tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post451414259100064564..comments2023-10-30T05:28:11.795-04:00Comments on All Education Matters: Former For-Profit Instructor SharesCryn Johannsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08452412213997621242noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post-78742200889276795312010-12-31T10:24:23.751-05:002010-12-31T10:24:23.751-05:00I made the mistake of rejecting ItalianDragn's...I made the mistake of rejecting ItalianDragn's comment on my Blackberry (still getting used to it). ItalianDragn wrote:<br /><br />Let me guess... ITT?<br /><br />I was amazed that they had a great-grandmother on dialysis in my IT classes. Like she was really planning on getting a job in the IT field... That should have given me a clue to get out, but I was an idiot and continued paying them for nothing.Cryn Johannsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08452412213997621242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post-81667120026535147892010-12-22T17:15:29.181-05:002010-12-22T17:15:29.181-05:00You're welcome. I'd be the first to read y...You're welcome. I'd be the first to read your book, and I'd promote it left and right!Cryn Johannsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08452412213997621242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post-44053408000854848542010-12-22T17:14:32.431-05:002010-12-22T17:14:32.431-05:00Thanks! I'm doing what I can. The sad reality ...Thanks! I'm doing what I can. The sad reality is that it's actually much worse when you did into the details. It could fill a book, and that's my plan. This is a dark little chapter in postsecondary education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post-19031097470197105272010-12-22T17:07:04.652-05:002010-12-22T17:07:04.652-05:00@Dec 22 - Wow. Your description is powerful. I wil...@Dec 22 - Wow. Your description is powerful. I will be posting as a story. Thanks for sharing such dreadful information. We will continue to spread the word, and we will do this together.Cryn Johannsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08452412213997621242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post-8407670991454932252010-12-22T17:05:03.540-05:002010-12-22T17:05:03.540-05:00The Admissions Advisor:
It begins in Kool Aid Club...The Admissions Advisor:<br />It begins in Kool Aid Club training, when questions about stigma and accreditation are dodged. They’d prefer you didn’t think too much on the sales floor, either; there’s virtually no discussion or training on program content or quality. When there is, it’s sub par, poorly organized, and offers little. Your job is simple: sell the American dream that higher ed equals car, house, stability, etc. There’s a quota each day, and sales managers roam the aisles of our cube heaven. Cube Heaven comes complete with for profit vending machines that distribute smaller portions of Doritos and candy for $.20 more than machines everywhere else. What will they think of next? <br /><br />You’re taught and encouraged to temper (and avoid in the initial interview) any “process” based questions…the realities of debt, how financial aid works, the work required, etc. You’re not even supposed to use the word “school.” You’re regularly and strongly encouraged to enroll same day, and management makes it clear that doing so helps to avoid losing students to other universities. They’ll fluff that with a seemingly bullet proof rationale that students have been putting this off forever, or are frightened, and that they need your help. Today. Never mind that 95% of prospective students we’ve targeted are in poor financial situations, or the fact that they’re jobless, with the rent due, and in emotional, irrational states. Omit, enhance, and manipulate. You’re helping, so do whatever it takes. Get the enrollment. They need a change. Here it is: Not only will they be saddled with debt they can’t shake in bankruptcy, but they’ll also have spent their Financial Aid card, effectively disqualifying themselves from school aid in the future. <br /><br />Back to the sales floor and earning your check. It’s time to start “overcoming objections.” This is what you’ll spend the majority of job doing – convincing students that their intuition about a quick fix is wrong, that they shouldn’t wait until tomorrow, or that they can make the time for it. You encourage to hurry down to a library computer if they don’t have one…they NEED this. Omit, enhance, and manipulate…guilt if you must! The single biggest “objection” you’ll be encouraged (for unspoken threat of termination) to overcome is the application fee. Sure, it’s not much, but the majority of students don’t have it, choosing rather to spend it on food, or avoiding cell phone service interruption, drugs, or getting it waived to enroll in a university that will charge them thousands more. It’s now your job to call them three times a day (this is policy) to help them “overcome this obstacle.” Can they ask the church? Parents? Find some bottles and cans to recycle? <br /><br />The reality is that while a few of them are late bloomers and/or working professionals that bring the necessary experience and education to succeed, the vast majority are low SES, or flat broke, with little education experience, poor skills, and even poorer consumer awareness. They all have only one thing in common: a social security number! A number that grants access to Federal Aid that, as admissions advisor, you’re about to help a corporation plunder. <br />I once enrolled an ex-bank robber recently released from prison. He was brilliant, doing well in his classes, had great passion for people and doing the right thing. It’s a painful realization that my managers, when their careers end, will have stolen more taxpayers than he did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481083477379506990.post-76477263626203098782010-12-15T14:40:29.542-05:002010-12-15T14:40:29.542-05:00Diploma mills also love to hire gung-ho salespeopl...Diploma mills also love to hire gung-ho salespeople. Often, these pigs do not even have a college degree - in many cases, not so much as an Associate's degree. Yet, these swine call and recruit more victims/students. <br /><br />I had a co-worker who worked for ITT Tech. She was 20 when she worked in the "Recruitment Dept." I knew a slob in Des Moines who had NEVER set foot in a college classroom. He worked for Universal Technical Institute (UTI). I was in my first year of graduate school. I should have slammed his face into a wooden table when I had the chance. <br /> <br />The other day, I went home for lunch. I turned on the TV, and my choices were tripe and tripe. During one court TV show, I saw more than 10 ads for various diploma mills, i.e. Broadview, Eagle Gate College, Stevens-Henager, Kaplan, Provo College, et al. This was during a 30 minute broadcast!!<br /><br />Broadview?!?! That sounds like the name of a damn cemetary! Cryn, keep exposing these frauds. They are preying on people's misfortunes, i.e. unemployment, low-wage jobs, outstanding debts, calls from collection officers, etc.Nandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06423524039657355134noreply@blogger.com