[redacted] has spoken with her Financial Aid Advisor, Associate Dean of Student Services, Dean of Student Services and Registrar and the issue has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Executive Assistant-Educational Services
In an attempt to clarify this response, we offer the following information as our interpretation of Ms. [redacted]’s complaint to the Revdex.com.
Ms. [redacted] indicates that she was locked out of her scheduled courses. However, it is important to note, Ms. [redacted] was not...
intentionally locked out. Occasionally it is necessary to reset passwords as a means of security through “[redacted] Web Access”. In response to her concern on 2/9/2015 [redacted], Senior Academic Advisor, left a voicemail message for Ms. [redacted] regarding the password reset process. Mr. [redacted] followed the voicemail message up with an email to her personal email. On 2/18/2015 Mr. [redacted] offered to walk Ms. [redacted] through gaining access to her scheduled courses when she could get in front of a computer. She stated that she does her school work on Saturdays and would not be willing to sit in front of a computer until then. All log in issues have been resolved and Mr. [redacted] will continue to reach out to her for any additional support that Ms. [redacted] may require.
Currently, Ms. [redacted] does not owe a balance to the college. If Ms. [redacted] were to withdraw prior to the end of the term which is, significantly past the add/drop period for the semester, her aid and loans will be prorated leaving her a balance owed to the college.
Related to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns regarding the College’s response to her email requests, Ms. [redacted] indicates that Bryant & Stratton has been unresponsive. As a student at Bryant & Stratton College each student receives a unique and easily identifiable email address with which they are advised to use as a means of communication with their instructors and the college staff. Ms. [redacted] utilizes her personal email as a means of communicating with her deans and instructors at Bryant & Stratton Online Education. The practice of using one’s personal email is discouraged as personal email addresses often cannot be identified and are frequently sent to spam folders. On 2/18 Mr. [redacted] spoke with Ms. [redacted] and sent the email login directions to her personal email account as requested. However, Ms. [redacted] indicated that she did not agree with the procedure to use her student email to resolve the communication issues.
Ms. [redacted] also indicated that she has emailed various departments with no response. Instructor [redacted], as referenced in the Revdex.com complaint, sent Ms. [redacted] an email on 2/15 regarding her concerns and her advisor has sent four emails thus far for the 2015 Winter Semester on: 1/28/2015, 1/28/2015, 2/9/2015, 2/9/2015 and 2/17/2015 (email and phone message). Ms. [redacted] has not responded to any of the communication sent to her by advisor.
We would be more than willing to speak with Ms. [redacted] at any time regarding her experience throughout her time at the college. Ms. [redacted] can contact our office at ###-###-####, [redacted]’s extension. Mr. [redacted] will facilitate further discussions.
I am writing to address the complaint filed by our former student. Bryant & Stratton College has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very seriously and has addressed this...
student’s concerns below. In her complaint, the student asserted that she discovered that she had been sent to collections by our College but indicates she should not have a balance with the school. In her complaint she claims that she withdrew prior to starting classes, and that she mailed back all of her books. In speaking with the campus they indicated they have notes that confirm the student did communicate that she would not be attending classes for the term prior to her attending classes. The campus had reversed all tuition and fee charges however, the bookstore has no record of the books ever being returned to them. The campus has indicated that based on the student’s situation, they have offered to reverse the charges from the books, even though they have no record of the books being returned. This will clear the student’s balance with the College. They will then remove her account from collections. We expect this resolution will meet with the satisfaction of our former student.
Revdex.com spoke to [redacted] at business and the following was relayed:The phone number we had on file for her was no longer in service. I tracked down a good number for her. She did speak to the dean and she did get her refund. This has been resolved.
This communication is in response to the letter of complaint sent to Bryant & Stratton College on January 3, 2017 (Reference ID [redacted]). The complainant has requested to be removed from the College’s contact list. Effective immediately, the complainant’s name has been stricken from the...
prospective student database. However, it is very important to note that marketing and digital media agencies employed by colleges routinely purchase lists of students who are qualified to be considered for enrollment. If this unknowingly occurs, and the complainant is contacted again, she should contact [redacted]. The subject line should read: Prospective student- DO NOT CALL. Ms. [redacted], New York State Marketing Director, will respond immediately should this concern arise in the future.Sincerely,Beth [redacted]
The purpose of this letter is to respond to the letter of concern submitted to the Revdex.com by [redacted] and received by Bryant & Stratton College on 12/31/2014.
In summary, it appears that Ms. [redacted] believes that she should receive a refund of $236.87...
for used textbook funds as well as a refund for the entire fall 2014 semester. She indicates that she feels that she did not receive a proper internship experience as well as did not receive proper communication from the Dean’s office and the Financial Aid Office regarding her academic and financial aid status when communicating her desire to transfer to another college.
Relative to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns regarding Internship, the following occurred: The Director of Career Services met with [redacted] to discuss internship before the 2014 Fall Semester. Ms. [redacted] was a Criminal Justice major; therefore, the Career Services Director tried to connect her with [redacted] County Sexual Assault and Crime Victims Organization. The contact, Mr. [redacted], relayed to the Career Services Director that after several attempts, he was unable to make contact with Ms. [redacted]. After numerous attempts, contact was finally made. A joint call was set up with Mr. [redacted] to inquire about a spot for her internship. However, he stated he was no longer interested because his organization is competitive regarding the internship experience, and he had selected another candidate.
