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University of Phoenix - Withdrawal Credit

Ruth of Sumter SC (10/18/07)
I have been thinking about withdrawing. I just started and my first 2 classes will be over 11-11-07. I have asked 5 people for a withdrawal form and the conditions. Still no answer, John in finances was supposed to call today but did not. I was told that I only needed an associates degree to a get a web design job. They did not post my entire schedule until last week and I only have 18 core credits; but I have 21 credits of writing. They have already received $3500.00 from Sallie Mae. I got the statement last week. So far no answers as to why, just a run around from everyone. I have A's in both classes. We're in the 6th wk and there are only 9 weeks in each class.

Justin of Johnstown, PA (10/11/07)
While trying to withdraw from the online program, I was told that I have to pay the full tuition for the class even though I posted for, at most, a week and a half.  When I went to their enrollment centers I spoke with a gentleman that informed me that I would only have to pay 20-25 percent of the tuition fee.  Then, out of nowhere, their affiliate, the Apollo Group, started to take money out of my account.  I was under the impression and was even told by a UOP rep that no money transactions were to be made until the completion of the class and even then they would allow up to 60 days for the tuition to be paid.

When I questioned UOP about this transaction they informed me that they had no record of the Apollo Group attempting to take money.  However, three days ago I received a letter from them indicating that they did indeed try to take money out but could not.

It has been a complete nightmare just trying to withdraw over the past week and a half.

Wes of Decatur AL (10/04/07)
I attended many classes at University of Phoenix. I started a new job and told my counselor I couldn't afford to spend time on my next class so I didn't want to start it. She told me as long as I dropped the class in the first week I would get a full refund but to try the class and see if I thought I could handle the load. After 3 days I knew that I couldn't support the class so I tried to call her and drop it. I left several messages. I also emailed my counselor and my financial counselor to let them know I needed to drop the class and get the stated refund. Turns out my academic counselor was let go. They did drop me from the class and they did acknowlege I was trying to do so in the first week, but it was their fault it didn't happen, and that my account would be credited back to my student loan. Seven months later I get a call from the school telling my they are starting the collection process for $1300 I owe them. Seven months! Turns out I got a new finnacial counselor and she found faults in my case and had to send me to collections. Now they tell me the policy is once you log in to class one time you owe the full amount and thus I owe them the full amount for the class. They tell me there is no recourse for this and that I should have read the course drop manual that was not provided to me and which I have not found to date. They say I have no choice but to pay.

Potential black mark on credit. Can't transfer my classes to another school. Stress dealing with this school that will not even talk to you in person.

Robert of Lake City FL (12/26/06)
I was attending University of Phoenix for about a year. I was receiving financial aid and using the National Guards tuition assistance. In January of '06 I was activated to deploy to Iraq for 12 months. I notified the school and my military liasion there, Rika, immediately so that I could get a military withdrawal. She advised me to be put on leave of absence instead so i could pick up when i returned from duty.

I agreed and she said all she needed was a copy of my orders. I did not have a copy yet, and told her that and she said to get it to her when i got a chance. I didn't end up deploying until the end of Feb or beginning of March. I was in contact with her and she again said no problem.

When I finally deployed I was gone in training for about a month when due to an injury I was sent back home. I contacted Rika once during the time I was gone in response to a request for orders. I told her we still did not have official orders yet, which was true. when i was sent back home, the first thing i did was try to enroll back into class only to find out that they had, in 3 weeks time, declared my account inactive, returned any money to the lender for financial aid, and sent the leftover balance to their collection agency.

I tried for about 2 months to resolve the situation speaking to everyone in the food chain from Rika to Mike B (the next person down in finance below the president of the school) All refused to help and said I was to pay them 1900 dollars that i owed and they would still not take anything off my credit report.

I needed to stay focused on school so i enrolled in the local community college and started classes in summer. After starting class there, Ted G, 2 positions above Rika,  calls me and says they found the mistake and all i owe is 350 dollars and he could get me enrolled, but the catch was the i had to enroll back with UOP immediately. I told him I already enrolled in another school and they would have to wait until this class was over. He said no deal.

