Complete Scam
I attended Westwood college for about 3 years and graduated from the Inland Empire (Upland), Ca campus in December 2009 with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice. My experience at Westwood was disastrous to say the least.
In the beginning, I went to get more information from the representatives- (I took my mom with me for help) my representatives name was Tiffany, after a quick discussion, I was sent in another room to take some kind of exam to determine what basic classes (like Math, English, etc) I may still need. After the results were determined, Tiffany spent an hour telling me I placed exceptionally well, my credits from the local community college would mean I took less classes and spent less time pursuing my goal, and telling us of the "benefits" of Westwood, and the "Fully Accredited" degree I would receive. She stated Westwood was Nationally Accredited and recognized as a valuable degree program by hundreds of companies and other schools nationwide, they helped students with job placement once they had graduated (with an 80% success rate), and the classes were taught by experienced instructors within the field. My concerns were primarily the cost (quoted at approximately $15, 000 a year- in totaling $45, 000- 47, 000) as I come from a poorer family and expressed that I couldn't afford the cost of education- the response was a positive "don't worry, there are scholarships and grants, and of course we accept FAFSA and loans. So after they took the $100 registration fee, I was enrolled in what I though was the best choice I could have made.
Now comes the reality of what Westwood was for me-
To start- In the beginning I filled out tons of paperwork for financial aide... only (surprise surprise) to be told I didn't qualify for grants or scholarships, and I had unfortunately missed the FAFSA deadline. I was told my financial aide rep (Alicia) had taken the liberty to check into a few loans through SallieMae and that said loans would completely cover the costs and Salliemae was more than willing to allow for lowered payments, deferments, etc after I had graduated until they (Westwood) were able to help me find employment in my field of study.
My first term there, I was enrolled in four classes- three of which I had received transfer credit for since they had already been taken at RCC. I was told to get a hold of Mark Lewis for corrections but to continue coming to class so I wasn't dropped for the term for attendance. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact he finally returned my call (one week before the end of the term) only to inform me that since I technically sat through the whole course, I had in fact agreed to take them, and therefore the only thing he could do was label them as "elective" courses. No tuition refund would be issued nor would the funds be applied to classes the next term I actually needed to take.
As frustrated as I was I dealt with it. Then after only two terms, tuition costs went up- and continued to increase (tuition went up about four times in the three years I was there) until one day Alicia, about two terms from my graduation, notified me that for some reason my financial aide did not come through completely, and I had an outstanding balance of two thousand dollars. I needed to pay before the start of the next term or I was out of the program. I ended up having to borrow the money from a family friend- after contacting SallieMae, I was told that my paper work was not submitted timely and therefore the tuition increase was not calculated into the loan amount. I became furious and confronted Alicia- who labeled me as a combative student, took no blame for the incident- stating I had given consent for the financial aide department to make such decisions on my behalf with something called an "e-signature". I received a call from Mark later informing me that all financial aide issues for me would need to go through the office at the main campus after my behavior towards Alicia.
I went to the main office in Upland, and requested a break down of my financial aide- I wanted to know where the money was going in detail, how much each term had cost (tuition and books included)- essentially everything. I got no response and ended up having to call the dean of students and threaten a lawsuit- I received a week later a hand typed crude assessment of funds. Only stating the exact information on the salliemae website and a $2000 listing as an APEX loan- when I questioned this APEX- I was informed it was none of my concern and that maybe id get better treatment if I stopped going over people's heads.
To top that off, once the bookstore became null in void- in place of the newer on line ordering system- I stopped ordering books for my courses and simply started borrowing them from friends. In the last five terms I was there- I maybe ordered three books- the rest I borrowed. Fast forward to this year March 2011- I received a collections notice from some company stating I owed Westwood College $90- when I called no one was able to tell me why... the next day I got a call from Roseo (?) telling me it was for a book I ordered the last term I was there (IN 2009) FOR A CLASS I WAS NOT ENROLLED IN!!! Basically the solution was pay it, they hadn't done anything wrong and sometime they run late conducting the student account audits- they didn't care if it was two years later, that I had never taken the class, or that I had never received a book. I left a scathing report on MySafeCampus.com... checked a few days later was was informed that the school had recognized who I was based on the information provided and has since paid the $90 charge... Now why would they do that if they had done no wrong?
Oh and lets speak of job placement assistance... I receive random emails from Don about jobs in other states, jobs I don't qualify for, or jobs that are temporary or commission based only. No resume services were ever offered, just simply make a resume, email it to Don and he'll send you suggestions (time permitting), oh and mock interviews only if you took the class otherwise you are SOL... the friends I graduated with are as follows: 2 say at home moms, 1 records clerk, 1 counselor (thanks to Monster.com), 1 club promoter, 1 bouncer, and 1 club hopper.
My family tells me there has to be some kind of legal repercussions for Westwood's actions- since I/ we all do feel like I was lied to from the beginning- unfortunately due to my financial restraints and inabilities- I have moved numerous times since graduation and no longer have my paperwork from Westwood or even Sallie Mae. It has become the victim of constant moving (from family member to family member because I can't pay all the loans, cost of living and rent by myself even working 40 hours a week... even if I could do something about it, I couldn't prove it : (
