Judge OKs class action suit against tech school
November 23, 2005
David Wickert of The News Tribune is reporting that a judge in Pierce County, Washington has “cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against a for-profit career school that closed last March amid allegations it preyed on low-income students.”
Friday’s ruling means thousands of former students of the Gig Harbor-based Business Computer Training Institute potentially could enter the lawsuit.
Already nearly 50 former students have joined, claiming they were misled about the quality of the education BCTI provided and their prospects for a job after graduation. Many were recruited outside welfare or unemployment offices and claim they were promised good-paying technology jobs if they completed BCTI programs.
Those programs, which taught basic word processing, spreadsheets and other computer skills, cost about $11,000 for a 30-week program. Many students used taxpayer-backed loans to pay for their education. But some claim their BCTI education didn’t prepare them for even basic office work, leaving them with few employment prospects but thousands of dollars in debt.
[…]
BCTI closed its seven campuses in Washington and Oregon on March 14 amid state investigations in Washington and Oregon. A Washington investigation found evidence that falsified admissions tests allowed unqualified students to get financial aid.
A broader Oregon investigation concluded that BCTI misled students, enrolled students who couldn’t benefit from its programs and reported inaccurate graduation and job-placement statistics to the state.
I also went to bcti, about 8 years ago with the assumption that I would acquire a good paying job. I ended up at a tow truck company doing dispatch barely making minimum wage. I’m still trying to pay my loan off.
Simply put I went to BCTI and they screwed me because they would not allow me to return to complete the course after a Major Family matter took me out of school for 5 weeks..
In addition to all the same false promises that were made to others well into the late 90’s, I was enrolled at BCTI. At about the 3month till graduation mark, It was necessary for me to seek out a new job causing me to have to request to postpone and return to complete my course at a later date. I was told I could come back to finish after I resolved my employment issues. After about 5 weeks I did return to the school to continue the last 3 months of the class. But when I returned they said I would have to start the finance process over, and would not allow me to complete the course unless I did pay them more. I didn’t have the money. Therefore I was stuck without a certificate of completion, the references to use for a job, and still had to pay back what I a borrowed. Funny how they kept all the money for the course, but would not let me finish the course.
They owe me; this was my chance to make something of myself. To provide a better life for my family. Instead, I had to continue working a minimum wage job, depending on the state to help makeup for the lack of wages. In fact I feel that the position this put me in ultimately lead to my divorce.
Fortunately I am a resourceful man. I did teach myself computers and became a very successful computer tech working for a for a fortune 500 company on a fortune 500 company’s account. But I am still paying that loan back with all the late charges and so on. And it took me an extra 5 years to get to the point I am now.
I want BCTI to compensate me for all of this. Especially the funds they did not give back, since they refused to allow me to retune as promised.
Paul Patterson
253-210-3432
I too was misled by the staff at BCTI. I was made to believe that Certification was part of the package. By the time my class had advanced to PP3 the teacher of that particular class had been replaced three times. From that class forward, even through the entirety of the Phase II classes, we learned nothing. The business world needs me to know Access. Although Microsoft Access was listed as part of the curriculum, it was not taught and still we were charged for it. As for Phase II, the entirety of the course consisted of the “instructor” reading aloud to us from the text. I am fully capable of reading and had already done this on my time. I was expecting the in class time to be used for lab work or some other hands-on instruction. I am extremely dissapointed to have my reputation tarnished by attaching the BCTI name to my education history. I have been told that my degree means nothing now. Unfortunately I have to respond “what degree?”. The time and effort I have put toward bettering myself through education is a testament to my character regardless of the practices of the institution. That is probably the only thing I learned for my $22,000. I don’t feel that the promises made to me by the representatives of BCTI were in any way met and I do not feel that I should be charged for something I did not receive.