Ms. [redacted] was then able to find an internship with Community Action of [redacted] County, closer to her residence. There, she was beginning to complete hours at a Domestic Violence Shelter. However, after only a short time, she was terminated. Her supervisor emailed the College indicating they had terminated Ms. [redacted]’s internship. Within the email was a documented list of dates indicating that Ms. [redacted] was absent several times and subsequently was terminated for excessive absence.
Ms. [redacted] came to the Career Services Director to discuss the possibility of completing her internship at a law enforcement agency. Ms. [redacted] secured an opportunity to complete an internship with the [redacted] Police Athletic League with the idea of working with at-risk youth. The College often partners with this organization because the student is able to oversee and mentor at-risk-youth. At the time Ms. [redacted] approached the Director, the only task she would be assigned correlated with the holidays: stringing up Christmas lights for an event in the area called, “Lights in the Park.” Because this was to be her only function, it was considered it to be inappropriate for real world experience, so the request was denied.
Relative to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns regarding financial aid, the following occurred: Ms. [redacted] first met with the Dean during the week of November 3, 2015, to communicate that she wanted to withdraw with only a few weeks remaining in the semester. The Dean urged her to consider the impact of her decision, stating that even if she did decide to transfer at the conclusion of this semester (but before she finished her degree) with Bryant & Stratton College), minimally her transcript could show that she passed some of her courses from the current semester. The Dean expressed to Ms. [redacted] that it would be in her best interest to try and successfully complete her classes even if she did plan to transfer to another college. The Dean also explained that if Ms. [redacted] decided to withdraw, she would be academically and financially responsible for her coursework. The Dean told Ms. [redacted] that he would support whatever decision she made but gently reminded her (repeatedly) throughout the conversation that she was the only person that could make such an important decision, emphasizing that the decision to continue or withdraw was ultimately hers to make. The Dean asked Ms. [redacted] if she wanted to think about it and then let him know if she still wanted to withdraw. Ms. [redacted] said she was going to go eat with her mother and then come back and let him know what she decided. Upon Ms. [redacted]’s return, she decided she did indeed want to withdraw and transfer to another college. The Dean communicated that was fine but that he did want Ms. [redacted] to speak with Financial Aid so she understood the financial ramifications of withdrawing. She went to Financial Aid and spoke with [redacted]. After they met, she returned and said she needed to think about the decision. The Dean told Ms. [redacted] that he understood it was a big decision and gave Ms. [redacted] the option to hold off on processing her withdrawal paperwork until she decided whether or not she wanted to withdraw. She said that she wanted to think about it before she did anything. The Dean advised Ms. [redacted] that she needed to get in contact with [redacted] or the Deans to let them know if/when she ultimately wanted to withdraw. She consented to this and left with her mother.
During Ms. [redacted]’s conversation concerning financial aid with [redacted], the Financial Aid Manager, she discussed the financial implications of her withdrawing from the college. Ms. [redacted] spoke with Ms. [redacted] and her mother and explained that if Ms. [redacted] withdrew, she would incur a balance with the college and until the balance was paid in full, she would not be able to obtain her transcript from the college. Ms. [redacted] spoke with her about the possibility of staying in school and perhaps focusing on two or three classes to complete the semester; she could avoid a balance with the college and then decide whether she wanted to return or not. Ms. [redacted] said that was a possibility, but she wanted to think about it. Ms. [redacted] advised her that she needed to contact Dean [redacted] with her decision or be withdrawn. Ms. [redacted] did not hear back from Ms. [redacted] and received her discontinuance form on November 20, 2014 due to the attendance policy.
The college’s attendance policy outlined on page 9 of the Official September 2014 College Catalog states that, “students who are absent from all of their courses for more than 14 consecutive calendar days, will be automatically withdrawn from the college unless the student contacts the College and is approved for an extension of this 14 day absence period and returns to school within 21 days of their last date of attendance.”
Bryant & Stratton College is open and willing to speak with Ms. [redacted] regarding her experience at the College and her remaining concerns. The college is also open to providing Ms. [redacted] with an official transcript so she has the ability to transfer her credit to the college of her choice.
Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Regards, [redacted]
This letter is in response to the complaint filed with the Revdex.com by Ms. [redacted], as conveyed in your note dated April 1, 2016. We have looked into the concern referenced and appreciate the opportunity to make the following comments regarding Ms. [redacted]’s...
