Business School, Continuing Education, and business educational options

Hello Gary, I'm confused. Are you saying that only AACSB and SACS schools are worth attending. Are these the same accrediting agencies that have many schools under investigation for kickbacks to student loan reps that sent students to more pricey student loans.

I also see you dislike DeVry, Pheonix and any school that isn't part of the "mainstream or old school" system. I attended both a business school that was nationally accredited and a state university school. Guess what, no difference in terms of materials. In fact, I learned more at the business school in the few semesters I attended and tested out of several medium to high level classes at the state school because of it. The biz school, nationally accredited, far outweighed the state school in the subjects I had taken.

What I'm saying is that you cannot dismiss one school because of regional or national accreditation. SACS take business schools like Keiser, which is a competitior of FMU. Does that make them better, I'm not sure, but the true test is in the classroom not the accrediting agency.

I guess you want to throw accreditation out the window--is that right?

Hello Gary,

First of all you should have done your research about both of these online schools because both are recognized by the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, that is the only way they can offer Title 4 funding, which is federal financial aid. Second if you go to the FAFSA website you will be able to pick the schools to prove that fact, also.

"FMU doesn't directly tell you what it offers." Then, with this statement you must have not been on FMU Online website because if you were to click on degree programs you will see that it tells you every program Everest/FMU Online offers with the curriculum.

About being regional or nationally accredited, ask yourself what is the difference between the two? FMU Online classes are career oriented where you get 70% core curriculum and 30% general education and electives, where with most regionally schools it is the opposite. Also, being nationally accredited their career placement dept. is held to a standard of assisting a minimum 70% of their students in finding employment. Ask yourself how many employers you if your degree is regional or nationally accredited, all they worry about is to make sure they are accredited.

Do you realize that Everest/FMU Online offers you about 17 core/career based curriculum while the regional schools you are probably talking about only offer you about 5 when you are getting a degree. Do you also know that they graduate about 64% of their students and their carrer placement dept. assist on an average between 87% and 92% of their students with finding employment in their career field. This service is also available for the rest of the students working life.

Did you know out of all the students Phoenix University has they only graduate about 4% of their students nad they are regionnally accredited!!

ACICS, Accrediting Council For Independent Colleges & Schools, has been recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education since 1956 (just four years after the recognition process was introduced). www.acics.org

No he is not saying to throw it out the window, but you must know what you are talking about before you post that type of comment.

Gary,

Having been a student at this school since before it became FMU, a couple of times anyway, I have seen a lot of things. I can't say my experiences with this school have been always positive, however as a writer myself, I wanted to urge you to at least be a bit more objective and put some more facts into your story.

You presented them as if though they are not accredited. You should have mentioned that they are accredited through ACICS, which is a national accreditation. For some people, this is enough. No its not regional, and for a lot of people, regional accreditation is very important, but as I said, for some people ACICS is enough, not that national ACICS is better than regional. For those who need to continue on to universities (regionally accredited), they should be aware that its not easy to transfer ACICS credits to a school that is accredited regionally, although it can be done.

You needed to do more research to find out about Everest. Corinthian Colleges now OWNS Everest. FMU and Everest are not twins, they simply are owned by Corinthian presently. They own 81 colleges Gary. Just because these 2 have the same pictures doesn't mean a whole lot. Your article was not fair.

Just to let you know FMU and Everest University are no longer separate 'twin' schools. As of November FMU has now become Everest University. Check out the website for FMU and you will find this information there. I know this because I am a student of Everest University (previously FMU.)

And not to criticize you, but would it not be natural to assume that universities owned by the same company may be similar. Everest and FMU were simply entities of Corinthian Colleges. In fact, the online institutions do not even mention the individual institute names on their main site aside from on message boards from the administrations.

I think this is an accurate portrayal of what sham schools both of these so called colleges are. I am an ex-student of FMU. After a year of attending and an $8000 student loan debt, I discover that none of the credits I have earned will be accepted at any of my local colleges here in Calif. In fact most of them hung up the phone when I explained where I had been studying.

We can sit here and argue all day about accrediation. The bottom line is if I had finished their degree, it would be completely worthless here in CA. I was going for my Associates in Paralegal, none of the schools here will touch me. Don't you think it would behoove FMU's student advisor to advise the student of the rules of the student's state of origin??

