Brown Mackie College - Salina

Date: Sep 12 2007
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
Keep in mind this is a career college. I enrolled in a new program that they offered in surgical assisting. After attending one month, I found out that the school is not considered an accredited school by the CAAHEP, which to get certified to work in the surgical assisting field, you must have completed a program from an accredited institute. As I withdrew from the school, I spoke with the Dean regarding this matter and was first told by her that the school was accredited. Then she claimed that the school has to have the program in place a year before they can become accredited. Brown Mackie has schools in other cities that have been offering surgical assisting for over 2 years. When I asked why those locations weren't accredited, I was told that although those programs have been in place for 2 years, they haven't graduated anyone yet so basically those locations have no need to get accredited at this time.

At that time it was revealed to me that in the state of Ohio, other schools don’t recognize Brown Mackie as a college. Credits completed at Brown Mackie will be not be acknowledged or transferred to another College or University. Some of my classmates had planned on getting an associate degree in their chosen field and then furthering their education down the line to obtain a Bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately for them, their associate degree won’t be recognized. If other schools don’t recognize their degrees and credits, who is to say a future employer would accept that for their requirements.

Besides this issue I had regarding my program, I was very offended by some of the things the school allowed to go on. There were quite a few "students" that were proudly flaunty the fact that they were previously convicted felons or on welfare. These students were eligible to receive grants for education from the government because they were considered enrolled at Brown Mackie. The school would allow them to attend a few classes and then not show up any longer once they got their check from the state. They don't really care about how it affected the other students who attended every evening with the goal of achieving a degree and had to pay out of their own pocket, as long as the school got their money. I was ashamed to tell people that I was attending Brown Mackie College. Some of the students would walk around shouting, spouting foul language with no regards to others around them. At one point, I thought to myself that this was a place that I would never bring my children to. I wouldn’t even them to walk through the building for fear of what they might hear among the halls. I felt like I couldn't make eye contact with half the people around me.

Brown Mackie had just built this new building I had attended but regardless of how nice they attempt to make the shell of the school, you can’t clean up the students that they allow to enroll there.