Lincoln College of Technology — Local services in Denver

I have worked in shops all over America for the past 26 years. I was proud when my son decided to take welding as an introduction to his career in marine engineering. I thought it was refreshingly intelligent for a young man of his age to make such a smart decision. To earn high wages while going through college is a wise plan that most young people never consider. Fortunately, my son is also intelligent enough to know when he's being fed a line. During MANDATORY pre-registration were were completely abandoned by the staff. After meeting with financial aid, the entire teaching staff had left for the day without even checking to see if they had included everyone in all steps of the process. We never even formally met a welding instructor. In fact, after four visits to the school we have never met a welding instructor. There was literally no one else there to help us finish registration (I mean, NO ONE there to help us except for April and she is less help than self-service). All April had to say was how overjoyed she was that we got the most important part done: getting payment approvals completed. I literally had to leave to prevent an incident as she tried to tell me how it was OK that everyone abandoned us because we can "easily" drop everything and come back again next week. My son said he was extremely disappointed by her and the entire school. After further research and reading the reviews online it was clear to him that not attending Lincoln Tech would be a more intelligent choice for his future than continuing forward. From our experience, I can only assume that all of the one-star reviews are 100% true and we are equally convinced that the recent five-star reviews are all fake, as almost none of them leave any commentary at all. Take notice of how all of the older reviews have "copy/paste" responses from the school, but the more recent ones throw in all kinds of extra commentary about how hard workers succeed etc. on five-star reviews with NO comment. After thinking on it overnight he decided he would never attend this school. Ever. Every visit he has made to the school has been the same experience. They skip appointments and never get back to you until they want you to sign financial papers. They are disorganized and always seem confused as to what to do next. It seemed to me that they had never even done an open house registration before (even I have). When they funneled us all back to financial aid, no one that worked there even knew why we were there. Once in the office I explained that my son is financing the portion that is not approved by Financial Aid himself. They wanted me to run my credit report. I said no as I am not the one taking out the loan. They said that If I apply, even if I don't use it, he will get a better interest rate. But once they dinged my credit report for an inquiry (which is not an inquiry as I never had any intention of using any credit through them) they slapped him with a 9% interest rate (the rate you get if I didn't apply). I doubt I am alone in questioning the legality of all of this. I could go on and on, but I think the one-star reviews paint a good enough picture; read them carefully. As one last note, I will add that these people expect students and their parents to be ignorant, stupid sheep that will buy any line they are given. For those who are intelligent, thinking individuals, the insult you feel when they speak to you should be all the evidence you need to steer clear of this train wreck. THIS WAS EDITED ON 6/12/19 to update the original post on 6/6/19: To reflect that the claims made by the "owner" are completely untrue. No attempt to contact has been made per OUR REQUEST! My son contacted them in writing, that he would not attend the school. No RSVP is necessary when sent a mandatory notice for attendance to an event. And no expectation of attendance is conferred when given full written notice of non-participation. Scam, scam, scam. The fact that it took them a week to reply to this comment shows how much they care about customer service....

AN AUTOMOTIVE GRADUATES REVIEW. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE REALLY UGLY: This school has a beautiful automotive lab coupled with knowledgeable teachers which make it a decent place to start an education in the automotive field. This school provides excellent training for students to learn a trade and start a career. Most of your tuition will be paid for in grants and you will be left to pay the remaining 70% of tuition in the form of subsidized and unsubsidized loans. All in all for the price it is worth it if you have absolutely no knowledge on cars like I did or if you want to start a career.

THE REALLY GOOD: When students are enrolled at Lincoln Tech. the student resources department puts students in touch with employers to find a job. They help students with résumés and job applications. Even once you've graduated they will be calling you to help you find employment. Their student resources department is always there and you can walk in even after you've graduated and they'll help you find employment.

THE GOOD: Lincoln Tech. has a beautiful lab for students to learn their new trade. They also provide every student with his own tools and have a "tool crib" for students to checkout any tools they don't have. They also have a Napa store located right in the lab for students to buy their own tools and car parts at a discounted price. The teachers will allow students to work on their own vehicles whenever, and at times will help the student out. After you progress through classes you will earn certifications that will really help your future career. Certifications include alignment certifications, machining rotors and drums certifications, and HVAC certifications to name a few.

