This school was a true joke in all the sense of the word. To start off with how I was accepted into the school. I had a dream of becoming an animator for Disney. That was the dream for me. I was told that I needed know how to draw to be accepted into the animation program, so I submitted three of my best drawings and lo and behold, I got a callback. I moved to Tempe, AZ with aspirations of becoming an animator and working my way to Disney. Well, when school started after 3 months into the program I started to realize I wasn't in the animation program that I asked for. I came to realize I was in Graphic Design. I started asking questions and when I went to see my counselor to get some clarity and also who I submitted work to and who kept my original drawings on her walls, was no longer there and neither were my drawings. She had quit and taken them with her along with other students work. I made a big complaint and was told that, that was the program I was put in and that I needed to prove again that I could draw to be accepted into the animation program. I showed them and they immediately agreed that I could draw. By then I was deep into a program I didn't want to be in, in the first place. Years later I've tried to get credits transferred to another college as I am returning back to school, they conveniently closed down to fraudulent practices (like putting students into programs to suit the school's needs for funding) and come to find out they didn't update my GPA and I was stuck with a below average GPA so, I had to jump through hoops to prove to the new college I had a very high GPA. Now I am finding out my AA is pretty much just a worthless piece of paper and would be better off made into a paper airplane. It's embarrassing to have that on my application as I have not been hired for nothing to do with what I went to school for. Tuition is still there too. There has been a huge criminal investigation and it's all public documented. See for yourselves. read more

I used to work at Collins College in Tempe. All they cared about was money, and the level of dishonesty, especially with CEC employees (parent company/owner) was disgraceful, and sometimes illegal. Like when I discovered a new student had an $18k loan he did not apply for or know about. He said he used scholarships to pay his tuition and did not need a loan, so I pulled his promissory note; showed him it was electronically signed, approved for $18k - and he was shocked! He thought his tuition was already paid, and no one mentioned him needing a loan. In the end, his admissions rep got all the necessary personal information by telling him it was for his enrollment application -- then he used it to electronically sign a promissory note but never told him. And they tried to reprimand me for canceling a loan the student clearly did not sign, want or even know he had. That's just the tip of the iceberg; the place was a nightmare, and it is good they are closed. Corporations like CEC that are only care about profit should not be allowed to own any schools. read more

I went to this school back in 1994 when it was called "Al Collins Graphic Design School" and it had just been bought out by Fuji Film. The school had a cheaper tuition than the super expensive Seattle Art Institute - I only paid about $13,000 for the Tuition back then. They also had a lifetime guarantee that they would help you with finding a job - which they did at that time. They always brought in out-of-state students, and NOBODY would hire you if they saw that you went to that school. Most students ended up working there at the college. I realized after a while that my AA degree was pretty much bogus. We stayed at the old Greenery Apartments - it was a makeshift dorm facility for the school, it was nothing but parties and chaos. Its too bad that they changed to an even worse school - I was there right after Al Collins himself left the school. He was a scam artist. I was able to get into a newspaper where in Washington state as a graphic designer but they never really cared about my AA and I am still in the field so I guess it worked out. If I could redo the past, I would of chose a different school. read more

I started with a class of about 60, however only 10 or so made it through to graduation. Does the field of graphic design attract people more apt to drop-out? I don't know, but in my experience what you get out of something correlates to what you put in. I learned a tremendous amount through Collins College and have had a long, rewarding and lucrative career as a result. read more

The majority of these for-profit schools are a scam, and this one is no exception. It's far too expensive, the job market for game/graphic design is shaky at best and the pay for those jobs will hardly make a dent in your student loans. Trust me when I say I've run the numbers...and this was back when the economy was "going great" -whatever that meant. If you want to get into tech, start at the bottom and take a few programming classes at the local CC. Then plan on transferring to a four-year school later on. read more

