Strangely enough, six weeks ago everyone was excited around here. Our son graduated high school this past June, and after what we thought was even debate, enrolled into ITT’s Computer Network program.

Unfortunately, after the first six week’s he’s also unenrolled and here are several reasons why:

1.  No one properly explained the funding sources nor the repayment schedule – now granted we should have been more up on this ourselves, but with only one “child” (now an 18 year old “adult”) and no prior experience with FAFSA or any student grants and loans, we did rely heavily on ITT being upfront and honest about all aspects of it.

2.  There was not one single class (for the first quarter all his classes were scheduled at night) where the students stayed the entire time. Two classes should have run from 6:00 p.m. until 10:24 p.m. Keep in mind that during that time period they take two breaks – one 10 minute and one 20 minute break. The third class was from 6:00 p.m. to 9:28 p.m. NEVER ONCE did any class stay in class the entire time

In fact several times he was let out at 8:00! Holy cow… what the heck?

What you also need to know is that for this type of “technical school” they charge a bundle PER CREDIT. Each of these classes were four (4) credits – putting each class at about $2000!

3.  When the school went to bat for us (I won’t get into our finances but trust me, we qualified for as much as posssible, yet because my personal credit score is (currently) exceptional – we did not get the maximum benefits the government entitles us.

I have this from the horse’s mouth actually. Having the need at one point to call SallieMae, the government’s branch of student loans and grants, when I spoke to a representative he confirmed my suspicions. In other words, they were “betting on me” that two or four years from now I’d be a safe bet to be able to pay back larger portions. Therefore, our entitlement was less (unbelievable but true).

Okay here’s eerie but great news! Even as I was typing this post, SallieMae called and let me know that ITT must, by law, return all the funds they had received. The even better news is there is a time period involved within they must do this. AND, the really good news? We owe nothing! In fact the $100 that I’d dug up and sent (which unfortunately for a while SallieMae had “lost” in the process) has been “found” and will also be returned to me.

The long and short of it… triple check everything as you help your son and/or daughter onto their new path of higher education and into life.

There are potholes, there is hype, there is nondisclosure. For heaven’s sake, do not be as stupid as I was – know everything!

Tags: computer network, credit score, fafsa, funding sources, holy cow, ITT, maximum benefits, personal credit, repayment schedule, student grants, student loans, technical school

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under ITT, Reviews, SallieMae, education, grants, jobs, learn how to, student loans, technical, training, warnings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.