circumstances. Ms. [redacted] enrolled into the paralegal program at the [redacted] Campus of Bryant & Stratton College (BSC) in [redacted], NY in the winter of 2016. Ms. [redacted] was enrolled in 5 courses; 4 ground-based and one Online course (PLEG 100). At the time of her filing, Ms. [redacted]’s grades were very satisfactory in her coursework. As of this writing, Ms. [redacted] has fully withdrawn from all coursework citing lack of instructor communication in her one online class. As we understand this, Ms. [redacted] is claiming that she reached out to her online instructors on a daily basis for help with a few of her assignments. Ms. [redacted] reports the instructors failed to respond back to her in a timely fashion with any help or assistance and she has not had any contact with the primary or the co-instructor. She states she called numerous times and asked for the instructor to respond to her and claims she did not receive a response. Ms. [redacted] stated that she felt her education was being jeopardized due to the lack of communication from the online instructors. To help provide some context to the student-instructor communication process at BSC, the following are the College’s guidelines. BSC’s online division is an asynchronous learning environment where instructors have 24 to 48 hours to respond to student inquiries. Most communication between students and instructors is via email and in the course through the learning management system (LMS). Students are also trained and educated to ask questions of their instructor through a variety of preferred methods: via email, during Virtual Office Hours, and in the “Ask Your Instructor” forum within the classroom. This particular course had two instructors and there was coverage in the classroom 7 days per week. Instructor’s providing personal cell-phone numbers is not a College requirement but does occur based on the instructor. The lack of communication that Ms. [redacted] is claiming occurred between the period of 3/20/16 through 4/1/16. There were a total of 12 exchanges between Ms. [redacted] and the instructors (7 from the student and 5 from the Instructor). It appears from the content of the exchanges the student and instructor had a difficult time connecting through email, as well as via the cell phone, even though there is evidence on both ends of efforts to do so. Unfortunately, in reviewing the instructor-student interactions, it also appears Ms. [redacted] chose not to utilize the Virtual Office Hours or the Ask Your Instructor method, but rather choose to either email the instructor or then default to calling the instructor’s cell phone directly without leaving a vmail. It is important to point out that in evaluating the feedback the instructor was providing on assignments; Ms. [redacted] was routinely receiving feedback and, as previously mentioned, doing quite well in this class. What is also very important to share was the additional support Ms. [redacted] was given at the [redacted] Campus to support her Online class. As part of the student service approach, ground-based students who are taking Online classes have the opportunity to receive help at the campus to ensure they are successful, if they need it. In discussing her concern about her Online class with an academic advisor, the academic advisor immediately arranged for tutoring services with a paralegal instructor, as well as a peer student at the campus. Ms. [redacted] availed herself of that help and the feedback from the peer student tutor was that the help went well and that Ms. [redacted] understood the material very well - hence the very satisfactory performance. In summary, the information gathered shows that not only were efforts made on behalf of BSC to attempt to respond to Ms. [redacted]’s requests, there were additional actions taken to provide her additional ground-based support. All of which seemed to prove successful as shown by her more than satisfactory performance in her Online and ground-based classes. Lastly, the College believes that the communication concern raised by Ms. [redacted] did not jeopardize her educational pursuits and believe there were personal factors (life circumstances) that heavily influenced her decision to withdraw. Thank you for the opportunity to provide clarification in this matter. Should you need additional information, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely, Marc A. Campus Director Bryant & Stratton College
Revdex.com spoke to [redacted] at business and the following was relayed: We have received 6 payments. Payments are processed within 24-48 hours of being received. Regarding the work study, freshmen students are eligible. He never finished his application. If there are other payments that have been made that are not posted, then we have not received them or they would have been processed. Please find the dates and payment amounts from Mr. [redacted]. As I mentioned, payments are processed within 24-48 hrs of being received. $25.00-8/26/14 $15.99-9/22/14 $8.02-10/29/14 $13.37-12/15/14 $10.00-12/15/14 $25.50-2/2/15 TOTAL: $97.88 in payments Let me know if you need anything further. Thanks, [redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
In reference to complaint # [redacted], Mr. [redacted] stated that he felt that Bryant and Stratton College’s administration misrepresented information, specifically in regard to a possible work study position available on campus, and in regard to not receiving money back as a part of his student...
loan.
Mr. [redacted] enrolled at Bryant & Stratton College for our Spring 2014 semester. He did complete a Federal Work Study eligibility calculation on 5/23/14 and was notified of an open position on 6/9/14, by email from the Business Office (which is typically sent after the 30 day new census date). This e-mail provided an electronic link thru which he was instructed how to apply for an open position. This is the standard process for application to all positions with the College. This step was never completed by the student.
In regard to receiving money back from his loans, Mr. [redacted]’s award letter for the Spring semester shows that he was never packaged to receive any loan money back in an excess loan payment for the Spring semester. Mr. [redacted] was awarded with additional grants from the College to help off-set out of pocket costs. [redacted] signed an award letter on 4/30/14 showing his estimated financial aid and the $0 credit balance/balance owed to the school.
The reason Mr. [redacted] ended up with a balance to the College was because he withdrew from all his Spring classes. [redacted] indicated “work” was his reason for withdrawal, that he no longer wanted to pursue his Medical Assisting degree anymore, and he believed that the College’s credits would not transfer. Mr. [redacted] signed off on the withdrawal form during that meeting with his academic advisor. His lending library books were returned on 6/23/14 and the charges were reversed off of his student account. t the time of his withdrawal, he was responsible for 100% of tuition charges/fees due to his last date of attendance. Mr. [redacted] signed a financial obligation sheet prior to his enrollment describing financial consequences to withdrawing and the return of Federal funds in accordance with Federal Aid policy.
After the withdrawal was processed, the R2T4 (Return to Title IV– a process required by the federal government when a student withdraws) funds calculation indicated that based on his last date of attendance, Mr. [redacted] was eligible to keep all of his PELL and a small portion of his SUB loan only, leaving him with the remaining balance of $5,058.00 owed to the school.
Relative to Mr. [redacted]’s statement indicating that he has been making payments to the College, I invite him to contact Ms. [redacted] at ###-###-#### for further assistance. We are aware of and have recorded the payments made to Mr. [redacted]’s account balance.
Please let us know if we can provide any additional information.
Re: Response to Complaint #[redacted] submitted on 10/10/2014
I am writing to address the complaint [redacted] filed by a former Bryant & Stratton College student. Bryant & Stratton College has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we...
provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very seriously and has addressed this student’s concerns below.
In the student’s complaint, she indicated that she should have been eligible to receive a grant from New York State’s (NYS) Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for the 2007 – 2008 award year.
In our review of the student’s file it was determined that the she was not awarded a TAP grant during the 2007 – 2008 award year. The campus indicated that there may have been some confusion regarding the student’s eligibility for the grant and so the TAP award was decertified and an institutional grant was awarded to the student to help her fund the outstanding balance not covered with the student’s Pell grant and student loans for the two terms of that award year.