Going to college follows one simple principle: You pay them and you in turn receive an education. Collins College is the exception. The loans you pull (from private and federal sources) are for very large sums that end up total to a mean of roughly sixty-thousand dollars (~$60,000). These loans are generally low in interest, however Collins will not help you in knowing when or if your interest rates for subsequent loans are increased. The highest I heard of from an attending student was a $30,000 loan at a 14% interest rate, which, if you aren't keen on interest rates, is downright awful. That was just one loan. You will end up accruing many more loans throughout this "education". Speaking of which, the education you receive can easily be achieved by purchasing student license versions of programs (such as 3DS Max, Adobe CS4, et cetera) and playing around with the tutorials. If you want to acquire an education that relates to the Video Game or Graphic Design Industries, you are WAY better off looking into a community college, a non-profit university, or a list of books that are readily available via Amazon.com. You certainly will NOT get what you pay for from Collins College, no matter how you sugar coat it. I have spoken to many other alumni from Collins College and from Art Institute (both of which are known as "For-Profit" institutions), and everyone has a remarkably similar story. Received a crappy education, an incredible amount of debt, and work jobs that don't pay enough to make their student loan payments. If you have a car that is paid off, no cell phone bill, and you live at home with your folks, you can probably swing the average repayment bill of ~$650. That, though, is peanuts compared to the highest I've heard of (that being ~$780 per month). Do NOT waste your time, money, or life attending ANY For-Profit program. Two years of nothing but ridiculous debt is NOT worth the toilet paper degree. read more

Garbage, crap, basura, poo poo. What else can you say about Collins College. How 'bout this, I moved alllllll the way out here from Fresno CA, to attend school in 2004, got my degree in 2006. Fast forward, going to school to get my CDL now, for trucking, for those of you who don't know what a CDL is..... F U Collins College. Job placement, BS! Student loans were consolidated and have still been hanging over me for the last three years. They took a total of 60k and I'm left footing the bill. Turn around, dead end. These are the signs that should be placed at the entrance of that joke of back door, fly by night "institution". read more

We were here for a graduation of one of there students so we got a free tour of the place. If I were to go into this field of work and go back to school this would be a college I would consider. read more

DO NOT come near this so-called educational institution!!! You will end up with HUGE student loans, poor education, and ZERO help with employment search. No industry will take their diploma seriously! read more

I was looking up schools out of state because Hawaii's University didn't provide advanced up to date training in media production back in 2004-2005. Their website looked legitimate so I made the call and was greeted and informed by a very friendly 20 something girl (who's name I can't recall but have written down somewhere,) who gave me a very detailed and positive narrative of the school, it's curriculum, staff, housing, accreditation and emphasized it's state of the art training with up to date software and computers. Over two weeks, I corresponded with this same rep who assured me I didn't need to bring a computer from home as a new one would be provided that would run the current software needed for classes and no matter what my financing options, they would adjust the loan for payment up to one year after completion of the courses, no problem. Let's say not one of the promises made while I was in Hawaii came out as claimed saved for the location of the school. They sent a brochure for a 17 inch screen Powerbook G4 laptop and tried to deliver without telling me a 15 inch Powerbook with a smaller drive and less features. It took 4 months or more and many letters to different departments who ignored me before I finally ended up writing the President of the school 3 or 4 times to get a meeting, only to have him deny they were in any way obliged to provide the computer they said they would, citing some claim of the right to making changes to equipment availability without notice forcing me to threaten to leave the school and report them to The Better Business Bureau. Only THEN did they provide the right computer and 4 months after scheduled delivery. I had to do all my homework at the school between classes and work. Fortunately the courses were so easy, I aced them all, save for one C in audio production caused by choosing to work on a production in another county for a week, missing the final. They modified my loans without notification until after the changes took effect, including a decision to change my loan to pay as I attend instead of after completion of courses. I took low paying employment and commuted without a car (another detail they left out saying I didn't need one for a campus job,) to pay for food and rent, something they said the loan would take care, then they drop the $150 a month on me. Even with a full class schedule and work it was easy to get A's and I even sat in on second "year" courses more my speed to get pointers. Since moving home, I am still on the verge of bankruptcy with Sallie Mae threatening to garnish my non-existent wages and homeless to boot at present. I returned broke, heartsick, exhausted and without a certificate and little references, no place to live, no car and no leads. I recovered and found piece meal work while caregiving for my Mom, then my Dad before he died, but it's been very sketchy at best. The fact I attended Collins impressed no one in the business in AZ. In fact, I was told I was a sucker. Trade school scams are common in AZ I find out, Collins is included with Sallie Mae in an investigative report by 60 Minutes. They are there to collect money from you through borderline if not actually fraudulent loan practices, kick you out with nothing to show and destroy your financial standing with crippling debt. read more

