Sanford-Brown College Reviews

"Please, I beg you, take the time and go to community college. Do not waste your time going ot this school. The teachers are a joke, the faculty just wants to get paid, and the material is not sufficient. The turnover rate for teachers at the school in Texas was very sad. They would have a new person standing in front of the class almost every month. It is not work it. 20k in student loans and nothing to show for it. I did get a job right out of completing the course, but it was like I had to be trained all over again. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY. If you go to North West Vista or SAC here in San Antonio, you can get the same certificate while on financial aid (if you qualify) and it is easier to transfer into SAC's nursing program. I had a friend how did that, 4 years later they have they are a practicing RN and no student loan debt."

"When I first started Sanford-Brown College, I really didn't know what to expect. I had already taken a few classes at the community college and had a feeling that things would be different in terms of enrolling and class structure. I was interested in the veterinary technology program, but had little knowledge of what that meant in terms of my occupation. I went through the admissions process fairly smooth. It was as if once seated, the admission counselor would never let you go. We eventually completed my admissions and I felt that I was aware of my financial future as I agreed to a 28,000 tuition for an 18 month accelerated associate's degree. What I didn't know at the time of registering, was that this program was brand new and that it was not accredited yet. Later that semester, I learned of this and a tuition increase placing my total tuition cost at $32,000. The admissions counselor failed to mention that at the end of the program, students were required to complete a 240 hour non-painon-paid preceptor ship. My first instructor was nice, but lacked in confidence, patience and tolerance for a group of young, enthusiastic females. We were hungry for knowledge and wanted to ensure we received our money's worth. A few weeks into the program and this particular instructor left her position, practically in the middle of class. We were stunned. After some confusion and shuffling on behalf of the school, we landed ourself a teacher who really knew her stuff! Her knowledge came at a price, however. She was real. She was loud; encouraging and frightening all at the same time. Looking back, I can see how the delivery of her material was intended to engage our minds and stimulate critical thinking, just as one would do in a clinical setting. She wanted us to act, sound, look and react as a real-life veterinary technician. It was unnerving to have her watchful eye behind your shoulder while attempting a blood draw or when checking the foot of a horse, but it helped me gain confidence in myself and my ability to apply the knowledge I learned in class. Our classes were very long, ranging from 6 to 8 hours a day and 2 to 3 days a week. We had a 1 hour lunch and two breaks, it mimicked a real job, all the way down to the dress code. Hands on training with live animals was sometimes difficult to come across, as the school had kept tight regulations on the tech program. Since we were under a review process by the American Veterinary Medical Association, we had limited resources. The instructors and program director reached out to the community and we eventually gained connections, like visiting the Emergency Hospital, local barns and the humane society, where tech students could assist in the spay and neuter clinic. We eventually passed our accreditation, which meant our degrees would be honored in order to sit for our national boards after graduation. That was a relief for everyone! Overall, I felt blessed to have dedicated and caring instructors and I feel that my education over that time period was definitely beneficial to my life. I graduated in May of 2008, passed my National Veterinary Technician Exam and received my license in the state of Missouri. To this day, I am a registered technician and am currently practicing at a small animal hospital in Eugene, Oregon. I have met so many people, worked with hundreds of animals. It has become a part of who I am."

"Finished school April 2014, I have my certification in Pharmacy Technician. It's been 5 months getting calls from career services of Pharmacist they say willing to hire, but no pharmacist or pharmacy ever calls or replies back. I'm looking for any job now to pay those school loans or my future credit is in trouble."

