Unitek College

before enrolling for the lvn-​rn program here, look else where. they are extra money hungry here. i have not even started 2^nd semester and they already added another 3k to my tuition what?!! is not enough that i already paid 50% cash of my tuition the firstday of school??? i wonder how much they want to charge me for the core!!! already regretting this!!! i hope that this review helps this institution become more considerate of their students!!! we dont cough out money!!! some of us pickup shit just to make a living!!!

This review is advice for those that feel stuck with choosing the Unitek LVN-​RN Bridge Program. My intention is not to dissuade anyone from choosing Unitek, but it is to hopefully bring awareness to those with the power to make much needed changes in a school with potential. Nursing is so essential and versatile that I support its education to further my passion. I wanted to be proud of my school. But if a school is full of paycheck-​driven staff, the school will lack integrity and pride in itself, therefore deliver poor quality education, which was apparent.
Disorganization and incompetence from the bottom to the top of the ranks is what you can expect for the most part of the LVN to RN bridge program. Should you choose this school as a means to quickly attain your RN license, prepare to be completely self-​sufficient, keep ahead, and stay on top of EVERYTHING from the admissions process to graduation. Keep track of your own paperwork and keep backup copies as Admissions tends to lose track of things. Confirm Pinning Ceremony date early and make sure they plan and organize a nice ceremony early. Process your own Licensure by Examination application and submit to the BRN yourself (deduct this fee from your tuition from the start). Don’t rely on just the study materials you are provided by the school. Their student portal is cluttered with outdated, irrelevant and inaccurate material. And the instructors often times don’t use their own lecture material nor prepare themselves well enough to deliver quality lectures even though their job descriptions require so:
. There are many awesome online resources and videos.
And don’t expect that hefty tuition you’re paying gets you a nice facility, a break room with a sink or working water dispenser, clean bathroom, a student services that doesn’t limit your use of the copy machine, a classroom that fits your clas with working dry-​erase markers; and just because the school also has an IT program and department, doesn’t mean all won’t have wi-​fi, computer and projector issues ON A DAILY BASIS! Make sure your grades are calculated properly!
You will absolutely learn the type of nurse you DO NOT want to become, therefore will strive to become a better nurse. Upon your questioning or complaints, it will constantly be thrown in your face that «NURSES ADAPT» as should you; as an excuse for their screw ups. Any nurse, whether in education or clinical setting, that doesn’t anticipate issues and is not organized and prepared is the type of nurse I refuse to be. Expect many lessons in this. This is how Unitek can influence you to be a better nurse. Sadly, this is not a purposeful lesson by reverse psychology. Just spin the negatives into positives. And if you make it to graduation, you have only yourself and support system to praise. But please don’t stop here! This will be your stepping stone to further your nursing education. Step and move forward…
By the way, there are a few awesome instructors that deserve 10 stars. Some have left; and I’m not sure if the others will stick around for much longer. Poor communication, lack of teamwork, and lack of leadership are major struggles among the staff. A quality lecture that coincides with its respective exam was rare. And NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE INSTRUCTOR GRIPES, make sure to ask for an updated and accurate study guide for each module based on the book they provide you. Then read each chapter outlined and supplement with online resources all ahead of time to allow yourself to relax the day before exams.
I just recalled… my OB clinical instructor’s name couldn’t be found under the BRN license verification. I’ll leave out her name, but it’s worth mentioning to point out that you should make sure you are instructed by an actual licensed RN. But the name she uses under her Unitek employment is not listed in the board. I’m pretty sure this is a legal issue I could have pushed, but I was eager to just survive and graduate. Unfortunately, you’re often forced to go with their disorganized flow or else sacrifice your graduation. It will be one of the greatest struggles of your life, but doable and for only 10 months.
Also make sure your NCLEX, in-​person review is given by an actual NCLEX review «expert nursing faculty» as this is also part of tuition. Decide the type of review you want, when you want, and get what you deserve and paid for:
. Or else prepare to be forced to attend whatever the school sets up last minute.
I hope that this 1-​star rating, along with others, will finally bring attention to the president of the school to make pertinent changes and improvements, starting with ensuring a professionally organized and executed curriculum, professional instructors and employees. The front desk of the main building is especially useless. I’ll end there.
Keep strong and driven. Good luck, nurses!

