AIU online is a complete scam. If you are browsing the web and are interested in getting a little information you are must put in your contact information in order to view the website. This should automatically tell people that something is wrong. After you enter your information you will repeatedly receive phone calls from a so-called admissions advisor.

The admissions advisor/sales person can and will call you seven days a week up to twenty times a day! Imagine a school that is open on Sundays and Holidays? Upon the first call conversation the admission advisor will read a script to you.

Hello may I speak with_______? This is_____________ and admissions advisor from AIU online how are you doing? Great! You recently requested some information about our degree programs, so I have a few questions for you so I can get the correct information out to you!

What is your educational background? What is the highest level of education you have completed?
When did you graduate from high school?
How long have you been thinking about furthering your education?
When did you graduate from college?
What kind of classes were you taking?
What kind of grades did you get in those classes?
Do you have any professional training or certificates in your work history?
Do you have any military experience?
Are you currently employed?
What kind of work are you doing?
What does success mean to you?
Where would you like to be career wise in five years?
Is there anyone who is supportive of you furthering your education? Or supportive?
If you were accepted here at AIU online when are you hoping to start your education?

Now_____based on the fact that you seem pretty ambitious, goal orientated, and motivated I am going to send you an email about some of our important online programs. In this email there will be a password and a hyperlink that you can click on that will take you to our admission site. Now the password will expire so you will need to log on as soon as possible. The admissions site will give you a chance to learn more about AIU online our accreditation, course descriptions, financial aide options, and how you go about getting accepted. How does that sound to you?

Do you have a pen handy? I would like to give you my contact information. Let me confirm your email address.

When you receive my email read through the information and share it with anyone who may be supportive of you going to school. Fill out the online application and print a copy out for yourself for records. This allows me to get to know more information about your background. When you have completed reviewing the website write down any questions that you may have because I want us to get back together over the phone so I can answer all of those questions. We will discuss f-aide, career opportunities, online degree programs, and how you apply and get accepted here at aiu-online. How does that sound to you? Great. I have two times open for _____(always two days later) which one is best for you?

Great then do we have that commitment for ____date and time? Good.

Since education is taking a higher priority in your life I look forward to speaking to you on ----date and time----.

When you set your appointment they will constantly call you. The second phone call consist of a similar line of questioning in more detail with the sales person admissions advisor offering your recommendation and offering to put you on the agenda for the next acceptance committee meeting.

The fifty dollar application isn't the biggest deal. The bigger deal is that all admissions advisors say the exact same thing in the exact same way! How can they really mean what they are saying if they all say the same thing? How can they honestly believe in you if they are all saying the same exact thing and you almost guaranteed a recommendation every time you speak to them! If you submit your information you will be surprised in the type of response you will get. A ton of phone calls that never end for months on end. This makes it hard to believe that they are really admissions advisors? What type of school is open on New Years Eve, the fourth of July, and Christmas Eve?

Who works on those days 'sales' people and that is it! Aiu drives a hard bargain, but as you can see by the website the cost are hidden under f-aide. It is a great website, however, I have been contacted by so many different advisors with the same story it only presents to me that this is a really big scam. Not only did they give a recommendation to my mentally retarded nephew they gave one to my neighbors daughter who is in her second year of high school.

What kind of school accepts you before it receives your transcripts? What kind of school has advisors that reads off scripts? What kind of school will not give out pricing information over the phone? What kind of website needs your home and work number to contact you before sending out basic information.

I ask all people who are considering an online school to think very clearly about what they are getting into. Accredited today, gone tomorrow it's just that simple. If Aiu was really a great school then they wouldn't have such hard driven sales/ admissions advisors repeatedly contacting people. If it was such a desired school then they would not be constantly calling over and over trying to see why you didn't enroll the first time around. If you give your number to these people then you are putting yourself at risk for obtaining an degree from an institution that probably won't be around in a few years.

Regardless, of how many people are enrolling and what congress is saying about Aiu here today gone tomorrow. If you sign up with this school, it will not take much to get you accepted. After you start school then the real bills come rolling in. This would be a great school, if they didn't over promise and underachieve. As a former student of AIU-Online I highly recommend you think very clearly before your first day of school if this is something that you are willing to take a chance at, because a chance is what this place really isn't!

Kayla
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
U.S.A.