Jobless College Grad Wants Tuition Back From Alma Mater

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Monroe College, is a great school which is on the rise most private schools are for profit. you go to columbia and you have to pay back all them loans just to make 40,000 a year, that's not a good look. The girl who tried to sue the school was just plain dumb. Most people go to them big name schools where you're just a number and still get bad job's, is who you know in order to get a good job. Monroe College has a large amount of graduates and it keeps growing strong yearly, just like any other school when they first started. Save the cocky hate comments.

blank of NY 8:24PM July 25, 2011

This isn't a knock on anyone who attends schools like Monroe, but a degree or certificate from schools like this doesn't get much respect out in the working world. Also, those who attend schools like this are often seen as people who are new to the country and/or are just trying to look for a shortcut to success. I literally laughed out loud after reading this article. She doesn't sound too bright. She sounds like someone who just didn't research the school, and her desired profession, enough to know that she wouldn't have it "easy" landing her dreamjob immediately after graduation, and sued just for the hell of it. What an idiot. I don't feel bad for her at all.

Stephen J. Jerome of NY 6:41AM August 11, 2009

Good grief. It's well known that even law grads, who hold a juris doctorate, are being asked by the law firms to defer their start dates due to the recession (all those transactional lawyers are hurting, because not as many corporations are expanding, acquiring properties, and so forth).
Try applying in industries you've actually worked in before, because after recently landing something new, after two months of a solid effort, I got hired due to having the experience.
This is not the time to aim for things where one lacks experience, because it is a buyer's market. And, due to the economy, even the new lawyers are being asked to defer their start dates for a year, and those students, depending on the quality of the law school, have probably $100,000 plus in student loan debt.
1. This is not the time to try out something new and different. Stick to where you've got prior work experience, unless you've interned in your new area of study, if a recent student.
2. Give it more that 4 months! I have years of work experience, and it took 2 solid months of screening out the job scams that are running rampant to finally land 2 (yes, that's it, just two!) interviews, the second leading to an offer (thankfully).
3. Interview well. It helps.
4. If you sue your school over not landing a gig fast enough, your employer might fear that you're going to sue the employer for not advancing you fast enough. Not a smart decision.
That said, if the goal is to get attention from the press because you have student loan debt and are trying to land a news spot to whine about it, then this is a brilliant PR move, indeed. Get her a job in marketing something outrageous.
Last tip: When you leave one employer, write up a nice letter of praise for your former department head to have in his or her file, along with some written for really great co-workers. That way, you've made them look good to their higher up bosses.
It helps when you need future job references, and it works, too.

Angie Koutrotsios of IL 10:21PM August 04, 2009

While this woman will not win this lawsuit, I feel bad for her because she probably did not know when she enrolled, that Monroe Business Institute is just a family business owned and run by the president Stephen Jerome, his wife and kids. It is a diploma mill. Look on the College Board website, it is a "proprietary" school, not a "non-profit" like normal colleges.

Margot T. of NJ 10:19PM August 04, 2009

Discrimination Is Occurring On A Massive Scale Against Qualified US Citizens.
The Middle Class Has Been Destroyed.
Families Have Been Torn Apart.
The EEOC, the OFCCP, the DOJ-OSC Have Done Next To Nothing To Protect US Citizens Whose National Origin Is USA.
Immigration Law Firms Are Harming American Workers.
The H-1B Visa guest worker program has “RESERVED” millions of high-value jobs for citizens of foreign countries.
"Fake Job Ads” consistently and routinely DENY, DEPRIVE, EXCLUDE and DISCRIMINATE against United States Citizens during the hiring process.
Here is Cohen & Grigsby, a prominent immigration law firm, displaying their Good Faith Efforts To Recruit American Workers...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU
When companies have job openings, they "place an order" with job descriptions to third party recruiters like ManPower, Volt, Adecco, Robert Half, etc.
The job descriptions are not advertised publicly so that qualified US Citizens can apply.
This is a violation of EEO, the law of the land and the Civil Rights Act of 1967's "Unlawful Employment Practices'.
The available talent pool in the US workforce is being COMPLETELY BYPASSED
(and not just under-utilized).
Only mom & pop recruiting firms willing to $ub$cribe to the large third party firms services can see the job descriptions and then submit resumes from H-1bs…
Resume Blaster Streams $ubScribe to their service…
also a violation of EEO… segregating resumes by National Origin…
and it is all automated using information technology.
Out in the field, we are not seeing the job descriptions and
the most meritorious candidates are not receiving any job offers.
US Citizens and Green Card Holders never know the job openings even existed.
This is exclusion / discrimination.

Margaret of IA 9:29PM August 04, 2009

Go home sweetie ,and finish growing up.Any lawyer that would accept such a case as this needs to be disbarred from practicing law.

James Hall of VA 8:14PM August 04, 2009

So Tina, you want your 70K back? The school should have something in return. You should give your brains back like nothing happened.
A degree should be viewed as a tool. Just like everything else, it is only as good as the user. It is not a guarantee to a sweet life.
Now with litigation under your belt, employers would think twice about hiring someone who sues at a drop of a hat. Good luck finding a job.

Loy 7:26PM August 04, 2009

Why does everyone seem to think that going into the IT market is going to get them a high paying job right out of college. It is her own fault and the schools. The colleges push IT as one of the highest paying fields to enter, but they fail to tell the students that after years of experience and getting overrated certifications they still have to compete against every lower life H1B-Visa holder taking the jobs of experienced IT professionals every day for half the wages. Along with the IT Managers sending the work overseas to save a few bucks so they can get a nice bonus.
I have over ten years in the business and a B.S. and over fifteen certifications and my company sent the work to Mexico and have them remote into our routers, switches, and servers. This is what they told my IT department in a form letter "as you may be aware, our business outlook and profitability is dependent upon our customers. The current customer outlook requires XYZ company to address our plant operating costs. As a result, a number of positions have been eliminated to align our cost structure. The decision to terminate your employment has been made after careful consideration and is effective immediately". In other words, IT does not make us money and they do it for a lot less in Mexico, India, and Asia.
Colleges do still teach ethics I hope! Maybe they should lower their overrated tuition costs! Come on $70,000 for an IT degree that's is just raping the students and the big boys of the certification world have not even got some yet.
Hell with a health care reform, it sounds like we need an education reform and caps on tuition costs.
With that said, she can only blame her-self in this market it just hard to find a job and one that pays a living wage. She should try the temp jobs and start getting some help desk experience and after the market returns. It time will pay off and she will get a much better paying job.

Big Daddy of FL 5:57PM August 04, 2009

She needs to learn to spell! Did you read what she wrote in her complaint? I wouldn't hire her based only on her poor spelling skills.

Janice of OH 5:26PM August 04, 2009

Time to be a grown-up, Trina.
You have to make decisions and be accountable for them now. You chose the school, course of study, and classes. You applied to wherever to get jobs. Your choices. Your life.
Time te re-eveluate your expectations. The best thing to do is usually find something that requires flexibility - in location and hours. Experienced people are less likely to compete with you there.
Trina, you are a beginner - yes it's true. Beginners make less, work goofier hours, and have to EARN respect. THEN you can earn more $$.
I worked my way through school - paid it all myself. Worked waiting tables, in canneries, in offices, in bars, and in fields picking vegetables. I have an MBA now, am a CPA, have a great job and stability. But it took time. And hard work. And an open mind about where I would live.
Try it. Quit blaming others and improvise. Otherwise you just look like a spoiled kid with no prospects. No one wants to hire a person like that.

Dorfy of SC 5:17PM August 04, 2009