Penn Foster - Chandler, Arizona

Nola W.

I was in their vet tech program for one semester. Enrolled in second semester but ended up deciding it wasn’t for me. I told them I wasn’t doing to continue with my degree. They then threatened me (August of 2024) that they would send my bill to collections so I called and someone on the phone told me as long as I made payments within 90 days of each other I would be fine I asked if it was okay if I made large payments every few months and she said absolutely as long as it’s in those 90 days. Perfect great. I made a 300 dollar payment around September/October of 2024 and that payment is not posted on my account anywhere so who knows where that went. I then made another payment on January 20th 2025 81 days ago. I get an email today saying my bill was sent to collections? They said they could not reach me and I haven’t paid my bill. This is absolutely ridiculous as I haven’t gotten an email from them in the past 2 months no warning or anything. I do NOT recommend this school to anyone I feel they are a money hungry company. Even when I was enrolled my professors never answered their emails when I needed help. If I could leave 0 stars I would

Peach

I recently graduated from Penn Foster High School with honors, and overall, I’m really proud of my experience. The program gave me the flexibility and tools I needed to succeed on my own time, and I’m now attending a university in my area—something I’m incredibly happy about. That said, the program isn’t without flaws. One of the biggest issues I had was the long wait time for written exams to be graded. This was frustrating, especially when trying to stay motivated and on schedule. Even worse, my experience with the English 3 professor, Shawn, was extremely disappointing. He regularly gave students poor grades on well-done assignments, and there doesn’t seem to be any accountability or investigation into his discriminatory and retaliatory grading practices. That’s a serious issue that Penn Foster needs to address. On the bright side, the learner support staff was amazing, especially Lolita. She was always kind, helpful, and truly made me feel supported throughout my journey. Every female staff member I interacted with, from support services to instructors, treated me with respect and compassion. Even my strict English 4 professor, who initially frustrated me by refusing to grade my work until it was truly polished, pushed me to improve. In the end, I appreciated her high standards and the growth they encouraged in me.

TaWanna E.

My daughter started Penn Foster online in 2023 with an expectation of graduating in May 2024. It is now February 2025 and she has not received a diploma. We have been calling since May of last year asking why and we were told her advisor left. Then we were told the teacher left. So her last two assignments she turned in. No one had graded. Then we received a response saying that the assignments need to be resubmitted after calling. She resubmitted them At least three times and they keep kicking them back. So we called again in the fall and we demanded a supervisor twice which we still have yet to hear from One. I had to Google the teachers name and search online for an email address at the school. I was able to obtain the email address reach out to the teacher who later called me so this was a success. He gave two minor changes that were needed on her assignment and he technically said he can grade the one assignment even without the changes. So it just wasn’t making sense. So needless to say, she revised the citations in her paper and resubmitted them a couple weeks ago and we still have no grade no diploma and no updates on her portal. It’s sad that you can’t ever reach a manager or supervisor to escalate anything or get a call back. It’s sad that my child finished all of our coursework 8 months ago and is still yet to have a diploma. She worked very hard and this should not be on her but on the school. Do not recommend

Collaboration

While Penn High School offers a strong academic curriculum and impressive facilities, I am deeply disappointed by the lack of accountability and poor customer service in the Finance and Student Support departments. When students or parents seek help with financial or administrative issues, the staff often pass the responsibility from one person to another without offering any real solution. It appears that the main focus is on collecting fees rather than supporting students or addressing their concerns. The voices of students are not heard, and genuine requests for assistance are frequently ignored or brushed aside. This kind of attitude is not acceptable, especially in an institution that should prioritize education, student well-being, and transparency. Improvement is urgently needed in these departments to ensure students receive the respectful and effective support they deserve.

Linda K.

UPDATE: A short time after posting this review, Penn Foster DID reach out to my daughter via email, admitted the error, and recalled my daughter's case from collections. I am impressed with the promptness with which they resolved the issue. Based on numerous other reviews, it does seem Penn Foster has some ongoing, serious customer service issues; however, it also appears they are deeply committed to solving them.

I enrolled my daughter in Penn Foster's Vet Tech program in Feb of 2024. I paid, in full, for the first semester--around $1400. My daughter completed it within a few months, but after weeks of failed attempts to enroll her for a second semester, we gave up. Really, it made no sense; I spent hours on the phone with numerous reps from Penn Foster. I even took an entire day off of work. But nothing I did could get her enrolled. I concluded that the numerous negative reviews that I see online must have some legitimacy. I wrote off the money we'd already spent--a complete waste--as a lesson learned and we moved on. Yesterday, after close to 8 months, she received an email that we owe Penn Foster a little over $100--for what, exactly, we do not know. I made it very clear in an email to Penn Foster months ago that she would not be continuing her enrollment. Penn Foster is now threatening my 20 year old daughter with collections. There is no one to call at this pitiful excuse for a college. How in the world it is accredited is a mystery to me. This correspondence is the best I can do and I hold little hope that I'll get any resolution. On Monday, I'll begin what I am sure will be hours of phone calls and I will likely see little result. I will post this review to every social media site that I can. I've taught high school English for 30 years and I take every opportunity to warn students away from Penn Foster. This place is like a plague--I simply cannot escape.....I see from others online that Penn Foster has attempted to extort money from them as well.

Jerry T.

Wouldn't reccomend to anyone. This program takes forever to get anything done. 10 days to look at an assignment. If you have to resubmit it instead of the teacher opening it back up you call in to get it opened that takes 10 days. I'm really frustrated because it's past the 10 days, and still isn't open. Submit a ticket and they tell you 5 more business days. Once the assignment is resubmitted then 10 days to grade. My daughter has one assignment she has been trying to submit to graduate, and it has been a process.

Emily M.

I graduated with Pennfoster through a high school completion program through Dorsey schools back in 2017 and ive YET to receive my diploma or transcripts. EVERY SINGLE TIME I call to try an obtain them they give me the run around. I'm about ready to get my lawyer involved because it's ridiculous. Last time I called everything was going great. I got a hold of real a person, they had everything in motion to have my diploma and transcripts electronically sent to my email... until it was time to confirm my info, I stated that I no longer have that phone number, email, or address, he then stated that he had to transfer me to another department to update my info. I totally understood.. until the line he transferred me to was not available and after leaving several messages to please get in contact with me... hearing nothing back, IM FED UP... It's always like this I can never get through to anybody to receive the items that belong to ME. UGH.

CAO

Not thrilled with this school. It is very confusing and when I have reached out to the customer service reps I was told that my program did not expire for two years. The expiration date said Feb 2025 so I questioned it since I just enrolled in Feb of 2024. They assured me I had two years. Failed to tall me that there was a deadline per semester. That was another issue I had I asked several reps via chat and telephone calls if the classes I saw were the only classes I had to take because on my plan it said 'enroll in next semester' they assured me that there were no other classes I even asked and said 'are you sure because it seems like there would be a whole other set. Then when Feb came my account was locked. When I called they said I needed to finish my first semester by that date...which I had questioned and was told that wasn't true. They need to train their representatives better. I am not happy with my experience with Penn Foster.