Penn Foster College Reviews of Associate in Criminal Justice

I'm going to be completely honest here. I first went to the 2nd top community college in the country and got a certificate in medical assisting and became a Registered Medical Assistant(RMA) through American medical technologists. Because healthcare has gotten so corporate now, nobody would hire me because of my lack of experience. It got too frustrating and finally after 3 years of searching for work in the medical field, I enrolled in Penn Foster for Criminal Justice. I am on my second course and... Read More I am loving it. The payment plan is affordable(much more than community college), not to mention I didn't have to spend thousands on textbooks like i did with my medical assisting program.

I just completed the second semester of the Associates Degree in Criminal Justice. I completed a certificate program with them a while back, so I decided to stick with Penn Foster. It is definitely a great school for people who juggle work, kids etc. The exams, and discussion boards correspond well with the textbooks and study guides. If your looking to transfer and lot of the courses are ACE reviewed so it helps, but do research with the school you want to transfer to first. Many regionally accredited... Read More schools will not accept transfer credits from nationally accredited schools like Penn Foster, Ashworth etc. They do not have graduations so if that is big deal then Ashworth college is similar in price, curriculum, and they conduct a graduation ceremony.

I don't even know where to begin with how horrible Penn Foster is. The employees are rude and not willing to try and solve any problems. I was taking classes to get my associates and started talking to other colleges to transfer because I wasn't happy with Penn Foster at all. I've talked to multiple different colleges and none of them accept transfer credits from Penn Foster because they are not regionally accredited. I called and canceled because nothing would transfer so why continue to pay and... Read More get nothing out of it. I was then lied to over the phone by not 1 but 2 employees who were extremely rude- I was told I had no cancellation fee because I had only completed 25% of my courses but within a week I received a $705 bill for a cancellation fee. Penn Foster are now telling me that they aren't going to send my transcripts for my completed classes until that is paid in full, so I can't even start another school now. Penn Foster is a major scam. Don't waste your time and money with them. I don't recommend this school to anyone.

For anyone considering Penn Foster please do your due diligence before you pursue an education with any college, for profit or non profit. Some states will not accept nationally accredited degrees for law enforcement positions (i.e. Texas) however there are many that do. I am somewhat of an older student and have no desire to pursue an LE job but want to get into security management. PF offers the AS degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in security studies. This was right up my alley and... Read More that's why I chose PFC. I also know that my options would be somewhat limited with an associates and that's why I've re-enrolled for my bachelors in CJ with Penn Foster. So needless to say I was satisfied with the program. Everything was up to date and whenever I had a problem or a question I could call or e-mail and get my problem resolved or question answered in a very timely manner. Most of the complaints you'll read on this forum are from those that are either poor distance learners or underestimated the amount of work of online study or both. Distance learning is not for everybody. You must know that you'll be able to push through with the program--mentally, physically and financially. That said, I had a good experience with Penn Foster and continue to in my bachelors program.

PF was better than I expected. I completed my Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice in 2011. I am know enrolled in the Bachelor's Degree Program. Everything is going extremely well for me. Everything is at your own pace, and you get what you put into it. If you don't do the work, then obviously you're not going to get anything out of it. I enjoy this type of learning. Decide how you learn to decide if this school is right for you. You will have to put forward an effort if you want to graduate from... Read More any school.

The pricing is awesome compared to the other universities and colleges. For my degree, it's going to be around 4800 total for my entire program. Which is not unreasonable at all. They offered more than enough time for me to complete my studies. They gave about a year per semester to complete. Much more than most colleges and universities. Every experience I have had with Student Services has been pleasant and very helpful. I receive my books within 8 business days of the day they were shipped. If you're going to attend an online college you need to be self motivated, and willing to put work into it. If you actually put forward an effort into achieving your goals then you will. GOOD LUCK!!