Rio Salado College — Local services in Tempe

First off, If you are going to take an online class and it's something like "health" or some type of non-science class, go for it! The good part about his community college is that they do offer numerous start dates. For me, the issue is a little different. I signed up for a science class requirement, Marine Biology (BIO 145). It's the last science class I need that meets the lab requirements for my BS degree from Portland State University. With an overall score of 78%, I did NOT pass this class!!! Be warned... do NOT take a science class here especially if you have any type of generalized anxiety disorder or reading comprehension issue.

The issue: Marine Biology requires two things In order to pass the class. First, they require that you average over a 60% on the lab section which I did. Second, they also require you to average a 60% on your mid-term and Final. If the two do not equal 60%, you fail despite the fact that I scored a 78% in this class!

My issue: Prior to taking the mid-term, I had a 95% in the class. I had contacted the professor on more than one occasion advising her that I was very worried about the "timed" exam as I had generalized anxiety, meaning that under conditions of pressure, I tend to have anxiety attacks. I ask if there were any other options available. I was told that if I was disabled that I would need it in writing and that I should have contacted the school. Here the university neglects to realize that millions of individuals have anxiety or other issues and are NOT disabled.

When I took the lab portion of the mid-term, I scored a 38% because I left more than half the questions unanswered. Also you are not able to move on from questions you don't know to questions you do on the lab portion, so of course, my anxiety kicked in as I watched the clock wind down; finally to the point where I couldn't comprehend anything I was reading. Because I did so poor, I once again reached out to the professor advising her that I intended to take the exam late even though there was a 10% penalty because I knew there was no way I would pass it. I was trying to figure out a strategy. Mind you, all science tests are timed, giving the student 30 seconds to read, comprehend and answer each question. The only response I received was "you'll do fine". I failed the mid-term as well, again guessing on the last 15 questions.

For the final, it wasn't much better. On the first section, I scored a 53% and on the second portion I scored an 80%. I admit, on the second portion my partner sat next to me with his iPhone stop watch timing each question making sure I was answering each question. This was the only way I would not get hung up on questions and fixate. Needless to say, I received an overall 78% for the class. But, when averaging my midterm and finals, my average was 58%. Only after the class did I learn that some science classes’ offer proctored exams, yet no such offer was made to me when I asked.

Finally, all I asked from this school was that they wave the 10% late penalty on the mid-term as the only reason I was late was because I was not advised of any options available to me. Finally today, I was told that changing the grade is NOT an option because it's too late. But let us not forget that it took them almost two weeks to respond to my request. Would it have been too late if they had not waited two weeks? No.

Since it’s obviously too late for me, I ask that Rio Salado PLEASE empower your teachers to have some form of discretion especially when working with students who might have issues but are NOT disabled. An example would be allowing Proctored exams in the place of timed exams. This would have given me the time to read, analyze and answer each question without the added anxiety. Remember, your mission is to assist students. Look at the reviews online. 2.4 Out of 5.0? 3.7 Out of 10? Students are different and their needs are different as well. It sure would be nice if this was resolved without the student (me) jumping...

My situation is similar to Greg F.'s. Last summer I decided to take PHY 111 online through Rio Salado in order to get ahead on my biology requirements as I attended ASU during the normal school year. I wish I would have read the reviews before enrolling in this course. First off, I was told that I needed to purchase the $150 textbook and the $30 nonreturnable lab kit. I should have known something was fishy when my questions went unanswered about what was contained within this "lab kit." Basically, $30 spent on some paper clips, a string, a six inch paper laminated rulers, and a paper laminated protractor. I was BEYOND FRUSTRATED that I spent $30 on this. To make matters worse, the labs still required me to go out and purchase extra materials! The textbook was useless but luckily I was able to return it.

Starting off the class I came to recognize that my professor offered NO OFFICE HOURS, no lecture videos, and ultimately NO INSTRUCTION!!! Just read the textbook and get vague responses. Asking questions was pointless because the professor with the initials "E.F." answered rhetorically, and tried to make me feel stupid. Mind you that I am a Barrett Honors student at ASU with a 3.5 GPA. Since Rio Salado offered NO TUTORING, I hired my own tutor three times. Another $150! Despite the complex topics and no help, I managed to average 90% on the homework and labs. Then the first midterm came and it was terrible! It was NOTHING like the homework. The first half of the exam was multiple choice, for the second half of the exam, it was expected of us to TYPE out math- including our work and all equations used. What?!? This is physics not a computer class! They also would not allow graphing calculators. The final for this class was the same. The withdraw date for the classes are one day before the midterm, and now I see why. They just want your money! Nobody even told me that I could have done a complete withdraw right before the final, as this was the first AND last class I will ever take from Rio Salado.

On a final note, Rio Salado discourages students from forming study groups. They do not tell you who is in your classes for what they claim is a precautionary measure against "cheating." I ended up talking to a girl who had taken PHY 111 at Rio with a different professor and he curved their midterm. Are you serious?!? If the material is the same then why was one professor curving and mine wasn't? After getting a 90% average on the homework and lab and then a 55% average on the midterm and final, I emailed my professor about this. Again, she disregarded my questions and blew me off. I ENDED UP FAILING THE COURSE I SPENT ABOUT 15-20 HOURS A WEEK ON AND $700 ON!!!

BOTTOM LINE: RIO SALADO SUCKS AND SO DO ITS PROFESSORS. I ADVISE EVERYONE I KNOW NOT TO attend this poor excuse for a "college." I am now having to retake physics at ASU. I am an aspiring dental student and the reason I did not submit my application this cycle was because I was terrified of the F on my transcript!

P.S. Do not even register for a class here if you're not sure about it. I know someone who registered for a math class and dropped it before the class started, and Rio Salado put a "W" or "withdrawal" on...

I started taking classes at this school because it was recommend by an advisor for a masters program. I was directed here to take some prerequisites and I have found the experience to be the worst out of several community, state and private colleges I have taken classes from over the years. I will be informing my advisor for my master's institution to not send any more students in the direction of this school.

Let me start first with financial aid. you will find no assistance outside of federal aid, as this school does not have connections with Sallie Mae or any other private student loan institutions. I didn't even revive federal aid, due to clerical errors in their department. further more i had to go and fill out forms with my student loan institutions to prove i was in school here because they could not update my enrollment status with the national student loan clearing house in a timely manor. All if this process was a pain to go through because when you call into the financial aid line you get a call center and are not connected with a financial aid professional who can actual make decisions and solve you problems.

there is no staff directory at this school. I should be able to log on to the school's webpage as a student and have access to the phone line and email of every professor, and administrator. This school hides their problems behind a screen of limited communication which makes communicating with professors a challenge and solving clerical screw-ups a nightmare. One of my professors mentioned that none of the professors even have a professional phone line and they have to communicate using their personal phones. This leads me to believe that they don't support their professors in other areas as well.

This brings me to my last complaint. I am a Teacher and I can tell through my experience as a professional educator that Rio does not hire professors with a background in education. test questions are phrased poorly and they outsource their instruction to you tube videos and the textbooks. Professors should make their own lecture videos and materials. While there may be some ethical teachers among this crowd, the majority would appear to be experts in their field, but not teachers. They do little more than grade the occasional essay and rely on multiple-choice for their summative assessments. multiple choice is the least effective way for testing mastery of knowledge. I would not trust anyone who claims to have earned their degree here to actually have the mastery to deserve it.

Online Classes are a convenient way to work on furthering your education, and there are great programs out there. Rio Salado or any of the other Maricopa schools connected to it should be avoided. Invest money in your...