Colorado Technical University

School screwed me over now im stuck w studen loans and cant legally work in the feild I graduated in.?

I am so lost I have no idea what to do! I am almost 23 now and when I was 20 I decided I wanted to go to school to become a massage therapist. I enrolled at a school called ACT ( advanced career training) I was told I would be able to work right after I graduated and that I didn't have to be licensed to work as a massage therapist. They tossed me around between instructors, one got fired, one quit, one would show up 2 hours late and had no hands on training I didnt feel like I learned anything until my last 2 months with my last teacher. Anyways, less than a month before I graduate I am told that I actually do have to be licensed to practice massage therapy starting the month I graduate but that the ciriculum taught did not include everything I needed to know to pass the national test , which i needed in order to get my license. So I graduate with a massage therapy certificate that month, knowing I couldnt do anything with it I didnt know what to do. The school refused to refund me, they said I could take a 3 hour refresher coarse for a few hundred dollars.......I shouldnt have to do that when I payed them 12,000 in tuition and cant even work. I signed up to take the test anyways. The school was going to pay for the first test. They end up giving me a different date than the actual testing center gave me so I missed it and my free test was gone. To take another one would cost alot of money..........knowing i would most likely fail I couldnt waste 200 bucks. I dont know ANYONE from that school who has graduate and working as a massage therapist.So they admit they didnt teach me what I needed to make it out there in that feild. I called them so many times asking for direction or anything because I was going to have to pay back student loans in 6 months. They never returned my calls, everytime I called the last person quit or got fired so I had to explain everything again. They werent willing to do anything. I got a defferment for a year. Now I am almost 23, expecting a baby any day now, not working due to my pregnancy and wont be working for at least another year and the student loans have come to haunt me. I have debt collectors calling and my husband shouldnt have the responsibility of paying MY loans. I dont know what to do, who to talk to, im not the kind of person to want to sue for 100,000 dollars.......I just feel like I got screwed in this entire deal and I dont want to be stuck with these loans that I cant pay. Now the school has NO massage therapy program anymore and no one knows anything. As if it never exsisted. I have no idea what i can do if I can do anything........Any advice would be greatly appriciated.

Public Comments

1. You MAY qualify for loan cancellation under certain circumstances. I would certainly look into it. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/loan.cancellation.discharge.html If the school committed fraud, you certainly have a case to sue them.. There's nothing wrong with suing people who defrauded you. You have the right to sue for the amount of tuition, the money you didn't make as a massage therapist and legal fees and maybe more. Contact an attorney, most will meet with you one time for free to determine if you have a case.
2. Unless someone from the school held gun to your head and made you sign those loan papers, it is doubtful you have a case. Ultimatly you are responsible for your debts.. no matter what the product is that you buy or finance. Even the Department of Education says this about borrowing: http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/FundingEduBeyondHighSchool_0910.pdf (page 43) Loan Discharge or Cancellation and Forgiveness Is it ever possible to have my federal student loan discharged or canceled? Yes, but only under rare circumstances. A discharge or cancellation releases you from all obligations to repay the loan. Your loan (Stafford and PLUS) cannot be discharged or canceled because you didn’t: • complete the program of study at the school (unless you could not complete the program because the school closed), • like the school or program of study, or • obtain employment after completing the program of study.
3. The only thing you could do is take the school to court and prove that they committed fraud. Loan companies will not help you because it states in the promissory note that even if you are not satisfied with your education, you are still responsible for paying them back. Sorry about your situation!