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hether you’re new to the job market or looking to enhance your

skills, a private vocational or correspondence school can be an

excellent starting point for furthering your career. These schools

train students for a variety of skilled jobs, including automotive technician,

medical assistant, hair stylist, interior designer, electronics technician, paralegal and truck driver. Some schools also help students identify prospective

employers and apply for jobs.

While many private vocational and correspondence schools are reputable and

teach the skills necessary to get a good job, others may not be as trustworthy.

Their main objective may be to increase profits by increasing enrollment. They

do this by promising more than they can deliver.

CHOOSING HOOSING

A CAREER OR

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Facts for Consumers

For example, they may mislead prospective

students about the salary potential of certain

jobs or the availability of jobs in certain fields.

They also may overstate the extent of their job

training programs, the qualifications of their

teachers, the nature of their facilities and equipment, and their connections to certain businesses and industries.

It’s not always easy to spot the false claims that

some schools may make, but there are steps

consumers can take to make sure that the school

they enroll in is reputable and trustworthy.

Do Some Homework

Before enrolling in a vocational or correspondence school, do some homework. Here’s how:

• Consider whether you need additional

training or education to get the job you

want. It’s possible that the skills you’ll need

can be learned “on the job.” Look at employment ads for positions that you’re

interested in and call the employer to learn

what kind of experience is important for

those positions.

• Investigate training alternatives, like community colleges. The tuition may be less

than at private schools. Also, some businesses offer education programs through

apprenticeships or on-the-job training.

• Compare programs. Study the information

from various schools to learn what is required to graduate. Ask what you’ll get

when you graduate — a certificate in your

chosen field or eligibility for a clinical or

other externship? Are licensing credits you

earn at the school transferable? If you decide

to pursue additional training and education,

find out whether two- or four-year colleges

accept credits from any vocational or correspondence school you’re considering. If

reputable schools and colleges say they

don’t, it may be a sign that the vocational

school is not well regarded.

• Find out as much as you can about the

school’s facilities. Ask about the types of

equipment — computers and tools, for

example — that students use for training and

supplies and tools that you, as a student,

must provide. Visit the school; ask to see

the classrooms and workshops.

• Ask about the instructors’ qualifications and

the size of classes. Sit in on a class. Are the

students engaged? Is the teacher interesting?

• Get some idea of the program’s success rate.

Ask what percentage of students complete

the program. A high dropout rate could

mean that students don’t like the program.

How many graduates find jobs in their

chosen field? What is the average starting

salary?

• Ask for a list of recent graduates. Ask some

about their experiences with the school.

• Find out how much the program is going to

cost. Are books, equipment, uniforms and

lab fees included in the overall fee or are

they extra?

• If you need financial assistance, find out

whether the school provides it, and if so,

what it offers. The U.S. Department of

Education administers several major student

aid programs in the forms of grants, loans

and work-study programs. About two-thirds

of all student financial aid comes from these

programs. Call the Federal Student Aid

Information Center at 1-800-4 FED AID (1-

800-433-3243) for a free copy of The Student Guide. It’s also available at

www.ed.gov/prog_info/SFA/StudentGuide.

• Ask for the names and phone numbers of the

school’s licensing and accrediting organizations. Check with these organizations to
Facts for Consumers

learn whether the school is up-to-date on its

license and accreditation. Licensing is

handled by state agencies. In many states,

private vocational schools are licensed

through the state Department of Education.

Truck driver training schools, on the other

hand, may be licensed by the state transportation department. Ask the school which

state agency handles its licensing. Accreditation is usually through a private education

agency or association, which has evaluated

the school and verified that it meets certain

requirements. Accreditation can be an

important clue to a school’s ability to provide appropriate training and education — if

the accrediting body is reputable. Your

high-school guidance counselor, principal or

teachers can tell you which accrediting

bodies have worthy standards.

• Check with the Attorney General’s office

and the Better Business Bureau in the state

where you live and in the state where the

school is based, and with your county or

state consumer protection agency to see

whether complaints have been filed against

the school. A record of complaints may

indicate questionable practices, but a lack of

complaints doesn’t necessarily mean that the

school is without problems. Unscrupulous

businesses or business people often change

names and locations to hide complaint

histories.

Taking Care of Business

Once you decide on a school, review the materials the school gives you, including the contract.

Avoid signing up until you’ve read the documents carefully. Check the contract to see

whether you can cancel within a few days of

signing up and if so, how to go about it. If the

school refuses to give you documents to review

beforehand, take your business to another

school. Its refusal may be a sign that the school

isn’t trustworthy. If a school official tells you

something other than what is in their documents, ask the school to put it in writing. If the

promises aren’t in writing, the school can deny

ever having made them.

To finance your vocational training program,

you may apply for financial aid through the

school’s financial aid program. If you take out a

loan, be sure you read the agreement and understand the terms of repayment before you sign.

Know when repayment begins and how much

each payment will be.

Also realize that you’re responsible for paying

off the loan whether or not you complete the

training program. If you don’t pay off the loan,

you may run into some serious problems. For

example:

• You may not be able to get credit later on to

buy a house or car, or to receive a credit

card.

• If you decide to go to another school, you

may not be able to get a loan or grant.

• Your employer may deduct payments from

your paycheck automatically to repay the

loan.

• The IRS can confiscate your federal tax

refunds.

• You could be sued for the money you owe.

Filing a Complaint

If you are not satisfied with the quality of the

instruction or training you receive from a

vocational or correspondence school, talk to

faculty members or the school administration. If

your dissatisfaction relates to your contract with

the school, try to resolve your dispute with the

school. If that doesn’t work, report the problem
Facts for Consumers

Federal Trade Commission

Bureau of Consumer Protection

Office of Consumer and Business Education

May 2001

to your local Better Business Bureau, your local

or state consumer protection office, your state

Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade

Commission (FTC). The FTC works for the

consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and

unfair business practices in the marketplace and

to provide information to help consumers spot,

stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to

get free information on consumer issues, visit

www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTCHELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-

4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing,

identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints

into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal

law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and

abroad.

You also may file a complaint with the:

• school’s accrediting organizations;

• state licensing agency, state board of education and the state’s education department.

Check the blue pages of the telephone book

under “State Government.”

• U.S. Department of Education, if you are

receiving federal financial aid to pay for the

school training. To file a complaint, call

toll-free 1-800-MIS-USED (1-800-647-

8733). In the Washington, DC, area, call

202-205-5770.

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