University of Maryland Global Campus

The *** financial aid office is contacting me still after I pulled my application from them AND removed them from my financial aid application and after I wanted to cease communication with the University itself.

April 16, 2018

*** Pittsburgh, PA ***@***.com

Student ID # ***

Student Services
3501 University Bld. East
Adelphi MD. 20783

To whom it may concern,

I *** will be withdrawing 2017-2019 student application. Please return all application fees upon request.

Thank you

I would not recommend this school. FA is horrible to deal with. They are a money seeking school. They scam and scheme students out of their money. No one gives you answers to your questions, but if they do they all answer differently. They don’t take into account that you are a working adult. Their website is misleading. There software is horrible and the system goes down a lot. They only care about money. It’s high school busy busy work and some of the professors don’t help you, don’t respond to emails and change rules that contradict the syllabus. The school ONLY CARES ABOUT MONEY AND WILL GET IT FROM YOU ANYWAY THEY CAN. I stress this because they say that you take classes at your convenience but email you and call you pressing you to take classes as if it helps you but they are seeking money. I finally gave in to the advisor and had her sign me up for two classes and when I realized that I would not be physically able to take courses I spoke to the school asking if I can drop and would it affect my FA the answer I go was “Yes you can drop and your FA will not be affected.” I dropped the courses before the they even started and a week or two later I received an email saying that I owed over $3k and the school asked me to return grant money to them which I have never heard of. They said “ you have a balance because you dropped your courses so we suggest you return the grant money you received to pay us our money”. I contacted *** and they said once they issue you grant money it’s yours. But the school demanded that I give them the $1350 of the grant that was sent, which I did and to also give them $1824 for the courses I could not take. They said they returned $1824 of the loan back to the lender for those dropped courses and now I need to give that $1824 which I didn’t physically receive for the second term in Spring or I will be sent to collections. UMUC said that they assumed I was taking classes so the loan was disbursed however I didn’t receive a refund from the loan that was disbursed. I took classes January 8th to May 4th which is the first term of Spring which was paid for. They are now trying to force me to pay for second term which I did not take nor did I receive a refund of the leftover amount from $1824 because the classes were dropped before the start date. According to federal regulation I am to have 6 credits to be eligible for aid which I did and completed. I have yet to this day received a clear and solidified explanation as to why I’m paying this educational institution money for classes I never even took.

I signed up for part time enrollment for the summer term in 2017. My financial aid was to cover it as long as I was enrolled in 2 classes. One of the classes, I attended online for 2 weeks and the other class began later. The second class, I had issues with the materials needed and could not install the necessary software on my computer. I had to drop the second class and since I was enrolled in only one class, my financial aid was cancelled. I could not afford to pay for the remaining class, so I dropped it also. Instead of being understanding and having mercy on me, UMUC charged me for the second class. I could not afford their payment plan or to pay them within the timeframe that they gave me, so they sent my balance to a collection's agency. I will NEVER go back to this school and as far as I am concerned, they robbed me of a few things.

This school has been billing me for classes never taken, 18 years later. The first time I heard about it was through the MDCCU in 2006. When I followed through and nobody could find records or call me back I assumed it was corrected. Then I won $1000 in the state lotto. They took my money and told me only the school can remove the debt. Now the school wats me to file a police report 18 years later saying someone signed up for classes in my name.

I contacted this university to look into a masters program, I filled out the request information form on the website, and they are now claiming that I filled out an application to attend their university, which I did not. They are trying to assess a $50.00 application fee which is wrong as I never filled out an application in the first place. I am not paying a fee to get information on a masters program. Based on the information that was provided to me by a student counselor I decided NOT to attend or take classes at this university. This university's website is obviously misleading and attempts to scam money from people that are looking to gain information. Additionally, for them to try and assess a fee is preposterous. It is my belief that this university is a scam to obtain funds from perspective students, civilians and military veterans.

I had difficulty receiving timely responses from professors in the following courses (Acct ***, ***, ***). In addition, I advised the professors that there abnormal discussion due dates would be hard to meet for an online class and with most people having full time jobs. UMUC advertises that it is a program for full time workers, however, these professors had due dates for assignments that were in the middle of the week. Then for at least one course the discussions were 30% of the grade. I accidently sent 1/2 my presentation for one course, and the professor refused to accept the other 1/2 once I saw her comment that she didn't get the 2nd file, because she had already provided feedback. I advised the professor that she could easily see on word the date the file was created and when it was last edited. She still refused. Costing me 20 points.

I currently have a diploma from UMUC that reads merely that I have a Bachelor of Science; however, it does not indicate the program I have it in. Other schools indicate this on the diploma, and I reached out to UMUC, as I graduated in 2011, and inquired about this. I have been back and forth and spoken to someone on the phone as well, and I fail to understand the logic in me having to pay for a diploma...please see attached. UMUC did not put the program on the diplomas in 2011 or before; it was only a year later, 2012, when they started doing the right thing and putting the programs on the diplomas. Unfortunately, I graduated a year earlier, and I should not be punished or penalized for this. Yet UMUC is trying to rip me off and charge me another $50 for a diploma that has my program on it. They also want me to spend more money and time to get my current diploma notarized and mailed back to them, which also makes no sense since they are able to verify who I am on the phone with my student id, social, and any other personal information the school has. So this is all more trouble than necessary for me to receive a diploma that I am justified after attending school there since 1997. Documentation of this request is attached.