Our review determined that the student most likely would have been eligible to receive $2,500.00 in NYS TAP during each term for a total of $5,000.00. The difference between the Institutional grants the student received from the College ($1,162.01 for the Fall 2007 term and $1, 204.98 for the Winter 2008 term) totaling $2,366.98 and the $5,000.00 in TAP grants amounts to $2,633.01 in funding the student was eligible to receive and did not.
Bryant & Stratton College acknowledges that an error was made that caused the student to receive less NYS grant funding than she would have otherwise been entitled to receive.
We propose to credit the student’s account with $2,633.01 of additional institutional grant funding that, in addition to the $2,366.99 of institutional grants already awarded to the student, would bring the total institutional grant funding awarded to the student to the $5,000 the student would have been eligible to receive from the TAP program. The credit balance created on the student’s account would then be paid to the United States Department of Education [redacted] Loan Program to reduce the student’s outstanding loan debt.
We apologize for our error in this matter and hope that this proposed solution is acceptable. Please contact [redacted] at Bryant & Stratton College System Office.
Jean can be reached at ###-###-####
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Systems Manager of Financial Aid
I am writing to address the complaint filed by our former student. Bryant & Stratton College has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very seriously and has addressed this...
student’s concerns below. In her complaint, the student asserted that she was alerted to issues with her financial aid caused by an issue with the student’s tax filing status for the 2014 tax year that the College was unable to resolve. The student indicated that she was not alerted to the issue until she contacted the College to inquire on the status of her account. It was at this time that she was advised of the unresolved issues with her aid tied to her tax filing status, leaving a balance on her account. Financial aid is tasked by the Department of Education to resolve any conflicting information in a student’s financial aid application prior to allowing Federal funding to pay to a student’s account. One conflict that comes up most often is when a married student files taxes using the Head of Household filing status on their IRS tax returns. There are very limited situations where a married couple may file as anything other than married filing jointly or married filing separately. The instances where this is allowed are very specific and the student must be able to document that they meet these conditions. The campus was correct in not making any financial aid payments for the award year based on the tax year information for which they were unable to resolve the conflict. Because we did not follow up with the student on a timely basis to request this additional information, we will take responsibility for this error and eliminate the student’s balance with the College. We expect this resolution will meet with the satisfaction of our former student.
I am outside counsel for Bryant & Stratton College, and I am responding on its behalf to the letter you sent to Bryant & Stratton College in which you include a complaint you received from [redacted] dated September 5, 2015, relative to a commercial email she received that...
advertises my client. Bryant & Stratton College investigated the matters set forth in your letter and contacted its vendor relative to the email over which Ms. [redacted] complains. Bryant & Stratton College’s investigation revealed that Bryant & Stratton College did not send the email in question, and its vendor has no record of sending the email. However, Bryant & Stratton College does engage in email marketing campaigns and contracts with third parties to disseminate emails in that regard. Thus, if you or Ms. [redacted] have an electronic copy of the email then I would appreciate it if you would send it to me so that I may conduct a further investigation with my client, determine my client’s exact involvement, and make recommends as needed. In all events, please know that Bryant & Stratton College does not send commercial emails, and does not authorize vendors to send commercial emails, that appear to be sent from and to the email recipient. Nor does Bryant & Stratton College send or authorize the sending of unlawful commercial emails that would mislead consumers. To the contrary, Bryant & Stratton College seeks to truthfully advertise its services and communicate its offerings to consumers as clearly and effectively as possible. Otherwise, Bryant & Stratton College would not have achieved the success and brand recognition it has today. Likewise, Bryant & Stratton College and its vendors are CAN-SPAM compliant, and comply with opt-out requests from consumers who seek to cease receiving emails advertising Bryant & Stratton College. In that respect, Bryant & Stratton College added Ms. [redacted]’s email address ([redacted].com) to its global suppression list on about September 8, 2015. Therefore, she should have ceased receiving emails at that email address by now. Bryant & Stratton College will globally suppress any additional email addresses she would like to provide so that she does not receive future emails at those addresses either. I trust that this response resolves the matters in your letter and the complaint attached to it. Bryant & Stratton College does not admit any liability and reserves all rights. Please call or email me if you have any questions or would like to discuss further. Sincerely, Ari R. Counsel for Bryant & Stratton College
I am writing in response to your request for information related to complaint number [redacted] Bryant & Stratton College (College) has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very...
seriously. Under the governing federal record retention regulations 34 CFR 668.24, the school was required to maintain records of this type for three years from the end of the award year in which the student last attended the institution and as such, we it appears that we no longer have a complete file on this student. What we have been able to determine from the records available, is that the student was enrolled in our Online Campus March 2010 term and began attending his session one courses. We are also able to determine that the student was withdrawn from school at the start of his session two courses in May 2010. A review of the records available, tell us that the student may have attempted to withdraw from school sometime during session one but it is unclear as to whether or not he intended to withdraw from just his session one courses or from the full term. The balance due on his account is for the tuition charged by the College during the term. The student was provided with a copy of the College Catalog that includes the Tuition Refund Schedule notifying students that all tuition for students residing in New York State is earned in full at week four of the term. This amount was reduced by a minimal amount for students aid earned during his time at the College and calculated using the Title IV student aid calculation rules. As a sign of good faith, the limited records available, and the age of this debt, the College is willing to forgive the full balance outstanding.
