Sylvan Learning Centers

Debra of Everman TX (01/13/09)
My son was enrolled in sylvan back in 2006. at the time he was in the 3rd grade and struggling that year, sylvan gauranteed me that he would be on 4th grade level by the time he completed the course. during his meeting they stated that he had showed a lot of improvement and that he was on 4th grade level, by the end of the course i was then told he wasn't proforming, and wanted me to take out another loan so that he could do another course, for what i don't think so

sylvan learning center may have benefit but as for my son, the following year he repeated the 4th grade and i'm still suffering behind it, that loan was 4,000 for 1-2 hours 2 times a week for 4mos and the only somebody that benefit from it was sylvan learning center now i'm being sue by sallie mae for over 7,000 something that i don't have even though i started out paying the loan fine until my son didn't benefit from it.

i stop paying because i was getting behind on everything else trying to pay for something that didn't even help my son, just put me in more debt. i wish that there was away sylvan learning center can pay that money back to sallie mae 

Edna of Texas City, TX January 12, 2009

Edna of Texas City TX (01/12/09)
My son has problems with his eye sight and was struggling in school. I thought Sylvan was a good thing for him because of one on one teaching. I was wrong, Hurricane Ike cause our city a mandatory evaculation and my son was unable to attend classes and before signing any documents I explained that I'm a disable mom and can barely get around at times.

After the lady assured me that if my son missed an sessions he could make them up in make hours, I felt comfortable with going on with his enrollment. Due to transporation problems I called and let them know my son would no longer be attending the program until I could get another vehicle. Sylvan refuse to reburst any of my money and also kicked my son out of the program. I made three apointments with Sylvan's director (to explain my situation about transporation), either apointment the director never showed up. Sylvan's director was never available for conference. I was completely mislead by Sylvan and I wouldn't recommend anyone sending their children there.

Ellen of Portland, OR January 7, 2009

Ellen of Portland OR (01/07/09)
I interviewed for a tutor position here and I was offered 10 per hour. I am a retired teacher and have taught for 22 years in public school settings. I have a Masters degree. As much as I would love to work with children again, I cannot justify the pay compared to what the parents are charged. I believe teaching is a noble profession, but that teachers should be shown enough respect to be paid on a professional scale, especially when the parents are paying so much. No wonder it doesn't work and the parents are seeing such few results.

Cindy of Tallahassee, FL January 6, 2009

Cindy of Tallahassee FL (01/06/09)
We signed our 15 year old son with Sylvan on February 14th, we were given February 19th as his start date but when we got there they said sorry he was to have been here on the on 18th, which started our awful journey down Sylvan Way. I had to get the paperwork that the Director wrote the date on to prove he was the wrong one not us. We were promised so much at the time of sign up that we payed 9309 In full with total confidence that it would help our son.

I read all the paperwork and asked all the questions I had, we were told all tutors are certified (come to find out by an ex-tutor from that Sylvan that that was not true),I was told that they would work with us as far as make up days when we went out of town because that was a major concern of ours, but when I e-mailed saying we were going out of town when can he make up the time I was told sorry if he misses that time it's gone (I have the e-mail), we were promised that they would get with his teachers at school (I had to push and push for them to do it and when they finaly did meet with his Learning Stratagies teacher they started and finished the meeting without me even though I said I wanted to be there and took off work).

They said he would be put with kids his age (he was put with kids much younger than him), Conferences were at their convenience (they sent a letter stating that 15 minutes has been set aside for you on this date which at their whim would be changed last minute), meetings started late and once or twice I had to leave before meeting started because of the lateness and me having to get back to work.

Finaly because of dissappointment after dissappointment with our son's progress we had a meeting with Sylvan on June 12th and we were going to dis-enroll him and get a private tutor, at the meeting again we were promised he would be further along come August when school started and a private tutor would not be as effective as they are and here it is January and still not further along, as a matter of fact he has gone backward not forward as of their last testing. I have been working with his teachers and getting him passed not Sylvan. I have so much more to say that I don't think this e-mail space is enough. I have e-mail after e-mail of my complaints to Sylvan and their reasons things aren't going as promised, unfortunatly we don't have the money to just throw away on empty promises.

I feel we have been taken advantage of because of our desperation to help our son succeed. After the last meeting in December I was so fed up that I dis-enrolled him. I was than told he had until January 9th and when I dropped him off on January 5th I was told sorry he is already dis-enrolled. I need help! OH the 9309 we paid for enrollment does not include the 275 we paid to have him evaluated by Sylvan.

We borrowed from family and used savings to pay for this service. We paid in full because it was cheaper in the long run than paying monthly. My husband and I both work just to make ends meet. This hurt us!

Jimmie of Valley Mills, TX December 2, 2008

Jimmie of Valley Mills TX (12/02/08)
Our son was struggling in school. We wanted to find him some help, so we turned to Sylvan. They were so positive when we went in, they promised so much. They said that they guaranteed that he would advance by two grade levels, I almost cried, this was so much more than we had hoped for. We signed the contract and took out a loan for 9,000.00. I was the borrower and my husband was the co-borrower. This loan was handled by Sallie Mae. We took our son four days a week from Dec. to May.

Even though we had specifically told them that he needed homework help and reviews for tests, we still had to repeatedly tell them to stay in contact with the teachers. You can not believe the pain and disappointment that we felt when he didn't even pass that year in school. What a waste of time and money! When I called Sylvan about it, they just wanted to give us more lessons.We refused more lessons because the first lessons didn't work. We paid on the loan for as long as we could, and then stopped.

They have turned us over to a collection agency and it is ruining our perfect credit. With the interest added on the 9,000.00 is more like 12,000.00 I wouldn't recommend Sylvan to anyone. It's not worth it. 12,000.00 in debt.for a service that didn't work. Sallie Mae credit people calling every single day. Depression over the fact that your child didn't pass the 10th grade after all of this.

Carol of Waukesha, WI November 11, 2008

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