Kathy M.
herekittykitty68@hotmail.com
I too attended BCTI and did graduate in 1998, I haven’t benefitted from this experience as far as career or even a job. I had my husband’s tax return taken last year and this year for the loans that I received, although since they closed their doors, my certificate means absolutely nothing. There is no way for a prospective employer to verify that I graduated or even attended. So basically I have nothing left to show for the money I’m paying. With no jobs stemming from my education from BCTI, I’m simply paying for this certificate that is done is the basic certificate design that everyone can make so what a nice $9,000.00 piece of paper I have to decorate with… you go in for a tour and to find out about the school, they then shuffle you into their office and while you’re excited but not fully thinking or checking things out… sign papers for all this money… but what a great skill you will have afterwards…. and the possiblities of career choices endless. Nevermind that you will actually get nowhere with your piece of decorative paper, but you will also struggle for years to repay the money. I do feel they owe me what they promised me I would get if I worked hard and completed this school and since they didn’t fulfill their end of this “bargain” they should have to help with the repayment of my loan. If I entered a contract with someone and didn’t complete my part, wouldn’t I be held accountable?
Tamgraff@comcast.net
I too was misled by the supposed computer training school but I am going to say they sold students dreams by basically stating without the certificate of completion the prospective employers will not believe you know anything about computers and that they will help you get a great job and you can be the greatest blah blah blah. Well I remember sitting in the resource room alone prior to graduation no teachers in there helping you look for anything!!! You did it all yourself, and I could of learned it alone instead of spending all this money I din’t have to waste and being a bartender because they allowed me to attend a school without a Highschool Diploma (my own mistake) I should not of been allowed to attend the school based on that alone because 90% of companies require a GED or Highschool diploma but that didn’t stop them from taking my 10,000.. And selling me job security instead a real education I could of takin that 10,000 and got my Highschool Diploma and a far better education. If anybody can help me be a part of the Class Action Lawsuit I woukd love further information in regards to this horrible money swindlers false education…. Thank You and also I AGREE with all above and I am very disappointed that this happened to all of us!!!!
I too went to BCTI. I was solicited outside an unemployment office. I was thinking of going into computer networking and was promised a great start with them, even despite me telling them I was going to go to Capitol Business Machines. They persuaded me to go there as their curriculum was better. I am, 5 years later still in construction with a 12,000 loan to repay. PLEASE Call me with any info on joining this class action! Thanks and good luck to all of you!
360-736-3511
I graduated BCTI in 95 and I am still paying on my loan and have never missed a monthly payment. BCTI taught me a lot of valuable things and the professinal development was a highlight. But, my nightmare as of two days ago was that I have been in a good job for the last five years and it was made clear to all employees that by 2006 all employees must show proof they are highly qualified meaning a two year degree or so many college credits. This was a major selling point upon enrolling into BCTI, because I was told that these college credits would be recognized and I could pursue further education with this and it would be counted as credits already earned. I was just told by my employer that after all these years I have been sitting here feeling that I have already met the requirements, I am told that BCTI is not an accredited school and all those credits do not count for squat. I can not get anyone on the phone and now I know why. I am basically screwed. Oh yeah, and I am still paying on my loan. They gave me a document a few years after I had graduated stating for my employer that I had 51.5 college credits at 98%. (I guess I don’t)
*Note: A similar statement has been posted on ripoffreport.com
I’m glad to have finally found this place. It took a little bit of searching, but my girlfriend and I definitely have a story to tell as well.
My girlfriend and I met while she was in the middle of her Phase II “education” at BCTI, Salem. She had started Phase I a couple of years prior, but had to leave midway due to pregnancy complications. She restarted after the baby was born with a fresh new 10K loan (the previous one had not been discharged).
After completing Phase I, she was contacted by the school and they asked her to return to attend Phase II, which she did, whereby adding another loan to the existing pile, of which she was consistently paying.
The first time I picked her up at school, I was a little shocked to discover that it was actually located in a strip mall. It seemed odd to me that the school had no major capital assets.