[redacted] has spoken with her Financial Aid Advisor, Associate Dean of Student Services, Dean of Student Services and Registrar and the issue has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Executive Assistant-Educational Services
In an attempt to clarify this response, we offer the following information as our interpretation of Ms. [redacted]’s complaint to the Revdex.com.
Ms. [redacted] indicates that she was locked out of her scheduled courses. However, it is important to note, Ms. [redacted] was not...
intentionally locked out. Occasionally it is necessary to reset passwords as a means of security through “[redacted] Web Access”. In response to her concern on 2/9/2015 [redacted], Senior Academic Advisor, left a voicemail message for Ms. [redacted] regarding the password reset process. Mr. [redacted] followed the voicemail message up with an email to her personal email. On 2/18/2015 Mr. [redacted] offered to walk Ms. [redacted] through gaining access to her scheduled courses when she could get in front of a computer. She stated that she does her school work on Saturdays and would not be willing to sit in front of a computer until then. All log in issues have been resolved and Mr. [redacted] will continue to reach out to her for any additional support that Ms. [redacted] may require.
Currently, Ms. [redacted] does not owe a balance to the college. If Ms. [redacted] were to withdraw prior to the end of the term which is, significantly past the add/drop period for the semester, her aid and loans will be prorated leaving her a balance owed to the college.
Related to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns regarding the College’s response to her email requests, Ms. [redacted] indicates that Bryant & Stratton has been unresponsive. As a student at Bryant & Stratton College each student receives a unique and easily identifiable email address with which they are advised to use as a means of communication with their instructors and the college staff. Ms. [redacted] utilizes her personal email as a means of communicating with her deans and instructors at Bryant & Stratton Online Education. The practice of using one’s personal email is discouraged as personal email addresses often cannot be identified and are frequently sent to spam folders. On 2/18 Mr. [redacted] spoke with Ms. [redacted] and sent the email login directions to her personal email account as requested. However, Ms. [redacted] indicated that she did not agree with the procedure to use her student email to resolve the communication issues.
Ms. [redacted] also indicated that she has emailed various departments with no response. Instructor [redacted], as referenced in the Revdex.com complaint, sent Ms. [redacted] an email on 2/15 regarding her concerns and her advisor has sent four emails thus far for the 2015 Winter Semester on: 1/28/2015, 1/28/2015, 2/9/2015, 2/9/2015 and 2/17/2015 (email and phone message). Ms. [redacted] has not responded to any of the communication sent to her by advisor.
We would be more than willing to speak with Ms. [redacted] at any time regarding her experience throughout her time at the college. Ms. [redacted] can contact our office at ###-###-####, [redacted]’s extension. Mr. [redacted] will facilitate further discussions.
I am writing to address the complaint filed by our former student. Bryant & Stratton College has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very seriously and has addressed this...
student’s concerns below. In her complaint, the student asserted that she discovered that she had been sent to collections by our College but indicates she should not have a balance with the school. In her complaint she claims that she withdrew prior to starting classes, and that she mailed back all of her books. In speaking with the campus they indicated they have notes that confirm the student did communicate that she would not be attending classes for the term prior to her attending classes. The campus had reversed all tuition and fee charges however, the bookstore has no record of the books ever being returned to them. The campus has indicated that based on the student’s situation, they have offered to reverse the charges from the books, even though they have no record of the books being returned. This will clear the student’s balance with the College. They will then remove her account from collections. We expect this resolution will meet with the satisfaction of our former student.
Revdex.com spoke to [redacted] at business and the following was relayed:The phone number we had on file for her was no longer in service. I tracked down a good number for her. She did speak to the dean and she did get her refund. This has been resolved.
This communication is in response to the letter of complaint sent to Bryant & Stratton College on January 3, 2017 (Reference ID [redacted]). The complainant has requested to be removed from the College’s contact list. Effective immediately, the complainant’s name has been stricken from the...
prospective student database. However, it is very important to note that marketing and digital media agencies employed by colleges routinely purchase lists of students who are qualified to be considered for enrollment. If this unknowingly occurs, and the complainant is contacted again, she should contact [redacted]. The subject line should read: Prospective student- DO NOT CALL. Ms. [redacted], New York State Marketing Director, will respond immediately should this concern arise in the future.Sincerely,Beth [redacted]
The purpose of this letter is to respond to the letter of concern submitted to the Revdex.com by [redacted] and received by Bryant & Stratton College on 12/31/2014.
In summary, it appears that Ms. [redacted] believes that she should receive a refund of $236.87...
for used textbook funds as well as a refund for the entire fall 2014 semester. She indicates that she feels that she did not receive a proper internship experience as well as did not receive proper communication from the Dean’s office and the Financial Aid Office regarding her academic and financial aid status when communicating her desire to transfer to another college.
Relative to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns regarding Internship, the following occurred: The Director of Career Services met with [redacted] to discuss internship before the 2014 Fall Semester. Ms. [redacted] was a Criminal Justice major; therefore, the Career Services Director tried to connect her with [redacted] County Sexual Assault and Crime Victims Organization. The contact, Mr. [redacted], relayed to the Career Services Director that after several attempts, he was unable to make contact with Ms. [redacted]. After numerous attempts, contact was finally made. A joint call was set up with Mr. [redacted] to inquire about a spot for her internship. However, he stated he was no longer interested because his organization is competitive regarding the internship experience, and he had selected another candidate.
Ms. [redacted] was then able to find an internship with Community Action of [redacted] County, closer to her residence. There, she was beginning to complete hours at a Domestic Violence Shelter. However, after only a short time, she was terminated. Her supervisor emailed the College indicating they had terminated Ms. [redacted]’s internship. Within the email was a documented list of dates indicating that Ms. [redacted] was absent several times and subsequently was terminated for excessive absence.
