Penn Foster Career School Reviews

"Don't do it! I only did program for 1 week and decided to cancel- 6 months later they said I owe them $500 and it is now in collections. Never received a letter! No one ever told me about a closing cost! I'm going to report these fruds!!!!!!!!! Don't trust them"

"My experience at Penn Foster Career School wasn't good I didn't like it the PHS wasn't like the PFCS it was so different they harassed me more at the career school then at the high school. And wasn't at all helpful, and when I told them, I couldn't pay them at that particular time. Kept calling me and the program was already hard as it was. I would never go back here for anything else. Plus the late fees sucks, I wish it weren't any late fees."

"I had a great experience taking the Medical Administrative Assistant course. It gave me the flexibility to both work, take care of my family and still be able to take online courses. It assisted me in becoming a Health Care Administrator. Loved it."

"IN SHORT, BE WARNED worst school to attend will not recommend SCAM COLLEGE worst customer service ever & very Unkowlagible to call student service minimum hold is 45 min to hr TO CANCEL YOUR DEGREE GOOD LUCK YOU PAY FULL AMMOUNT NO METTER WHAT DVDSVDS"

"I HAVE ATTENDED SEVERAL SCHOOLS DATING BACK TO THE EARLY 70'S. ONE OF WHICH WAS ICS. ICS FORRAN PENNFOSTER AT THE SCRANTON LOCATION. I GOT A JOB WITH RCA AT THE JET PROPULSION LAB AND COVERED 2 DEEP SPACE MISSIONS WHILE WORKING THERE. ALSO I CAN STATE UNEQUIVOCALLY THAT I HAVE SEVERAL DIPLOMAS FROM PENN FOSTER AND THEY CAN DOCUMENT THE FACT. PENN FOSTER IS NOT INADEQUATE IN ANY SENSE PERIOD. AS FAR AS POOR REVIEWS GO I FEEL THOSE THAT HAVE COMPLAINED ARE PROBABLY AN UNDISCIPLINED SERIOUSLY ACADEMICALLY DEFICIENT GROUP OF BABIES AND HAVE BEEN CAUGHT OFF GUARD THINKING LIFE A BREEZE WITH CREDENTIALS FROM PENN FOSTER EASILY OBTAINED. THIS IS NOT SO AND RIGHTFULLY. SORRY KIDDIES I THINK YOU NEED TO RETHINK YOUR ATTITUDES BECAUSE LIKE MICK JAGGER SAID "YOU CANT ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT". FINALLY, FOR ALL THE PROGRAMS I GRADUATED FROM AT PENN FOSTER THE FACULTY WAS SERIOUS, INTELLIGENT, AND RESPONSIVE IN GOING THE EXTRA MILE WITH ME. ALL THIS CAN BE DOCUMENTED.Read Less"

"Dont waste your time here, they let students fall through the cracks, dont offer help in finding externships and have horrible customer service. Also no Special Ed help or accommodations. Should be sued for not following IEP's. Success coaches dont follow up with students, nor do departments work together."

"Penn Foster is the biggest waste of time and money. I completed all of the lessons before the deadline of my program but they are horrible at working with the externship. I was hired on by Walmart pharmacy, I've been there for over a year working as a pharmacy technician, but Penn Foster refuses to give me my diploma because 1) I was getting paid to work there and 2) because it is Walmart. When I called to talk to the supervisor about my experience she talked over me and had a bad attitude as if I was an annoyance to her. I have learned so much from Walmart, they have given me the same knowledge that i'm going to get from any other pharmacy, but Penn Foster will not work with me. I am now out $705 because my experience came from Walmart and not CVS or Walgreens. Even if I were to get hired on by CVS they would still not except it because I would be getting paid. They will not let me graduate unless I work so many hours unpaid at one of their chosen pharmacies. Long story short, do NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY on these scammers. They do not care that you've been given the experience and education you need from a pharmacy, they just want your money. If I could warn every person even glancing at their programs I would.Read Less"

"Their Medical Billing and Coding program is a seft taught program. Penn Foster just gives you a book and study materials. There is no teacher interaction at all. The only time you can reach a teacher is when you have to contact one. It takes the teacher a week to get back in touch with you. After realizing this is was a self taught program, if you stop paying for something that you were not getting, they demand the rest of the payment. Of course they have the one-sided agreement, but contracts are really only valid when it benefits both parties. This is the worst scam to be experienced. Especially when they place negative information on a credit report and refuse to delete it after making more money by selling the account to a collection agency. Money they definitely did not earn. No justice, no peace! Please attend a local community college for your career quests. At least you will have a recognizable degree and a teacher. I did not graduate due to the fact that I had no teacher.Read Less"

"Over priced i received a lot of useful study material and a small set of pipes to play around with. Other than the extensive code book reading, I did find the general plumbing course very helpful once i hit the streets. In no way does this school come close to A career/trade school, simply NO HANDS ON. The Plumbing trade is hands on and the ability to work with what tools you have... what my boss/owner a master plumber told me from the start.. Knowledge wise there probably are cheaper courses in backflow certifications and or states contractor labor union board programs that involve real plumbing career building. Seriously spend the 800 in tools, you will need them just to be able to work and/or get your states asbestos or contractor test which is starting around 300. AND unless you want carpal tunnel from digging 8 hrs a day because you took an online course with no hands on skill training. I dont recommend this career path...I have 2 degrees from THE cal state univeristy system and was a plumber during college, this does not prepare you, you can't practice on clients homes or commercial offices. LUCKY I HAVE OTHER CAREER CHOICES. Although plumbing is a love/hate affair i probably wont ever need one for most of my house choresRead Less"

"it was good and great classes. This school helped me get my C.D.A. kin under 3 months. Teachers were always available when needed. the classes worked on my time an everything was mailed out on time.  The best part is the other students were always willing to help and ask when needing help."

