Brooks Institute

Date: Jan 06 2008
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
To be honest, I had a great time at Brooks. Ventura is beautiful and the faculty are good. The education I received in my field was definitely good. However, the school lied to me about how easy it would be for me to get a job once I graduated, but they did nothing to help me. When I was there, "Career Services" barely existed. The only career help or advice I received was from the faculty, who are over-worked. Also, they encouraged me take out private loans, telling me I would have no trouble paying them back because my salary would be so high. Such a lie! The average salary of someone in my field is more like $40K, not $100K like they said. I believe they committed fraud, and have been under investigation for allegations made by staff. Also, you cannot go to graduate school with the bachelor's degree they grant. They are only nationally accredited, like trade schools, not regionally accredited like actually colleges and universities. I am getting another bachelor's degree so that I can go to graduate school. The school was a finominal waste of money, and I'm currently suffering under the weight of over $100K of private student loan debt, without the salary to pay this. I have to change my life because of this, and have to get another degree so I can afford to pay for this debt. Stay away from this school, no matter how beautiful Ventura or Santa Barbara are! By the way, I had multiple prospective employers ask me, "Brooks, isn't that the school that was investigated for fraud?" How embarrassing is that!