THE BAD: Most of the teachers at Lincoln Tech. are competent and friendly (for the most part). You'll find that no matter what teacher you have you are learning from somebody who has experience and knowledge on the subject matter. However, not every teacher is eager to help the students. A few teachers are guilty of giving students lab assignments and then sitting in the classroom browsing the Internet. I myself have one teacher recorded of doing this on multiple occasions. I have the videos saved to my hard drive and if anybody is curious who this teacher is let's just say his first name starts with an F and his last name starts with a J. Another point that should be highly stressed is that this is a trade school consisting of mostly men and the insults fly daily. It's all fun and games until somebody gets offended. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, but something that future students should be aware of. Another bad thing about this school is that they do not fully teach students how to do certain tasks like replacing a fuel pump or pulling an engine or transmission. They teach you everything about how a component works, but they don't take students past the learning phase and into the fixing phase.

THE REALLY UGLY: From the moment you meet with a recruiter you are being lied to. This is something that Lincoln Tech. really needs to put an end to. The recruiters (plural) told me and the students I started with that we'd be earning an Associates Degree in Applied Sciences. That is a downright lie that you don't figure out until you're six months in. The degree they offer is a business degree if you take an extra eight week course. The only achievement students earn after graduation is a diploma. The so-called business degree sounds appealing but it is a trash degree. Think about it. A business degree from a trade school? Yeah, right. The recruiters also tell automotive students that they will earn one full year of experience towards their ASE certifications after completing school. That is another lie. You will only earn six months of experience towards all of your ASE certifications. I'm surprised that they have been able to dodge any legal action after telling lies like that.

If I think of anything else I'll update...

Do As I Say Not as I Do

Welding program & Pipe Program

All in all, Lincoln Tech Denver is just like the other for-profit colleges I have been to. There are flaws in everything and everyone. Too often, here , the upper management shown inconsistencies and out of touch in their part of interacting with students. Many students were asked by management at one point to sign a paper offering us an opportunity to speak out for issues that we have at the school. This never happened, so our hopes of improving the school through our suggestions and constructive criticism fell very short and without explanation. During enrollment, I and others were told that after the program, we would be certified welders. This is honestly a lie. You are not a certified welder. You gain NCCER (which hardly anyone even cares or knows about in the real world) certifications through online testing for knowledge based book work.

The only reason I didn't give Lincoln Tech 5 stars was for 1 reason only. That 1 reason is a teacher named Ramsey. Ramsey goes unchecked with his terrible attitude and bullying style of teaching that shocks many of us students in that he is still employed. We (many students) have verbally spoken to the dean about his behavior, and nothing seems to solve his lack of empathy or his constant whining about his personal issues that we never asked to be a part of. I didn't enroll to hear sob stories and be forced to look at his pill bottles in some deranged attempt to manipulate us into doing what he demands we do. Leave your personal issues at the door.

If it weren't for Ramsey, this would have been a 5-star review.

I have nothing but good things to say about these teachers as they personify what an instructor should be like. I am not saying they don't have their flaws, but their excellence in teaching is undeniably high-end.

Brian Bennett was the first teacher I started off with. Not only does he strike a neutral respect with students, but he is a great listener and will take his time in teaching you and show you several different ways along the way. Thank you, Mr. Bennett, for all your hard and patient work, you do every day.

Joe is probably the #1 teacher in that you can expect the same standards every day from him. That always brings me confidence as a student to go to him with my problems in welding. He is very knowledgeable in seemingly all aspects of welding. His confidence does not rub off as arrogance but as something he wants to pass on to as many people as possible. I really appreciate your stable attitude Joe, thank you for everything.

Todd is a wizard at welding and will give you honest feedback on how to improve your welding. You can always ask him for a real-world perspective. He will not talk over you and will answer you to the best of his abilities, or he will go research the issue or question and get back to you on it. I greatly appreciate everything, Todd.

Mr. Lopez is the jack of all metal. If you don't mess around and respect the time he takes to show you how to do something, he will gladly give you new constructive advice each time he helps you. He has his stories, but he's got a genuine heart to help students grow throughout their time at Lincoln Tech. So thank you, Mr. Lopez for being the right amount of tough and fair.

Update: their online payment system isn't taking my payments, and I have been dinged on my credit. I've left 5 voicemails with the Lincoln location to resolve this issue... still no response. I've contacted the main branch 3 times...that was useless. Now I've filed with the BBB, and they are assisting in helping resolve this. I just want to...