Complaints
This profile includes complaints for San Joaquin Valley College, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 9 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 2 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
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Submit a ComplaintThe complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.
Initial Complaint
Date:10/01/2024
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
This school has not delivered on any of its promises. The two main reasons for me filling a complaint is because they stated that they would help students find jobs in the trade which they did not do, and when students do find jobs on their own **** takes credit for it in order to get commission.Reason number two is they charge students so much for these courses and do not deliver on providing an Electrical Trainee card and make students go out their way and pay out of pocket to redeem this card. I feel that if they are not going to deliver on what **** says they will do then I should not be held accountable to pay the full amount of tuition.
Business Response
Date: 10/09/2024
SJVC has attempted to contact Mr. Chamorro directly regarding his
complaint but have been unable to connect as of the time of this response.
In speaking to his claims, the Electrical Trainee Card that Mr.
Chamorro mentioned is issued by the California Department of Industrial
Relations, based on an application prepared by the student and then sent by the
school along with payment that is covered by SJVC.
The College believed the application to have been filed correctly.
When the College was notified that the card had not been received, a new
application was prepared and sent, again at no cost to the student. If the
student went out of pocket to file a separate application, the College is
prepared to reimburse the student.
A key point of clarification to the complaint, the College
receives no financial renumeration from employers when graduates begin
employment, regardless of whether it was coordinated by the school or obtained
by the student.
Based on this response, the College is not prepared to issue a
refund, as all of the educational content was delivered consistent with the
terms of the student enrollment agreement and the College Catalog in effect at
the time of the enrollment.
SJVC is available to meet with Mr. Chamorro to discuss his
complaint and provide additional support.Initial Complaint
Date:02/27/2024
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
This is a program for CST. The program started October 2022 and ended Jan 2024. It started off with 2 instructors and 1 director.This school did not have available instructors to teach us what was promised because they both quit in April. The director stepped in but was teaching 3 classes so that we had no time to be in lab and learn what we were promised before starting clinicals.Also we started refresher because he was made aware that the instructor from the beginning of module 2 was not up to par in his teaching as well as teaching was behind. I was delayed starting my clinical rotation by 6 weeks. Which put me behind on clinical hours, so that I was required to take personal time to go to class more thank what was required in result of that. When a new instructor was finally hired, she failed to teach us, majority of the time dismissing the class early, or failing to be "able to sign into her account on the computer". We never received the remainder of lab class that we were supposed to get. I reached out in May of 2023 to ************** and have been in contact back and forth with *********************** since then, acknowledging their mistakes for them to say in Feb 2024 that they will not do anything.Business Response
Date: 03/04/2024
**** is committed to the success of every student. We work to adapt to labor market conditions while following applicable practices and standards. Generally, depending on each students individual needs, we offer additional lab time, additional test prep sessions prior to the *** exam, and we have options available for retaking course content. While this graduates personal feeling about her experience is regrettable, we endeavor to provide ongoing support for our students and alumni, which includes lifetime access to Graduate Services. All of these services remain available to ****************** to support her continued success.Customer Answer
Date: 03/04/2024
I am rejecting this response because:
**** has claimed that they offered to offer additional lab time etc. In fact that is a lie. We were not given a instructor to teach what we were supposed to be taught. I and my entire class had to teach ourselves, on our time in order to pass the exam. They provided a instructor to prepare for the final exam, AFTER our schooling was finished. He was there only to prep for exams and not the 8 months of missed education. Furthermore they did not provide an alternative to students to view his teaching online if you were unable to make it to the classes. Which again was offered AFTER school was official finished which was Jan 5th 2024. This school charges for 15 months of education and classes , they only provided 6 months of ACTUAL class time with a instructor who was teaching the curriculum.Business Response
Date: 03/11/2024
