Midwest Institute For Medical Assistants

[redacted] is a graduate of our Massage Therapy program, she graduated on 10/3/This student has been allowed to make payments on a large balance interest free, for the amount that financial aid did not coverShe knew she would have a balance prior to starting the program I am disappointed that she is making a complaintWe have not intentionally stopped sending her a statement and did not realize she was upsetThese statements are a courtesy reminder for studentsShe did sign a payment agreement that clearly states she is responsible to make monthly payments of $until the balance is paid in fullHer original balance was $She has made only payments ($1800.00), and she knows that she has not approached paying off the balance yetWe lost our billing person recently and we did get a couple months behind sending out statements but that does not relieve her of the responsibility to pay the balance in fullWe provided her the education and we placed her in a position working as a Massage Therapist just after she graduatedWe allowed her to continue making payments on this balance after she graduated when traditionally the balance is expected to be paid in full upon graduationI would hope she understands that we have been working with her and have never penalized her for any payment that did not come each monthI had sent a new statement out just before receiving thisI will personally try to be sure she receives a statement each monthTo address her anger at our method of payment acceptance, we do not have a system to keep her credit card information on file but she sends checks as paymentShe can set up automatic payments to be sent to us through her bank if she desiresWe have several students who do this, they set up the total amount to be delivered and how many monthly payments and we receive a check each month from the bankThis is through her bank not the schoolIf she has any further questions she is welcome to call me so that I can make sure all is handled going forward I have attached a copy of her payment agreementMy hope is that this will resolve this issueSincerely, [redacted] DirectorMidwest Institute

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2016/02/02) */
This complaint was just received yesterday in our mail it was delivered to wrong address previously
This is in response to the complaint you received from *** ***I am very disappointed that she stated that she was not treated well
Her complaint makes it seem as if she was ignored and that was not the caseEach person she spoke to gave her the information that allowed her to order her transcript and procedure was followedIt is important to understand that she did not give a proper timeline from when she first called to when she came into the school to order her transcriptMs*** graduated in January of from Midwest InstituteShe called on Thursday, 12/30/15, she spoke to ***, the financial aid representative who told her she would have to fill out a formal request for transcripts but would begin looking for them in the archiveShe never asked to verify this information with a potential employer only that she wanted them for herselfOn Monday, 1/4/16, Ms*** called again*** told her again that she needed to fill out a form and pay a $fee*** offered to email her the form, Ms*** declined this and said she would come inMs*** came in a few hours later and filled out a transcript request which states it takes 3-business days to processMs*** did not request this information to be sent anywhere else other than to herHer transcript was mailed to the address on the form on Friday, 1/8/She called on 1/11/and spoke to Ms*** the Director of EducationMs*** proceeded to yell at Ms*** and was very rude and stated she had not gotten her transcriptShe was told that the transcript was mailed the previous Friday within the allotted timeframe and she should receive it soonWe did not know that she never received itThis request was handled appropriately and had we known she still had not received the transcript, we would have provided her another immediatelyThis has not occurred before and we are sorry that she had a problem once the transcript was mailedI can provide a copy of the transcript that was mailed and the transcript request that Ms*** completed on 1/4/16, if you would likeI am mailing Ms*** another copy of the transcript as wellI truly hope that she can understand there was no lack of effort to provide her what she requestedIf you have any further questions you may contact me

