Customer ReviewsforPenn Foster
59 Customer Reviews
- Date
- Highest Rating
- Lowest Rating
Review from Jean S
1 star04/12/2024
Penn Foster can not be cancelled. Don't do it. If your student decides to go the G.E.D. route, they will not cancel. My daughter signed the grandchild up for the program. My daughter can't pay. The minor child got the G.E.D. instead. Now they are trying to suck the money out of a teenager. Terrible company. I do NOT recommend. If your child goes another route, You owe the money.Penn Foster Response
04/15/2024
Dear ***********************,Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each and every suggestion to improve our students experience. We would like to add that each and every student situation is different, and we would like to treat them independently as Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. I was unable to locate the account you are referring to with the limited information provided. All students can withdraw from their program. The account would be closed out according to the terms of the signed enrollment agreement. All terms are located directly on the enrollment agreement and can be located on our website at the following link ************************************************************************. Thank You ******************************** Escalation SpecialistReview from Darren C
5 stars03/07/2024
Penn Foster was a good program for our children. While not the most advanced academic program, it is above mainstream education, and is very flexible! Worked perfect for our military homeschool family. Our children have all done very well post -secondary education, largely from the encouragement and support that they received with Penn Foster.Penn Foster Response
03/19/2024
Dear Darren C******,
Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each and every suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We thank you and your family for your kind words. Please keep us in mind for all of your future academic needs.
Thank You
Andrew K*******Review from Montse A
1 star02/09/2024
Would give a 0 if I could. Continued to withdraw money from my paychecks after sending me an email months after that they were stopping. Just to withdraw $600. And now it’s been 10 weeks since they said I’d receive my money and they’ve been giving me the run around saying now it will be in my work paycheck. After making me wait 10 weeks to never receive anything. I just want my money back just as fast as you withdrew itPenn Foster Response
02/12/2024
Dear Montse A******, Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each and every suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We would like to add that each and every student situation is different, and we would like to treat them independently as Penn foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. After reviewing your account, we see you were enrolled though our Business-to-Business division. If a refund is going back to a student’s paycheck, it will take some time. Penn Foster would need to refund the business who then would have their payroll team add the credit to the student’s paycheck. We will contact you directly with more specific information. Thank You Andrew K******* Sr Escalation SpecialistReview from Jeferson D
1 star02/06/2024
literal bs. Tried to cancel and they will not pick up the phone. Just say no to this sh!t program and choose james m******.Penn Foster Response
02/08/2024
Dear Jeferson D********, Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each and every suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We would like to add that each and every student situation is different, and we would like to treat them independently as Penn foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. Please call us during normal operating hours at 888.427.1000. You can also send over your request by emailing **********************. Thank You Andrew ******** Sr Escalation SpecialistReview from Melissa P
1 star01/22/2024
Signing the Penn Foster Enrollment Agreement means that if you opt for “monthly automatic withdrawal” it will include “… $20 as your initial payment by card and $55 each month for 20 months plus a final payment of $19 towards your total price of $1139”. But, it also means, your child cannot have proof of high school graduation without “…fulfillment of your financial obligations.” I strongly question the legality of the conflicting provisions that allow Penn Foster to hold an earned high school diploma hostage until the pre-established 20-month payment plan is paid in full. In Layman’s terms, aside from a transcript that does not include a date of completion, there may be a significant gap in higher education, trade school, or employment eligibility for up to 20 months (nearly 2 years) until the stipulated 20-month financial obligation has been met. Like many past and present parents, I enrolled my child at Penn Foster with blissful ignorance that will put a halt to his post-graduation opportunities and expectations. If nothing else, Penn Foster’s ambiguously written “legally binding contact” lacks the ethical fidelity of the school’s mission to democratize education by impeding a student’s positive contribution to society unless a parent, like myself on a fix income, can expedite the contractual 20-month financial agreement; the complete antithesis of "reaching to underserved populations".Review from Lynn M
1 star12/17/2023
Penn Foster helpline is staffed with people who have no training and they cannot help you. All they will do is forward you to a vm that will take 24 hours to return your call. It may actually take several days. This is after they ask you, for verification purposes, 1.) your mailing address 2.) your physical address 3.) your phone number 4.) your email address 5.) your full legal name 6.) your student ID number. The how-to videos are so unprofessional with such poor audio, and out of focus, they are no help. The quality of the course material is a joke. I am currently a successful student, my instructors are happy to make a note of errors in the course material so that it can be fixed. Penn Foster is not interested in this. In fact, they lied to me directly, saying that the sponsor of the program( General Motors) provided the course material, not Penn Foster ( so please stop bringing these errors to our attention because we don’t want to know and we don’t care ). Not only do they not train their support staff, other than mandating an overreach in requiring inappropriate and excessive information to verify you, they also hire overseas, dollar-a-day type technical support that are also untrained and unable to help you; this is after you are required to allow them to remotely access your computer and all your personal information is compromised again. I called my local to complain along with the Detroit offices of UAW, in retaliation Penn Foster found that I violated their policies and terminated my enrollment, complete with a fancy letter from their legal team. Do not do business with this school. They are all about making profits. Spare yourself the frustration. It is a waste of your time and money. What I have noticed on this site is Penn Foster answers submissions, sounding all reasonable and giving excuses for low rating. I urge students to seek a different path from Penn Foster. There are so many schools going under yet this school remains?Penn Foster Response
01/12/2024
Dear Lynn M***,
Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. Privacy is important to everyone. At Penn Foster, we care about your privacy as well and want you to feel comfortable and secure when speaking with the school. There will always be a verification process prior to releasing any account information. As we welcome all feedback on our content, we make best effort to correct any errors that may have been originally missed. As you have mentioned General Motors and our Penn Foster for Organizations division, this does include reaching out to any third-party if the content is not ours. Penn Foster students, faculty and staff are held to the highest standards of academic integrity. When there is a violation of school policies, proper steps are followed. Penn Foster may take disciplinary action that ranges from a warning to academic probation to dismissal from the school.