I didn't have the money since i just enrolled in another school and was out of work for a month after i returned home due to injury. He laughed at me and said what was the point in me disputing it if I didn't have any money anyways? i tried to explain to him that the situation would have been different if they had listened to me to begin with. So now this is on my report and I have turned to a military attorney for help.

Lynette of Pacifica CA (6/27/03):
UOP had opened a new campus in San Mateo, CA. I had expressed interest, and filled out a card requesting information. An "admissions counselor" (who was a UOP student that had graduated) contacted me and I went to see her. That night, I had been convinced to sign up, and was also told I needed to fill out the forms for financial aid. I was told that financial aid (by way of a Stafford loan or UOP-procured loan if I wasn't eligible for a Stafford loan) would pay for most of my tuition.

It is VERY costly (approx. $1,100 per five-week class) and it was high pressure to apply for financial aid. A week later, I was asked to meet with a Financial Aid counselor who explained to me that financial aid would not cover all of the tuition and there would be a difference of about $800.00 for which I was responsible. I opted to pay the difference immediately and received a small discount for doing so.

UOP ads say "attend class only one night per week". What they don't say is that you are also required to meet with a Learning Team once a week and "recommended" that a team meeting lasts for 5 hours. So it's really two nights a week. After I completed my first course (which was GEN 300 -- an "Intro to College" course that I didn't need since I had already attended college and university but was told I had to take), my admissions counselor informed me that, because I only had three students in my class, my schedule was changing from Monday night to Tuesday night. I told her it is a hassle to change nights with my employer and she assured me it wouldn't change for at least six months. The next day, I was assigned to an academic counselor who changed my schedule to Wednesday, then told me it was uncertain and I would probably stick to Tuesdays, depending on the outcome of my proficiency tests.

My counselors told me that it was okay to miss a class and that instructors are flexible with making up assignments or doing assignments early. Well, my second class (which had already been moved from May 5 to May 20) was going to have its final (including an oral presentation with my team) and I was going to be on vacation. My counselor did NOT allow me to change and said I just had to work it out with the instructor. The instructor hadn't a clue and it was a bit of a problem. We agreed that I would do my 5th week presentation at the 4th week's class. So my whole learning team had to do the same to accommodate my vacation!

I had also heard from other students that they were being told that their necessary courses were not available at the San Mateo campus and they would have to attend another campus. I dropped out of UOP after the second week of my second class and notified my instructor and the university. I was advised that because I withdrew before my federal financial aid was processed (UOP gives you a 90-day "grace" period where you don't have to pay until your financial application is processed, and then the government pays it) I would have to pay for the first course and the two weeks of the second course. This was on the papers I signed, so I agreed that I understood that.

I started to hear stories about lousy counselors, schedule changes at whims, increased and "hidden" and "extra" fees. A couple told me that their graduation had been "extended" because the counselor told them they needed to take more courses and another said they had to pay another fee in order to graduate! I was thankful I dropped when I did.

On June 23, I received a telephone call (at work) from someone in the UOP financial services department. She curtly asked: "When can we expect payment of your balance from you?" I hadn't even received a statement of my balance due! I told this woman that I was still awaiting a statement and she said she would send one and that I should remit to the Fresno office and not the Arizona office. I received the statement on June 26, and was annoyed to find some kind of a $40.00 "RF" charge added to my balance. I had expected to pay the balance (about $650.00, after deducting the earlier payment I had made to cover the financial aid "gap") in installments, but, given the horror stories I've read on the internet about UOP messing up people's credit reports, I decided to come up with the money and take the hardship and just pay it off in full and be rid of them.

Heather of Kansas City KS (6/26/03):
I enrolled thinking UOP would be a great fit for my lifestyle. After enrolling I started my first class. This was a waste of time. The "teacher" was awful. I still don't have a grade back from a large paper. This class is required before moving on. I wanted my degree very badly so I decided to give the school one more chance. My second class was just as bad. The teacher was better, but the problem is I learned nothing. My book was never used and I still got an A.

From day one I have had problems with them as far as finances go. The first lady I spoke with reassured me I would have no problem getting a grant or federal aid. After attempting to contact her several times I heard nothing. After my second worthless class I decided to leave UOP. I could pay $50 compared to over $400 per hour and walk away knowing a lot more! Aprox. 2 months after my class ended and I withdrew from the school I received a letter stating I owed $705.90 this was deducted from the amount of my loan. That part checks out.

