Penn Foster

I am in my fourth semester of my Associates Degree in Accounting. The only good things I have experienced with PF is a couple of the instructors have recognized my exceptional grades. Both the Senior Instructor of Business Studies and his boss, a Chairman, accused me of plagiarizing in Intermediate Accounting I. They obviously do not comprehend the definition of plagiarism. When I spoke to them they both had different stories to tell me - one being I turned in the same answers as the solution manual and another being I turned in the same test answers as another student. ???? I tried to dispute this and the school would not allow me to. I ended up getting a B in the class but deserved the A I earned. A couple of my textbooks have fallen apart. I have been hung up on at least 10 times and disconnected for unknown reasons at least another 10. The representatives in Student Care are rude and uneducated. I am finishing my degree as my tuition has been paid in full and I believe in finishing what one starts, but am deeply sorry I chose to go here.

Received an accounting certificate in 2001. Was able to obtain a position in an accounting department as the accounts payable associate I. The material I received from Penn Foster helped me understand the accounting process and I was able to use the basic knowledge gained with the on the job training to complete my job. I am still in the accounting field doing payroll now for a government contractor in the DC area. Looking into getting in the Medical Coding & Billing field. Also, my best friend received her high school diploma from Penn Foster and graduated from University of Maryland. She is a RN for a large hospital in northern VA. She met this guy in hospital billing department at her job and asked him about how to get into Medical Billing because I was interested. It was interesting because he told her he took the online program at Penn Foster. Got his certificate and applied for several jobs less than 2 months he was hired for his current position. trained him on their system. He already had computer skills but the computer portion of the PF program was generic compared to what he use but was told by others he work with companies systems are different even though they maybe the same programs.

I was offered a discount if I paid my account off by a certain date. I paid it in full 40 days ago and I'm still waiting for my refund of overpayment. I can never get a straight answer other than wait a bit longer. Also, I'm enrolled in 2 programs and don't feel like the curriculum or support is worth the money. I can learn more from the books they sent me than I can with the exams. This college in my opinion is for people that want the degree or certificate but don't really care that they won't learn anything. It's all about the money not the education. I will never use PennFoster again and will never recommend them to anyone.

I graduated from Penn Foster High School and went on to earn an Associate's Degree at a Catholic Liberal Arts College back in the mid-1990's. With the economic down turn and me no longer being able to work on my feet anymore and becoming disabled I know I needed an updating of my job skills in order to get an office job that I could eventually earn decent pay doing and that was in demand. Remembering my experience at Penn Foster I looked into their current line of programs and settled on an A.S. in accounting since I am good with numbers and had a lot of credits that would transfer in. The customer service at Penn Foster has been excellent and I have called several times about my account. They even ran a special I got in that was originally only offered to new students that said when you pay off your third semester the last one is free. I didn't even have to ask. They just extended it to the current students, even combining it with the special offers we came in under. The teachers have always answered my email questions within 24 hours and have always been helpful. The only problems I have had is when I have called in the late afternoon hours and my instructor wasn't there, but to be honest that was me being too lazy to write an email. Still though it would be nice if the instructors had late evening and Sat. hours. If they did that I think that would put them into an elite group of schools. The program is complete with everything you would need to know for a job, including studies in accounting software like Peachtree, Quickbooks, and Excel. Many times at brick and mortar schools this isn't included in an accounting program and you have to pay extra to take the classes separately and in today's world not knowing those three programs is not an option in the accounting field. My only caution about Penn Foster is to research your program and make sure it is what you want and need. For instance the Gunsmith program is too shallow to take and then open up shop as a gunsmith which is what you usually must do for a job since gunsmiths are one man operations usually. I know that because I looked into it since I know a lot about guns. The pharmacy technician program may be unnecessary because all the chain pharmacies around here send you to their own training program when you get hired and I was told they prefer to train their own people to their own system. That being said do your research; talk to workers in your chosen field and employers and you should be fine.

This place is a scam. You get what you pay for. I started doing the accounting associates degree with them and stopped because I'm just a student and know more than they do about accounting. I am now going to a real college to be an accountant. I'm attending a real college in a real building. Penn Foster's associate degrees are only accredited in the State of Arizona by the way. Look up the information people. And these supposed teachers that are at the online Penn foster school don't know jack. Really, they don't. After I quite the program they sent me a letter saying I owed them thousands of dollars in unpaid tuition. My dad is well versed in the law and after a call to them they sent me a letter apologizing for their gross error and didn't know how that happened. Whatever, penn foster is a scam. They know it.

This school is not at all what I had expected. It is overpriced and they are always asking for more money the closer you get to graduation. They do that because they know you have already invested x amount of dollars and you don't want to lose your investement so they get you in the end with detail expenses which they never told you about.....BAD DEAL find another school