A couple of months later, she mentioned that the school was still using Windows 98 o/s. I was alarmed that the school hadn’t updated their operating systems to Windows 2000 (by this time it was 2002). I mentioned that it was a little unsettling that a technology school didn’t even utilize the most current technology. I then asked her if she would be receiving her MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) or some other industry standard certification (A+, N+, etc.). She said the school promised her that she would receive these certs when she was recruited, but she checked into it.
The next day, two weeks prior to her graduation, she learned that she would receive a “BCTI Certification of Completion”. Any additional certs would have to be taken and paid for indpendently.
For anyone who is unaware of what is required for an MCSE (and this is only one of the many different MICROSOFT categories a person can get certification for), there are 5 core tests required and 2 elective tests. Each of these tests cost big $$ (around $150 apiece) JUST TO TAKE THEM and if you fail, you don’t get your money back.
She graduated from BCTI in October of 2002. Once she was out the door, she was pretty much forgotten. She had to hound BCTI Career Services for help and the help she got was job leads for minimum wage service jobs. She had several hits from the Oregon Employment Department for lucrative networking jobs for Oregon State University, Linn-Benton Community College and some City of Albany jobs, but she discovered, through the interviewing processes, that she was still vastly underqualified. By December of 2002, she was completely discouraged and filed for deferrment. By 2003, BCTI rumors were flooding the area and she defaulted on her student loans, of which she still owes about half ($15,000).
I don’t blame her. If I received that kind of terrible service, I wouldn’t pay for it either. Consumers do have rights. Unfortunately, that default will haunt her forever unless she can get them legally discharged. People can NOT file bankruptcy on Federal Student Loans.
After poring through the posts that I’ve found on the ripoffreport.com site for a fraudulent misrepresentation report that I’m doing in my Business Law class, I have to say that I am completely stunned and appalled at the ratio of instructor postings that fail so miserably in grammatical standards and overall professionalism.
I’m disgusted at the marketing methods employed by BCTI and terribly saddened by the way the company treated their more qualified and ethical employees.
If anyone reads this who is considering a private trade/business school, please consider the following things prior to putting your name on the dotted line:
1) Capital assets: this means that the school actually has a CAMPUS. Not leased, storefront property in a strip mall or a fly by night Internet document mill.
2) An itemized graduation checklist. Get one and then take it to your local university, community/junior college to check it against their requirements. All businesses will recognize an Associate’s, Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree from a state certified school. Always. Employers might not take a little known private vo/tech school certification seriously.
3) Consider where you were recruited. If it’s at a government facility for underprivileged people (like the Department of Human Services office, County Mental Health, etc) or a drug rehab facility take it to someone within that office for some consultation. Most DHS offices already work in liason with local community colleges and if you’re serious, they can really help you out.
4) Consider the cost. Folks, I’m a dual enrolled student at Linn-Benton Community College and Oregon State University. At a minimum, through my community college, I pay about $1000 a term for my classes and about $400 a term for books. There are 4 available terms each year. This equates to $5600 a year, if you go year round (this means going during the summer). There are generally (6) terms to complete for an Associate’s Degree. This equates to roughly $8400 for a bona-fide Associate’s Degree. My girlfriend had to pay $10,000 for a single phase. Each phase took about 8 months to complete.
Do the math yourself. The consumer really got ripped off through BCTI.
5) Talk with any Career Guidance center BEFORE enrolling. Ask for a list of companies they work with and CHECK UP ON IT. If they won’t provide a list to you, something is being hidden and you should run for the hills.
6) Talk with their Financial Aid department. If the only financial aid that you can get is a student loan, go to another school. There are literally billions of scholarship dollars each year that go uncollected — your community college can really help you here. Remember — you have to repay a loan, you don’t have to repay a scholarship or grant.
This has gotten very long-winded, but I hope it helps someone in the future. I would hate to see another person have to go through what my girlfriend (and, as a result, myself) has gone through.
Best of luck.