The only thing these colleges are good for is collecting money from the government and from it students. I know not all credits earned at a college will be accepted everywhere. That isn't the issue. The issue is that these phony colleges offer an end product that will be worthless in certain states.

For the record when I informed FMU why I was leaving their comment was "Well our degree is recognized here in Florida no problem" Well that's nice and dandy lady, but I don't live in Florida, and I plan on working in CA. I don't think I'll be moving to Florida just so that I can work my degree. They provide misleading information and out right lie just so they can get you in. Plus there are 150 class action lawsuits against them for misleading business practices.

For those that don't care where their degrees come from or their employer doesn't care, these colleges offer what you need, a degree. But for those that are entering a professional field such as Paralegal or Criminal here in CA trust me it makes a difference.

In conclusion don't waste your time with these sham schools. The fact that they are still in business is the nonchalant attitude of those that attend "Oh but the Dept. of Education" recognizes them. I have already filed a complaint with the Dept. of Education. Their response is that they have received several other complaints about these schools and "are looking into it"

Of course you wouldn't want the Federal Government to admit they have been giving money to sham schools would you?

This the type of nice people FMU employs:
http://www.local6.com/money/5348738/detail.html

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/features/story.asp?id=526

FMU recently changed its name to "Everest". This is its 3rd or 4th name change, due to all the lawsuits they've been getting for lying to students about their credits transferring to other schools.

Hey, can anyone tell me if they had trouble finding a job after they graduated from FMU/EVEREST as a Medical asst?

Everest is a scam. All they wan is money any way they can get it, and unfortunately at all of our expenses. Don't hold your breath getting a job after attending Everest. You can go through their whole program and graduate and you still won't have learned enough to use that degree. I think it is wrong we are all stuck with thousands of dollars to pay a school that did not give us the proper education and supply is with teachers spending four hours in class to talk about their past as a user and the present of their family members being users, come on, I did not need to sit in a class for four hours to hear that, that is not even what the class was about nor was it what I was paying for.

Everest is a scam. Try get your financial representitive on the phone after you start classes or before. You wont!!!

Students need to do alot of research before they get involed with aany type of college or university. When I entered the school I was told the schools were accredited and the through three fourths of my graduation they were not ???. Thru the duration of the school we were all told labs would be set up and they were not and teachers were trying left the schools. I was told they would find job placement for me and all they could recommend was telemarking jobs. I was appalled. All I know all my class mates and I were majorly ripped off and would not recommend anyone to these schools. I recentlty had a friend graduate from this school for record and reporting and she also got know were if she only contacted me ealier. ALL I CAN SAY YOU ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Avoid Everest University, at all cost. After attending Everest, I speak from personal experience, and the unfortunate reality is that the only thing that they are interested in is your tuition money. They cut corners at every turn and if you complain, they attempt to throw you out. The credits are almost 4 times the cost of any community college and the education is poor, at best. Save yourself a lot of wasted money, and frustration. Go to a community college, where the State Laws, will protect you and the standards are much higher. If you look at their student demographic, it consists mostly of people who genuinely want to improve their station in life but do not have the tools (family support, finances etc.)to do so. When they show up at Everest, they sell, sell, sell you, like they are used car salesman. When you tell them that you do not have the finances, they tell you not to worry, because they can easily get you student loans that you wont have to start paying back until you are done with school. Look at some of their programs and compare the cost to what you would earn in your first few years after you have completed your education. Heres an example. A nursing degree through Everest University in Florida currently costs approximately $45,000.00, and new Registered Nurses earn approximately $24.00 per hour, which works out to almost $50,000.00 anually. If you attend a community college, the same education will cost you $10,000.00 to $13,000.00. Do the math, not only do Everest's costs put you at a disadvantage, and if you fail a class or are not satisfied with the education you are receiving, you are stuck, because all of your credits and the time you spent earning them are worthless. Worthless because no other school will accept your credits. So if you do not return to Everest, your left with huge loans, and no new career that would give you the long term ability to pay them off. Incredibly high costs, poor education, worthless credits, huge debt. So when you watch the Everest commercials, look at who they are trying to attract, and ask your self, if Everest charged me a great deal of money for a poor education that would be considered worthless at any other state or community college would you be in a position to do anything about it? Avoid the headache, AVOID EVEREST UNIVERSITY

My daughter has contacted these people and I'm not sure there legit. Some info I have found indicates they are, and post like this say they are not. How can I find out for sure, before she gets sucked into this scam?