Ms. [redacted] came to the Career Services Director to discuss the possibility of completing her internship at a law enforcement agency. Ms. [redacted] secured an opportunity to complete an internship with the [redacted] Police Athletic League with the idea of working with at-risk youth. The College often partners with this organization because the student is able to oversee and mentor at-risk-youth. At the time Ms. [redacted] approached the Director, the only task she would be assigned correlated with the holidays: stringing up Christmas lights for an event in the area called, “Lights in the Park.” Because this was to be her only function, it was considered it to be inappropriate for real world experience, so the request was denied.
Relative to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns regarding financial aid, the following occurred: Ms. [redacted] first met with the Dean during the week of November 3, 2015, to communicate that she wanted to withdraw with only a few weeks remaining in the semester. The Dean urged her to consider the impact of her decision, stating that even if she did decide to transfer at the conclusion of this semester (but before she finished her degree) with Bryant & Stratton College), minimally her transcript could show that she passed some of her courses from the current semester. The Dean expressed to Ms. [redacted] that it would be in her best interest to try and successfully complete her classes even if she did plan to transfer to another college. The Dean also explained that if Ms. [redacted] decided to withdraw, she would be academically and financially responsible for her coursework. The Dean told Ms. [redacted] that he would support whatever decision she made but gently reminded her (repeatedly) throughout the conversation that she was the only person that could make such an important decision, emphasizing that the decision to continue or withdraw was ultimately hers to make. The Dean asked Ms. [redacted] if she wanted to think about it and then let him know if she still wanted to withdraw. Ms. [redacted] said she was going to go eat with her mother and then come back and let him know what she decided. Upon Ms. [redacted]’s return, she decided she did indeed want to withdraw and transfer to another college. The Dean communicated that was fine but that he did want Ms. [redacted] to speak with Financial Aid so she understood the financial ramifications of withdrawing. She went to Financial Aid and spoke with [redacted]. After they met, she returned and said she needed to think about the decision. The Dean told Ms. [redacted] that he understood it was a big decision and gave Ms. [redacted] the option to hold off on processing her withdrawal paperwork until she decided whether or not she wanted to withdraw. She said that she wanted to think about it before she did anything. The Dean advised Ms. [redacted] that she needed to get in contact with [redacted] or the Deans to let them know if/when she ultimately wanted to withdraw. She consented to this and left with her mother.
During Ms. [redacted]’s conversation concerning financial aid with [redacted], the Financial Aid Manager, she discussed the financial implications of her withdrawing from the college. Ms. [redacted] spoke with Ms. [redacted] and her mother and explained that if Ms. [redacted] withdrew, she would incur a balance with the college and until the balance was paid in full, she would not be able to obtain her transcript from the college. Ms. [redacted] spoke with her about the possibility of staying in school and perhaps focusing on two or three classes to complete the semester; she could avoid a balance with the college and then decide whether she wanted to return or not. Ms. [redacted] said that was a possibility, but she wanted to think about it. Ms. [redacted] advised her that she needed to contact Dean [redacted] with her decision or be withdrawn. Ms. [redacted] did not hear back from Ms. [redacted] and received her discontinuance form on November 20, 2014 due to the attendance policy.
The college’s attendance policy outlined on page 9 of the Official September 2014 College Catalog states that, “students who are absent from all of their courses for more than 14 consecutive calendar days, will be automatically withdrawn from the college unless the student contacts the College and is approved for an extension of this 14 day absence period and returns to school within 21 days of their last date of attendance.”
Bryant & Stratton College is open and willing to speak with Ms. [redacted] regarding her experience at the College and her remaining concerns. The college is also open to providing Ms. [redacted] with an official transcript so she has the ability to transfer her credit to the college of her choice.
Sincerely,
[redacted], Campus Director
Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Regards, [redacted]
This letter is in response to the complaint filed with the Revdex.com by Ms. [redacted], as conveyed in your note dated April 1, 2016. We have looked into the concern referenced and appreciate the opportunity to make the following comments regarding Ms. [redacted]’s...