My complaint involves illegal cancelling of my courses after financial aid was awarded and the lie of *** whom I called after receiving an email of course cancellation that the *** counseling was missing and it is not. ***A was fully completed. She states a counselor will contact me in 2-3 days, I am in the process of suing them with a private attorney.

I was a student at University of Maryland and they refused to take that books that I did not need for classes they have dropped I was told I’m not occasions that the bill would be paid off by then and I was good to go. It’s been four years and the bills have not been paid off and every time I contact them they just tell me it’s my fault. I was told to my face From my advisor that I was fine but now University Maryland has ruined my credit and every time I contact them nobody’s going to help me

They have been sending my unwated mailings for years. I have asked them to stop but the mailings continue.

My name is ***, I am currently enrolled in the Dual master’s program (MBA & MGT).
I began the program in spring 2010 and in 2014 became extremely ill and had to take some time off. After recovery in 2016, I was able to resume school and contacted the school as such. I was in informed that I was no longer enrolled in the dual masters program as the program was discontinued. Although course were completed related to the program and I was enrolled prior to the programs discontinuation, I was still no longer able to complete it. Nevertheless, with 80-90% of my required coursework completed and 3 remaining course left to complete the Masters of Management, I began the reenrollment process.

Per the discussion with my advisor on 09/15/2016, I wrote into the school of graduate studies explaining my extenuating medical circumstance, which lead to an extended period of absence. As such, I requested an extension of my program be allowed as this situation was beyond my control. Despite the extensive medical documentation provided to the University, my request was denied as was my Financial Aid. I was forced to resume classes immediately, only given a few months to complete my remaining classes and pay out-of-pocket. This action has caused my family I an extreme hardship.

I have filed several appeals requesting additional time and financial aid but they too were denied as the school failed to follow its policy regarding extenuating circumstance. It was explained to me on several occasions that extenuating circumstance are never considered as this is only mentioned as a formality.

On 08/24/2017, I received a notice from the Financial Aid Department which explain I was once again denied aid for 2017/2018 school year as I had only complete 47% percent of classes taken and 50% was required as per the school of graduate studies. I was offered again the option to appeal due to extenuating circumstances and again the University requested I pay out-of-pocket tuition for the upcoming semester. I called back into the office on 08/24/2017 to get some additional information regarding the Financial Aid denial and made aware, that none of my previous appeals could be located and my medical condition was not considered an extenuating.

In addition, I was rudely informed by Ms. Candis A (call center of Financial Aid) that I would not able to discuss this matter with the SAP department by phone and only provided another name (Bryan B) Director of Financial Aid according to A as the call was then disconnected. After calling back and speaking to a supervisor (Chantell) I was again told the same this and explained she would have Mr. B give me a call at his convenience or within 24-48hrs. It has been 5 days and I have yet received a call from any department.

Finally, it was explained to me on several occasions that extenuating circumstance are never considered as this is only mentioned as a formality. I am really distressed as I am not able to pay for courses out of pocket as I am recovering and can lose degree and all that that I have worked so hard for because of an unforeseen medical condition. I don’t feel anyone should be treated as such. I have tried contacting the executive office relentlessly but the numbers provided are not affiliated with the school.

I have attempted to contact the UMUC veterans certification office and student accounts office for days, being left on hold for the majority of the phone calls. I was informed that the individual, Joseph H, I was communicating with through email "would not be able to speak with me on the phone, he does not take phone calls." My account was not properly handled between UMUC and ***. The account was subsequently turned over to the ***. I have attempted to have the debt sent back to UMUC for payment. The school, UMUC, has stated they need me to certify my spring 2017 classes, which I had already done. This is not the appropriate advise as I already did this in the Spring, and will not remedy the situation. I am deeply displeased with being transferred by an employee named "Natasha" in Student Accounts mid sentence.

The university is a great place to gain a quality education, but a horrible place when if comes to the financial aid office. I applied and submitted for a split payment option and once completing the office incorrectly applied funds which ended in me having an additional fee placed on my account. to this day I graduated with my masters degree over 3 years ago and still have no diploma because they refuse to remove a $6 fee from me account which was due to their error and not my own. It bothers me that they can not own up to a mistake made on their part for a small amount as $6 and hold my diploma over numerous years. Be careful when signing up for financial aid and payment plans. If they screw up you are the one who pays and not them.

I was forced to take and pay twice for a Statistics course. I informed the dean that the first professor failed to teach. She often told me homework was completed satisfactory only to then note the same/similar problems were completed incorrectly on exams. This led me to believe that she didn't check the homework for accuracy.

After starting the same class with a different professor, not only did my grade improve. The methodology and technique for working the problem was entirely different than the first course. It was as if I was being taught an entirely different subject matter.

I was forced to pay for both courses in order to receive my degree.