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So more than 5 months into my time with this institution and I have yet to see any award letter from their financial aid department. I have just contacted multiple attorneys in my area where I'd be searching for work to find none of them recognize the program, and colleges I have contacted are advising they won't accept any of the credits earned at NPC. I had read all the reviews I could find before enrolling but have just found out those were possibly coerced from studentsand or posted by faculty regarding their supposed expertise.

I feel as though I have been bamboozled by a group of slick lawyers that are making claims they are unable to substantiate. One of the instructors (washington) spends significant portions of his class time promoting his political writings, unrelated to the class topics. Frequently I have been forced to refocus the conversation on the class rather than his own personal political views.

The staff is not on anyway approachable from my experience, you are.on your own and frequently forced into an adversarial position in attempts to get basic information from them. The truth is reiterated in multiple reviews here and in other places with the current director seemingly always putting his positive spin on his institutions lack of customer service or legitimate teaching staff. If you sign up here you will likely regret it and lose thousands of dollars on a degree that no one recognises.

Monetary Loss: $3500.

Location: Bend, Oregon

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Guest

I switched from Kaplan University to NPC for some many reasons but the main reason being their financial aide department provided me an award letter then tried to get me to pay three times more than the award letter stated my out of pocket would be. To this day I can not get an explanation as to the discrepancy and since you have to have approval from the dean to file an official complaint, have been kept from doing so. Kaplan is widely recognized but has been involved in many lawsuits and have hundreds of complaints and poor reviews where as NPC has a very small percentage of poor reviews.

My enrollment at NPC was a breeze. I have NEVER had an issue getting an answer from anyone in any department. You are sent a student handbook as well as it being available online that explains in detail the aspects of the school including the financial aid. I received my award letter even sooner than I anticipated. Any questions I have had about it has been answered in 24hrs or less just like any other questions for any other department.

In regards to the post about not having books, there are books for the classes that they are needed for but I should mention, I found at Kaplan that a lot of classes weren't going to require books either and if they did, they charged you an arm and a leg and they have to be returned to the school. With technology the way it is, there are so many other resources available that a book is not always necessary. My current class in legal research and writing doesn't require a book and I don't see how one would be any more helpful then the resources I've been provided. The school has suggested some pocket guides that would be helpful not only now but in my future career, so I purchased those but they are not my main source of learning. If I want something in writing to refer to, I am able go back and re-review the lectures and even print off slides used in that lecture.

My current class is a very large class, but the professor makes sure to make time before the lecture and after to answer questions as well as he responds quickly to emailed questions and allows us and encourages us to call him directly with any questions we have. Also, as mentioned, there are more than one professor for each class, so if you don't click with one you are open to attend the lectures of another professor or switch back and forth. You are not bound to only one. Which us helpful if you a schedule conflict. At Kaplan you are assigned a specific professor and lecture time you must attend. If you miss it ir can't make it, there is no option of attending one at a different time or with a different professor. You have to do an additional assignment for missing that weeks lecture.

There are also message boards where questions and information can be posted and shared. The director as well as professors and other members of the staff respond quickly on there as well.

I am extremely satisfied with the education I am receiving at NPC. In addition, the cost of tuition is much more affordable than many other schools I looked into. Most others would have required me to take out financial aid and personal student loans as well, leaving me so far in debt.

My own personal attorney told me that the attorneys in my area don't necessarily pay attention to the school you attended but also if you sit and pass the CLA exam. This proves your competency. Which, NPC also offers a course to help you prepare for that exam as well. :)

Guest

I find it very unattractive that teachers at this school feel that it is necessary to get on his site and bash the people making the complaints, instead of saying thanks for the criticism, we will see what we can do to try and change that in the future. As for my previous post, I see that the only issue you addressed was his anonymity, instead of the real issue. You obviously didn't have a response to the financial aid department's lack of communication or professional skills when it comes to dealing with the school's students.

Again, the courses are great, and the teachers are great...IF you're a current student. Once the student is done, however, the school does absolutely nothing to communicate issues with its previous students nor do they try and figure out what caused the issue in the first place. So, again, I will say that though the school's courses are great, dealing with the lack of professionalism from the staff and the way they handle criticism (as you can see from other posts on this site) with sarcastic, rude remarks, this school is not worth attending. It's more stress than it's worth to try and deal with the staff there and you might as well find another school with the same quality of classes, with nicer and more respectful staff members.

Carlen Dov

Dear "Interesting":

I obviously am a part of NPC's staff (and make no attempt to conceal that fact). You've dealt with me extensively in that regard, in fact. Jennyjenn, however, is most decidedly a student, not a staff member. We do have students in Phoenix, you know. I would hope that the law you've learned at NPC would teach you not to assert that things are "obvious" based on such flimsy evidence.