circumstances. Ms. [redacted] enrolled into the paralegal program at the [redacted] Campus of Bryant & Stratton College (BSC) in [redacted], NY in the winter of 2016. Ms. [redacted] was enrolled in 5 courses; 4 ground-based and one Online course (PLEG 100). At the time of her filing, Ms. [redacted]’s grades were very satisfactory in her coursework. As of this writing, Ms. [redacted] has fully withdrawn from all coursework citing lack of instructor communication in her one online class. As we understand this, Ms. [redacted] is claiming that she reached out to her online instructors on a daily basis for help with a few of her assignments. Ms. [redacted] reports the instructors failed to respond back to her in a timely fashion with any help or assistance and she has not had any contact with the primary or the co-instructor. She states she called numerous times and asked for the instructor to respond to her and claims she did not receive a response. Ms. [redacted] stated that she felt her education was being jeopardized due to the lack of communication from the online instructors. To help provide some context to the student-instructor communication process at BSC, the following are the College’s guidelines. BSC’s online division is an asynchronous learning environment where instructors have 24 to 48 hours to respond to student inquiries. Most communication between students and instructors is via email and in the course through the learning management system (LMS). Students are also trained and educated to ask questions of their instructor through a variety of preferred methods: via email, during Virtual Office Hours, and in the “Ask Your Instructor” forum within the classroom. This particular course had two instructors and there was coverage in the classroom 7 days per week. Instructor’s providing personal cell-phone numbers is not a College requirement but does occur based on the instructor. The lack of communication that Ms. [redacted] is claiming occurred between the period of 3/20/16 through 4/1/16. There were a total of 12 exchanges between Ms. [redacted] and the instructors (7 from the student and 5 from the Instructor). It appears from the content of the exchanges the student and instructor had a difficult time connecting through email, as well as via the cell phone, even though there is evidence on both ends of efforts to do so. Unfortunately, in reviewing the instructor-student interactions, it also appears Ms. [redacted] chose not to utilize the Virtual Office Hours or the Ask Your Instructor method, but rather choose to either email the instructor or then default to calling the instructor’s cell phone directly without leaving a vmail. It is important to point out that in evaluating the feedback the instructor was providing on assignments; Ms. [redacted] was routinely receiving feedback and, as previously mentioned, doing quite well in this class. What is also very important to share was the additional support Ms. [redacted] was given at the [redacted] Campus to support her Online class. As part of the student service approach, ground-based students who are taking Online classes have the opportunity to receive help at the campus to ensure they are successful, if they need it. In discussing her concern about her Online class with an academic advisor, the academic advisor immediately arranged for tutoring services with a paralegal instructor, as well as a peer student at the campus. Ms. [redacted] availed herself of that help and the feedback from the peer student tutor was that the help went well and that Ms. [redacted] understood the material very well - hence the very satisfactory performance. In summary, the information gathered shows that not only were efforts made on behalf of BSC to attempt to respond to Ms. [redacted]’s requests, there were additional actions taken to provide her additional ground-based support. All of which seemed to prove successful as shown by her more than satisfactory performance in her Online and ground-based classes. Lastly, the College believes that the communication concern raised by Ms. [redacted] did not jeopardize her educational pursuits and believe there were personal factors (life circumstances) that heavily influenced her decision to withdraw. Thank you for the opportunity to provide clarification in this matter. Should you need additional information, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely, Marc A. Campus Director Bryant & Stratton College
Student was sent an email offering our assistance to her in completing her request for a transcript.
Revdex.com spoke to [redacted] at business and the following was relayed: We have received 6 payments. Payments are processed within 24-48 hours of being received. Regarding the work study, freshmen students are eligible. He never finished his application. If there are other payments that have been made that are not posted, then we have not received them or they would have been processed. Please find the dates and payment amounts from Mr. [redacted]. As I mentioned, payments are processed within 24-48 hrs of being received. $25.00-8/26/14 $15.99-9/22/14 $8.02-10/29/14 $13.37-12/15/14 $10.00-12/15/14 $25.50-2/2/15 TOTAL: $97.88 in payments Let me know if you need anything further. Thanks, [redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
In reference to complaint # [redacted], Mr. [redacted] stated that he felt that Bryant and Stratton College’s administration misrepresented information, specifically in regard to a possible work study position available on campus, and in regard to not receiving money back as a part of his student...
loan.
Mr. [redacted] enrolled at Bryant & Stratton College for our Spring 2014 semester. He did complete a Federal Work Study eligibility calculation on 5/23/14 and was notified of an open position on 6/9/14, by email from the Business Office (which is typically sent after the 30 day new census date). This e-mail provided an electronic link thru which he was instructed how to apply for an open position. This is the standard process for application to all positions with the College. This step was never completed by the student.
In regard to receiving money back from his loans, Mr. [redacted]’s award letter for the Spring semester shows that he was never packaged to receive any loan money back in an excess loan payment for the Spring semester. Mr. [redacted] was awarded with additional grants from the College to help off-set out of pocket costs. [redacted] signed an award letter on 4/30/14 showing his estimated financial aid and the $0 credit balance/balance owed to the school.
The reason Mr. [redacted] ended up with a balance to the College was because he withdrew from all his Spring classes. [redacted] indicated “work” was his reason for withdrawal, that he no longer wanted to pursue his Medical Assisting degree anymore, and he believed that the College’s credits would not transfer. Mr. [redacted] signed off on the withdrawal form during that meeting with his academic advisor. His lending library books were returned on 6/23/14 and the charges were reversed off of his student account. t the time of his withdrawal, he was responsible for 100% of tuition charges/fees due to his last date of attendance. Mr. [redacted] signed a financial obligation sheet prior to his enrollment describing financial consequences to withdrawing and the return of Federal funds in accordance with Federal Aid policy.
After the withdrawal was processed, the R2T4 (Return to Title IV– a process required by the federal government when a student withdraws) funds calculation indicated that based on his last date of attendance, Mr. [redacted] was eligible to keep all of his PELL and a small portion of his SUB loan only, leaving him with the remaining balance of $5,058.00 owed to the school.
Relative to Mr. [redacted]’s statement indicating that he has been making payments to the College, I invite him to contact Ms. [redacted] at ###-###-#### for further assistance. We are aware of and have recorded the payments made to Mr. [redacted]’s account balance.
Please let us know if we can provide any additional information.
Re: Response to Complaint #[redacted] submitted on 10/10/2014
I am writing to address the complaint [redacted] filed by a former Bryant & Stratton College student. Bryant & Stratton College has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we...
provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very seriously and has addressed this student’s concerns below.
In the student’s complaint, she indicated that she should have been eligible to receive a grant from New York State’s (NYS) Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for the 2007 – 2008 award year.
In our review of the student’s file it was determined that the she was not awarded a TAP grant during the 2007 – 2008 award year. The campus indicated that there may have been some confusion regarding the student’s eligibility for the grant and so the TAP award was decertified and an institutional grant was awarded to the student to help her fund the outstanding balance not covered with the student’s Pell grant and student loans for the two terms of that award year.