"First of all, studying online is a great advantage and opportunity for multiple reasons. Depends on the individuals who choose to study. I am a previous student at Penn Foster, graduate from there High School and Career program. It was the best investment and decision i made in years. This school programs are more effective then any other institutions in history. Whatever you put into the study is what you receive. I learn so much through Penn Foster studies and still learning as well as reviewing my previous studies. I will never let them go, You have to be self motivated, focus, high well power and most of all discipline. For these students to make such negative comments on there reviews about Penn Foster programs or school, there something wrong with them. Penn Foster got some excellent books, studies and Faculty. The books got some of the most updated powerful information that you can recovery and very private information that most school won't reveal. The learning is great! It's all up to the individual who interested in learning. Only one complaint with this school. They should accept financial aid.Read Less"

"School is the biggest joke and scam ever. If I didn't invest time and money I would of dropped long ago. Worst online school ever. All they care about is money and more money. Professors half read your assignments and fail you when material is there that's asked, IRS pathetic and a waste of time. I could of paid less taking this program for 800 at one of the most respectable vet offices in my state. Not spend over 3,000 and can't even find a place to do my hours. Smh"

"This is the worst school EVER! They changed their "policy" mid way through my classes, that was retroactive to my start date. I was not allowed the option of continuing or leaving the program, I was told that I was just out of luck and they could do whatever they wanted. I requested that they cancel my enrollment and they refused. It took over an hour of being yelled at, hung up on and just in general being treated horribly before they canceled my enrollment. Now all the work I have already put in over the 9 months and the money that I have spent is all for nothing. Not to mention that their material is so outdated! None of what I had been "taught" was new or relevant information to my schooling. Just all around awful! The tests are confusing and hard to understand. I was able to manage a 100% grade average and I still could not tolerate their new policies. Just not right!Read Less"

"Penn Foster is a great school,the reviews I read on here are frightening.I decided to try Penn Foster for myself , I transferred my credit to my school but I'm sure everyone experiences are different.Thank you Penn foster for making education convenient for full time working women."

"Frankly, Penn Foster has some of the most low-class staff ever! I attended this school for only three weeks before noticing a major problem. In addition, their real estate paralegal program sucked and did not help me in my career. Also, I really do not understand why so many people wanted to defend bad schools like this one. Unlike Ashworth college, they give you back your money if you are disgusted with their school. So, I would say people dealing with them such do so with extreme caution."

"First off, I've noticed a lot of the negative reviews are either about payments or are from dental/vet techs. This school was the only way I could afford to put myself through school. With low monthly payments, they make it easy for anyone regardless of your financial situation. They also make you agree to Terms and Conditions before enrolling detailing everything you need to know about the payments. So those who are saying they took money out of your account, yeah, they did. That's how that works. They even give you the option to choose which date you want as your payment date. As far as the techs' complaints, EVERYONE knows you need hands on training for full certification. If it were that easy, everyone would have those jobs. Seriously. You can't blame the school because you don't have the common sense to know that. I got my degree in legal studies, and it has opened up so many doors! My student advisor, Ashley, was just an email away! I think the longest she took to reply was 3 hours. That's it! She's extremely helpful and thorough. So, if you're debating whether or not to choose Penn Foster, I say go for it!! A lot of these negative reviews are totally irrelevant. It's self paced, and you can transfer previously earned credits. 99.9% of the exams are open book for online classes, but they're still challenging. I never once felt like I was taking the easy road out. I started my college career at a well-known university, but after a year and a half I felt that it just wasn't the right fit for me. Penn Foster was exactly what I had wanted from the beginning! Take my word for it, it's WORTH IT!!Read Less"

"First of all, this school is really affordable. Yes, if you are looking to get certified or training it seems like a good choice. With that said, its not very challenging. In my experience, you don't really get help unless you constantly are asking for it. It's so easy to cheat and not push yourself to grow. All they want is your money, and they don't care if you are actually learning and or are on track with your assignments. I understand we are all adults but as teachers and instructors they should at least reach out to students every once in a while. Their offices and staff are a joke. Sorry, I wouldn't go to them, or recommend anybody to go here. I went to them because I didn't have the money to go anywhere else and I wasn't sure if I wanted to do billing and coding or transcription work. So, in a way it did help me, because I didn't spend thousands of dollars to figure this out. Well, it turns out. I am going to do transcription work but I'd rather go to a school that will actually challenge me and where I'll be getting the training, I actually need to further my career.Read Less"

"If your looking for frustration and stress this is the school for you! There are a few good people who WILL help but that's only if you have the time. Plus, one assignment away from graduating and it's the hardest test I've had. So be sure this is the school for you. There is no going back."

"This program was a great starting point to get all of the information I needed to pass a certification exam. It is self-paced, and not like traditional class courses. Each course always unlocked before I actually got to it, and I never had to wait on books (they were always sent before I needed them). As for tuition; extremely reasonable. Read the agreement, know you're paying what you agreed to whether you finish or not. I was surprised the first time I called Student Care because an actual human answered. Each time I called they answered promptly, were professional, and always helpful. I never had the need to speak to an instructor-- I understood the material, and if I didn't I had Google, AHIMA, CMS, and AAPC for reference.Read Less"

"It's so funny that all the reviews I see is because some is having trouble with the money part nobody is saying nothing bad about the courses they take because they never finish them!!!!!! Penn Foster is a awesome program for one who is willing to be headstrong and ready to participate when it's time. I paid in full, made my own schedule and changed my projected graduation year and I'm going for it. It's all up to you, I checked with my local technical college and they take the accredited diploma so I'll be going there as soon as i finish Penn Foster High School.Read Less"