Hunter Healthcare Academy (Durham, Star: credit, student loan, transfer)

[ThisToo]

I have seen poor reviews of Hunter Healthcare Academy in Durham and was under the impression that the academy had been closed.
I ran into a CNA a few months back who told me she earned her CNA at this academy (she is working at a hospital) and have seen the academy advertised in the "classes" section on CL.

Can anyone tell me about this place? Are the ads on CL a scam or is it still open? Are the reviews accurate in the poor teaching quality?
Anything that you are able to share about this place will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[saturnfan]

Beware of for-profit schools. The community colleges are normally cheaper and better.

For-profit schools may drown you in student loan debt which will haunt you forever since it cannot be eliminated by bankruptcy.

[RedZin]

Go to a community college.

[ERH]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

Beware of for-profit schools. The community colleges are normally cheaper and better.

For-profit schools may drown you in student loan debt which will haunt you forever since it cannot be eliminated by bankruptcy.

This. A million times.

I have worked in higher education both in the Florida community college system and here in North Carolina at NCSU and Duke. If a school isn't accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS~COS), you are flushing your money down the toilet. Why?

They overcharge. As an example, Strayer University charges $1,420 per course for undergraduates; this is tuition only and does not include . By comparison, Wake Tech charges $345 for a typical 3-credit hour course. This includes additional fees to cover access to technology, student activities, athletics, etc. Neither figure includes textbooks, supplies, etc.

For-profit schools are generally a poor, POOR value -- meaning that an English 101 class at Strayer is far inferior to its counterpart at Wake Tech. I recently wrote a resume for someone who has both her undergraduate business and MBA degrees from one of the biggest/most prominent for-profit schools in the U.S. That MBA is virtually meaningless to employers, because most (if not all) for-profit business schools do not provide the rigorous educational preparation employers expect/require.

Your credits won't transfer. This goes back to the accreditation piece; unless you are taking SACS-accredited coursework, that coursework doesn't measure up to what's offered at SACS-accredited schools, so it is highly unlikely that credits will transfer. If the price you're paying per course at a for-profit school doesn't get you riled up, just wait until you try to transfer into a program at Wake Tech, NCSU, etc. and you're told NOTHING will transfer and you have to START OVER.

So here's the scenario. You borrow money you don't have to finance your education at a for-profit school. You dedicate the next X number of years of your life attending class, studying, and grinding through life to finish your program--only to find out that you are waist-high in student debt and vastly underqualified for the positions you thought you'd be able to land upon graduating (because that's what they promise in the tv/radio ads, right??). Bad scene all the way around. The only ones who succeed in the for-profit education world are those who invest in them.

[ThisToo]

Thank you for the replies, but this is not an extremely expensive school and is actually cheaper than the community colleges (which is why I am weary about it being valid...).

This is a school that trains in what would be a certificate or typically one-year diploma healthcare program at the community colleges.

The reason I was considering this school is that it supports my work schedule and the community college courses do not offer the schedules that I need in order to work and attend a program.

I think I will just keep searching for a program that fits my needs (Anytime on weekends, nights Monday-Fridays, hybrid/online courses, etc.) I work during the day.