Argosy University review: diploma mill 12

I am so glad I decided to check for complaints on the internet. My advisor talked to me for two hours at a time on some occasions. I told him right off the bat I did not want to apply for more student loans. I asked him what the tuition rate was. He said it was $150 a credit hour. I thought that was a great deal. It was cheaper than my state college. Then he said the classes were accelerated. I started getting more wary again. He kept joking with me that I had a problem with trust. I should have snapped then, but I didn't. We had talked so often and had such long conversations on the phone that I did start to trust him. I thought he was my friend. He set me up with a payment plan, going part-time to school. That would be $500 a month. The classes were $450 each for seven weeks. I asked him about this. Somehow he convinced me that this made sense.
I am on social security because I am disabled with cognitive problems and memory loss. My advisor convinced this was no problem, that their graduation rate was 100%. Red Flag! Than we were talking about all the surveillance going on and I said it was scary, like "1984". This man is 34 years old. He should know the reference to this George Orwell novel. He didn't. I called him on it, and he said he didn't read. Wow! I went off on him and told him that if he is trying to enroll me in college he should at least read.
At this point, I had been talking to James for over two months. I really want my degree, and I had to have the student loan to pay, so I signed the promissary note. He mentioned $64, 000 as the actual cost of tuition for 2 1/2 years, and James hasn't called since. I'd like to rip his eyes out. Doesn't anybody have any values anymore?

Here are the biggest and most highly publicized lawsuits against Argosy University:
Click on the links to view these cases:

http://www.magerlawyers.com/20090714172408593.pdf
and
http://www.vanweyjohnson.com/CM/PressRelease/Students-Sue-Texas-College-For-Misrepresenting-Accreditation-080709.asp

TEXAS COLLEGE SUED BY STUDENTS FOR MISREPRESENTING THAT IT WOULD BECOME ACCREDITED
Texas College Sued by Students for Misrepresenting that it would become Accredited
Dallas, TX - August 7, 2009 - Several students have sued Argosy University, which is an education system of Education Management Corporation (Nasdaq: EDMC) in Dallas County District Court, alleging that the college lied to them in order to get them to enroll in the college. Argosy University is a for-profit college. Plaintiffs were students enrolled in the school's psychology doctoral program at Argosy's Dallas campus. At the time Plaintiffs were considering enrolling in the program, school officials told them that the program was in the process of obtaining crucial accreditation by the American Psychological Association and that the program would become accredited before the students graduated. As a result of these reassurances plaintiffs enrolled in the program at significant personal expense.

The lawsuit alleges that during the students' enrollment in the program the school indicated on numerous occasions that the school was actively pursuing APA accreditation. In reality, the school had not begun to secure accreditation, and the students ultimately graduated from the program without the program ever obtaining APA accreditation. Julie Johnson, plaintiffs' attorney, explains, what sets this case apart are the blatant and repeated lies told by school officials: "When students expressed skepticism about the school's progress toward APA accreditation, the school dismissed these concerns as baseless 'rumors' and perpetuated the sham that it was in the process of pursuing APA accreditation."

The school's repeated lies, claim the plaintiffs, have significantly hindered their ability to repay the exorbitant student loan debt they assumed in order to attend the college. Johnson explains, "even though the state of Texas does not require a degree from an APA-accredited college for individuals to practice as clinical psychologists, the reality is that in this competitive job market, most employers require APA accreditation. Those that are willing to employ clinical psychologists that have graduated from non-APA accredited institutions pay them significantly less than they would pay a clinical psychologist that did graduate from an APA-accredited institution." This, plaintiffs claim, has left them saddled with unserviceable student loan debt and dashed dreams.

Attorney Julie Johnson often represents students in Texas Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act, fraud, and breach of contract cases against proprietary colleges such as Argosy University. To contact Julie Johnson, please call [protected], or send her an email at jjohnson@vanweyjohnson.com. For additional information about Julie Johnson and her other areas of practice, go to http://www.vanweyjohnson.com/.

I did not get a hard sell, nor have I had any difficulty contacting my advisers at any time. I'm almost finished with my MA at Argosy, and I can tell you, the curriculum is challenging and has proven its effectiveness in my interviews with mental health professionals in the Los Angeles area. Argosy is not a diploma mill. It is accredited by the North Central Association, which also provides accreditation for the University of Minnesota, Colorado State University, Indiana State University and hundreds of other midwestern universities and colleges.

Plainly, some of you are unhappy with your experience, but I must provide another view since my experience has been enriching and mind-expanding.

One piece of advice to anyone considering classes at Argosy, however: do not attempt to cheat by tapping into the "pre-written paper market" as a previous comment suggested. Argosy's professors use Turnitin.com to check for cheating. In fact, at one point a classmate in one of my early classes attempted to plagiarize one of my papers and I was pleased at the response I received when I called my adviser to report the situation. The incident was satisfactorily and responsibly addressed by the professor and by my adviser, and the student was appropriately dealt with.