"Ok, I started to look around for schools to raise myself up outta the fast food rut i have been in for most of my life , and to provide a better level of living for my wife and two kids , but after 3 months of school at this place in the Animation technology classes I have to say this is quite possibly the worst school i have ever seen or heard of , the profess ( with the exception of a few of them ) don’t really care if you attend class or not , there level of instruction is horrible, and there grading is laughable , in fact one week i did nothing and still got a b for that week’s assignments. Add all that to the fact that after taking with a friend of men who works in the animation/gaming industry , who told me , that a degree from that school will hurt my chances of getting job rather than helping me , simply because they don’t teach you what you really need to know. Now I am trying to withdraw from school, to do something as simple as that I have had to talk with at least 5 different people in the financial aid department just to be given the run around about whether or not they are going to keep the funds my aid gave them 2 days ago or not, and then after I pointed out to them that I had 30 days to send my loan funds back which I had to send the email that stated it, because they didn’t believe me. They then informed me that I would have to pay for the classes that I had attended, which to me at least is common sense, I attended the classes so I should have to pay for them, but they didn’t have to be rude about it (again not all of them were rude, only the first 4 I spoke with, the last one named Sara I think it was very helpful and knew what she was doing. And this was after talking to both my student advisor, and the head of the program that I was in , and a call from the head of the program also , in which he reminded me that I would be throwing away around 3400 used by leaving school at this time. Thing is if I had stayed I would have been throwing around 72k away. All in all I would not suggest this school to anyone ever for any reason what so ever."

"Where to begin....the accreditation is a joke, no other schools will take credits from this school. The teachers are sub-par and require less than a reasonable about of homework. Yes you will learn things, will it be enough? No. Once you realize this, you will be in debt up to your ears (this is not a cheap school, don't let anyone fool you). I spoke with a recruiter in my field and he said the best bet for getting a job was to to just go with Digipen. I know several graduates from Sanford-Brown College (formerly IADT) and none of them have jobs in the field. I have not seen one success. Many, not all, of the students are young and incompetent and bring down the entire class. The little amount of education you can get from this, you can get even better from YouTube. After you leave the school, if you want to pursue any further education, you will need a transcript. Good luck. It takes them all too long to reply and they refuse to answer their phones. Do yourself a favor and go to any other school."

"Sanford brown was a great school, every thing was great from the first day I walk in class, the teachers was great and very helpful and they stick with you till the end."

"I graduated 2 years ago. In a class of 9 people, only 3 of us have actually passed both of the national board exams required to become ARDMS certified, and NONE of the three of us have found work in ultrasound! Ultrasound is NOT a job that can be learned from a book, or ANY simulation computer program (Simpro). I was sent to a clinical site, full time, 80 miles from my home (700 mi/week), where on average I would get 20 MINUTES of scan time a day, not nearly enough to learn this job! The schools reputation is so bad they can't find clinical sites to take their students and the ones they do have they keep making angry and eventually lose them too. One student was placed at a clinical site so far from her home, she was literally closer to the California border! This school is a money grab. I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but you won't get a job from this school, just a $40k student loan debt."

"I was enrolled at this school in Farmington, CT for medical assistant. The recruiter lied from jump telling me their would be no monthly payments, how there concerned about getting you an education, you can transfer credits,and I would be able to find a job quickly. BLAH BLAH BLAH....I signed up for school on the 12th of Sept got a bill on the 17th saying I have to pay $250 a month and if not paid I will be dropped.This was the 1st WTF moment I experienced.So I bring this to attention and he brushes it off like "Oh don't worry about that" huh!! I went to financial aid whom was also a scam she's like oh you would have to call financial aid to inquire more about that..umm YOU ARE FINANCIAL AID HENSE THE SIGN ON THE DOOR!!! So I called Direct Loans since thats where I thought I had aloan tooken out to cover the remainder balance the rep said no information was ever processed by that school financial aid so no funds was allocated.So I said eff this I withdrew from this school in Nov 2012 because things seem too sketchy for me. Only to receive an email that the school was closing SUDDENLY due to unforseen circumstances. My old classmates were contacting me telling me that instructors were leaving during the mods to find other employment so classes couldn't be completed. And different departments such as career development & financial aid were closed while students are still attending the school..My advice dont go to this school it's a rip off!!!!!!"

"Cons - States they have night classes, but it is always a struggle each term to let them know I can only take night classes and I get the run around every time which makes it very stressful. As most classes I need are not offered at night a 'Direct Study' is put together which does not allow me to fully benefit from the classes offered. Pros - The classes I have been able to benefit from are very, very good and I have learned a lot."

