I heard about earning a bachelor’s degree online, that's when I found Westwood College Online. I want to go into web design and multimedia. Looking at their website I found they have a degree program for it. This is probably the best online school I’ve come across that offers exactly what I want, it even has audio and video lectures! What do you think of Westwood Online?

Hi -

I KNEW I'd heard comments about the cost and quality of Westwood somewhere, but I didn't expect to find anything HALF as bad as this! HOLY COW!

http://www.wfaa.com/s/dws/wfaa/bharr....cf8856f9.html

If you want an Accredited distance MultiMedia & Webdesign Associate degree at maybe ONE SIXTH of Westwood's price
and without this type of complaint track record, try:

http://www.pennfostercollege.edu/cat-design.html

And No -- I'm not connected with them in any way and they don't pay me to say this....

Cheers

Johann

Westwood College Online Is A Total Scam. I Was An Admissions Rep Trying To Get Suckers To Sign Up. I Would Not Want A Degree From There Even If It Was Offered Free. Which It Was To Us(all We Had To Do Was Pay For Books). Credits Wont Transfer To Normal Colleges - Employers Never Heard Of It. We Would Call Poetential Students "jerry Springers" Named After The Idiots That Would Call Up And Act Like People From The Jerry Springer Show. High Pressure Sales To Get Your Money. It Costs $80,000 To Go To Westwood Online. Go To Your State School, If You Don't Your An Idiot. The Trick Is They Try To Find Your Pain And Then Use That Back Against You To Try To Get You To Sign Up. Scam Scam Scam. What Kind Of A College Has Every Test As Open Book Online? Beware:they Will Pretend It Is An Interview And Recommendation Process, However, They Are Praying That You Will Pay And Sign Up. Everybody Is Recomended. They would sign up you dog if you gave them the application fee.

This Is The Worst School In History. Expensive And Worth Nothing.
The Accreditation Is Not Reconized.

Well they are terrible, and obviously scammers. I learned this from a half a year's research. I went to game designers, reputable universities and colleges and the students themselves. I was shocked at what I found.

Just for the hell of it I filed a complaint with the BBB due to their mishandling of my student account. What happened is my computer broke down at the beginning of a semester and they charged me for the class. I didn't have a problem with that but no one I talked to could get me information on makeup work.

They wouldn't take off the charge so I quit. At that time I began doing field research on Westwood and discovered the dark side.

If you graduate, some students say, companies will laugh at your degree. It's sad really.

I was a Dean's List student (trust me, it's nothing to be proud of at Westwood) and they tried to make it sound like I was a horrible dropout student in their response to the BBB...because of a class I couldn't access with my broken computer.

lol.

So get the word out. Someone took down "Fight Westwood" (the site on Myspace) and also altered their Wikipedia article. They are doing their best to hide their shameful image. They'll charge you alot, treat you like garbage and try to make you look like the bad guy when you complain.

I'm happy I found out early in the game instead of after graduation like those other poor people. I really feel bad for them.

If you want to attend college, it's better to do so at a small local college taking night classes than trying to learn something online. You won't learn anymore than you can learn in a book.

My husband went to Kaplan for criminal justice, and they treated him fairly well. If you just need a degree, (not knowledge) Kaplan isn't bad.

One funny thing about Westwood is they claimed to be accredited, but the company they claimed to be accredited by told me they were not properly accredited at the end of 2006.

Thak you for the post. Not only do you shed light on the practices of this scam but you show the other crime they commit. Based on your experience you have just, quite correctly in your mind, indicted the entire world of on line learning. The issue, of course, is that there was no learning with this organization and they should be condemmed for their action, however, the crime is commited against every other legitimate on line offering by colleges and universities.

Learning via the internet, through correspondence or by independent research is not for everyone but should not be dismissed as worthless. Many will benefit from your advise to seek out local small colleges and complete the night courses but for others the learning experience through on line offerings is not only a viable option but one that suites their learning style well.

Glad you found out early enough in the process to take some remedial action.

__________________
Bachelor of General Studies: Athabasca University
MA (Leadership): University of Guelph
MBA: Columbia Southern University

Hi, I'm new to this post because I wanted to know if anybody else had troubles/problems with Westwood College. I started my admissions process May 2005 at the Chicago Campus and started classes August 2005.

My first impression was that Westwood is so close to my home and a little cheaper than state universities/community colleges. When I went to my employer to fill out a reimbursement tuition, they did NOT recognize Westwood as an accredited (private institution) college and would not put through my reimbursement paperwork. As one post stated, "employers laugh in your face" when you mention Westwood College. True. Obviously, my employer did not laugh in my face but questioned Westwood College and did their own background check on the college. My employer was not happy with what they found out about Westwood College and advised me to look elsewhere, which is what I did.

I want to also mention that their financial aid office is very disorganized, as they supposdely "lost my application", not once but twice!

I left Westwood College mid-December of 2005, just 4 months into the program. My experience with Westwood College was and is horrible. Not only is the financial aid office a big joke, the staff knows absolutely nothing. All they want is dollar signs and will lie through their teeth to get a body in the college. Each and every class that started, I was given the wrong book(s). The teachers probably got their so-called Masters degree from clown school because all they wanted to do was socialize than to teach. I could've book-taught myself, that's how bad they are. Poor responses to e-mails. To top it off, Westwood College forward my account to a collections agency, which in the first place, I NEVER applied a loan with or through Westwood College and still fighting it.

Education is a privilege, not a luxury. People like you and I don't need this hassle. This is our future, not to mention our money, that's on the line. It's better to have gone to a community college then transfter to a university.

By the way, after I dropped Westwood College and applied to another college (which my employer will happily reimburse me), they would NOT accept Westwood's transcripts - just so you know. The term better used, "it's better to sh*t on it and forget it". I s***est that future students do not consider Westwood College as a school to attend, it's not worth it. Totally not worth it.

Wow, as I have read these post, it the opposite experience that I had, I also checked into their accreditation and found nothing wrong there. I had attended another online school previous to them and have found the course studies superior to my previous school. Although I had a perfect 4.0 at previous school I have found my G.P.A. went down at Westwood and some Professors are extremely strict in their grading. I think everyone is different and if one is lucky enough to get great Instructors for each class and a caring academic adviser they will be happy at whatever school they choose. When I graduate from Westwood I will be continuing on for my Master's at Indiana State University and I checked with them to see if my degree from Westwood would be accepted and my credits and I have been reassured that it will not be a problem. I also know a few other students who have graduated from Westwood who feel that attending this school was a great experience and have not had any problems having their degree recognized. There is more to education then how many commercials a school has on television. It is important to make your education count no matter where you go, as far as scams go, I personally had a bad experience with Kaplan but would never go so far as to make such a defamatory statement. Online education had a lot of bumps ahead, and it is up to the student to make their education count by applying themselves.

This is pretty interesting. We have a complete difference of opinion about the school. Is it possible we are talking about two different organizations. Could each of you locate the URL for the college and post it so we can make a comparison? Thanks

__________________
Bachelor of General Studies: Athabasca University
MA (Leadership): University of Guelph
MBA: Columbia Southern University

I have been attending Westwood College online for a litte over two years now and I have to say that the instructors, for the most part, are highly accredited and professional. The course material is very current for the times and updated always. All this talk about 'clown' college, scams, rip-offs is just pure nonsense.