Our review determined that the student most likely would have been eligible to receive $2,500.00 in NYS TAP during each term for a total of $5,000.00. The difference between the Institutional grants the student received from the College ($1,162.01 for the Fall 2007 term and $1, 204.98 for the Winter 2008 term) totaling $2,366.98 and the $5,000.00 in TAP grants amounts to $2,633.01 in funding the student was eligible to receive and did not.
Bryant & Stratton College acknowledges that an error was made that caused the student to receive less NYS grant funding than she would have otherwise been entitled to receive.
We propose to credit the student’s account with $2,633.01 of additional institutional grant funding that, in addition to the $2,366.99 of institutional grants already awarded to the student, would bring the total institutional grant funding awarded to the student to the $5,000 the student would have been eligible to receive from the TAP program. The credit balance created on the student’s account would then be paid to the United States Department of Education [redacted] Loan Program to reduce the student’s outstanding loan debt.
We apologize for our error in this matter and hope that this proposed solution is acceptable. Please contact [redacted] at Bryant & Stratton College System Office.
Jean can be reached at ###-###-####
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Systems Manager of Financial Aid
I am writing to address the complaint filed by our former student. Bryant & Stratton College has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very seriously and has addressed this...
student’s concerns below. In her complaint, the student asserted that she was alerted to issues with her financial aid caused by an issue with the student’s tax filing status for the 2014 tax year that the College was unable to resolve. The student indicated that she was not alerted to the issue until she contacted the College to inquire on the status of her account. It was at this time that she was advised of the unresolved issues with her aid tied to her tax filing status, leaving a balance on her account. Financial aid is tasked by the Department of Education to resolve any conflicting information in a student’s financial aid application prior to allowing Federal funding to pay to a student’s account. One conflict that comes up most often is when a married student files taxes using the Head of Household filing status on their IRS tax returns. There are very limited situations where a married couple may file as anything other than married filing jointly or married filing separately. The instances where this is allowed are very specific and the student must be able to document that they meet these conditions. The campus was correct in not making any financial aid payments for the award year based on the tax year information for which they were unable to resolve the conflict. Because we did not follow up with the student on a timely basis to request this additional information, we will take responsibility for this error and eliminate the student’s balance with the College. We expect this resolution will meet with the satisfaction of our former student.
I am outside counsel for Bryant & Stratton College, and I am responding on its behalf to the letter you sent to Bryant & Stratton College in which you include a complaint you received from [redacted] dated September 5, 2015, relative to a commercial email she received that...
advertises my client. Bryant & Stratton College investigated the matters set forth in your letter and contacted its vendor relative to the email over which Ms. [redacted] complains. Bryant & Stratton College’s investigation revealed that Bryant & Stratton College did not send the email in question, and its vendor has no record of sending the email. However, Bryant & Stratton College does engage in email marketing campaigns and contracts with third parties to disseminate emails in that regard. Thus, if you or Ms. [redacted] have an electronic copy of the email then I would appreciate it if you would send it to me so that I may conduct a further investigation with my client, determine my client’s exact involvement, and make recommends as needed. In all events, please know that Bryant & Stratton College does not send commercial emails, and does not authorize vendors to send commercial emails, that appear to be sent from and to the email recipient. Nor does Bryant & Stratton College send or authorize the sending of unlawful commercial emails that would mislead consumers. To the contrary, Bryant & Stratton College seeks to truthfully advertise its services and communicate its offerings to consumers as clearly and effectively as possible. Otherwise, Bryant & Stratton College would not have achieved the success and brand recognition it has today. Likewise, Bryant & Stratton College and its vendors are CAN-SPAM compliant, and comply with opt-out requests from consumers who seek to cease receiving emails advertising Bryant & Stratton College. In that respect, Bryant & Stratton College added Ms. [redacted]’s email address ([redacted].com) to its global suppression list on about September 8, 2015. Therefore, she should have ceased receiving emails at that email address by now. Bryant & Stratton College will globally suppress any additional email addresses she would like to provide so that she does not receive future emails at those addresses either. I trust that this response resolves the matters in your letter and the complaint attached to it. Bryant & Stratton College does not admit any liability and reserves all rights. Please call or email me if you have any questions or would like to discuss further. Sincerely, Ari R. Counsel for Bryant & Stratton College
I am writing in response to your request for information related to complaint number [redacted] Bryant & Stratton College (College) has been educating students since 1854 and takes great pride in the personalized service we provide our students. The College takes complaints of this nature very...
seriously. Under the governing federal record retention regulations 34 CFR 668.24, the school was required to maintain records of this type for three years from the end of the award year in which the student last attended the institution and as such, we it appears that we no longer have a complete file on this student. What we have been able to determine from the records available, is that the student was enrolled in our Online Campus March 2010 term and began attending his session one courses. We are also able to determine that the student was withdrawn from school at the start of his session two courses in May 2010. A review of the records available, tell us that the student may have attempted to withdraw from school sometime during session one but it is unclear as to whether or not he intended to withdraw from just his session one courses or from the full term. The balance due on his account is for the tuition charged by the College during the term. The student was provided with a copy of the College Catalog that includes the Tuition Refund Schedule notifying students that all tuition for students residing in New York State is earned in full at week four of the term. This amount was reduced by a minimal amount for students aid earned during his time at the College and calculated using the Title IV student aid calculation rules. As a sign of good faith, the limited records available, and the age of this debt, the College is willing to forgive the full balance outstanding.