Graduated in 08, in dept $108,000 working a dead end job. My interest on my loans keep growing. Can't pay them. Can't even afford to get a new computer so I can start animating. They don't give you every program you need. You will need to bootleg them off of torrent websites. I was expected to know how to use photoshop. Didn't know it. Big time scam! If you look for a job in Tempe or Phoenix you're going to see the add's say ART INSTITUTE ONLY. That should tell you something about Collins College. I should have went to the Art Institute. They don't place you in a job after wards. When you graduate they give you a bunch of tutorials and send you job opportunities which isn't a bad thing. Or you could go be a video game tester for $8 an hour. I couldn't do that because I was already making $14 at the hospital. I had a car payment and my own apartment. All around bad experience. Going to this school was the biggest mistake of my life. On the other hand my ex roommate ended up becoming self employed and has his own business. So it does work for some. I can just imagine how many students that went there when I attended are in dept. Some didn't even take showers or comb their hair. Sallie Mae is making a killing off of students. read more

This college, in my opinion is a rip off. A bachelors degree in less than 4 yrs, classes that were supposed to be offered that were not; oh, but you can pay more tuition and take them after graduation. Parents paid for tickets to graduation, after graduation we were all ushered out, the reception was cancelled, the building locked up. No internships, no job search supports. You are on your own. I know the economy did not help, but after $65k my daughter, who graduated with a bachelors in visual arts, emphasis in game design, cant find work in that field. The amt of time to earn the degree lessened after starting, the tuition increased. The financial aid office would not assist my daughter in filing for stafford loans; insisted that I get parent plus loans. My payments are over $800 month, can not be consolidated or deferred because they are parent plus loans! She also ended up going to collection for a stafford loan she did not file for or sign a promissory note for, nor did she ever get an mail in regards to this loan. But, can't look into, no response from Collins with requests for full financial records! Now, I hear they are closing their doors??? Beware of these colleges! Do you research, take your time and try to stay local if you can; its easier to check the reputation of the college. read more

I arrived in town from a long season of working on a documentary and was staying in Phoenix to recuperate, when I saw an ad for Collins College on local daytime television. I decided that I would go in for a tour. i was really impressed with the course work and curriculum and I immediately signed up for classes in a future semester. I went back to LA and did some work in some places and was paying back my loan in order to attend classes that spring. That December my advisor, whom I had been speaking with daily, stopped returning calls. She finally reached out to me while I was on the phone with the admissions office some weeks later, and they announced that the ART INSTITUTE HAD BOUGHT AND SHUT DOWN COLLINS COLLEGE BECAUSE IT WAS COMPETITIVE IN BUSINESS AND ETHICS. I went to the Art Institute for a tour and they did not know anything about film or music in the technical sense and it would be a waste of money to go there when they only offer a certificate. Collins offered bachelor degrees. read more

I am writing this review to bring several disturbing issues that has been happening at the 1425 W 14th Street Learning Center. This message is for the Dean of the school or whoever is in charge of that center between the hours of 3 pm to 11 pm. The security company that the college has hired probably has no clue that one of the security guards who works at that location not only smokes weed while on duty, he encourages the students to smoke with him behind the school building. I think someone should look into this matter before it leaks out to the media. This particular security guard had also been seen leaving his post and climbing into his friend's vehicle and would leave his post while on duty. This is unacceptable conduct from a security stand point. A school is supposed to be a safe place for our kids especially for night classes. The security company is supposed to provide the students and faculty that peace of mind. This individual is abusing his authority to entice students to smoke weed during school hours at the school ground, for crying out loud!!!. That security guard is risking the reputation of Collins College. He is clearly abusing his access to the school facility. For all we know he could be using the campus on weekends as a hang out place to sell drugs!!! For the safety of our students, could someone please investigate immediately? The security company needs to be held accountable for their employee's conduct. Please Sir or Madam, I am simply relaying to you the concerns one of your students had witnessed and for privacy issues, my source would like to remain anonymous. read more

I too was a student at this school over 10 yrs ago. There were several good teachers and a dean / principal who didn't care. A student was dating an instructor and she became pregnant. A fellow student was drawing inappropriate pictures and sexually harrassing myself and other students. The instructor brushed it off and laughed about it. We were all very upset and did not want to return to school. I met with the dean / principal and an instructor who basically told me to mind my own businesses, that it was "me" instigating a witch hunt and told me not to talk to other students about this topic. The school also promised several students who were recruited from CA that they would help them in finding jobs, place to live, etc. and never followed through. I am stuck with a huge student loan and basically recieved nothing in return. I agree with David D. - if you want to follow this career path, attend a local CC, then transfer to an accredited University. read more