If you’re considering the pharmacy technician program, I would highly suggest reading this review. I did the pharmacy technician program here, and it was literally the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life. Dante was one of the best teachers I’ve had, and it’s easy to stay awake in his class because he’s entertaining/​funny and overall just good at keeping you engaged. You’re basically spending 13 thousand on a certificate and it will also cover your education and books, but for some reason, not your cap and gown come graduation (which is not mandatory to attend).
The rest of the review is going to be about how deceptive this college is. The admissions representative will go on about how it’s a fast 9-​month program with externship experience and their promise to help you find a job. What sounds like a dream come true to immediately enter the work force and make mommy and daddy happy is actually a complete sham and a huge nightmare. You find out towards the end of the program that your counselor (we’ll just call her «Sarah B.») is completely useless and has no intention of finding you the externship site that you desire. She just wants you to finish your monthly project and go to any externship site available (Skilled Nursing Pharmacy) so she can get a sign-​off on her paycheck. It may or may not be her fault though because what you also uncover is that Unitek really has very few connections with job opportunities when it comes to this program.
Unitek College’s pharmacy technician program really only has connections to 3 – 4 different externship sites, and the best ones (hospital setting) can only take 1 or 2 students at a time. Sometimes the best externship sites won’t even be taking externs at all. When it comes to their claim about helping you «find a job,» only the top 2 students in your class will get to work at Stanford, and even then they might not be accepting externs or new hires, which is often the case. It’s less about how well you’re doing, and more about timing/​luck at that point. You can do great throughout the whole program, and not be able to go to a hospital setting simply due to unavailability. The rest of you are guaranteed a job at a closed-​door pharmacy called Skilled Nursing Pharmacy, which CONSTANTLY needs employees, or you will be pawned off to a Walgreens. So when your admissions representative brags about how Unitek has a high rate of entering graduates immediately into the work force, now you know why. Skilled Nursing Pharmacy pays at a flat rate, and I feel that there are very few who want to go through the physical/​mental labor of retail at a Walgreens for a low starting rate.
Overall, there is no shortcut to getting a great/​stable job, and this is one of those schools that tries to sell you that dream. Although they don’t lie to you upfront, what they’re doing to college students is extremely dishonest. In this program, your destiny is set as soon as you pay, and you are going to find out that this will ultimately be more of a setback than an easy way out. You don’t want to pay money for a degree to work under someone who tells you what to do all the time, for stagnant pay, and with almost no opportunity for promotion. I’m sorry but you can’t promote into a pharmacist from a pharmacy technician just by being a great worker! Kind of rambled, but this was written with the care of other people’s futures in mind.

This is a horrible school. It’s so unorganized. Teachers are incompetent. If you want a good education. Go to the campus in San Jose. I transferred there and I’m doing a lot better. Fremont campus is crap

When I first went to this EMT school Eric O’neil was the instructor and he had a 99% pass rate. Considering every other program in the area had roughly 80% I was sold. It was a lot of money but the training was worth it. The instructors in this school have their hearts in EMS and teaching and that is what sets this school apart. The equipment may leave a lot in the asking but these people really put their best efforts into trying to help each student.

As a current attending student, I have to say please do not come and waste your money on this school. Every single person employed at this campus is rude, disrespectful, and disorganized to make it short. To begin with, they loose your papers, change instructors when every they feel like it. You make a complaint about something you don’t like and they never check up or look into it. The student is never taken into consideration about the complaint. We all are paying for our education and they don’t give a crap. Another thing career services is a waste of time. They give you a bunch of assignments to do on top of the ton of classwork/​homework we have to do on our own time. They never check up on the assignments you’re suppose to complete yet expect us to know how and when to turn them in. This school is overall disorganized, they pretend they care but honestly never show any type of concern whatsoever. Oh and to add on to the worst thing about this school is Dr. Añu whatever the rest of her name is. don’t know why she is even working here with all her unnecessary attitude. This instructor is beyond unprofessional and expects her students to want to deal with her? HAHAHA please, you’re suppose to make the students want to come to class not want to never come back to see you. Since the time I started to attend this school every day i’m trying to convince myself to stay here. To any students looking into colleges I recommend because of personal experience don’t waste your money or time coming here.

This school is taking advantage for money for RN OB and Med Surg for international Studentsyou pay for $ 30k but the teacher is no good, you don’t learn at all.

Really GREAT MA program. This was back in 2009 – 2010 when I attended. I don’t know how much things have changed. But I had Shirley as my instructor and Ms. Lisa was often there to teach pharmacology. After my externship I was offered a job, but had to decline due to my husband deploying and he was being stationed somewhere else. Even after 2 years they constantly contacted me to see if I was able to find work which is nice that they were willing to still help me after all this time.

