What does the students at penn foster high school students have to say about the school?

Answer 1

Answer 1: I personally don't think so and then there are others who will have there reasons for thinking they are so there really is no right or wrong answer to this question

Answer 2: Regarding the first answer... huh? I mean, I'm sorry, but... wh... what? [a rhetorical question]

Penn Foster high school is operated by Penn Foster College. Penn Foster College is one of two major colleges of its type in the United States (the other being Ashworth College) which offers both career certificates and diplomas, and also finished degrees in a number of career areas. Penn Foster College and Ashworth College both advertise on daytime television (when they know that unemployed people are sitting at home) advertising their career degrees and diplomas. When you enroll in one of them, you feel a bit like you're shopping at Walmart...

...which doesn't mean that their degrees are bad. It just means that they sort of treat their students a little bit like cattle, and just want to shove 'em through their systems as quickly and cheaply as possible.

But that doesn't mean they're degree mills, or anything. They're quite credible, and academically rigorous; but they're definitely career schools intent on enrolling as many people as possible, gettin' 'em through as fast as possible, and charging little enough for it that unemployed people watching TV at home on weekdays will be able to afford it.

Penn Foster College and Ashworth College are "nationally" accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which is an accreditor approved by the US Department of Education (USDE), and the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Therefore, its degrees are legal in all states, good for employers, etc. Nothing bad, there. However, attending either school feels... well... again, a little bit like shopping at Walmart. I've even been known to joke that those two colleges, while accredited and credible and all that, are nevertheless the sort of "Walmarts" of highe education.

Okay, so, then, armed with that knowledge, you can imagine that going to Penn Foster High School is very much the same. And you'd be right. Don't get me wrong, Penn Foster High Scholl is excellent; and is actually a bit less like shopping at Walmart than is going to Penn Foster College. But, it's a little bit of an assembly-line sort of experience. Some students like that because it's no nonsense; and others need a little more help and handholding than that kind of system is equipped to provide. However, both Penn Foster High School, and Ashworth College's James Madison High School, have plenty of people available to provide "hand holding," if that's what the student needs. One simply needs to be firm in asking for it, and insisted that one gets it.

Both Penn Foster High School, and Ashworth's James Madison High School, though, actually have a better kind of accreditation than do their college owners. Both Penn Foster and James Madison are "regionally" (as opposed to "nationally" accredited, by one of the US's six big USDE-approved "regional" accreditors. Though "national" accreditation (in addition to "regional," of course) is okay at the college level...

...only "regional" accreditation will do at the high school level. Most employers, most colleges/universities, most government agencies (including the military) would prefer (and some of them will only accept) high school diplomas from "regionally" accredited high schools. A "nationally" accredited high school diploma has little or no real value in the real world. Avoid them.

That said, both Penn Foster and Ashworth's James Madison high schools also have "national" accreditation, just like their owner colleges. But because they also have "regional" accreditation, their "national" accreditation may just be ignored.

So, the bottom line is that Penn Foster High School (and its chief competitor, Ashworth College's James Madison High School) have the highest and best possible accreditation, and they're both reasonably priced. However, if a student needs inordinate help and hand-holding, said student may need to be really insistent on getting it before either school will assign someone to provide the kind of help that's really needed. But they will; and they won't make you feel bad about asking for it; but I'm just saying that they're set up to just push kids through, and not to really slow down and help them very much.

If that's okay with you, then by all means enroll in Penn Foster (or James Madison) high school. Either are excellent; and their diplomas will be accepted anywhere and everywhere that a high school diploma is required!

So, there! How's that for an opinion? Turns out the first answerer, then, was wrong, eh? (That is, assuming one can even figure out what, precisely, s/he was saying.) [grin]

Answer 2

Yes, it's a scam. You are paying a lot of money for basically nothing. If you truly wish to learn and/or get a degree, please looking into your local community college, or a local vo-tech course.

Answer 3

It is a school of excellence!! I am a current student, and i must say it is competitive at times when it comes to some of their exams, but they do provide you with books to help tutor you through with your studies.

I am a single mother of four children, and the study at your own pace has really been a blessing. It you have any limited time or a tight schedule this is a school that i would tell people to look into.