As West Coast College prepares to close its doors for good, some students have been unable to reach school officials to find out about tuition refunds or what to do next.
“I am very frustrated and I’m very disappointed,” said Krishna Thomas, a West Coast College student four months away from completing her dental assistant certification. “We’re trying to find out what’s going on. That’s a lot of money that we’ve put into the school for them to just keep ignoring us.”
West Coast College, which has operated on Seventh Street in Victorville for the past 11 years, has stopped enrolling new students and is closing by Dec. 11 because of financial hardships exacerbated by tighter student loan criteria, said Tasha Bell, who is assisting the college with the closure.
School officials are working with students on an individual basis and dealing with the situation as quickly as possible, Bell said.
“West Coast College is working with all of its existing students that will be affected by the closure to assist them in transferring to new schools that will acknowledge the credits that they have achieved thus far,” Bell said.
However, several students said no one is working with them yet, or even answering their phone calls.
The local number listed for West Coast College is disconnected and the two toll-free numbers posted on the school’s Web site give callers a constant busy signal.
Thomas, 36, said she was notified of the school’s closing two weeks ago when a school administrator told her she would get a full tuition refund for her $20,000 in loans and gave her a phone number to call for more information, she said.
Thomas said she left a message at the number two weeks ago and has tried calling back nearly every day since. None of her calls have been returned, she said.
Thomas’ classmate, Heather Cottone, had not yet received official notification of the school’s closing. Cottone, 21, tried calling again Monday, only to find the line had been disconnected.
“It makes you wonder if you’re going to get a diploma and it makes you worry about what you invested in — and your future,” said Cottone, who is able to complete her final hours for certification through an externship this week. “For the girls that weren’t as far along as me, I worry about what’s going to happen to them.”
Four students in the billing and coding program will finish their course in its entirety, while the school will contact the other 30 students from its Victorville and Ontario campuses as the office receives information about their individual situations, Bell said.
“All calls are being returned as time allows for the skeleton staff that is currently available at the college,” she said.source
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