Just like the counselor said, your application only takes 30 minutes. The university will request your high school transcript, so you have one less task on your plate. You also schedule a phone call with a counselor to help walk you through the FAFSA.
One week later, you’ve been accepted!
All you have left to do is pay the deposit and tuition. You don’t even have to register for classes, because your program has a pre-set course sequence.
You get a phone call from your friend, and you tell them about your application to the online university. They sound concerned.
Their sister applied to the same school, but it didn’t work out so well. The institution didn’t accept any of her previous college credits, and she left the program without a credential and $40,000 in debt. Apparently, this institution is something called a “for-profit University,” which are widely seen as predatory institutions.
Key Insight
The 6-year graduation rate for private, for-profit universities is 25%, comared to 61% for public universities and 67% for private universities.
Now you start to wonder if this online university is the right institution for you. The process seems easier than other institutions, but you are worried that your friend is right.
What do you do?
Key Insight
“We know from past experience that predatory schools use economic downturns, student hardship and other external challenges to prey on and bait students.” - Taela Dudley, Senior Policy Associate at the Century Foundation
