Delayed responses, inaccurate advice, consistent new charges with any breaks or delays...even if their delay. I have been waiting for a reply for 6 days now, with 3 emails and 1 call to the director of admissions, being a returning student. I plan to go elsewhere.
The college will do anything to get your money and be admitted, and that's where the niceties end. Their website is contradictory, and they are slow to respond to questions and concerns. You can't trust what they say either because half the time they tell you information that is incorrect. They also rip students off by charging a semester fee of $245/semester (do legitimate colleges do that? NO), and they force you to take 2 courses through the college. One being an online "cornerstone" course where you have to spend about $1350 in ADDITION to the 2 English course that are required by the college. It's basically a dumbed down version of the 2 english course requirements (which can be taken elsewhere), so they can make money out of you.
I would STRONGLY recommend getting anything that is said or promised in writing (or record it), because they will make mistakes, and then deny it when called out on it.
They are not really professional, and the entire experience is amateur at best.
That said, I was able to get a degree for less than $5,000 (I tested out of all the requirements except for the two requirements), but if I could do it again, I would have gone with Thomas Edison State College (which is a state school in New Jersey for testing out of a degree like Charter Oak) instead which has no residency requirements, and can be completely tested out of. I also think the name sounds more legit than "Charter Oak."
I don't think I have ever been more disappointed in an institution only interested in taking your money. The fees are ridiculous. I needed to take a break to save for my courses, paid my student fees, and I happened to be late due to the holiday and they said sorry you are no longer a student. It was a few days! I was told I needed to re-apply, and yes pay the fees again. My suggestion is to go elsewhere.
I had a fantastic experience here and saved a ton of money and years of time. Now my son is earning a degree through them. They're great!
There are a lot of areas where I think Charter Oak State College could improve but, the fact of the matter is, I got my BS here and probably spent less than 5,000 dollars. TOTAL! All these people complaining about the cost of higher education need to look at schools like Charter Oak. They have little in the way of credit-residency requirements -- I was only required to take eight credits in-house -- and they let you test out of as many credits as you like. For a fast, self-directed learner such as myself, it was perfect. My only caution is that I've found it very difficult to get into graduate school with my degree, despite some excellent grades and standardized test scores. The world still isn't prepared for educational paradigms like this.
I had a terrible experience. The classes are basically all set up the same with a different book being the content. They basically lack any effort possible to actually teach you. Some teachers are nice and actually helpful, but others put in the minimum effort possible. I have seen so many complaints from students within the class who express their opinions on blackboard discussion posts.
I did have a great advisor which was the only benefit offered to me at this school.
The financial aid (FA) department is HORRIBLE. Staff is completely incompetent. I have had to go down to the New Britain office in person 3 times and then call & email the office a bunch of times before getting even one issue resolved. After a year of their callous responses, I sent an email to the FA office to complain. They basically responded to me by calling me a liar and trying to discredit me!!!! What type of school does this to a student? A terribly unprofessional one.
Charter Oak treated me as just another faceless number. The lack of personalization and unfriendly response from the employees showed me that I did not matter. Charter Oak didn t seem to care about me as an individual. I felt mistreated on their end. Don t waste your money on a school that will refuse to hear you out and better their efforts. I wasn t even looking for anything in return; I just wanted them to know that they severely needed improvement. Instead, they lost me as a student at their school.
charteroak.edu