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/06/26) */
Contact Name and Title: *** *** Program Dir
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: ***@midwestinstitute.com
Midwest Institute
*** *** Dr
Earth City, MOXXXXX
Tel: XXX -XXX - XXXX Fax: XXX - XXX -XXXX
June 26,
Revdex.com Serving Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois
NBroadway, Ste
Saint Louis, MO XXXXX
RE: Case # XXXXXXX
We are submitting this response regarding the aforementioned complaint submitted to you by a graduate of our school from the year
The content of this response speaks to the actions taken by the school to address the verifiable issues:
Firstly, the complainant states, that there is a Stafford loan that was paid directly to the school, which the school is making her pay off with a check issued to the school and that she did not know if the school was recording the payments
o Included in this response you will find a copy of the complainants "Student Ledger" which shows payments made this year (2015) totaling $towards a $balance owed to the School which was charged off in as un-collectibleThis balance was not covered by the Stafford Loan referenced in the complaint
o Included in this response you will find a copy of the complainants signed and dated payment plan from the year 2014, for $per month which was specifically tailored to suit the needs of the complainantWe have been working with the complainant since graduation to satisfy the tuition balance
The complainant states that she has not been able to find a job in her field and that she asked for helpThe complainant explains further that the school sent her to job boards, and then proceeds to state that when she asked her instructor for help she felt it was insufficient and decided to come on another day
o Included in this response you will find randomly selected emails, from approximately emails back and forth between the school and the complainant, which show the schools attempts to communicate, assist and direct the complainant in the proper etiquette for gaining employmentEach attempt to assist the complainant, has been met with a lack of professionalism and lack of willingness to correct the necessary issues, which have been preventing the complainant from gaining employment
o The school, scheduled sessions with the complainant to attend the employment course, where the instructor is available to meet with the complainant and assist them in their job search with resume help, interview etiquette refreshers and application submission, however the complainant offered various reasons as to why she was unable to attend the scheduled sessions, often without calling or showing up after an appointment was agreed upon
The complainant states that she PAID, through her tuition, for help:
o Included in this response you will find a transcript which shows that the complainant graduated from the courseThis is to show that the education was provided to the complainant
The inability of the complainant to gain employment is a direct reflection of the lack of effort, disorganization, and lack of professionalism due to complainants own actions, and not the absence of provisions to assist by the institution
Last, the complainant's desired settlement is a refund or the forgiveness of all loans because of homelessness
o It is not up to the school to forgive loans as we are not the lender and have no bearing over the lending agreement made between the loan provider and the complainant
We would like to state, that since we have been working with the complainant to prepare her for employment in her field of study, only to be met by rudeness, lack of professionalism and inconsistent behavior'sIn when the complainant was actively enrolled, we counseled the complainant on very pertinent behaviors which we foresaw as possible issues which would affect employability and the complainant signed the counseling, without comment and verified her understanding; this document is also included with this letter
We have tried to direct the complainant in all avenues of professionalism within our abilityThe correspondence with the complainant is not limited to email messagesWe have made appointments with the complainant that she did not keep, offered professional advice regarding interviewing and application, which she did not acceptIn the complainant was told, which you will see in an enclosed email, not to contact the school until she was ready to allow us to assist her, and she then disappeared until When the complainant resurfaced, we began again, in our attempts to help her gain employment while she again deflected our efforts, was rude to our staff and demonstrated very irate behaviors
In closing, the complainant should know that the school offers lifetime job placement assistance, as we know she is capable of performing exceptionally in her field of study, as reflected on her enclosed internship evaluationIf the complainant would like to utilize the employment service, it is available, however the complainant, will still be required to adhere to the terms of this service and must physically participate in her employment search, and comprehend that the school is not authorized to forgive her financial obligation to her lenders, as we have no internal affiliation with her lenders
Sincerely,
*** ***
Pharmacy Technician Program Director

[redacted] is a graduate of our Massage Therapy program, she graduated on 10/3/14. This student has been allowed to make payments on a large balance interest free, for the amount that financial aid did not cover. She knew she would have a balance prior to starting the program.  I am...

disappointed that she is making a complaint. We have not intentionally stopped sending her a statement and did not realize she was upset. These statements are a courtesy reminder for students. She did sign a payment agreement that clearly states she is responsible to make monthly payments of $100.00 until the balance is paid in full. Her original balance was $6142.00. She has made only 18 payments ($1800.00), and she knows that she has not approached paying off the balance yet. We lost our billing person recently and we did get a couple months behind sending out statements but that does not relieve her of the responsibility to pay the balance in full. We provided her the education and we placed her in a position working as a Massage Therapist just after she graduated. We allowed her to continue making payments on this balance after she graduated when traditionally the balance is expected to be paid in full upon graduation. I would hope she understands that we have been working with her and have never penalized her for any payment that did not come each month. I had sent a new statement out just before receiving this. I will personally try to be sure she receives a statement each month. To address her anger at our method of payment acceptance, we do not have a system to keep her credit card information on file but she sends checks as payment. She can set up automatic payments to be sent to us through her bank if she desires. We have several students who do this, they set up the total amount to be delivered and how many monthly payments and we receive a check each month from the bank. This is through her bank not the school. If she has any further questions she is welcome to call me so that I can make sure all is handled going forward.  I have attached a copy of her payment agreement. My hope is that this will resolve this issue. Sincerely,  [redacted]DirectorMidwest Institute