Have you been a victim of a Diploma Mill?

[AngelinaCat]

This question occurred to me while I was responding to another student loan question. I got to thinking: How many of you out there have in good faith applied for a student loan with the intention of:

1. Going to college in the first place
2. Going back to college to finish your degree
3. Return to take periodic courses to keep your *whatever* certificate up to date
4. Return to college to get a new certificate in your field
5. Return to college to learn a new set of skills

And you have gotten said student loan, and everything appears to be going well.

You have finished your schooling, or are somewhere in the middle of it, or you are making payments on your loan.....

Have any of you found yourselves to be victims of a Diploma Mill?

Or something like that, when all is said and done and you need a copy of your transcript, or you need to transfer to another institution--the records aren't there???

If you have, and you have/had student loans paying for these things, what--if anything--were you able to do about it?

I am curious and would like to know your experiences, thoughts, etc.......

Thanks

[tobee43]

i was the one on the other thread...speaking about an AP which was applicable to some classes i took at a medium size university....after i took the classes, the university closed and i was unable to get my credits, but they sued me for the student loans i took from them for the classes.

i would not have considered this university a "mill" at all, as it had three thriving....(or what appeared to be) campus locations. but they surely went after me when i refused to pay for the classes ....even during the bk, i said fine i will pay...just give me my grades and my credits...they could not produce the records so i won the AP.

i have heard many online scams, but very few stories about actual universities...so, i'll be most interested to see whom else experienced this sort of situation.

for me, it personally left me holding not only the bill, but i had to change directions and "settle" but this time ending up going to boston u....i was pretty much certain they wouldn't be closing...LOL!! but you never know.

[IvoryAngel]

I racked up 55000 in loans with AIU whom I thought until recently was on the up and up. I was reading some of the key elements of degree mill schools and they have a lot of the characteristics. That's CRAPPY after devoting so much time money and efforts into getting a degree or doing something productive with your life. =(

I also read a few post on people who's loans were discharged unsuspectingly. Do you have to do anything special to get them to look at the loans? when I asked the attorney about it he immediately said oh we cannot get those discharged? Thoughts or suggestions?

[JessMN]

IvoryAngel - where were you reading about diploma mill characteristics?

[IvoryAngel]

http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/diploma-mills.html

http://distancelearn.about.com/od/accreditationinfo/a/diplomamills.htm

There was also another check list that I cannot find but yes something along those lines.

[bcohen]

No, because I would never attend a school, college, or university that is not owned and operated by a city, county, or state. I would NEVER attend a privately owned institution, online "university", or anything like that.

[flickflock]

I racked up 55000 in loans with AIU whom I thought until recently was on the up and up.

I got my degree from AIU. It's a useable degree, an expensive one, but useable.

Shortly after I finished, there was a class action suit against them because of their shady dealings with Sallie Mae and they paid out a lot of money in a class action suit. They've since closed the campus I attended. They are/were an accredited university though.

[HRx]

I've often been leery of online colleges/universities for various different reasons, and never realized folks had problems with transcripts, transfers of grades, etc.

[Postbankrupt]

There are a lot of diploma mills out there. A good tipoff of a diploma mill is that they accept everyone and charge a lot in tuition. What is so awful about these diploma mills is that you take out loans and there are no jobs when you graduate. Unfortunately, you cannot discharge student loans in bk.