University of Advancing Technology

UAT has no real concern for its students. Their actions have contradicted their literature and advertising several times in an effort to squeeze me for more money. Here's what they did: 1. Scholarship bait and switch: They offered me a scholarship based on my credentials. On the day classes started, they notified me I was too late to receive it, without ever telling me what I needed to do or that there was even a deadline. 2. Assessment bait and switch: The UAT literature says that if you take assessments or have professional experience, they will promote you to the next class. I passed the assessment and it took me 7 weeks of fighting with their administrators to get them to advance me. As of this writing, my transcript there still shows an F for the class (for which I passed the assessment) and they have yet to change it. It takes weeks, literally weeks, for them to take any action. The first line support staff do everything they can to try to get you to go away and stop bothering them. They go silent for days with the excuse that they are "checking with the supervisor." 3. Course management shady practice This one shocked me -- you don't get to choose your courses! What the heck kind of college doesn't let you manage your courses? They choose them for you! And they conveniently don't mention this little tidbit until you actually start taking classes. I was so amazed when I logged in that I had no control over classes, that I looked through all the literature to be sure I hadn't missed something. There was no warning about this huge policy shift from traditional universities. So, you never know what your next course will be, and you don't get to choose what you want to study. And forget about doing anything creative like a minor or a dual-degree. Just not going to happen. I'm giving up on UAT. The courses were mediocre, definitely not worth the hassle of dealing with their shady business practices. I highly recommend just going to a community college and saving your money. UAT will end up costing you at least $60K in loans, 4 years of your life, and it's not even clear anyone will consider it a real degree. So, you *might* find an employer who will accept it, but it's not clear you can get a graduate degree from another university after completing the UAT undergrad tracks. They really are not trying to help you achieve your goals, like a traditional university would. They are in it for the money and it's painfully slow dealing with their staff. My advice: stay away.