Thank You
Andrew K*******
Sr Escalation SpecialistReview from ronicka b
1 star12/15/2023
false advertisement and a scam, the moment you sign up for a dollar you automatically owe them the full amount doesn't matter if you never log in again after that doesn't matter if you send a written statement in saying you want it canceled doesn't matter if they ask you to settle for a lesser amount they will take that settled amount say they never got it and still send all of it to collections you are locked into a contract that says this when you sign up but they dont make it seem like that when talking to you on the phone. The material is outdated , there's an inappropriate amount of spelling errors and grammar mistakes, the material does not actually prepare you for the test or what you'll be doing in the field, customer service is very rude and disrespectful, there are projects and links that are giving error messages yes the page where you have to do you project is no longer in service and you cannot complete your course without it and it also wont let you continue when you reach out to customer service it takes weeks and months for them to respond, if you have a copy of you request to cancel letter and they didnt you have a good case for a lawsuit but unfortunately i did not make a copy of mine and really wish i kept track of everything they did to me because i would be suing for sure and worst of all they wait as long as they can before telling you that you owe them for previous programs so by the time you find out you've already switched multiple programs and you've got about $3000 plus in collections , i do not understand for the life of me how they are still in business they are very predatory on people in desperate situations and i want them shut down!Penn Foster Response
12/18/2023
Dear Ronicka B***** Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each and every suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We would like to add that each and every student situation is different and we would like to treat them independently as Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. At Penn Foster, we continue to develop new ways to expand and improve student satisfaction. However, if you are not satisfied or can no longer continue your studies, we offer a generous refund policy. If you cancel within the first 5 days of enrollment (for Penn Foster High School or Penn Foster Career School students) or first 6 days of enrollment (for Penn Foster College students) you will receive a full refund. After the first 5 or 6 days your refund amount will be based on: • Lessons completed • Tuition collected • Enrollment date Penn Foster College students must notify us in writing. All cancellation terms are outlined on the enrollment agreement and at the following link https://www.pennfoster.edu/admissions/policies/refund-policy. Penn Foster College has earned national accreditation. Accreditation is a public notification that an institution and a program meet the quality standards set forth by the accreditor. It means that Penn Foster schools and programs have been evaluated against a pre-determined set of criteria set forth by the accrediting body. Thank You Andrew K******* Sr Escalation SpecialistReview from Shaston C
1 star12/13/2023
Do not give them your information until you are ready to move forward. They called me every day until i called them back, i told them i would contact them when I was ready to move forward. They called more the following 2 days until I reiterated that i didnt want to be contacted. To no avail, i was receiving texts every day - which i replied STOP. they sent me emails-i unsubscribed, i still got more emails. Thinking its something i did on my end, i checked again, and it said i hadnt unsubscribed.... Okay. I unsubscribe and make sure there are no more buttons to press. I get another email from them the next day. Even for the price, this makes me no want to move forward with this institution. They seem extremely desperate for students. So much so they will harass anyone that shows a slight interest.Penn Foster Response
12/19/2023
Dear Shaston C****
Thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each and every suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We would like to add that each and every student situation is different, and we would like to treat them independently as Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. We ran a search for the email that you provided; however we could not locate you in our database. I will send you an email to connect with me as we would like to make sure all your contacts are removed from our system.
Thank You
Andrew K*******
Sr Escalation SpecialistReview from Jack S
1 star11/09/2023
The only thing Penn Foster can accomplish is processing a payment and giving a refund. It's really a terrible program and I wouldn't hire anyone that attends Penn Foster. Also, I wouldn't hang out with, or want to be related to anyone that attends Penn Foster.Penn Foster Response
11/13/2023
Dear Jack S., thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We would like to add that every student situation is different, and we would like to treat them independently as Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. Any additional concerns you may have, you can reach out to me directly at [email protected]. Thank you, Laura C.Review from Jatiana P
1 star11/06/2023
If I could give them a zero i would. This was the most horrible experience. I lost my mother and my uncle. Plus was homeless at one point in time. So school was not a priority at all for me to think about while mourning the loss of my mother especially then losing my uncle. I was finally able to start thinking about school again to pay my last $79 for my course in full but was told that I can't restart my classes, I have to re-enroll in the classes and also pay for the entire course all over again. The only thing she would be willing to do is give me a $250 voucher for $900 course. The person that responded to my re-enrollment email had no compassion what so ever and stated she will await to hear back from.me so she can close my account. Like how is this even fair. I only finished about 12% of my course before everything fell apart. I paid for this with my hard earned money and I still am left with nothing to show for. I can't even get my money back to go an do another course somewhere else.Penn Foster Response
11/13/2023
Dear Jatiana P., thank you for taking the time to provide a review about Penn Foster. We welcome all feedback and use each suggestion to improve our student’s experience. We would like to add that every student situation is different, and we would like to treat them independently as Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. My deepest condolences goes out to your family and you during this time. All students are held to the terms of their enrollment agreement, the contract is a binding agreement, I apologize that the program was not completed within the timeframe. All students will have to follow the re-enrollment process. Thank you, Laura C.
Customer Review Rating
Average of 59 Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating
BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.
BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.
BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.
As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business.