My destinyI got this email directly from Itt main office yesterday evening i havent had any sleep since reading it
Fellow students,
This email was put together by a number of staff/faculty from ITT
Technical Institute. You are being sent
this email for informational purposes.
We have determined that there is information that you are not being made
aware of by management and specifically the campus director, Alois Johnson and
academic dean, Willie Vaughn.
Collaborating with members of the three departments at ITT
(recruitment/admissions, financial aid, and academics), we bring this
information to you so that you can make an informed decision about your
educational choices.
One thing that many students notice when they visit an ITT campus is the
campus itself. ITT does not have a
campus. The “campus” is simply an office
building in a business park. This use of
the word “campus” is a marketing tactic used by ITT Corporate to imply that ITT
is a college. Another issue that is
misleading is what is portrayed in the commercials seen on television. The schools portrayed on television do not
exist. Consider this, does your campus
or class look anything like what is shown on the commercials? False advertisement comes to mind. Also, consider the times and channels the
commercials are shown.
Cost is another issue that is questioned often and more often too
late. ITT currently charges $420.00 per
credit hour. If you are currently taking
the normal three class full time load, your tuition will be $5040.00 (prior to
additional fees like lab, materials, etc…).
Should you complete the associate’s degree program requirement and are
awarded an associate’s degree, your total cost will be in excess of $40,000 and
similarly for a bachelor’s degree the cost would be in excess of $80,000. Proprietary schools like ITT charge higher
tuition to cover the massive overhead salaries of management. Also, because ITT is a publicly traded
company (Stock ID: ESI), there are
stockholder demands like increased share price and dividends. While we are impartial and refuse to advocate
any college in particular, we can firmly say this: MANY colleges in the area are substantially
cheaper. IPFW for example charges
$187.65 per credit hour which translates into a total cost of $2251.00 for a
normal full time class load. That is a
savings of 100% compared to ITT.
Considering the fact that ITT graduates that can find a job only average
salaries in the mid $20,000 range, paying over $80,000 for a bachelor’s degree
just does not make sense.
Transfer of credits is another issue that is questioned and like cost, is
often questioned too late. ITT credits
do NOT transfer to any other college aside from another ITT campus. ITT will take some credits from other
colleges, but that is simply a marketing tactic to attract students unfamiliar
with collegiate admissions. In other
words, if you take Math1 at ITT and decide that ITT is not a good value and want
to transfer to Ivy Tech for example, Ivy Tech will NOT take your credits. Effectively, you will have to take and pay
for the class twice.
Admission representatives have been coming under fire as
of late also. As you may or may not
know, ITT has a very high turnover rate in the admission representative
area. More often than not, your rep is
not working for ITT for more than six months.
Representatives have resigned because management has asked them to use
questionable and unethical tactics to lure students to come to ITT
including:
-outright lying to students about transfer credits
-flirting with and threatening violence against students
-making promises regarding transportation to and from ITT
-outright lying to students about accommodating school schedules to
student work schedules
Financial aid representatives are also coming under fire
from the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States Government. Financial aid representatives (along with
Admission representatives) were, until recently, receiving monetary bonuses for
the number of students that were “packaged” (i.e. financial aid forms
signed). The DOJ has ruled that this
practice is illegal and unethical.
Often, many students complain about the financial aid department in that
they do not do an adequate job of explaining the loans that the students are
signing for. Remember, you owe the money
borrowed for your college education and CANNOT be protected by bankruptcy (i.e.
student loans cannot be discharged on bankruptcy). Most students could not afford the high
tuition that ITT charges and are thus dependent on the funding provided by
Sallie Mae.
Academic affairs is also questioned often by students. Many of the classes offered at ITT are being
taught by instructors that are not qualified to teach that particular
subject. Grades are often “given” to
students based on their simply attending class.
Instructors are reprimanded if too many students withdraw/drop from
classes and thus offer incentives to students to simply stay in the
classes. Instructor performance is based
on student evaluations and retention(retention is the percentage of students who
do not drop from a class). Simply put,
individuals are being “given” grades and thus being awarded degrees for which
they have not earned. From the honest
student’s standpoint, this is unfair and will create a situation in the future
where everyone will have a college degree thus decreasing the value associated
with having a college degree.
Lastly, you have unethical illegal management practices occurring under
campus director, Alois Johnson. Mr.
Johnson actively condones, partakes and encourages all of the above-mentioned
activities. Mr. Johnson’s salary
includes bonuses that are based on profits from the campus. His salary with bonuses is in excess of
$100,000. Being a corporate executive,
Mr. Johnson should be able to communicate effectively, but often speaks from a
prepared word-for-word speech and rarely looks at whom he is speaking to. Many students have expressed a lack of trust
for Mr. Johnson and rightfully so. Mr.
Johnson has cut costs to the extent that students are suffering:
-the Internet connection speeds are slow to moderate
-the computers in the various labs do not have sufficient capacity for MM
students
-electronics students are forced to purchase an overpriced “tool box”
that contains many items that could be purchased inexpensively from a hardware
store
-the electronic labs have outdated, antiquated, unsafe
equipment
-the Learning Resource Center (LRC) has few books and a limited number of
older computers
Considering you are paying $420.00 per credit hour, you
should expect more. Unfortunately, the
company ITT is not concerned with student issues as evidenced in the recent
massive sell off of ITT stock on the part of ITT executives like:
Rene’ Champagne, CEO/Chairman ITT-ESI
James Fowler, Director
Eugene Feichtner, Senior Vice President
Gary Carlson, Vice President
ITT is being purchased by Blum Capital Partners L.P. by
way of takeover. The future of the
school is questionable and many analysts believe that the schools (all 82+
campuses) will be sold to local colleges thus dissolving ITT permanently and
making your degree from ITT worthless.
While these plans have yet to be determined, the facts are in front of
you. Something else to consider, ITT has
been in the news for unethical and illegal actions with the U.S. Federal
Government and specifically the DOJ and FBI:
We ask that you take all of this factual information into account and
make an informed decision about your academic future at ITT. Personally and professionally, we would
recommend ANY other college for your degree pursuits.
Sincerely,
Current/Former ITT Technical Institute Employees
fucked,
holden
p.s. I have no clue what im gonna do.......
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