors and starting fist fights with anyone who accidentally knocks in to them. These people would then fail out at the end of the semester, and like clockwork there is a new group to replace them. The school will take money from anyone who pays, regardles of his/her qualifications.
I had a teacher, Ms. K, who would literally spend every class talking about her personal life, how she removes her engagement ring when she goes out, etc, talking behind other teachers' backs to her students, etc. She would also start fights with her students in front of the class, perhaps the most unprofessional woman I have ever had the displeasure of coming across.
A couple of years later I worked with a student who had just graduated from Gibbs who informed me that this woman was now dating one of her students.
Melissa of Amityville NY (11/13/03)
I wanted a career in designing web pages. Upon meeting with a counselor at the Katharine Gibbs School I was very excited about the E-Commerce Program. I wanted to learn how to create web pages, etc. I was also excited when I was told I would be able to receive an Associates Degree in this program. Well as it turns out, I graduated with close to no knowledge on how to create a web page. Also, when it came time to extend into an Associate's program, I was told Sorry, but we do not have an associate's degree available in this course. So, here I am $20,000 later with a certificate and no knowledge of how to create a web page. The aspects that I learned in this course was the business side of the Web Page industry. I did not learn any programs associated with creating a web page. I took 1 beginners class of HTML. So tell me, what am I supposed to do when I go for a job interview with none of the skills that the industry demands? I would not recommend this program to anyone!!!
Kristyn of North Attleboro MA (09/24/03)
I recently finished my second semester in the Executive Assistant program. When I originally went to my interview at Katharine Gibbs, I wanted to go into the Legal Executive Assistant program. I thought that it was strange that my advisor was trying to push me into the regular Executive Assistant program. I found out later that the Legal Executive Assistant program is not offered at night. So, instead of telling me the truth, he simply just pushed me in a different direction.
The computer equipment provided is absolutely useless. We have about 15 students in our class and we are lucky if 8 out of the 20 computers actually work. All of us are paying $16,000 for this program and half the equipment doesn't even work. Katharine Gibbs will not replace the equipment until we move to the Cranston location in January. So, in the meantime, it is very difficult to get all of our work done if the computers are not working.
Katharine Gibbs is not what I thought it was. The school has a very good reputation, but I think the true colors are showing.
Dana of Garfield NJ (02/05/03)
I am currently a student at Gibbs College. I am in my third semester in the visual communications program and am extremely dissappointed with the courses that I have had. Upon starting the program at Gibbs, I was given information about several computer programs that I was to be learning. I have only had combined courses in an eleven week period. For exmaple, my Illustrator class was combined with Photoshop. I do not feel this is ample time to learn programs of this calibur. The instrutors that I have have had, have little or no experience in these programs. Basically I was given a book to do the tutorials from. At the end of my studies, I will have paid out $27,000.00 to the school. I have yet to graduate from Gibbs, as I am only in my third course study, but I have apprehensions about continuing in the program. I will be looking elsewhere for my computer-based education because I believe that I can be taught these programs as well as learning them on my own if I am going to be paying for them, rather than paying to learn and sitting in a class doing tutorials from a book.
Kelly of Lyndhurst NJ (2/6/03):
I am currently in my last semester at Katherine Gibbs college for Web Design and Animation and have not been taught the skills in the 18-month course to design a web site or do animation. I have six weeks left and don't feel that I will know enough to get a job. They keep pushing Graphic Design on me and I came to Gibbs for Web Design and Animation. I don't want to be a Graphic Designer, I want to design web sites and do animation.
I had one course in animation last semester and feel that the teacher wasn't qualified to teach, he spent more time on his cell phone and trying to figure out his own projects than teach the class. It seemed he didn't know the program very well. He struggled with it. He was not the animation teacher. He teaches a different computer program.
This is my last semester and I'm just getting the course I needed for Web Design and Animation. In turn they are craming three programs into one course once a week. I'm out in six weeks and haven't even gotten half way through the book on one program and there is three programs to learn. I recieved and was charged for many books that the school said I needed for these courses and many of them I never even opened.
They had me take a photography class. I took pictures once the whole course. They provided me with rolls of film for the course and charged me for them and I never used them. I had teachers send us out for supplies and were told if we didn't get them we would get a bad grade. And we never used the supplies. I have come to classes that the teachers have been extremely late or not show up at all and I'm paying for these classes the way I look at it.
