Stark State College — Local services in Jackson Township

UPDATE: SSC straighted everything out and I went back in Fall 2018 however I was put in Math once again (It wasn't my choice since I knew I wasn't ready to jump back into Math after 4 years) & I failed along with another class I took which resulted me to loose my FA. When I started back, I was determined & ready untill I felt defeted by my math struggles. I had an instructor who cared less what I was doing wrong in my math nor did he want to see what mistakes I made in my work (I have kept track of my written math problems since 2014). When I asked him for help, he didn't let me do the problem, he did it himself. I felt like a failure & was so behind. I ended up letting myself give up along with letting myself go & my failure turned into my depression worsening with medical issues that I let go. My failures wasn't worth letting my health get bad as it was. For anyone with depression or any other mental/behavior health diagnosis, PLEASE TALK TO SOMEONE & don't put your health at risk as I did. Although I was somewhat aware of Intervention service's were available to me my Instructors didn't intervene of such services especially when I had all the intervention signs. I needed that support before it was to late & didn't get it. It took me being in the ER. Current/future students Depression/mental health shouldn't be ignored as mine was. APRIL 2018: I started in 2012. I didn't know that I had other options besides Stark State. My Major is Human and Social Services_Gerontology_Chemical Dependency. I thought Stark State was the only college to offer what I was looking for. As for my major, I need to be directly accepted to the program and SSC doesn't mention this. I have made mistakes & lost my Financial Aid but yet I am good academic wise so I would have to pay out of pocket to complete my degree. (Fall 2017 I was told that I was fine in my Financial Aid & registered for 2 online classes that I got a $1016.00 bill for & a letter sent to me September 2017 stating if I don't pay then I will be dropped from my classes, which I took their word & I stopped doing my online classes & got charged $1016.00 anyhow that I am trying to pay back) I am paying for classes that I was told I couldn't continue on with. That's a lot of money to just waste and not finish 2 classes that I did well in the 30 days that I was in them. I am a single mother with no income sources due to personal reasons & me battling depression after the loss of my Grandmother & then having my baby in 2016. SSC gave me no kind of support to succeed in any way. I was on my own there. I needed help with my barriers especially the Math and they knew that. I was enrolled repeatedly to complete the Math Modules that I didn't complete the first time/second time. Instead, of a solution to my struggle, my Financial Aid gets taken for Spring 2015 term and future semesters. As long as they got paid, nothing else matters. I need to complete my degree with success but how when SSC doesn't care if I complete or don't help with resources on how I can complete. I hope SSC uses the recent funds to help students with support and they can figure out how to get students with low income to return and complete with strong support. Out of 27 credits that I've completed, the Math was my only development course that I took. The cost of the college is cheaper then other community colleges but is the lower cost worth not completing & not being successful with support a student needs? To me, using my financial aid I use to have would've been worth using elsewhere that supports there students. So where do I go from here? I tried talking to Financial Aid in person & the cashier's office on April 9th, 2018 with being told two different things. I'm 5 credits away from a certificate that could help me in the work force 2 help pay out of pocket but instead I have to wait longer to pay off my balance plus fees to go back. Rechearch colleges, there support programs, and make sure your 100% ready for college before making a...

I signed up for stark state after returning to Akron Ohio briefly. I decided to go to stark state since it was close and had a certificate program I was interested in. I applied for the financial aid and was told I was eligible, I was awarded grants that would more than pay for my education. By the time school started I still had not received any of the financial aid and my classes weren't paid for.

Was told by various people in various departments that if I could not come up with the money to hold me in my classes I would be dropped for non-payment. Why am I paying for classes if I qualified for financial aid. They didn't offer me any other options. Explained I did not have the money and was not working at the time and why couldn't my financial aid pay for it they said it was pending and everyone said the same thing; I'd have to pay.

Well of course I didn't have the money so I ended up not attending when the drop date came, because they ALL told me I would be dropped and I had not paid. 3 years later I'm getting a letter from the attorney general attempting to collect a debt for classes I was told I would be dropped from! Over $2000 they want me to pay and it hasn't even been reviewed by an attorney?

Called the school comes to find out they paid to hold me in classes until my financial aid was put through and never communicated that with me, even when I came in multiple times. Never was even told that was an option until 3 years later. Never got a letter in the 7 months after I stopped going to class about any of this before I relocated and went to Ohio state where I've had NO PROBLEMS and graduated.

They are shady and have bad practices. Getting a lawyer to put this to rest. Seems like they aren't on the same page, they give limited information and are unwilling to help you find a solution. They don't keep you informed and do things with your account without your knowledge or input. Seems like the deliberately paid the little bit of money to keep me in my classes then collect on a debt for not paying. My question is if I qualified for financial aid, and classes were paid for to keep me, why weren't my classes paid. Why do I owe money? I never received any money in a refund either cause it never got that far!

This is disrupting my life and now have to get a lawyer to dispute the debt. Luckily I work for the government that has free legal services. Feel sorry for anyone going through this without that option. Would not recommend this school to anyone. Can't wait to have a lawyer reach out to handle...

I started taking a couple classes at Stark State in 2015. I had zero idea what I wanted to major in and what career path to choose so I took a variety of classes. When I took Anatomy and Physiology with instructor Monica Miklo everything clicked. She is a great teacher and since then I have loved every science, math, and physics professor I have had. Dr. Ebru Buyuktanir, Dr. Amy Sanders, Prof. Haiduc, and Dr. Natalee Hilt in particular have been overwhelmingly supportive. They are all easy to approach and talk to. I joined the ACS Chemistry Club at Stark State and over the past two years the club activities have helped me build a very impressive resume for someone like me who is early in their career, including a summer internship in a research laboratory. I would highly recommend taking classes here and getting involved on campus. Of course I have come across some professors that I don't get along with very well, but that is bound to happen anywhere and is simply due to personality differences. Overall there are an incredible amount of opportunities to take advantage of at Stark and the faculty are knowledgeable...