A

I read the entire 83 reviews about Unitek College. I got scared after going through couple of them. I feel that I need to speak up. I hope my review will help others to not get discouraged. I have been in a situation where I was two weeks away from my graduation and our school got shut down. I do understand how it feels to start from zero and starting to trust others. As much as people like to say that: «Going into Unitek is easy because they want your money.» I have to say I disagree because I worked hard to get into their program. It is not about money it is about how bad you want it. You need to try your best and you need to know what nursing is all about. For those who said «No one will hire students from Unitek» I know many of Unitek nurses that hold jobs in Magnet hospitals such as Washington Hospital. From student services to Finical Aide personal, directors and teachers, they are all amazing people. Before you start any school do your research, ask all your questions and please make sure that you get a clear answer. Know your go to person and please be kind. Remember nursing is about honesty and as a nursing student I have to say so far I love it. We have great hospital sites and experienced teachers. I love my classmates and I am looking forward to take this journey with them. I promise to post my final review once I finish school. By the way no one asked me to post, I never attended Unitek before and I do not know anyone in this college, but now this is my college and I represent Unitek.

I’m giving Unitek 1 star only because my admissions rep was amazing. I was online and filled out info about being interested in the lvn program, shortly after I was contacted by Charles Reliford. He was amazing. When I came in for my tour, I was met by Mitch another admissions rep because Charles «left the company.» I was confused, but continued my tour. After touring the campus I was very excited because it’s a beautiful campus. However, Mitch was like a vulture. Very unpleasant, pushy, and seemed like he was in it for the commission. He made it clear none of my classes would be considered even if they were less than 5 years old. He kept saying I needed to give $ 340 by the end of the tour to secure a seat because less than 5 seats were left. I always almost paid, but something told me to hold off. The staff was rude and all seemed preoccupied gossiping and being very loud in their little cubicles/​office space.
Fast forward to a few weeks. I contacted another school NCP College of Nursing which is part of Unitek. The man I spoke with was my original admissions rep, Charles. I told him my experience with Mitch and he made it clear he didn’t leave the company, but was helping NCP transition into Unitek. I signed up with him because the staff was so much more welcoming and helpful. Everyone at NCP cares about you as an individual. I think Unitek campuses need to take lessons from NCP in regards to customer service.

My last review was removed. As a doctor I will never ever hire another nurse from this trash school. The school lacks the proper tools to educate the nurses here. This school is a money scam. And should be shut down for the safety of others.

No stars if I could. It’s like a weird Matrix movie set when you walk in or something… I wondered if everyone around me was a paid actor. I looked into the LVN to RN program and found out it would be $ 75,000 and about 3 years. Are you kidding me???
I am college educated and have a heavy science background and they would not waive the general courses needed for the specific LVN to RN program. When I realized they could charge me for each additional class, I understood why.
The admissions staff seem to be heavily commissioned for how many suckers they pull in. Mitch was very helpful, but I felt like I was buying a used car. I kept being pressured into the program to steer immediately bc «there may not be any seats left». I asked to speak with someone in the RN program about making an exception for the bridge courses (anatomy, physiology, micro, English, etc). They say since its been more than 5 years, I would have to retake them. They told me no school would accept my classes bc they were taken so long ago.
No other school has a cap on their prerequisites! This is insane and one of the main reasons I walked out and never looked back. I wasn’t going to even write a review, but someone (Kaitlyn I think was her name) just called me to follow up and was very snotty. «So what happened, were you able to finish your paperwork?» I said, «no, I’ve been in contact with Mitch. So she asks, «so what happened?» I replied, «I’m not interested.» She has the audacity to ask why!!!
When we agreed to disagreed on how long ago courses could be taken, they kept on saying, «That’s fine, you’ll be back. Everyone always comes back in a few years when they realize they keep getting wait listed at other schools.» What kind of sales approach is that? It almost made me angry that they were trying to decide my future for me. Not to mention, it was plain rude!
Save your money and time. This program is a joke. No test of academic skills is needed, but they’ll make you repeat all of your core courses if it’s been over 5 years. They just want your money. Thanks, but no thanks!
Update: not 10 mins later, another rep called me to ask how I was doing with regard to attending Unitek. Really!!! Now I’m annoyed!