There are not enough computers and printers to accommodate all the students and most of the time the equipment is down for service. Alot of other students feel the way that I do and have the same fears that I have that we won't be ready to get a job after we graduate. I have a $20,000 student loan that has to be repayed and I'm not going to be able to get a job to pay it back.
Dana of Garfield NJ (2/5/03):
I am currently a student at Gibbs College. I am in my third semester in the visual communications program and am extremely disappointed with the courses that I have had. Upon starting the program at Gibbs, I was given information about several computer programs that I was to be learning. I have only had combined courses in an eleven-week period. For exmaple, my Illustrator class was combined with Photoshop. I do not feel this is ample time to learn programs of this caliber. The instrutors that I have have had have little or no experience in these programs. Basically I was given a book to do the tutorials from. At the end of my studies, I will have paid out $27,000.00 to the school.
Melissa of Wakefield MA (9/27/02):
I graduated from Katharine Gibbs four years ago. I signed out of the school with a negative -$375. A couple months later I got a call from a representative of Katharine Gibbs stating I owed over $1,000.00. I asked her to send me an itemized bill explaining these charges. They never did. Several months later (the next year) I received a collection notice regarding an overdue balance to Katharine Gibbs in the amount of $2,477.00. Again, I called the school to get an itemized bill. They sent me my transcript with handwritten additional charges, but it still didn't explain why they were charging my account.
I called and wrote them again asking to please be more specific as to why they are adding these additional charges to my account post graduation. I was told and I quote "Do not look at the overall charge, instead add up each credit (on the transcript they sent) and the charge of each credit and you will come up with the correct charges." I did exactly that and I still came up with the same $-$375.00. I had several qualified persons look at it and again, they came up with the -$375.00.
It's been three (3) years without any contact from the school and this past April I received another collection notice from another collection agency. I called the school again and spoke with a new Accounts Manager and he told me he would look into it and to give him a call at the end of the week. I called and got his voicemail and left a message to call me on Monday. I did not recieve a call and called that afternoon and left another voicemail. Several weeks went by and I received another collection notice from yet a different agency, only this time the charges were over $4,000.00 (penalties and fees).
I called the collection agency and sated they would look into it. This time I was not going to let this slip through again without any answers. The gentleman I spoke with said he would call me and I would receive explanation from the school (directly from the school). Well, tonight I received a collection notice stating that the charges are just and that I owe this money and received nothing from the school explaining the charges. I don't know where to go from here.
First, I went back to school in my mid-twenties hoping to get a better start on life and it's probably the biggest mistake I've made. I felt while at the school I wasn't learning much of anything that I hadn't already known, they laid off all the qualified instructors and replaced them with people that didn't show up half the time and certainly people that weren't qualified to teach. The only retribution I received from that school was their name and pretty soon that's not going to be worth anything. Second, I don't feel that I've gotton $20,000.00 worth of learning out that school and I'm certainly not paying them an additional $4,000.00 out of my pocket if it wasn't worth $20,000.00.
Michael of Brentwood NY (7/8/02):
I graduated from Katharine Gibbs School class of 99. that's the first graduating class for graphic design. My GPA was 3.8 and I'm a very good artist but haven't had much luck finding work. One of the reasons I went to Katharine Gibbs was the lifetime placement and in the last 3 years they sent me to 2 interviews. My fellow students that I keep in touch with only two have jobs in the graphic design field.
The instructors were not very good. For instance I had a Quark Express teacher and she gave a test and only two people passed because she did not teach the material, and my friend was one that passed and that's because he used the program prior to attending Gibbs and I'm sure that to be the case of the other one as well. This is a big contributing factor in my unemployment situation because I did not know the program well enough to get a job in the field so I went the other route new media/web/3D but since I graduated around the time the .com bottom dropped. I have a wife and two children to support. I have a $24,000 loan and no job.
Michelle writes (4/4/01):
I just graduated from Katharine Gibbs School. The school promised to teach a course on Multimedia, which I was never taught, in 3D animation and Web Design.
I have no clue on how to design a page. I am very frustrated and feel they took me for a 18-month ride. The school fired half of the teachers who were instructing the students. I feel the instructors were not qualified to teach.
My problem is I have a loan for $25,000 given to them, and they didn't live up to what they promised. I want to attend another school and get the proper education, but first I want to know what can I do to (get my money back).
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