Pikes Peak State College — Attraction in Fort Carson

I have had a very difficult time dealing with PPCC. The staff is very mixed in the answers to their own policies and procedures. The professors are unprofessional and unwilling to help in certain cases and it has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. From start to finish, this school has been very tough to deal with.

Starting out at PPCC I was coming from UCCS where I had in-state tuition. Once registering for classes at PPCC I noticed I was being charged for out of state tuition. I spoke to someone in financial aid abut this and they explained. that since my parents no longer live in Colorado, that I would have to complete one semester successfully at PPCC before I would qualify for in-state tuition. I explained that I have lived in Colorado for 13+ years and that my parents had only moved a couple years ago. The woman looked at me and said sorry, that doesn't change anything. I asked if there was anything I could do to change that and she shook her head no, and looked at her co-worker for reassurance and the co-worker chimed in and promised that if my parents no longer live in Colorado, then there was nothing I could do.

Frustrated, I looked into the laws for in-state tuition and found that there is in fact a form that I could fill out giving past addresses, and work information to get in-state tuition. I went to a different campus and spoke to a financial aid representative and explained the situation. The lady said of course we have a form for that. She pulled out the form, over the next week I got it filled out and I received the in-state tuition.

Once I was a student I still had trouble with the Professors. Half of the professors I had were actually amazing teachers. That is the only reason I gave PPCC a 2 star rating. They were extremely helpful and genuinely cared about me getting a real education and seemed to actually care about what they were teaching. I applaud those teachers. The other half made me feel unwelcome, and as if I was asking to much of them by asking for help. I voiced concerns on subjects I didn't understand in these classes, and I wouldn't get an answer that helped. I would again, voice the concern and these professors would brush off my question like it wasn't something of concern. I would speak with these teachers after class trying to gain the knowledge that I missed and they would deny my request and tell me to go to the study halls or library for additional help. I used the facility a few times, but it was hard to make it in while working a full time job on top of this.

Finally, a life choice has prompted me to leave PPCC, and to do this I needed a copy of my official transcripts. I ordered them online for a physical copy with an attached word doc, required for the business I am entering. Not 30 minutes after submitting the request I received a call from the person handling my request and they said that they can't attach a word document with the transcripts (even though it's an option on the parchment page?). The person said that its an inconvenience, but they were willing to do it anyway. For the record, I requested the exact same type of transcript through UCCS and they did it just fine, with no questions. The person I spoke to said that I would get an email once they were ready to be picked up at the Centennial campus. I received the email a few hours later.

I went into the Centennial Campus and the Financial Aid personnel told me that the email only meant that the transcripts had been sent down down and it would take a minimum of 3 days for it to get to the school and I would have to check back in ( I wouldn't get notified). I explained the phone call situation; the person telling me it would be ready to pick up in the same day, and I politely asked if she wouldn't mind checking anyway. The woman was kind enough to check, and sure enough my transcripts were ready.

I don't like to write bad reviews. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but my experience at PPCC has been a very exhausting battle for all the wrong reasons. This is a very...

I would avoid Pikes Peak Community College. Even though it is a federally funded public institution of higher learner. Their main goal is to operate as if they are a for profit business.

I enrolled in the Springs of 2016, was awarded various grants and took out a few loans to help fund my time there. My tuition was paid for (in terms of not being on a payment plan with the school itself) and my books were paid for. I was awarded my refund, all that was left over of my grants and loans, proving that PPCC obtained their money for their services.

During the middle of the semester my father was hospitalized with a stroke. He was admitted to what they referred to as “boot camp” for recent stroke victims. This entailed him staying in Memorial for almost 2 months while going through various therapies (physical, speech, etc). As his only son, I was tasked with helping my father setup his temporary disability through his work place. I had to run various errands for him and was constantly ensuring that he had comforts during his stay in Memorial.

Due to this I was falling behind in my courses because I decided that my father’s well being outweighed classes that, I thought I could take in the future. I made a conscientious decision to withdrawal from my classes in order to salvage my grade point average.

Fast forward to around the end of February of 2017. I received a letter from PPCC stating that I owed them around $1300. This of course is what they estimated that I owed them due to the fact that PPCC had to pay back the State of Colorado. Keep in mind that PPCC had received their money for their services for the fall semester.

The wording of this letter was very clear and concise, that if I did not pay what they felt owed to. That my transcript and Certificate would be held as collateral.

To me I felt that PPCC cares more about profits then the actual students. If they cared they wouldn’t try to extort money in which they owe the state from their current or past students.

Most of the teaching staff are adjunct and are paid next to nothing. The centennial building (main) is constantly under construction and the library is never available to its students. If you know that nothing will come up during your time here, then by all means go to this school. Else, I would advise you to not gamble with this...

So to start this review you have to understand what a PPCC is. By this I mean, you have to understand the purpose/mission of the school. I will upload a picture of the stats of graduation, retention, and transfer with this review. These numbers came directly from the FAFSA website. You can go to their website and view them yourself if you please. I would also like to say ppcc should be ashamed of the stats. If you are determined to get through school, if you have a full vision of where you are going, and are using this school as a stepping stone to get your prerequisites out of the way for a lower-cost with a guaranteed transfer you can use it right. The school administration does not actually does not have the growth of the student in mind. This is evident of the stats I am going to upload under my pictures. There is no concern for the student other than someone to give them money, bottom line. A prime example of this is also apparent if you have credits that are over 10 years old. They do not count towards a degree being theyvare so old, but they do still affect your GPA good or bad. So if you took classes directly out of high school and did not do well because you had no direction in life, these classes will come back to haunt you even though you can't use them for anything. PPCC does have some really good instructors though. The point is if you know what you're degree path is and have the determination to stick it out go here for cheaper tuition. If you are wondering what you should do, don't go here. They will just take your money and leave you with nothing to show for it. Oh yeah, one last thing. Be careful with their math dept. They have 2 pre-algebra classes, both do not count for college credit. The math department at this school is the worst i have encountered, I have no words to describe how poor their math department is. Trying to get help at the tutoring center can be an absolute pain as well. The math tutors in the learning Commons are students and a lot of times are more preoccupied in their own conversations then to be concerned about your silly little math problem. Unless they want to Goof Off with you cuz you're a friend to them. The whole thing is a joke. If you go here get your prereqs knocked out...