**** has polices,processes, and practices in plan to support a learning environment.Faculty must meet the requirements of the position, which includes experience and education. During ****************** enrollment period, the Surgical Technology Associate of Science program at ************* was in compliance with the Standard and Recommendation of the ********************* on education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (ARC/STSA) and accreditation was granted by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health.Education Programs (CAAHEP). Additional instructional time was offered during a break week, May 22nd-26th of 2023. Additional preparation and instruction support was provided following graduation, prior to the scheduled *** examination, administered by the ************************************************************. It is our goal to support students to successfully pass their licensing exam and secure employment in their field of study. We offer alumni the option to return to campus for coursework they would like additional support in. If ***************** has yet to pass the *** examination, we remain available to support with supplementary training at no additional charge and, in either case, can assist her with employment search support. ****************** may connect with the Academic **** if she is interested in retaking a course, free of charge.Customer Answer
Date: 03/20/2024
I am rejecting this response because:
Although I appreciate that **** is offering that I RETAKE the courses free of charge, because they FAILED to provide the instructors during my time at ****. I do not accept that as an suffice resolution to the fact that I spent my time at ****, they did not provide acceptable teaching while I was there for the 15 months as promised. Why would I spend more of my time going back? As well as their claim to providing additional time during a BREAK and AFTER the program officially ended on Jan 2nd, 2024. That is not sufficient to make up for the time without instructors where we as students were teaching ourselves. To expect someone to come back for additional courses, when you have already charged $42,000 + for 15 months but did not have sufficient instructors teaching all the courses for more than half the time is very unreasonable. If you look at ****** and yelp reviews for **** this isn't the first time they have done this, they just keep getting away with stealing money from students and not providing what they advertise. I absolutely REJECT their response, not only is it unreasonable it's for the most part not true.Initial Complaint
Date:11/28/2023
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
We all feel as though this program is not at all what we were promised or expecting. For the last 24 weeks we have not been given the proper course material due to staffing issues. We understand that there are new teachers however our education that we are paying a lot of money for, those standard are not being upheld. Prior to this new staffing we were promised to have the most knowledgeable teacher providing us with all the missed course materials. Unfortunately, she was pushed to her limits and is no longer at ****. Since then, there has been a lack of communication between the teachers and the students with exception of *******************. We had a teacher who wasnt teaching the proper course material and she was teaching what she wanted and so, we missed a lot of information in VA 100, VA 150, VT *******. As well as not having the the proper protection when using the radiology room and getting excess radiation. We also feel as if we are entitled to some sort of financial compensation for the last 24 weeks due to these issues. We contacted the school and let *********************** know and all they have done is given us updates and say there gonna give us a solution but, never say when. On the updates all they say is that they take matters like this very seriously and its under review. It been like that for a month and only have gotten two updates.Business Response
Date: 12/07/2023
We are committed to the success of our students. Our campus and senior leadership team have been in communication with the student to hear concerns and address and items that need attention. Ongoing outreach and meetings have been scheduled from the time the concerns were brought forward and feel confident that we are able to reach resolution.Initial Complaint
Date:06/23/2023
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
So after completing a 10-month program in HVAC and receiving EPA certification, a local company wants to pay what comes out to be $10 an hour because they don't cover travel time and they don't pay overtime and sfrom Lancaster to ******************** and back each day so you work 14 hours a day in the summer for what? **** you need to do something about your promise to PLACE your graduates into good jobs!!! The school promises to place you and they dont care if it's a legitimate bisiness.Business Response
Date: 10/26/2023
San Joaquin Valley College is committed to the success of every student. We provide placement assistance through our *************************** however, we dont guarantee placement. We connected with the student in question. The student communicated that the concerns were relative to the location of employment and not the college. It was confirmed that the graduate is happily employed now at a different company. We reminded the graduate that our ************************** is available for ongoing support and service to alumni. We believe this situation is resolved.Customer Answer
Date: 10/26/2023
I am rejecting this response because:
The explanation by **** does not change the facts. They do not serve the students by placing them into appropriate jobs. They send students to fight for very few jobs as well as send them to businesses that are NOT VETTED, meaning they are substandard and are even breaking the law, so in essence, they contribute to a broken system by making promises they can't keep.Business Response
Date: 10/30/2023
San Joaquin Valley College is committed to success of every student. This includes services provided by the ****** Services department. San Joaquin Valley College did not promise employment to this student, nor any other student. Also,the college does not "place" graduates with employers to start their careers.
