Anyone here knows about Charter College -- not Charter Oak State College in CT, which I'm applying to -- but Charter College with locations in Alaska, California, etc.? I just heard it advertised on Pandora web radio station, looked over its site briefly and can't get a "grip" on what they're about or their actual reputation.
This Charter College? Nationally Accredited Career College| Start Now at Charter College It doesn't look like anything remarkable. It's accredited by the ACICS.
Charter College is nationally accredited, so it is a legitimate school. The accreditations are not regional, so you would likely have trouble transferring credits earned there into a traditional school. However, in my not so expert opinion, you should receive a good education there and your degree should open doors in most business environments.
Here at degreeinfo, we usually think about accreditation when it comes to evaluating the legitimacy of a school. But given current economic realities, maybe it's time to start looking at economic factors too. In California, several Charter College campuses have been dropped from the state Cal Grant financial aid program, due to a high Cohort Default Rate. In other words, an unusually high percentage of graduates from these schools are unable to pay back their federal student loans. Note also that you can't get out from under student loan debt by declaring bankruptcy. In fairness, the following two points should be noted: - Many for-profit schools, not just Charter, cannot meet the California CDR criteria. You can see this just by scanning the list. - The federal government currently has less stringent CDR standards than the State of California, so Charter is probably still eligible for federal financial aid programs.
It's probably not a good sign that I can't find how much they charge for tuition on their web site. They do offer a military discount of 25%, whatever that may be.
I have no problem with ACICS schools or NA schools in general. But ACICS schools seem to charge really high tuition, and at the end of the day the name recognition just isn't there to be charging what they do. For the amounts I've been quoted, there are far better options just within the NA circle alone.
You can always look it up at the US Dept. of Education's "College Navigator" website. Charter's Anchorage campus charges $17,725 in annual tuition (not counting any living expenses). Incidentally, Charter-Anchorage appears to have the highest loan default rates in Alaska.
For comparison, the University of Alaska's Anchorage campus charges $154/credit for lower division courses and $187 for upper division courses (resident tuition, 2011-2012). College Navigator estimates annual tuition at $5,396.
