ATA College - Fort Myers (Formerly Southern Technical College) — Local services in Fort Myers

If I could rate this with 0 stars I would. I once was a student at this college and went to their nursing program. (Ft. Myers, FL. campus), but I got withdrawn from the program. When I went there they had this “try out” phase, where even if you scored low on the HESI? They allowed you to go in the program but the catch was, say you had a low score in Math like I did? They made me retake my college algebra class (which at my previous school? I already passed with a “B”) but they said, no you have to retake college algebra and go to the tutoring sessions. I did all of that I passed the class AGAIN and went to tutoring. If you did both, then you were allowed to retake the HESI. If you did not pass you got withdrawn from the program, which unfortunately is why I got withdrawn. It was the same for people who scored low on the reading, language, and the english portion. They would make you retake English even if you passed the class.

If you failed college algebra or English depending on your test scores? Or didn’t have enough tutoring session hours you wouldn’t be allowed to take the HESI.

Here we are 1-2 years later and all of a sudden they started only enrolling previous students including myself to get into their nursing program. (What does it say about the school itself? Only calling students who were previously enrolled and not accepting new students) (I also found out at one point they weren’t accredited. My friend who went there said some of the teachers changed in the middle of the semester and the accreditation agency’s would stop by the campus every so once in awhile. She was able to pass, but they made her retake 2 classes. She already passed even if she got a “C” in them. Their program? As with all programs is rigorous. You are not allowed to get C’s in your sciences or nursing core other wise you have to retake them. Their test average required you to have a 80 not only grade wise but on your tests. Had I gone back retook the HESI and passed? I would be in my second semester right now, but I would have to retake microbiology ALL OVER again because I got a “C” in it. All other nursing programs require a 2.75 or 3.0 with a “C” or better. They would’ve gotten more money from me if I went back.

The price if you had no credits when I went there was at first $51,000. (Luckily I had enough credits to lower the tuition to $28,000) When they called me back it only dropped down to $49,000.

The admissions director, told me they were “phasing out the program” meaning that after this year’s class graduates, they wouldn’t be continuing with it. They would just offer the other ones they had)

I’m not saying this is a bad school, but I wouldn’t go back I knew not to go back considering the price was just too hefty but I wanted to go back to see what the admissions director would say.

The price for a FOR-PROFIT school and for the program is just way too much!! There were little things that crawled under my skin. Like having to retake a class I ALREADY passed? Just cause of my test score they made me retake my college algebra class and didn’t want to accept the credit I already earned at my previous school. This was just two little things that were just ridiculous in my eyes!! I would steer clear from this school and look for credible nursing schools. There are TONS of nursing school programs out in Florida that give you an excellent education for a lower price.

Maybe every campus for Southern? The pricing may be or not be the same, but the Ft. Myers campus even though everybody was friendly? They wanted your money anyway they could. Even if you passed your general ed classes.

If you want to go to school to pay that much for their nursing program and you think you can handle it? By all means, go for it. But beware about FOR-PROFIT schools. In the end it’s...

⚠️‼️ PLEASE READ IF PLANNING ON GOING TO THIS SCHOOL ‼️⚠️ I want to start off by most importantly saying THIS IS NOT AN ACCREDITED SCHOOL! They tell you in the beginning that it is but once you attempt to transfer those credits to a different institution weather it be to continue your education or transferring school, they WILL NOT accept them. I’ve tried with Keiser, FSW, FGCU, and who knows what other schools/universities have to remind you ATA COLLGE IS NOT ACCREDITED! Second all this school cares about is YOUR MONEY! They make you pull out loans for NO REASON. I took ONLY THREE classes and am already in debt 6K after receiving grants AND paying out of pocket, I somehow still needed loans and provide monthly out of pocket expenses FOR ONE SEMSTER. When approached Financial Aid advising about it, she fed a bunch of bullcrap that made no sense but I continued to listen to see how far they would get which I then contacted FAFSA myself to establish confirmation of aids they were dispensing to ATA. Long story short, nothing made sense. On top of that this school is beyond unorganized. During my semester we started off with a teacher, midway replaced with another one who changed the complete way of teaching, assigning homework, test/exam study guides were nothing that was on the test nor the layout, all after learning the current teachers style of instructing, to a whole completely different level of teaching where grades dropped IMMEDIATELY and did not even have enough time to adapt to the new change. You walk outside for a “break” and you see professors smoking and hitting vapes, cigarettes, WITH STUDENTS AT THAT. They pretend that they are there for you, but they are really not. They just want your money. During my advising, I overheard two of the other advisors speaking, stating they did not feel like helping the next parent with their first timer college student because they had zero credits and she did not have time to go over “all the stuff that needs to be done before their child even thinks about starting college, how without credits you will not pass because you have no experience as a college student” BECAUSE OF THE MESS THEY HAVE BETWEEN PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS! Overall, they seem to take advantage of parents and kids with low knowledge of how college works. Most jobs nearby, other than Lee Health will see where you have graduated from (what school) and they will simply reject you because of that. I highly suggest continuing research on this school before moving forward. OH, they make you come in to meet with an admission advisor JUST for one question, and when you do end up deciding to move forward with this school, they make you take a test you must pass right after all the counseling and showing around of the school, the last stop is the library where they make you sit and test, passing will basically be your acceptance test. The most 1st grade questions ever. Please look elsewhere and DO NOT consider...

I was part of the nursing program and all though I was able to finish the program it wasn’t without a fair share of struggles. The nursing program is cut throat as it is, when I started the program in 2022 the school was full of cheaters and the staff was unsupportive to say the least. We got a new DON and she tweaked the program to the success it is now. That being said this school is still VERY unorganized to the point the rough draft of my care plan (that is required to pass the clinical portion of the term) was “misplaced” by one of the professors. I asked the said professor over and over again if there were any edits I had to make before turning in the final copy and they kept on telling me it was perfect and no adjustments were needed and no final copy needed to be turned in. Imagine my surprise when I checked my grades the day after Christmas to find out I was failed for an incomplete care plan. I was desperately reaching out to the staff at STC to try and find a solution, everyone sent me to voicemail, left me on read, just to ultimately tell me there was nothing they could do and my fail was final (I didn’t get a response until after the new year). I was not the only student that this happened to; however, I was the only student that was not permitted to come in and make the adjustments needed in order to pass. The teacher took no responsibility of their actions. I was failed and was forced to repeat the clinical and pay for it all over again as my only other option would have been to fail out. This was the same clinical I only got to go to once since it was right after hurricane Ian. They robbed me of my only fail as this program only allows one failed class per student. Although I am grateful I was able to complete the program and pass my NCLEX, this would not be an experience I would repeat at...