Sher
Albany, Oregon
U.S.A.
I too attended BCTI in 1999, came away with wondering just what i had learned other than to type??? I never did get a job in regards to BCTI.
I was told this was an accredited school and having them teach us to do resume’s we could say we had attended school for 13 years..not so!
8000.00 dollars later i am back where i started from. I have been paying on my loan since 1999 and i still have half to go.
I would really like to be apart of this class action suit also..thank you for listening.
I went to Bcti in 1997 promise high paying job. to know Peachtree spend the whole of a 16 hrs on it. My teachers did not have the experince or the knowledge of what they were teaching. I started complain to the employment department and Student loans they said they was nothing I could do. I just found out about the class action suit. I am trying to contact anyone I knew or saw at the school.
I just contacted the lawyers involved with the class action suit. I went in 1999.
At the end of the course we were taught how to conduct an interview. I was absent that day and being only 18 and sheltered I had no idea how to go about conducting myself in an interview. When I came back to school I found myself first in line for a mock interview. I went in knowing nothing the teacher had taught. After the interview he began telling me that I was the worst interview he ever had and that he would never hire me. He went on to say that I was a disgrace to all the other females in my class that were trying to get back in the work force. He said if he were an employer he would never hire me and he would tell all the companies in WA not to hire me as well. He arranged his papers and finalized his speech by saying if their were a blacklist I would be on it! My classmates found me behind the building crying and finally got what he had said out of me. The man (I wish I could remember his name) was forced to apologize and I was told that he was “let go.”
I doubt this will have anything to do with the lawsuit, but the fact that I have actually been laughed at during interviews- “Don’t you know they are being sued?” I have since omitted my “certification” from my resume.
The last month we were told we needed to go on a certain number of interviews or have a job to complete– I don’t remember being told that during enrollment but I think the teacher got a perk for every student placed in a job? Anyway, I started working at a pretzel joint in the mall to pay my loan until I got that “golden job.” The teacher approached me and asked me what I made there and I told him minimum at part time. He said “but do you do any sort of computer work?” I said “I count the tills at closing and input the numbers and send it to the corp. headquarters.” He shook my hand and said “Congratulations, you have graduated BCTI.”
Screw that excuse of a school! I still haven’t paid of my loan.. I hope i can get something for compensation!!! GL all I hope you get it too!
I just got off the phone with my Student Loan Officer..I have been paying on this 10 yr loan for 8 years now and i am not even close to paying it off! BCTI told me this was a low intrest loan????? Originally, it was a little over six thousand dollars and after paying on it for 8 years, I am finally down to 4,664.49..omg! I will never get this loan paid off, and i can thank BCTI for that. THANKS FOR SCREWING UP MY LIFE BCTI!!!!
I don’t even know where to start. My entire durration with them has been nothing but a horrible experience. The lady who talkes you into the application lied about everything. I told her i was disabled, so i would be sick a lot and possibly miss class, she said they would go one on one with me in the time that i have missed. That was a lie. A BCTI member jumped my sister and I outside of a Wel fare office, and asked us to sign up for the school, because they insure that you will get a job. When you tried to ask the teacher a question outside of class, you cant fine them, they were never around. When i missed the days from being sick, nobody helped me at all. At the end of finals, they came around and gave us the answers. He also filled in grades to papers i never did. The whole school was a fraud. I learned absolutly nothing, everything i learned, i taught myself. On graduation day, the instructer that told me wrong info, told me that graduation was the next, day, so when i went in, everyone was dressed up besides me. He told me the wrong graduation date. I did not go through with the graduation because everything that was on my records was mostly lies. I couldnt stand them taking more money from me, for something i didnt even learn. So i didnt graduate and pay for the diploma. Needless to say, i didnt get a job, people laughed at me when i told them i went to BCTI. Now they want their money. I filled out a disability discharge form so i wouldnt have to pay for the school. I filled it out, they approved it, but then they said that i wasnt eligable because i was disabled before i went to the school, even though they told me that would be okay. My daughter and i lost our apartment, because they told me if i didnt make payments, they would just take it out of my social security, now they are saying that i missed 2 months, how do i miss 2 months of paying if it is an automatic withdrawel? I dont think i should have to pay for this useless school in which i learned nothing but lies.