I suppose that most universities have their disgruntled detractors, but I'm not sure how much credibility to give to a complaint that asserts, "I'd like to rip his eyes out." This is hardly the kind of professional language likely to ensure admittance to any university.

as far as the Psy.D (doctorate of clinical psychology) programs go, Argosy University is just a conglomorate of formerly independent professional psychology schools (schools whose professors also practice in the profession they teach-- all profs work as psychologists with real people as opposed to just doing research, which makes sense because the program is clinically focused). These schools -like the Illinois school of professional psychology and the Georgia school of professional psychology (where I go) were "bought" by argosy some time in the last 10-20 years. In effect, the schools operate just as they did except that the marketing and some administrative, non-academic matters are now handled by a bigger company, and your diploma says "argosy university, [location of the school]" rather than the school's old name . I agree that the initial "sell" was a little annoying but once you tell them what school you are interested in attending, u are then working with that school's admissions staff-- and the quality of that obviously differs from school to school. If you are serious about pursuing a doctorate in clinical psych, be sure the particular schools you apply to are APA accredited- this goes for Argosy schools and every other program out there. Regardless of the name on your diploma, the APA's certification process is extremely rigorous- they simply don't certify schools that don't meet pretty high standards, and re-assess every school every 2-7 years. The Dallas argosy school was not APA accredited- and they acted that way- everyone here in Atlanta was appalled and angry about every aspect of that case. But our school has been APA accredited for decades- years before it's name changed. I'm sure some argosy schools are indeed crapy diploma mills; but the APA accredited ones simply aren't- or they wouldn't be APA accredited (the APA has many flaws, but setting a high standard for quality is something they do very well). What I can tell you is that MY school, Argosy Atlanta (and I can only speak for the Psy.D program) is extremely rigorous, the professors are almost all terrific teachers and very supportive, and they are clearly committed to providing a quality education. As for cheating, the person who mentioned turnitin.com was right- you can't slip stuff by that system - log on and try it if you don't believe me; in one of my undergrad classes we had a fun little assignment that was to try and slip a plagerized paper through turnitin, and not one of us got ours
through. Cheating is absolutely rampant at many schools, and probably some argosy schools (there are like 50 of them if you count all the locations and programs) but the fact is that so much of a good Psy.D program is actual supervised clinical work anyways, and most of the papers are psychological reports that are specific to the patient you are working with ( in the early classes, we sometimes worked with information/test results from a "fake" client to spare real people from our rookie mistakes) so there is simply no way to cheat -- there are report writing programs out there, but the reports they give out are so obviously generic that they wouldn't get a passing grade from any of the profs I've had. Anyways, I guess I would ultimately say that I wouldn't ever go to any of argosy's undergrad programs, or any of their non-APA accredited doctorate programs. Also, the psych masters programs at Argosy Schools with APA accredited DOCTORATE programs are all likely to be of high quality because they are simply the first half of the doctorate program--the masters students take the same classes as us but in a somewhat different order, so there are masters students in all my classes (except for assessment classes, since the APA has ensured that masters students aren't allowed to administer or have access to most major psychological tests, one of the reasons why folks with a doctorate psych degree make more money than those with just a master's). The one real complaint I have about argosy that is based on my actual experience is that the health insurance they offer is attrocious- it's meant for undergrad students who have access to student health services, and argosy doesn't have that. This won't really be a huge issue at many argosy schools, as you can find better insurance outside the school. But If you are in a state where you can be denied insurance for pre-existing health conditions, like I am (GA) it is vert problematic, and the part of the HC reform act that makes exclusions illegal doesn't go into effect for a few more years. Well I've written a lot here and if you are still reading, I hope some of what I've written was helpful.

