Selecting a Career College: Top 10 Questions To Ask

I was thinking more about the need for greater transparency in the college selection process this morning.  Rather than rely on external forces to force this issue upon schools, there is always the power of the consumer to make things happen.  If consumers demand more information than institutions eventually have to accede to these demands or lag behind their competition.  So, with that spirit in mind, I have developed a Top 10 list of questions that consumers should ask prior to selecting a career college.  This list was developed having spent hours scanning complaint boards to see what items came up most frequently.  If a school is not comfortable answering many of these questions, claims not to have the information available, or won't provide answers in writing you may want to look elsewhere.  Remember that you are making a significant investment of both dollars and time so do the legwork to make the best choice.  Good luck!

Top 10 Questions To Ask Before Choosing a Career College

• What accreditation or licensing does the school have? (from Dept. of Ed site)
  • To find out if a school is accredited by a nationally recognized agency, check to see if the accrediting agency is included in the U.S. Department of Education's List of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies.
  • Contact the state licensing agency where the school is located to find out if it is operating legally in the state, using the Directory of Higher Education Officials.

• Will credits that you earn in this program transfer to another institution? (from Dept. of Ed site)
  • To learn more about transferring credits from one school to another, take a look at "The Student's Guide to Transfer of Credit" by The Distance Education and Training Council.  

• What are the tuition, fees and other expenses that student should expect to pay (known as cost of attendance) for the program?
  • Get this in writing

• What is the school’s refund policy in the event that you are not satisfied with the program?
  • Be sure to get this in writing.  You do not want to find out later that you are paying for a class that you dropped after three weeks. 

• What is the financial aid package that the school has put together for you?
  • Be sure to get everything in writing and to take your time reviewing it.  Do not allow yourself to be rushed into making this important decision.  
  • Important:  Be sure you understand the difference between grants (free money) and loans (unsubsidized and subsidized Stafford loans) which WILL NEED TO BE REPAID.
  • Avoid private loans at all costs as they carry much higher interest rates and have less flexible repayment options.  
    • Be sure that all of your federal grant and loan options have been maximized. 

• What is the average amount of loans that students borrow at the institution?
  • You will want to have a sense of how much you will need to borrow in order to complete the program...you don't want to realize that you have overborrowed after you graduate

• What is the school’s lifetime default rate, which is the percentage of borrowers who have not been able to stay current on their loan?  
  • You can find some default information by typing in the school name on this website:  http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultmanagement/cdr.html

• What is the school’s completion rate for your field of study or trade (i.e. how many of those that start the program complete it within a given time frame)?

• What is the job placement rate and average wages earned by graduates of the program you are interested in over the past three years?
  • Remember that your purpose of enrolling in this program is to get a return on your investment...this is very important information to have.

• What is the quality of the educational facilities where you will be trained?  
  • Be sure to visit a class while it is in session to check on the quality of teaching too. 

Extra Credit:

• Ask for references of recent graduates that you can speak to about their experience.
• Go to google.com and search on the name of the career college that you are considering and “complaints” to find out any issues that previous students may have had at the institution you are considering. 
  
  • Contact the Better Business Bureau in your area to find out if they have any complaints. 

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Does anyone have anything to add to the list? 

Comments

[Skeptic]

Why does this list only apply to career colleges? Seems like many of these questions should be asked of all colleges.

[Verbal]

Also: If you want to transfer credits, also call the schools you'd like to transfer to and ask if they accept credits from your school. Your recruiter may be lying.

Also: If you're going to a career school, you're likely to have a career in mind. It would help to call someone in the business you plan to enter and ask if the degree you're about to pursue means anything to them: "I'd like to get into [nursing, auto repair, hair styling, etc.] and am considering a training program. Would you say that a degree from [school] would help someone applying for jobs in the field?"

[Budgeteer]

What a great blog you have. Tim Ranzetta for Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education!

You advise students to maximize their federal grants. The same might be said for all grants, which may include employer benefits, state programs, institutional aid, and federal grants other than Pell, such as Veterans' benefits. This of course would apply to all students, not only those at career colleges.

The trouble is, how would a student know if he or she were maximizing grants? How grants are applied for and distributed at an institution may be a closely guarded secret, especially the funds under an institution's control and how financial aid packages are put together. That need not be.

The federal Student Right to Know Act provides that institutions "shall accurately describe--
(A) the student financial assistance programs available to
students who enroll at such institution;
(B) the methods by which such assistance is distributed among
student recipients who enroll at such institution;".

The regulations implementing the SRTK Act state that "the information provided by the institution must describe—
(1) The procedures and forms by which students apply for assistance;
(2) The student eligibility requirements;
(3) The criteria for selecting recipients from the group of eligible applicants; and
(4) The criteria for determining the amount of a student’s award."

Students are largely unaware of these provisions because the U.S. Department of Education does not let students know their rights regarding grant aid and financial aid packaging, and most institutions are not about to point them out. Enforcement of SRTK could clean up a lot of what ails postsecondary education.

[Julie at iD]

Thanks for this article - our clients often ask about the best colleges to send their kids. I think attending a class (esp if it can be in your area of interest) is a fantastic idea!