The ****** Services Department provides students with job leads for employment related to their field of study, and assists with the application process, including resume writing, job listing search strategies and mock interviews. Graduates can then apply these skills in pursuit of available positions. Graduates must make their own decision whether to accept employment based on the nature of the work, the compensation package, distance/length of daily commutes and scheduled work hours.
The ****** Services Department offers assistance to graduates in perpetuity, so if a graduate becomes dissatisfied with or separated from an employer, they can reach out for additional assistance from the College in finding other positions, as was done in the case of this student.Customer Answer
Date: 11/01/2023
I am rejecting this response because: **** does not support students placement into careers and makes the promise to do so. It does NOT vet the career placement businesses.Business Response
Date: 11/01/2023
In the email requesting clarification, there were no items listed for us to provide. Please let us know what clarification and/or documents are needed.
Initial Complaint
Date:05/24/2023
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
This school promised that upon completion of the diagnostic medical sonography program, students would be eligible to sit for our **** board exam. This exam is required in order for us to begin our careers, as it is only a stepping stone to more board exams later on. My classmates and I completed our program as required but are not able to sit for the **** or even make our accounts with them because our schools program director quit. I contacted the **** and they said that they can only recognize our school if we have a program director, so I have spoken with multiple deans at **** about this and they claim they will look into and get back to me but never do. They wont return an email, phone call, or ********* teams message so the only way I get to speak with someone is if I drive out there in person and wait outside their office, which still provides me with no answers other than Ill look into it and get back to you, and then I never hear back again until I go in person again. *** reached out to the **** again and they said they can recognize us if one of the deans submit themselves as an interim program director and have a faculty member who is credentialed in sonography sign off for them, however the faculty at my school refuses to do so after asking them. They are not making any effort to fix this for us, and until they do, all of us are in limbo with beginning our careers but are still of course expected to come up with the money to pay our school. They still continue to accept new students to this program even though they understand that these students will not be able to get a job upon completing this program.Business Response
Date: 10/26/2023
San Joaquin Valley College is committed to the success of every student. We have resources available for current students and graduates. We have contacted the student and confirmed eligibility for the exam. We have provided direct access to our Program Director at the *********** Campus. We are happy to support her journey to certification and successful placement. We believe that this situation is resolved.Initial Complaint
Date:05/22/2023
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
My Daughter has been Attending **** since the Pandemic. When it came time for her to finished the program and do her Exit Interview. The **** office kept on extending the exit dates. now its been 4 months of Delay. She had to find her own internship to finish. The site she found already accepted her and now it got delay by 2 more months. 07/10/23. The loan company is already calling her demanding payment when she has not even finished. This is causing delay in her education success. they are not following their vision and mission as a Vocational College.Business Response
Date: 10/26/2023
San Joaquin Valley is committed to the success of every student. We have attempted to contact ******************** multiple times at the phone number and email address provided and have not received a response. We are unable to determine the student of concern. We are happy to connect with the student and provide clarification, support, and necessary resources. Please have the ************* out to our *********************** via email at ****************************** or contact his/her ****.Initial Complaint
Date:11/23/2022
