As part of our free legal assistance to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI Bill, to attend colleges and universities around the country.  

We received 228 veteran and servicemember complaints about Colorado Technical University.  We analyzed those complaints for trends, and found:

Colorado Technical University

Of the 228 complaints our organization received:

  • Nearly 45% related to financial concerns – often tuition and fees being higher than promised, representing the top area of concern.  Many veterans allege CTU promised them a “veteran discount” on tuition that never existed.  
  • 29% raised their inability to get jobs after graduation despite promises by the school.
  • 28% complained of deceptive recruiting or marketing practices.
  • 22% said they had loans they did not authorize or agree to.
  • 18% said the education was very low-quality.
  • 18% said their credits were not recognized for transfer, despite being promised they would.
  • 10% said the school changed the degree requirements after they started. 

A few examples are:

  • “I was told my degree would allow me to become certified in medical coding, RHT. I found out after I received my degree that CTU degree was not accredited and I would essentially need to attend an approved school.  Also, we were forced to repay money to the VA because CTU double billed the VA.” K.P.
  • “I went to Colorado Tech after completing my military service. I received an MBA and an EMBA and they are essentially worthless. I could not use either of them for some of the job opportunities I was seeking and I feel completely misrepresented by the school. Because of the financial hardships I endured during and upon completion of my degrees, it has left me virtually bankrupt.” J.M.
  • “They made me apply for loans even though I was enrolled in VA VocRehab.” M.R.
  • “I enrolled at CTU online. They made it sound like I would be able to complete my degree in as little as 18 months. They told me to apply to FAFSA and to deny the prop grant but take the student loans. They said the student loan wouldn’t be more than 3K. I had also applied for tuition assistance through my command. Well I took one class and passed and then I took a couple more before I told them I needed to put my classes on hold. I was getting deployed and wouldn’t be able to finish. They denied my request, put me on academic probation, and took all of my tuition assistance. I had to pay tuition assistance back over $4,000 when I was active duty and to top it off they left me with a $1500 student loan. When I tried to transfer to another university, they requested transcripts from CTU. I called to get them and they told me I had an outstanding balance of $1,000 that I needed to pay in order for them to release my transcripts.” I.S.
  • “It showed I was being charged Room & Board and I asked about it. I was told, ‘No, it’s just standard.’  Why is it standard for an online school??” S.G.
  • “I was recruited by a phone call from CTU. Everything I was told about the pricing and the classes at the school were incorrect. I was misled from the beginning and kept getting put off. Then when I was attending class, I could not change degrees or anything.” J.H.
  • “They offer a ‘veteran discount’ rate but when you look at what they actually charge, it is the same as they charge everyone. When you try to get it adjusted, they make a big deal about it and ask why I care when my GI Bill pays what they bill. I’ve also been charged for a full course after I dropped it on week 2 due to losing my job. This meant I had to repay the VA and pay the difference out of pocket. It was made very evident they were only concerned whether they got paid regardless if the student was actually being taught anything.” T.N.

Also, in 2017, Yale Law School summarized the trends in the student complaints we had received about Colorado Technical University, in a report available here: https://vetsedsuccess.org/student-veteran-complaints-colorado-technical-university/

 

Download the PDF here:

Colorado Tech complaints