Stratford Career Institute - Veterinary Assistant program rant

A few weeks ago, I posted that I’d decided to sign up for an online “Vet Assistant” class.  I did it because I wanted to see if my brain could still handle studying and learning new things—I had no expectations that a certificate in such a thing (or from such a place), would make me highly employable.  The course I chose was with the Stratford Career Institute, and I checked them out before I signed up.  They are accredited by the Education Licensure Board of the District of Columbia, which also accredits such schools as Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown, so I figured they must be reputable.  I couldn’t find anything negative written about them online despite a number of innovative searches.

So, I signed up, and gave them a $10 deposit.  The deal, as I understood it, was that they’d send me my first set of lessons, and then I’d have 14 days to peruse the lessons and decide if I wanted to continue.  If I didn’t want to continue, I just had to write to them and cancel.  That was how I interpreted the contract I signed online when I filled out their enrollment forms, anyway, but they didn’t send me a copy of the contract via snail or postal mail.  After 12 days had passed, I still hadn’t received any course materials.  I was given a student login number to login to their website, but everytime I tried to access the site, I received an error message (a grammatically poor, misspelled error message), telling me that part of their site was unavailable.  Seeing a lot of warning signs, I sat down and wrote SCI a letter telling them to cancel my enrollment.  I dated and mailed the letter 12 days after I signed up.  A week after I’d sent my letter, someone from the school called me and tried to talk me into staying with the program, but I ignored the phone call.  They’d obviously received my cancellation letter and that was all that mattered to me.  Two weeks after I’d sent my letter, someone sent me an similar letter via postal mail, offering to resend me my course materials and asking if I wanted to change my mind.  I ignored that letter, too.  Today, a full 22 days after I mailed my cancellation request, I finally received an official acknowledgement that I had been unenrolled.  However, they dated my cancellation request as being the same day they wrote to me, meaning that they accused me of cancelling three weeks too late.  Because of that, they want me to pay $100 in tuition fees and $147 in course materials fees (materials I didn’t receive).

There are LOTS of shady things about Stratford Career Institute.  So far they’ve written to me on letterhead containing four different return addresses, so I never know which address to write to.  None of those four addresses are the same as the “contact us” address on their website, which is where I sent my cancellation request.  Today with my tuition bill I received a copy of my student contract, and it contains yet another address I’m supposed to write to if I want to cancel my enrollment.  Funny how they didn’t provide that until well after I actually needed it.

I’m of course fighting this bill, as I don’t believe I owe SCI a penny.  I think they actually owe me a refund of my $10 downpayment.  They haven’t sent me materials, the student login section of their website works intermittently, their site contains grammatical errors, they fudge dates in order to make it seem as if students owe more money than they actually do, and they hide behind a number of different mailing addresses.  Also, they don’t give you any detailed course outlines on their website, and once you’ve enrolled, it’s impossible to go back to see a signup page where you can take another look at your student contract.  My warning to any potential students is to STAY AWAY.  There’s something not right here.  I’ve filed a complaint against SCI with Education Licensure Board of the District of Columbia and we’ll see what happens.  Today was a very stressful day for my blood pressure.

In good news, I did decide to enroll in the program offered by Thomson Direct, and so far I’ve been happy with it.  Their shipping methods are a bit slow, but they let me access some lessons via the website, I take all tests right online and get instant results, and they seem to have good communication.  I’m on lesson four, and so far I’ve found that I know about 60% of the material without reading the coursebooks—I guess all my reading, and the time I spent as as vet assistant in San Francisco, has been helpful.  Still, I’m learning some new stuff, and it’s good practice for me.  If I can tackle this, I’ll seriously consider enrolling in the vet tech program when I’m through.  I’ll write more good things about Thomson Direct in the future… right now I want to take some time to enjoy being pissed at Stratford.