I have to address the above comment supporting the formerly GSPP/Argosy outfit in Atlanta. Yes, the academics were rigorous, but not because of the course content, but rather because the "professors" seemed to do pretty much everything they could to harass and put unnecessary roadblocks in front of students who took their courses in good faith. I found that this was particularly true for the full time tenured profs, who made it a point to be as standoffish and unavailable as possible. The material content of the course was manageable for most of the students who went through with me...if you were awake during class, studied and did your work as it was assigned, you could make at least passable grades. However, there were a few professors there who would "lose" papers and take home tests that students had handed in, and then give F's to the students for failure to submit the required work. This happened to me on about four occasions. Another related issue is the abject hatred many of the professors manifest for their students. I personally witnessed a former program director at GSPP / Argosy threaten to "kick anyone out of the program" who stepped out of the line during an admissions / matriculation function. She didn't just say it, she SHRIEKED it. Yet another problem was a licensed psychologist who was an instructor who got into a intimate/sexual relationship with a student and, when the admin found out about it, essentially nothing happened other than the suspect instructor resigned and (at last check) went back full time into private practice. Mind you, the people that swept this incident under the rug were "professionals" who constantly scrutinized their students for any perceived ethical, moral or personal fault. This was really the way it was when I was there...you had a cadre of little napoleons strutting around and working overtime to just be downright mean and unsupportive, sneering down at the students whom they were supposed to be mentoring and guiding to be professionals. They spent an inordinate amount of time yapping about what they perceived as our personal shortcomings and NO TIME AT ALL talking about anything of actual material benefit in the world of professional psychology. Not once was the topic of managed care negotiation mentioned, billing and coding issues were never discussed, and not one of my professors ever mentioned HIPAA (which became a huge issue for psychologists right after I graduated). I made it through, but with little if any encouragement/support from the people who were employed there. The crappiness persists. Even now, school alumni aren't afforded the ability to use the school library. Why would this be, other than the fact that Argosy/GSPP does not hold students, even alums, in any esteem at all, even the ones who have gone on to be licensed psychologists who are respected in the clinical and research fields. Heed these words, and do your homework. It's a lot of money to be treated like garbage.

OMG..I'm crying right now, I really need help, I woe 64, 000 in federal loans for what? I used to sign up for classes ONLINE ONLY but they would reg for blended classes then at the end of semester/term l fail wonder why?

I need a partner to sue this university and protect those who plan to attend

Are there any would be students interested in testifying before the California Legislature on this issue? We are doing an oversight hearing on degrees and diploma mills. We would love to hear your story. Please contact me at jennifer.galehouse@asm.ca.gov.

I have attended two Argosy campuses (switched locations due to job changes), and I am about to graduate with my Ed.D. I have truly enjoyed my experience at AU. The courses are rigorous, the discussions are insightful, and the professors are very knowledgeable. I have had two great advisors, both of which worked hard in getting my transfer completed in a timely fashion, without me losing credits. The education I have received at AU is just as valuable as any that I would have obtained at a traditional university. Some complaints people are making are due to their own mistakes and misunderstandings. I do know that AU informs students about accreditation status and makes students sign that they understand what the status means for students (and this was a few years before 2009). As with any college/university, each will have its negatives and positives. Furthermore, each campus, department, and class has its own characteristics. I've worked hard for my degree, and will proudly say I earned it at AU.

I graduated from Argosy University Online December 2014. I have had no problems with my degree and even made it into one of the top Master's programs with my Argosy University degree. I am pursuing a Master's in Education in Counseling and Human Development and I have had no problems with the material at this school. One of my teachers even graduated from here with their doctorates degree and another one is working on hers at the moment. This school is what you make of it. If you want to learn you will; if you cheat you will not learn. It is as easy as that. Yes, it is expensive. It is a private owned college.

Argosy-Sarasota FA won't (ADD FUNDS FOR CLASSES- AWARD) allow me to increase classes for future terms! They LIE about taking up to 12 credits per term and are unprofessional! This decreases shareholder value, because the FA advisors are TOO LAZY TO UPDATE OR ADD ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL AID! ESPECIALLY MELISSA DAVIS!

Initially, this school lures students in by providing high stipends, but decrease stipends to block graduation! Initially, I was told by a finance counselor that there is no financial computation for computing student loan values like tuition or total GradPlus loans, but after one officer messed up my FA, she put me on her bad side. They PUNISH students with small stipends like $1000 ( I can't pay rent w/this small stipend!) for 4 months refund stipend based on their mistakes for overawarding!

Please excuse writing,

I knew something was not right about the college. Everyone was very friendly--that the way all educational instructions are supposed (so I thought). I was enrolled 2016 to fall 2018, which I didn't finished my program decided to withdrawal because 2 reason: the unfairness of attaining that I have I felt enhanced learning Business Management and cost money always getting out students to continue my education. What is the point getting hired in a career you must or require to have college. That work for federal government for many years and was attending Argosy U after it was for sure that would the next or higher grade--but instead broken promise from, accuse of plagiarism that they really take offense to all no matter if you a severe learning disabilities or no disabilities. That withdrawal to school brainwash us when research or other materials that creditable facts explanations will not always to be sufficient that should give our on explanations in the Argosy readers' perspective. I wish had not close but I glad that it did...because heads and staff didn't honesty integrity providing with finance for school instead uses for Argosy big chief and school's staffs, As matter fact, Westwood College same etc...when shut entirely college systems down 2-3 prior shutting it's doo Mar 9 2019. Being a person severe learning disability I really worked hard and dedicated myself to not only learn and get grades of business management but also to maintain and be attainable toward my future career goals...

How do I get my argosy loan debt wiped?