DOES NOT DESERVE ONE STAR!!!
DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL!!!
I was totally discriminated against by both admissions and financial aid. I really feel contempt for minorities such as the Fremont Asst. Director of Admissions, who have nothing better to do than take their anti-​Black racism out on Blacks, like me, who are light-​skinned. By «hating» on me, they take out on me their hatred, also, of Whites.
In my case, Unitek staff chose political expediency and political correctness over ethical behavior based on basic right and wrong. The financial aid is totally shady, and I really wonder about the total malice, spite, and basically hatred, that Christy Torkelson, Asst. Admissions Director, exuded to me.
YES, THE STAFF IS THAT BAD!!! Dishonest, racist, and yet they want to play you like they represent the model minority! I repeat, high school graduates, go to public junior college. These people play you like they like you. However, if you request a rerun of your financial aid because you feel you are discriminated against, and because you feel it does not give you any affordable option to attend school, since you have to pay half the loan off WHILE in school, then they show their real and horrible side.
At that point, you are no longer a docile meal ticket for them, so you are to be eliminated, like some kind of disease, from their school’s presence. That means shown the door. You have no rights as a student in this school, Complaints, even when justified, are not welcome and can get you expelled as a student. Unlike other private schools, that are federally funded, entrance and exit procedures are not followed. So f you go to Unitek, make sure you keep your mouth shut! The staff backs each other up, even if one, or more, of them is lying.
I have already complained about my horrible experience at Unitek to the authorities that oversee private schools. So I am sure there will come a day when many of the dishonest and racist people that seem to make up the majority of their staff will be gone, and the school closed down. That will be the best thing for the Northern California towns in which Unitek has its colleges.

LVN to RN is NOT regionally accredited meaning you can’t go to a CSU for BSN (many schools are out of the question because of it, you’ll be stuck shelling out another 20k for bsn).
Anyways, going to Unitek is like buying a car. You look at the price tag and think you’re buying a BMW, but when you get to the dealership you walk out with a pinto but still paid the bmw price tag.
Sure, it gets you from point A to point B but you may have to push the car, and it may explode on you.
You may be forced to repeat a semester and pay extra. You will also have fight for EVERYTHING here because If they can they’ll bend you over and take you for everything you have. Lastly, they are so incredibly disorganized it’s amazing they’ve made it as far as they have.
Buyer beware!

My name is David Ross Nahrvar and this is my factual, true-​account, on the ground review of the $ 15k Information Technology Certifications Pilot Program at Unitek College, coming from one of the program’s TOP STUDENTS.
These are not opinions, they are facts.
Please read and consider the following carefully.
The website, marketing literature, and admissions representatives state that this program is:
Claim: Focused on IT Industry-​recognized Certification.
Fact: No, this program is centralized on producing «College Credits» and the hope is that you’ll be able to pass the Industry Certification at the end of each course. Which you more-​than-​likely won’t, unless you find concurrent third-​party training materials to augment your education.
Claim: Taught by Experienced and Certified Instructors.
Fact: False, our primary instructors are not certified in the material being «instructed», nor do they have the qualifications or experience as teachers in general. When students asked a relevant classroom question, students were told to Google it themselves. The «instructors» spent the majority of classroom time on Social Media Websites. ie: Facebook, youtube, or LinkedIn
Claim: Consists of ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ Lecture to Real Hands-​on training.
Fact: Of a 20hr week x 5 weeks the instructors lectured roughly 2 hours per week while reading from a page in a book, There is no hands-​on training, just labs set up in the back of classrooms untouched since the instructors have no knowledge to utilize them, as they do not know the material.
Claim: High-​quality Instructor-​Led Training (ILT)
Fact: Completely false, the training offered is a RESELL of a Self-​Paced Online (SPO) Product called TestOut, this is $ 495 to buy on your own. You WILL save $ 1,500 per certification and get the EXACT same training as attending Unitek College. At this moment in time at Unitek College, your «instructor» is there to «instruct» you to do TestOut.
Claim: Structured Curriculum
Fact: As it is right now, there is an official curriculum that has been accredited by the ACCSC, but the «instructors» cannot follow it as they have openly stated to the classes that they do not know the material themselves. According to faculty members, the IT program’s structure was copy and pasted from Unitek College’s successful Nursing program for the sole purpose of getting the untested IT Program «accredited».
Claim: Free Lunch
Fact: Flat out lie
Claim: IT Students Only Breakroom
Fact: Flat out lie
Claim: Free Coffee for Students
Fact: Flat out lie
Claim: You purchase 2 chances to pass each certification exams when you enroll.
Fact: You get 1 chance, then you’re forced to sign a waiver and pay ½ the cost for the second, IF you get a 90% or above on TestOut, IF the program director allows you to, and IF they even tell you about it.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​­_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
When students shared grievances and informed College Management of issues, they were immediately retaliated against in the forms of course failures, internship termination, employment termination, discrimination by association, derogatory comments and statements, accusations of collusion, slander, and threats.
These retaliations happened the moment the students started speaking out against the knowingly false and gross misrepresentation of material facts committed against them. Starting in Dec. 2014 and continuing through this posting day.
To this day, Unitek College/​Unitek Education has not only chosen to not make the good-​faith effort to mediate and correct these issues, but they have fired the only qualified instructor that actually taught material he is certified to teach and the only instructor the students actually learned from. Best part, he was fired for helping us, fighting for our education, talking to us one-​on-​one and convincing us to give Unitek the chance and to help them fix it’s broken program with our input as Program Pilots.
Once again, these are Irrefutable Facts from an actual Student that has attended the Pilot Program since Sept.17^th, 2014. Who has since taken a 5-​week period of non-​enrollment in the effort to give the college management a fair chance to right wrongs, effective January 16^th, 2015.
Request for meeting with CEO has gone unanswered.
Please reach out to me for further details
*** In response to Shannon’s comment below***
My review has nothing to do with my internship expiring, I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to work with such fantastic people. The fact that you mention it being the sole reason of, or even linked to, my honest review of the program is very unprofessional. Instead of deflecting profound issues with the program and trying to discredit your student, you should try to reach out and make things right by living up to Unitek’s standards and ethics that drew me to enroll in the first place. Shame on you. I will be in on Feb.25^th to withdraw from the program.