So I contacted my finance advisor and told her I could not pay the entire amount right away but would make payments. She said as long as I was making payments it would not affect my credit. This letter was sent to me 5/5/03 I sent a check for $50.00 5/10/03. Later that month I received a notice I was going to be sent to collections. So I called her back and she reassured me it was not a big deal, it was just an in-house area to collect the money. I felt a bit better and made another payment mid June 2003 for $150.00.

On 6/25/03 I received a letter from the collections department and contacted them letting them know I had already made arragements and would continue to make payments as I had been. The guy told me I had 3 months to pay it off or I would be sent to a collection agency for further action. He told me I had to call the 15th of each month to make payments and if it was a day late they would turn me over. I was told by him that when they get the accounts they are very delinquent and it is a big deal to have them contact me.

I contacted Jeff, the manager for the Finance Advisor to see what the policy is for sending a student to collections so soon. He informed me they do not have anything in writing about time frames of when to send some one to collections or how to handle repayments. There is nothing in the contract I signed with the UOP about repayment. I asked why I was considered to be past due and Jeff stated that once you withdraw from the school they go back to the first day of your last class and start from that date! Again I asked for this in writing and he could not give it to me. UOP is a large university who targets single parents, and individuals who need a degree but have to work while in school. THEY CAN NOT PROVIDE ANYTHING IN WRITING ABOUT REPAYMENT OR COLLECTION PROCEEDURES. This school is awful and I want everyone to know that UOP is not who they say they are.

Andrew of Evans GA (2/11/03):
I was enrolled as a full-time student and had completed 3 courses. During a business trip my laptop failed and I was unable to attend my class and I contacted my professor and my academic counselor, Eric Newkirk. At this time he informed me that it would be no problem and he would reschedule the class. What he never mentioned was that I was still to be charged for the class. After I contacted him (he never returned calls), he said that the best he can do is pro-rate the next class. I informed him that this was not acceptable and that I wished to withdraw. Two weeks have gone by and I have continued to get in touch with Allen Wischmeyer (Financial Advisor) and Eric Newkirk via email, fax, telephone to confirm my withdrawal and was never answered.

Not only did I not receive a refund, I was charged a partial tuition for the next class on my credit card without my authorization or approval. I have several emails and a verification of my faxed withdrawal form that make it abundantly clear that I had no desire to be a student for another waking minute. The University of Phoenix is a major (disappointment). I had a 4.0 GPA and achieved this by converting oxygen into carbon dioxide and fogging a mirror.

Not only did I not receive a refund of approximately $760.00, I was illegaly charged $528.00 for a new class when my desire and intentions were clear that I was to be withdrawn post haste.

Stewart of Austin TX writes (7/20/01):
I enrolled in an online class last fall. I trusted the friendly enrollment adviser who enrolled me in this class before I received all the necessary paperwork. A week into it, I was having doubts - the instructor was scatter-brained and much of the instruction was contradictory.

I searched all the printed materials I had, and searched their web site. I could NOT find anything on how tuition is handled when a student drops a class. So, I emailed the academic advisor with that question. Her answer was, "If you drop before the end of the 3rd week of class, there is NO financial penalty." So I stayed in the class until the end of week 3, at which time I decided this was a complete waste of time. I dropped the class.

A few days later, I received a bill for the full class tuition. I emailed them, and was assured it was a mistake and they would credit my Discover card. When I received my statement, they had reduced the tuition charged by $468, but still billed me $700. When I questioned this, they replied that their policy was to charge partial tuition up to the end of week 3, after that it's full tuition.

They said their academic advisor didn't mean there would be no charges (is it me, or is this doubletalk?). I forwarded them her email where she said "no financial penalty", but they would not budge. I contested the charge, notifying Discover. When Discover questioned the charge, the school's response included a written document regarding their drop policy. It said a partial refund was due a student who dropped before the 3rd week. So, they did act in accordance with that policy after I challenged their original full charge. But that academic advisor lied to me, and their written tuition policy is well-hidden from students until such time as it suits their purposes.

I wasted $700 on this online class.

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