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| - Going to college follows one simple principle: You pay them and you in turn receive an education. Collins College is the exception.
The loans you pull (from private and federal sources) are for very large sums that end up total to a mean of roughly sixty-thousand dollars (~$60,000). These loans are generally low in interest, however Collins will not help you in knowing when or if your interest rates for subsequent loans are increased. The highest I heard of from an attending student was a $30,000 loan at a 14% interest rate, which, if you aren't keen on interest rates, is downright awful. That was just one loan. You will end up accruing many more loans throughout this "education".
Speaking of which, the education you receive can easily be achieved by purchasing student license versions of programs (such as 3DS Max, Adobe CS4, et cetera) and playing around with the tutorials. If you want to acquire an education that relates to the Video Game or Graphic Design Industries, you are WAY better off looking into a community college, a non-profit university, or a list of books that are readily available via Amazon.com. You certainly will NOT get what you pay for from Collins College, no matter how you sugar coat it.
I have spoken to many other alumni from Collins College and from Art Institute (both of which are known as "For-Profit" institutions), and everyone has a remarkably similar story. Received a crappy education, an incredible amount of debt, and work jobs that don't pay enough to make their student loan payments.
If you have a car that is paid off, no cell phone bill, and you live at home with your folks, you can probably swing the average repayment bill of ~$650. That, though, is peanuts compared to the highest I've heard of (that being ~$780 per month). Do NOT waste your time, money, or life attending ANY For-Profit program. Two years of nothing but ridiculous debt is NOT worth the toilet paper degree.
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