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I dropped the medical coding and billing course through San Joaquin Valley College on 10/29/2022 by emailing everyone listed on their website necessary to drop the course. I received and email response on 11/02/2022 asking me to email someone else. I did so and received and email back stating to give her a call to go over what would happen to my financial aid. She told me that because I was dropping the course before the end date I would receive a partial refund for the classes I didn’t attend. After our phone call she emailed me a form to sign stating that I would like to drop the course. I signed and returned it immediately on 11/05/2022. I receive a conformation that it was received and signed by the dean, FAO, and the EOC on 11/07/2022. On 11/9-11/12 I received 4 separate emails on each day that book orders and course materials were placed. On 11/10/2022 I emailed ******** ****** about the book emails I have been receiving. I didn’t receive a response. I emailed again on 11/15/2022 after receiving more emails about orders placed. I asked if I would be charged for the books that are being ordered after my drop date. I also asked for an updated bill to see how much was refunded back to my FASFA account I received and email back on 11/16/2022 asking me to email other people. I have since emailed the people she asked me to and many more and I haven’t head absolutely anything back. I would like an itemized bill because I feel like they are charging me for things I didn’t agree to.Business Response
Date: 12/01/2022
Student Services Coordinator has provided the student with a copy of her account along with a point of contact for all future questions and communications.Initial Complaint
Date:08/19/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
On July 5th, 2022, the only teacher at the school who was teaching HVAC quit. The school did not send any form of notification to the students that we still had class. We as students had to do 2 weeks of online school where there was no teacher teaching. In the last week of the module, I finally got ahold of the school's dean "April" and asked if the class was dropped. She said she had a teacher that will be teaching the last week online. When the teacher had the first zoom class a lot of the students including myself were lost because we never covered that material. Once that teacher discovered that we were very behind, he said to all the students to just submit anything, and he would give the student 100% for all assignments. After that module was done, we enter another model with a new teacher the dean hired out of desperation. The teacher has no experience teaching and according to the dean he only needed a week of training with her. That new teacher, Mr. ***** was left to teach two classes at the same time on the same days. After noticing the teacher couldn't teach, we once again brought it up to the dean and now the vice president of the school Hruby. The two of them stated that they couldn’t find a teacher during summer because that is the busy season for HVAC. The dean made many promises to improve the program but that never happened. One of those promises was to be in class to assist the new teacher. The dean was never on campus, the times she was on campus she was in an office away from everyone. Mr. ***** struggled to teach and had no one to help him. In the last two modules (10 weeks), I didn't learn anything and waisted my VA benefits because the school kept promising the school was going to improve. The program only got worse, yesterday August 18, 2022, was my last day attending school. I had to finish the module for the VA to not charge me. The school is now saying that I need to pay over $6500 for attending half of the program or finish the program.Business Response
Date: 08/26/2022
Dear Mr. ******,
SJVC wants to take the opportunity to thank you for taking
the time to share your experience with us. Please know that your feedback is
important to us as we continually seek to improve the experience of our
students.Since your initial posting, we have had the opportunity to
discuss your concerns and request and as
confirmed on the phone, we have come to a mutually agreeable resolution.SJVC is committed to your success and we appreciate the
opportunity to serve you as our student. If you have any further concerns, I
can be contacted at A*****************du
or ************.Your partner in education,
****** **** ********, Ed.D.
Business Response
Date: 09/07/2022
Dear Mr. ******,
SJVC wants to thank you for taking the time to share
your experience with us. Please know that your feedback is important to us as
we continually seek to improve the experience of our students.Since your initial posting, the College has reviewed
your complaint, and given the circumstances surrounding your experience in the HVAC
program, SJVC has written off your remaining balance with the College, which is believed to be a fair resolution. SJVC declines your request for a refund to the
VA.SJVC wishes you well in your future educational endeavors.
Your partner in education,
Customer Answer
Date: 09/13/2022
I am rejecting this response and I have contacted the VA and the BPPE to look in to this matter. I have communicated with the Dean, Vice President and the President of the school, that lead to nowhere. The school tried to intimidate me and other students to not leave the program. According to SJVC if we left we would be stuck with a lot of debt. The school has to take full responsibility of their actions. They did not provided the education that I signed up for. They wasted my time and benefits, they must be hold accountable of their mistakes.
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