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Jennifer of Long Beach, NY August 7, 2008
I like many was also a victim of the Katharine Gibbs School. I was told the school was an accredited college and that all my credits would transfer, this was untrue. I was charged for books and supplies which I never needed, used, or received. I was coaxed into taking out a loan to pay for all this which ended up at an astronomical interest rate. Now I will be paying back a useless education for the rest of my life. DO NOT ATTEND this school or any like it. If anyone is participating in a class action suit I would love to be a part. I would like to get this school out of business before more young people are robbed and lied to.
Ghylaine of Kendall Park, NJ July 22, 2008
I attended Gibbs College in Piscataway, for their Visual Communications Program.I was part of the first group of students to finish for my degree in Montclair.I have nothing good to say about my experience.I was also told that my credits would transfer, and would receive lifetime refresher courses too.None of that was true.
When transfering from the Piscataway campus to the Montclair campus, they neglected to process my loan paper work.They failed to alert me until 2 weeks before graduating, that I had no financial aid and I owed them over 7,000.00!Needless to say, they took no responsibility for this and I never recieved my degree.
Their placement services were a joke, I had someone call me and tell me about the same jobs(not even in my field)that were in the newspaper I was looking at when they called!!!They admitted that they were reading from the Star Ledger.Definetely a rip-off.There's got to be something we can all do to either be at least partially reimbursed or at least keep this from happen to others... It's been years since I graduated and I feel very victimized by this school.They should stick to producing administrative assistants at best.
This experience has set me back years in my life and has forced me to keep my college job of bartending for now, to pay off this insanely overpriced education.
Jennifer of Toms River, NJ July 7, 2008
I attended gibbs piscataway for the beginning of my education and finished off at the campus in livingston. One campus was as ridiculous as the next. The teachers (with the exception of a few) were second rate and did not care about the students. The bookstore was a joke! the classes were small and unorganized and the staff was very unaccomodating. During the admissions process and orientation we were all told that the school had a 96% job placement rate, we were also told that with the education we were paying for the jobs we would be placed in would start at 40 thou a year at least. DID NOT HAPPEN. I was not placed in a job and i graduated with honors.
We were told that our credits would transfer because the school is accredited and we should have no problem transferring almost all of our credits to Rutgers University. We were also told that with the price of the tuition we got lifetime refresher courses which was a huge selling point. The admissions people mentioned that software is constantly upgrading and changing in the design industry and the refresher courses would be priceless. Well... i graduated from the visual communications program in 2005 and since 2006 i have been trying to get in touch with someone at either of the NJ campuses about getting into a refresher course and have not received a phonecall back yet. about a month ago (june 2008) i got a letter saying they were closing all of the Gibbs Schools in the area.
I immediately called the schools and asked if the students would be getting some kind of financial reimbursement because we PAID for services (lifetime refresher courses) that are no longer available. i spoke to student services, career services and the dean himself. Not one of them could offer a resolution. I am currently waiting for a phonecall back from dean Condin of piscatway (its been two weeks)
if anyone is getting a class action lawsuit together please let me know about it~ I had to go bankrupt because i could not find a well paying job after graduation as promised. I am still thousands of dollars in debt because i paid for a second rate education that is not holding up their end of the deal.
Suguey of Brooklyn, NY June 19, 2008
Im an out of state student and I enrolled in this school to obtain my AA degree in Fashion Design and Merchandising. During the process while they were explaining to me how the school worked they told me that the school offered every class every quarter (every quarter is 10 weeks) meaning that just in case you where to fail a class you would be able to take the class over the following quarter. The school came across some financial problems and they had to shut it down, so they decided to give the students already attending a chance to graduate and Teach Out?.
With that being said, I am only a two quarters away from graduating. Unfortunately I Failed a coarse last quarter and was suppose to be able to retake it this quarter, but couldnt because they had no one to teach it. Then said I wouldnt be able to take it next quarter but once it came time for me to sign up for my classes they told me that it wouldnt be offered until maybe? the Oct-Dec quarter which is my supposed graduation. Because of this set back Im not able to take pt.2 to that class until of course I take pt.1 which was the course that I failed. Katharine of Piscataway, NJ May 22, 2008
Everything negative about Katharine Gibbs that I have read is true. Do not waste your money, the education they claim to provide sucks. Do not believe anything they say. You cannot transfer your credit. 25,000. down the drain.
You live and learn, but believe me if somebody would of told me before I signed up, I would of listen.
Betty of Hillsborough, NJ March 10, 2008
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.
Ms.sheena of Phila, PA March 4, 2008
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 February 6, 2008
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 January 24, 2008
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 October 6, 2007
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.
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