BECAUSE OF SPAMMING, I’VE HAD TO CLOSE THIS ENTRY TO NEW COMMENTS.  IF YOU’VE HAD AN EXPERIENCE WITH STRATFORD THAT YOU WANT TO SHARE, PLEASE EMAIL ME ABOUT IT.  I CAN EITHER POST IT TO THIS ENTRY ON YOUR BEHALF, OR TEMPORARILY OPEN THE ENTRY FOR YOU.  SORRY THAT A FEW IDIOTS MAKE THINGS MORE DIFFICULT FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO MAKE AN ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 11/21 at 07:44 PM

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  1. Thank you for the warning & referral. I was about to enroll in that course, but decided to do a web search first & came across your page. Thank you.

    Posted by Mary  on  11/27  at  06:42 PM

  2. I still recommend Thomson Direct (now called Penn Foster).  I completed their program and enjoyed it.  It wasn’t perfect, but still, pretty good.  Good luck!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  11/27  at  06:56 PM

  3. I took this course also and the price on the site for the course is 695.00 my statement from them is 792.18. My 18 payments total the amount of the statement but ended up getting a lawyer letter to pay 69.85??? and now they are telling me I owe them another 97.18 for interest????

    None of this information is on the website nor in the student handbook.

    If you have a choice go ICS. I have taken several courses through them and never ever had any problems as to Stratford Career Institute I’ve filed BBB complaints and if nothing is resolved will be suing them for the full amount of the course, the aggravation, and hidden “interest” fee

    Posted by Jean Boileau  on  03/08  at  11:37 AM

  4. Sorry I’m late replying, Jean.  I’m pretty happy with Penn Foster, where I’m going now to study Vet Tech.  I completed their Vet Assistant program last year and had a good experience, so I enrolled again in the Veterinary Technology program.  It’s not perfect, of course, but it’s accredited and inexpensive (compared to what it would cost to attend a local facility).

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/25  at  10:58 PM

  5. I was just doing a search on online courses that feature this program and there isn’t many to none. So you swear by Penn Foster? I’m debating on if I should do it or not. Is it legit?

    Posted by Nicole  on  07/17  at  05:16 PM

  6. Nicole, are you looking for a Veterinary Assistant program, or a Veterinary Technician program?  If you just want a Vet Assistant program, then Penn Foster’s is fine.  If you want a Veterinary Technology program, look on the right sidebar of my blog for the heading, “Categories”, and then click on “Vet Tech School”.  That will lead you to all the posts I’ve written on PF’s Vet Tech program.

    Vet Assistant is just a certificate program, and there’s no final exam or anything.  Vet Tech is an Associate’s Degree program, and it’s much more stringent.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  07/18  at  01:19 AM

  7. I’m looking for a Veterinary Technician program. My mom think they are trying to rip people off but I want to do it. I just want to make sure its real

    Posted by Nicole  on  07/18  at  08:55 AM

  8. The Penn Foster Vet Tech program is legitimate. If it will make your Mom feel better, you can show her that it’s accredited by the AVMA: http://www.avma.org/education/cvea/vettech_distance_learning.asp

    The Penn Foster program is also quite reasonably priced, but you get what you pay for.  You do not get one-on-one instructor support (at least, not in a timely fashion, and not on a regular basis).  You’re expected to learn on your own and to teach yourself.  There are some online “classroom” meetings, but because everyone enrolled is at a different stage of the program, the classroom sessions are very generic.  You need to be self-motivated, because no one will chase after you to study, take your tests, etc.  Depending on your learning style, you may do better in a traditional classroom—only you know the answer to that.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  07/20  at  12:02 AM

  9. hey same thing happened to me they say I owe them cancelation fees which I refuse to pay and are now getting attorneys after me DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS SCHOOL their a bunch of thieves and just want your money they dont care about education

    Posted by Billy  on  08/31  at  05:15 AM

  10. thank you for the advice, I would love to go to a vet school but now i am going to Universtiy of Phoenix now. But thanks again

    Posted by Nicole  on  08/31  at  08:51 AM

  11. Definitely run kicking and screaming from Stratford, but Penn Foster is fine.  And if you’re able to work at least part-time at a vet clinic while you’re taking online classes, there’s a great Veterinary Assistant program offered by VetMedTeam.com.  It’s just a certificate program, but some of the credits transfer to real community colleges to give you a step ahead in a Veterinary Technician Associate’s Degree program.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  09/03  at  03:57 AM
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