"I am currently a cardiovascular sonographer student that finished the classes and was supposed to start an externship only to find out the last day of class that the school has no externship site for half of the students that finished the class portion of the course, the saddest part is there were only eight of us that finished. We were also informed on the last day that the vascular portion of the schooling is a waste of time because we do not have enough clinical hours to take the state exam and become certified. They made it out that we would be able to take this board exam as well as the echo board exam. I feel I was betrayed and lied to from the first day I walked in the school. This school makes a lot of broken promises. I attended the Dearborn Michigan location and warn anyone considering Sanford Brown to really investgate this school before wasting your time. Reluctantly I am considering talking to a lawyer!!"

"I attend St. Peters, MO Practical Nursing. I feel it's going to benefit me greatly. The instructors are experienced in their fields (ex. 25 years experience). They have state of the art equipment, clinical sites want Sanford Brown students (one facility dropped a college so that they could bring in Sanford Brown students), professional behavior is the only accepted behavior, people with piercing and tattoos are in the program but must cover these when they are in class our on clinical site. (Like someone with a tattoo is bad anyway? Background checks were conducted on every single student, no murderers in my program.) Maybe the different programs at the different schools are not the same but I feel this campus and this program are highly professional and will offer an excellent opportunity for myself and my family. If anything changes I'll be certain to add that."

"Went to Sanford brown and graduated but would never recommend this school to anyone!! They are very unorganized and make you take classes that are irrelevant to the position your going for. I wasn't going for medical assistant but the MA's I know ended up not getting a job after being promised. I personally did the dialysis program and no way was it worth 12000$ it's too unorganized and almost impossible to finish all your clinical hours and extern hours if you have a job or kids! Check out different schools before Sanford I promise you won't be satisfied!"

"A year ago my boyfriend and I went to the school because we got a phone call, he wanted to certified as a pharmacy tech....well they have lip (can definitely make people believe they are a "good school") they told us "oh Sanford brown is the bestof the best" and that they don't accept criminals and that they guaranteed we'd find a job with the education offered there. Well first of all, we had to pay for our certification $100 and plus tuition and fees for the PHARMACY TECH course which can be offered at any comm college for no more than $3000, and this gay school charged us $12000(as IF it was really worth it).....there were soo many people in that school who had murder charges etc. (now I'm talking about the one in hillside illinois) but yeah...people with tattoos people who came in late to class all the time and were never dropped. It was definitely not what we were expecting at all. At least not what we were told..now they are paying for the certification (or so I heard) and we called because we believe we should get a refund since we are paying $12000 for absolutely NOTHING and they won't refund the money!!!! Yeah this school is full of rats who want to take all your money for an education that you can learn some place else for cheaper. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME....:( I regret ever going here soooooo much!!"

"I have recently expressed interest in SB's Cardivacular Sonagraphy program. I have had enough bad experiences to research a school I would like to attend. So far, this school is not impressing me at all. I spoke to a representive (Crystal) at the Boston site. I let her know right of the bat that I did not wish to waste either of out time. I was certain this program was something I wanted. And I asked her " How many credits does one need to qualify for this program?" Easy question right? Her response: "What do you mean?" I don't have that information in front of me right now." My 2nd question; "Is your program accredited be the CAAHEP?" Her response; "I couldn't tell you there is no one here to answer that for me right now." Right off I see from her short snappy responses that this is not someone who is either qualified for her job or adequate customer service skills even to work at...I don't know say...MCDONALDS!!!! I agreed to meet with her next week just because I am ready to make a change in my finacial situation and realize that I need a an degree fast! I am going to go armed with some of the reviews on this site. I agree with one thing, and thats you get out what you put in! It sounds pricey but I'm willing to do it."

"The lies began as soon as i walked in the door. Admission lied to me about everything. They said my credits would transfer and that school would only cost me 11,000. In the end im stuck paying 15,000 back! NO school will take my credits because sanford brown is a curse! I've had NO help from them in finding a job, that they promised! No employer will hire me because of sanford brown! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY!!!!!!!!"

"I was very excited to start school and start a new life. Sanford Brown made it seem like I would fly threw school and get a job right away. It has been nothing but problems. I am all done with my classes and I have started my clinical but they have made it very difficult to complete my program. Very money hungry school. They don't care about the students what so ever."

