As you all know very well, I have graduated from the University of Michigan. Upon entry to U of M, I wanted to become an M.D., upon exit, I was unsure. 2 years later, I have a new plan for my life: I want to become an entrepreneur and go into public health. With that being said, I don't have many job options with my B.S. in Anthropology-Zoology to fund my new goals. So naturally, I have to go back to school so that I can have an actual job that pays well. I was looking into a couple of programs to become a licensed esthetician, and somehow Everest Institute ended up getting in touch with me. Now, all I wanted to do was know a couple of basic things
-Tuition Rates
-Length of Program
-Accreditation
-Curriculum
I found none of that n the site. What I had to do was fill out a form and a rep contacted me. When they contacted me they still couldn't answer my questions. I had to make an appointment to go in. Firstly, they DO NOT EVEN HAVE an esthetican program, so I'm not sure why it's listed. But I decided to inquire about their other programs, I looked into the medical assistant program and again I could find none of the information that I thought would be readily available. I had to actually go in to get this information. That should have been my first sign that Everest Institute was inadequate. They told me that tuition for Everest was $17,000 for a 9-month program. That FLOORED me. That is equal to 4 semesters at U of M. They're kidding right? No. They were not. They were very serious and very adamant about getting me to come to their institution. Not going to happen. At all. It was so not worth it. They offer the same program at the local community college for about $2,000 or less. It takes a little longer but honestly, you can't master something in 9 months. I just don't think you can. Furthermore, the salary of a Medical Assistant is definitely not worth a $17,000 salary.
I noticed that these universities prey on people who have NO CLUE ABOUT COLLEGE. They market to minorities and people with low-incomes. It's shameful. In essence they are setting them up for a life of slaving to pay back student loans with a job that pays much less than they expected. They would have been better off not going to school at all. The for-profit higher-education schools such as Everest Institute, Kaplan, University of Phoenix, DeVry University, Strayr University, etc. are really bad decisions. They are not worth the money for these reasons:
-You can't transfer your credits. So not only is it not worth the money, but if you wanted to continue your education, most of these credits will not go towards your degree.
-No accreditation. Most of the schools are not accredited.
- They have poor graduation rates
- It's not a quality education
- They are for-profit, not for you. They just want your pell grant and loan money.
- They don't have a good alumni network.
Just go to a real college. You will fare much better.
Do your research and don't make a rash decision about your education.Labels: College, everest institute, Kaplan Institute, Strayer University, University of Michigan, university of Phoenix |
