Brensten Education, Inc.

Review: I was promised IT education. Partially into this program the online site day changed and later went to online classes. This was not what I signed up for.

Two loans. 1 for $14,000 another for $2000.00.

I did not reaceive all of the Microsoft certifications promissed.

I was getting online mentoring, but 1 by 1 the mentors were gone without informing me.

I was sent on 1 interview to a company that had nothing to do with IT. It was a warehouse picking job. I have arthritis and they were aware of this.Desired Settlement: I would like the money back. The $14,000 was paid 3/4 of the way through and the other has been getting paid $50.00 monthly.

Review: I graduated May 2015 and I requested my final student transcript at that time (about 2 weeks after I had graduated) On the transcript showed that I was a delinquent graduate. I asked around several of my classmates if they had gotten there final transcript and also a teacher at the school. I was informed that it was a private matter and that I should reach out to the school, at this time I hadn't had the opportunity to get in touch with them, and then recently a fellow student reached out to me and shared her experience. She informed me that the private loan came due and that they had taken money out of her checking account without her knowledge and this caused her to bounce several checks. She wasn't sure what it was a had a stop payment put on the check for 1. She doesn't have checks and 2. She didn't want to be a victim of fraud.

After she let me know what was going on I think for me there are some serious concerns that the school needs to address. Now in my experience with other Colleges including a Technical School and a University, every time I had finishing up the school would reach out to me and let me know (about 2 to 3 months) in advance that they are going to have to set up automatic payments with me and we come to terms and then they would send out a payment book along with a schedule to let me make the choice as to how funds would come out of my account. With this school that didn't happen, instead I have received harassing phone calls from a bill collector - not my home phone mind you, but my cell phone. Now I may have agreed to this when I signed up to go to the school, but it would be nice for you to take the time out and remind your students that this is what we did, at least then we would be allowed to plan for the bill along with KNOWING how much was being taken OUT!Desired Settlement: I would like a payment book, that has the schedule and for them to change the way they do business by sending out letters before they graduate to confirm the terms of the agreement

Business

Response:

Ms. [redacted] did indeed have knowledge of securing any loans for her education. Any student would be aware of any loans they are taking as they need to sign and date loan documents for both federal or private loans. With the private loans they would need to provide either banking information or credit card information and pick a date that the money is auto withdrawn each month. A coupon for the initial payment is also provided by the lender to the borrower at the signing of the loan. Full coupon books are then mailed directly to the borrower. Should Ms [redacted] like a duplicate coupon book I would recommend she contact her loan provider and request this. Both federal and private loans are through 3rd party providers, not Brensten Education. Students and the loan providers decide on dates the loans begin, and any other terms/conditions of the loan. Being each situation is unique to each specific student (borrower) the school would have no way to notify each student of when their loans begin. Phone calls would have come from the loan companies looking to receive payments if they are delinquent. Any phone numbers contacted in attempt for them to collect past due loan payments, also would have been secured on loan documents by the lending institute. It is not the responsibility of the school to notify a student of loans they took out and when payments are due as this task would not be possible. Rather, it would be the responsibility of the student to take another look at the documents they received from the lending institute.

Consumer

Response:

Review: I am a previous student of Brensten that did not take well to Technology. I chose to attend another school for a CJ degree and informed Brensten that I needed then to release/cancel out any pending financial aid they may have. I was informed by the 'wonderful' financial aid department that they would not release my Financial Aid unless I returned a $2,000 check for the purpose of books. I chose not to pay them $2000 for books that I found online for less than $1,000. I've spoken with my current school and Sallie Mae in regards to the matter in which they told me they will not release the info, and they too, told me that they CAN NOT do that to me. When I asked to speak with [redacted]'s manager (Financial Aid Dept) she told me that her manager basically said it is what it is! When I asked to speak with the President, [redacted] told me she can take a message. Brensten has seemed money hungry from the beginning, which is why I chose to withdrawl. I definitely do not recommend this school to anyone. MATC has a way better Computer program. When I first signed up for Brensten, they told me one price, and then brought me in 2 days later and told me it had been a change in the tuition. When they received the $2000 check, the Admissions director asked me if I had a Bank Acct and ask me to cash the check and return it to him. Any other school that I have been to has ALWAYS taken school funds off top and it there were any extra I was free to do with them as I chose. This school only gets students based off of a Radio advertisement. Their turn around rate is horrible, hence to why they offer the earn as you learn program. That's the only way to get people to stay in their program. -D!Desired Settlement: All I would like is for the school to cancel any pending loans. I am no longer enrolled at this school, so them collecting on any more funds is not possible. I can not attend my other school until they release this. The reasoning that they gave was not reasonable, which makes me suspicious. Just by them doing this, is hindering what I really WANT to go to school for. Financial Aid informed me that the other schools wait 45 days to do a refund, so they just 'follow suit', which was not a good response. I have an e-mail stating why she would not sign the form was due to me needing to return the refund check, which should not affect them in any way. It almost seems like Blackmail.

Business

Response:

Ms. [redacted] did receive a check in the amount of $2000 that was to be used for books, supplies and certification exam fees. Since she withdrew from the program she will not require $2000 for that purpose and we would urge her to return the funds and not incur more student debt than necessary. Brensten Education is concerned since this is the 4th school that Ms. [redacted] has enrolled into and withdrawn from. She is now going to enroll at a 5th school and has not completed any of the programs offered at any of these schools. This seems to be an unusual enrollment pattern and we will be notifying the appropriate parties as such. This has been explained to Ms. [redacted]. Ms [redacted] did request to speak with the President but the President was not available at the time so [redacted] did state she could take a message. Brensten Education works with our students and encourages them to take the minimum necessary in extra loans in efforts to help control student debt. While Ms. [redacted] states this has not been her experience at other institutions she has attended and that she has always been, "free to do with the money what she wants" Brensten is looking to help control student loan debt. The school does have advertisements on the radio but also has multiple other sources for reaching new students, including student referrals. Brensten Education has maintained an overall graduation rate of over 70% along with an overall placement rate of over 70% for more than 6 years so Brensten Education would not agree that the turn-around rate is horrible as stated by Ms. [redacted]. These statistics are reviewed annually by the State of Wisconsin, our Accreditor and submitted to the US Department of Education.

Review: In 2007/2008 I attended the PC Pro Schools location in Green Bay, WI. (1400 Lombardi Ave Ste. 70). During the admission period, I was put under tremendous pressure to sign up for the program. Phrases like: "I'm not totally sold on you yet" and "worst case scenario it will be a lateral move in terms of salary" (I held a high paying factory job at the time, roughly 40K/year). Needless to say, after 6 months of schooling and 24,500 in tuition, I had no job in the IT field and remained at my old factory job for another 6 years before I landed a job in IT. I had to get yet more schooling by attending a local technical college to get my Associates degree in networking, because I was told repeatedly that certificates don't matter by many, many interviewers; despite the fact that PCPro claimed that "that's what employers are looking for."

I believe that PCPro falsely inflated their success rate among employers all in an effort to get as many students enrolled in the program.Desired Settlement: While I realize that a full refund of paid tuition is not reasonable, I would like to get at least 1/2 of it back. 24,500 for a 6 month program is outrageous (I didn't pay even 1/3 of that to obtain my AAS). I have also done research on others who have had similar experiences with PCPro and all have voiced similar complaints.