"I just wanted to say that I just completed the Associate of Applied Science Medical Assisitng program at Sanford-Brown College in Mclean, VA. I have to say that i received a 4.0 GPA and still no job. I had so many problems when I dealt with my externship because the office could not get the timesheets right when I faxed or e-mailed them. I never understood why the personnel dept will call you about being out of class 1 day because I could not get to class because my commute to my externship site to the school was almost 1 hour. Called me for that? Now, they do not tell you about the expense of the externship that is posted on your student account which is more than the tuition itself. When I had my exit interview and had a balance on my account the financial aid office gave me information on taking more classes for medical billing & coding. I am still paying for the 2 year loan for the school now worth too much....$28,000, down the tubes. I have no job and a lot of debt. Their television ads say it all - we cannot guarantee you a job or salary. They do no not tell you about the loans and debts to them you have to pay and the harassment. Thanks for nothing!"

"I have been a student here at Sanford Brown College for 6 months now and this place is a joke! The entire staff runs around not know whats going on. They spend more time trying to figure out who's doing what or what they are supposed to be doing and no one really worries about the students. Now the admission staff is VERY misleading because they will make you believe this place is amazing. But seriously what was I thinking? The first floor of this "school" building is a bank, the 3 floors abouve it are continuouly under construction (which is very loud and heard in EVERY classroom), and then there are a few floors designated for classes. Don't make the same mistake I did! Go to El Centro instead!!!! They are WAY cheaper and a much better school!!! This place is RIDICULOUS!!!!"

"After completing the Medical Billing and Coding program at Sanford Brown College late last year, I will entering school again this summer to pursue another major. As an institution this place sucks. I had a total of 4 teachers. Two were good, one wasn't up to par, and the fourth one was terrible. The admissions "counselors" will descend on you like a pack of rabid wolves when you show up to tour the school and obtain program information. After your tour, they will most likely try to dissuade you from attending the program you're most interested in. They're there to SELL SEATS IN CLASSES. So they have to fill up classroom seats in the least popular programs. It's a numbers game. Don't bother making any complaints about your program to the administration - nothing will ever be done about them, and your concerns will be swept under the rug. After 10 months of less that adequate schooling, I have been left with thousands of dollars in debt, and no new career in site. Oh - the "career counselors" are the worst of all. They provide absolutely NO help in finding you a job. I'm not quite sure what they do - but they definitely don't actively look for job leads or potential positions for you. I graduated with a 3.77 average, have a background in healthcare, and still can't find anything. Don't waste your time, energy, or money."

"I just wanted to write a warning to perspective students looking for information about this school. I went in one day for some information about the Medical Diagnostic Sonography Program. I spoke with admissions counselor Ebony Gantt. Because I did not have the collective college credits required to go directly into the sonography program, I given a list of various other programs I could take as a pre-requisite to qualify for the program. I chose the Medical Assistant course. I was told by Ms. Gantt that the course was nine months long. It is in fact a year program. I was also told that once the course was completed, I could go directly into the sonography program. That is not true, once the medical assistant program is completed, I would still be five credits short of being allowed into the sonography program. Those five additional credits are NOT obtainable at Sanford Brown Institue. I was additionally told by Ms. Gantt that their sonography program as well as the medical assistance program were ACCREDITED programs. This is also false. The ONLY accredited program offered by Sanford Brown Institute is their Surgical Tech program. Upon hearing the programs were falsely represented to me, I decided to go to Keiser University. Their program IS accredited, the site link to Tallahassee accredidations supports this. It also clearly shows Sanford Brown does not hold any of the accredidations their counselors maintain, the only exception being the surgical tech program. There was alot of resistance given when I requested my application fee be refunded as the 3 day period to change my mind had passed. I pursued this with the Director of Admissions who agreed the program was falsely represented by admissions, and he agreed to refund my application fee. I am still waiting for it. Word to the wise- DO YOUR RESEARCH. Know where you can find information on your own so that you do not fall victim to the admission counselors of this school."