I’m looking into this school for the LVN program to get my foot in the door of the career I wish to pursue. Ultimately, I’d like to receive my bachelors degree in nursing and think this school could offer a good start. However, I find it extremely obnoxious that in the past two days I have been emailed twice and called 7 times after expressing interest. This really makes me feel like the school only wants my money. They are on me like crazy. It’s really giving me second thoughts. I’m not looking to shell out thousands of dollars if all this school cares about is the money. It certainly comes off as such to be bothered so many times a day.

The first person I met from Unitek College happened to be the CEO. And that was an amazingly good first impression! Since joining the school I have not stopped learning. I know that seems a bit obvious that you would continually learn at a school, but it’s really amazing that every single day I am exposed to something which is not interesting but has direct relevance to my professional development and career growth. Every. Single. Day. It’s like a fire hose of information piped into your brain.

40k for LVN?
most of us who consider going to these schools do it because we DO NOT want to do the community college route and transfer to an ACCREDITED 4-​year institution. I attended Unitek for a couple weeks and it felt like a complete scam. the «advisor» knew nothing. If anything he mentioned that Obama Care was going to hurt the LVNs… What the… ok… Look if you think its going to be easy to get a job after, think again, Unless you want to work at a retiring home… Hospitals hire RNs Vs LVNs now a days.
SAVE YOURSELF! i am so glad i did!
I went back to community college, and transferred! ITS NOT AS HARD AS THEY TELL YOU IT IS.
Its better to get a REAL degree you can be proud of.
If i can do it, i know ALL OF YOU CAN. Please save yourself from a waste of loans.

I don’t know about the nursing program here or whatnot, but the 2-​week EMT crash course with Eric and Josh is THE BOMB DIGGITY. It sounds shady because EMT courses are typically 6 months-​1 year (trust me I had my doubts), but it was absolutely worth it. The instructors are amazing, knowledgable, hilarious, entertaining, and experienced. The class design gave us an incredible amount of hands-​on experience with car crash simulations, etc. which I think a lot of other courses fail to do. Their goal is to teach us to be quality EMTs and they did their job well.
Because the class is everyday for 2 weeks 8am — 8pm, you get really close and chummy with the group that you’re put in. You sit together in circles, eat together, do intense stressful simulations together, so that by the end you’re all good friends. I really enjoyed this aspect of the class because we got to learn from each other.
The course is expensive. Not gonna lie. But the reason for this is because numerous costs have already been factored in (lunch, dinner, hotel, snacks, coffee, registration fees, class, equipment) that you would have otherwise had to spend anyway.
If any of you are considering going on the EMT/​paramedic, medical, nursing, or firefighting track and want to get this course out of the way ASAP, I highly highly highly recommend Unitek’s EMT course (with Josh and Eric) to you.