I did not in any way uncover the anonymity of the original poster. On the contrary, everything I said about him was calculated to preserve his anonymity.

I do think that it's a sad component of our consumer entitlement culture though that an intelligent student such as yourself asserts that a complaintant is entitled to 100% anonymity AND to not even have facts discussed that do NOT change his anonymity while the subject of the complaint is, of course, not entitled to any anonymity at all.

I do thank you for your kind words regarding our courses and academics. I hope that people whose primary purpose of going to school is academics will take note of it.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Carlen Dov

I agree I'm would want to learn and get the degree the complaint is vague and what little is mentioned seems to be directed at financial aid or money not the quality of education, perhaps a little less anger and more kindness in communication will resolve this.

Guest

I find it funny that BOTH replies are from Phoenix, AZ...obviously biased employees. I don't believe it was their business to post about this gentleman's grades or whether or not he's paid the school.

I have had similar problems.

While the classes were great, I have had more than a difficult time trying to get in contact with ANYONE from the financial aid department regarding issues with my account. SO, though the school's courses are great and highly reccommendable, it isn't worth it to have to deal with the staff.

Guest

It is interesting that you say you have been waiting for 5 months for student aid, AND you were looking for a job. I am also reading another comment, that you possibly got kicked out of the school because your grades were not good. Well, if you were kicked out of the school, or were only their for 5 months, you are not going to find a job because you do not have a degree. So, why are you looking for a job with no degree?

Another thing, people can only get financial aid if their grades are up to par. If your grades were that bad for that long, you were lucky the school allowed you to stay in.

About the Director making excuses for his staff, or what ever it was that you were saying to that affect, well he backs his staff, you are correct. THAT IS THE WAY it should be. I am more than certain that if they were under his control or supervision in any way, he would correct them if they were not up to par. Is he going to publicize this? Would it be very professional if he made it public when he chews the staff? NO

Another thing, the Director at that school works very hard answering questions, and I know he has 8 million of them, for all of the students. I have always had a quick response with him, and never had a problem or felt uncomfortable communicating anything with him at all. It is rare for a director, I assume with so many, and so much on their plate to do this. He bends over backward. If you had any problems, I am willing to bet that you could have talked to him, and if it was possible to have helped you in any kind of way, he would have.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-622706

I recomend taking a reading for context course at your local community college, there are several listed in Maricopa county. This person clearly stated they were asking about the school not looking for work from area attorneys.

Also, making excuses for staff members seems to be exactly what is NOT supposed to happen with a director. Defending them in regards to a false claim would be but defending them against complaints of underperformance or the like.

Carlen Dov

This is review is so full of ludicrous accusations itโ€™s hard to know where to start.

First, some context. This student was recently dismissed from the college for poor academic performance. While it is not unusual for students to be upset about not having had the ability or wherewithal to do well, it does explain some of the bile in this complaint.

I do not know specifically whether the multiple attorneys he contacted in his community have necessarily heard of NPC specifically. Most people have probably never heard of the vast majority of the schools in this country. The implication that attorneys will therefore not hire from NPC is absurd. Just because you donโ€™t happen to have heard of a school does not mean you wonโ€™t hire its graduates. This should be self-evident upon any sort of reflection. 3/4 of NPC graduates surveyed over many years state that their NPC education helped advance their careers (the 2013 number as of today is actually 86%). Just in the last week, three students have reported getting new jobs at law offices and one at a public defenderโ€™s office.

Our most recent yearโ€™s survey data (reported to the federal government and our accrediting agency indicated:

Percentages of students answering "yes" to the following questions:

Did you achieve the goals that you had when starting the program? 94%

Would you recommend this NPC program to a friend? 94%

All things considered, were you satisfied with this program? 97%

This is a typical result and have never, for any year, been substantially lower.

So, 97% of our graduates respond that they are satisfied with their NPC education and 94% would recommend NPC to a friend. The numbers therefore indicate the overwhelming probability that if you sign up at NPC you, will likely not regret it, but be among the 94%+ of students who would recommend NPC to a friend.

It is difficult to pinpoint where the student came up with the $3,500 number. This student did not pay a dime to NPC and the amount paid on his behalf to NPC by federal grant (not loan, grant โ€“ which needs not be paid back) is about a quarter of that amount. It seems that the number $3,500 was pulled from thin air.

The allegation that NPC โ€œpossibly coercedโ€ students to write positive reviews about us is downright libelous and might be actionable defamation. No NPC staff member has ever so much as encouraged a single student to write a review about NPC online. It is true that one student posted to the school message board a few weeks ago that she posted a positive message board about us on a message board discussion and that others may want to do the same. That student was acting on her own accord. Never has any NPC faculty member done or said anything to that effect. Presumably, if the allegation had a shred of truth, there would be some documentation to this effect (an email; maybe a message board post). There is none.