I signed up for Medical Billing Clerk in August 2997, but because of my age, I am not eligible for a Pell Grant. I could not complete the training because I am 66 years old, been a diabetic since I was 13 years old. Anyway, all I wanted to do was learn how to repair my own computer. I went into the office, asked could I change cirriculum & they said yes, but I would be short a credit. I had to return my Medical Terminal book, which I did. I got behind in my payments & was notified 5 months later, so I started paying as I could manage. I recceive Social Security & a small pension. They notified me of my balance without deducting my book cost & told me I cannot receive my last 3 certificates until I pay them $3549. I am supposed to graduate August 28 2008. I have completed my classes. But I can;t pay that much money to grduate in October 2007, plus I will have to start paying Direct Loans in March 2008. What am I supposed to do now? I was receiving Disability until I turned 65. Do I have other options? Thanks shiew5!@comcast.net
I signed up for Medical Billing Clerk in August 2997, but because of my age, I am not eligible for a Pell Grant. I could not complete the training because I am 66 years old, been a diabetic since I was 13 years old. Anyway, all I wanted to do was learn how to repair my own computer. I went into the office, asked could I change cirriculum & they said yes, but I would be short a credit. I had to return my Medical Terminal book, which I did. I got behind in my payments & was notified 5 months later, so I started paying as I could manage. I recceive Social Security & a small pension. They notified me of my balance without deducting my book cost & told me I cannot receive my last 3 certificates until I pay them $3549. I am supposed to graduate August 28 2008. I have completed my classes. But I can;t pay that much money to grduate in October 2007, plus I will have to start paying Direct Loans in March 2008. What am I supposed to do now? I was receiving Disability until I turned 65. Do I have other options? Thanks shiew5!@comcast.net
I signed up for Medical Billing Clerk in August 2997, but because of my age, I am not eligible for a Pell Grant. I could not complete the training because I am 66 years old, been a diabetic since I was 13 years old. Anyway, all I wanted to do was learn how to repair my own computer. I went into the office, asked could I change cirriculum & they said yes, but I would be short a credit. I had to return my Medical Terminal book, which I did. I got behind in my payments & was notified 5 months later, so I started paying as I could manage. I recceive Social Security & a small pension. They notified me of my balance without deducting my book cost & told me I cannot receive my last 3 certificates until I pay them $3549. I am supposed to graduate August 28 2008. I have completed my classes. But I can;t pay that much money to grduate in October 2007, plus I will have to start paying Direct Loans in March 2008. What am I supposed to do now? I was receiving Disability until I turned 65. Do I have other options? Thanks shiew5!@comcast.net
Well the lawsuit did help some, but no where near the amount of money that we have already paid to Direct loan and not even the amount that we still owe on it. Would like to know where all that money went, it sure didn’t help my son, who is disabled and BCTI knew that from the get go. They had him signing papers that he never understood just so they could get money, maybe thats so they could serve cake at the so called graduations, yes he took both classes, and still paying off the $20,000 so called Stafford Loan. Paid the $3500 loan that was supposedly owed to BCTI over and above that to Monteray Finicinal out of California also. And for all of that received only $8000, or well guess that is better than none at all.
I went to BCTI in 1999 and I am just now find out about the lawsuit. I am still paying the loan I am not even close to paying off the loan. I have been deferring the loan because I can not pay it. If any body knows If I can get compensated for goint to BCTI even though its been a while please contact me through my email address with numbers and lawyers who are dealing with this situation. BCTI lied to me and said I would get a job and I never did. Please if anybody has any information about how to get rid of this debt let me know. I feel I should not have to pay them back.