We would certainly be interested in the specifics of which โ€œclaimโ€ was made by any of the โ€œslick lawyersโ€ (of which, presumably, I am one) that we are unable to substantiate? This scurrilous claim is general to the point of being irrelevant in addition to being false.

We are sorry that the student does not like Professor Washingtonโ€™s politics. We offer multiple sections of the courses that the student was enrolled in and he had every opportunity to choose a different lecturer instead. In fact, we allow students to switch back and forth between lecturers at will. We also understand that not every student will like every teacher. Thatโ€™s a given. But Professor Washingtonโ€™s reviews are overwhelmingly positive from other students.

Every paralegal course faculty member at NPC is an admitted attorney and virtually all have significant college level teaching experience. Every non-paralegal course faculty member has at least a Masterโ€™s in a related field. Calling us โ€œillegitimateโ€ is baseless slander.

The โ€œpositive spinโ€ I put on things is merely the truth; nothing more, nothing less. This studentโ€™s experience extremely atypical and we offer students a free trial enrollment to determine whether NPC is for them.

NPC has a fleet of student mentors who walk new students through the process of adapting to legal education, analysis and writing. All faculty respond to emails or phone calls within a day. Virtually all of our other students can attest to this (and many have). In absolutely no way share or form are students โ€œon their own.โ€ We pride ourselves in dedicating an exceptional amount of resources to helping students individually, both in the form of our live, synchronous classes (which are rare for online colleges) and in our dedicated faculty mentoring staff.

If you are interested in a positive and fulfilling academic experience and are willing to put the work in necessary to succeed, you can check NPC out for yourself with a no cost trial enrollment. You can see for yourself how spurious the above review is.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Carlen Dov

Recently a student of mine asked me in regards to your school if I thought it was a good place for her to extend her education. I admit dispite your proximity I had never heard of you and so I decided to hit the internet to find out more. If you didn't recieve permission in writing to disclose information about this student, you are in violation of the law in this post. Which I find to be very interesting given the nature of your school and who you are. Under federal law no scholl can publicly discuss a students academic history, or school records without the express written consent of the student or their legal gaurdian. I would recomend re-educating yourself by reading FERPA documents or in legal ease this federal statue-20 U.S.C. ยง 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99.

Secondly after researching your curriculum in comparison with other schools in the area as well as checking out the ABA's own website regarding the education of legal professionals it turns out that your school wasn't recognized by any of them. I recognize that there are always alternative ways to educate a professional in many fields but I believe that at least trying to adhere to the major precepts and educational standards of the industry and recognized programs will create better opportunities for the student. You people don't even have text books for most of your classes, how are students expected to learn the complexity of the law with just basic material you made up?

As I have read these complaints I noticed an underlying theme, complaints about substandard practices and issues regarding your institution have fallen on deaf ears. I read up on this Washington fellow and found that he is widely atrributed with plagarism and misrepresentations in his writings. Why would a legitimate educational institution employ such a person? Also there is no ownership in regards to poor performance of your financial aid department which has garnered several identical complaints here.

In regards to your assertation that people don't recognize every educational institution you are making a ludicrous claim. Are you trying to convey that people won't recognize a name like ASU, Fresno State, Boston College, or even ITT Tech? Trade colleges usually market themselves and graduates in trade publications, which I doubt you are doing and would lend itself to your seeming anonymity amongst legal professionals. Even in Google searching your college it wasn't prominantly dispalyed with the search engine (meaning near top results in paralegal education).

In conclusion, my student and her parents will be informed of what I could find out about your school and links to the information provided so they can draw their own conclusions as well. I recomend finding a way to resolve your legal issues created by your attempt to defend yourself, remember education is not a court room you have different responsibilities now. Being honest if this were a former student of mine I would recomend they seek legal action against your school for this breech of confidentiality.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-647267

Hello Interesting. I have not seen any bashing at all actually.

I just see that people disagree with you.

I can agree with you on one small point, and that is that I have not thoroughly read a certain post. Other than that, I do not feel anyone is being bashed, I just disagree with some of the things that are being said.

Concerned Educator, what school are you from?

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-647267

Wow, "Concerned educator" it takes a real *** to come after someone's job anonymously on the internet. Ellis is a great professor and I had him for 2 classes.

I don't care what a few websites say.

You don't know Ellis Washington at all. Saying that he shouldn't work for NPC without even having the guts to use your name is really classless.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-785563

Bethany, it looks to me that "Concerned Educator" is actually the origional poster to this board & that's why he is anonymous.

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