ATA College - Fort Myers (Formerly Southern Technical College)

tried very hard to avoid writing this review but the career source has continuously reached out for me asking for it. I think 1 asking for a review is tacky. 2 when i needed anything from this school, nursing program, or career sources it was extremely difficult, so they only act like they care when it benefits them. Career services knew I was taking a different path than most in my field. She then cut my meeting short when I had many questions and said she would reach out after graduation. She has reached out multiple times for a review, but not once helping me with employment or even reaching out to finish our conversation. The school has an entire career source program, and the first time i heard from them was on my final day of classes. They have not helped me in a job search nor any of my questions. I’ve asked multiple times for advice on how to navigate what I want to do and I’ve heard nothing. The lectures i sat through taught me nothing about real nursing and was basically how to coddle a grown adult. I learned more in 12 days to prepare me for the NCLEX then i did in the 2 years in this program. I’ve been in 2 other nursing programs, one bachelors and dropped out, second FSW and dropped due to covid, but those programs were much more structured and i learned much more in my time there. The skill days were a joke and reinacted with fake tools rather than learning how to do something. The skill days and labs in the other schools were much more real life. I think everyone learned only during oreceptor, even during clinical’s we were not allowed to do anything or not wanted. The program itself was not helpful, the dean quit half way through my second last semester and was not available. Nobody took her place and students were not even informed regarding this, but rather swept under the rug and negatively effected our learning ang grades as we tried to reach out for help or advice and was told no. I was denied tutoring by a pregnant staff member because she had other priorities, she probably shouldn’t have been teaching that semester then. The school hounds you on due dates and penalize you, but they can’t stick to their own schedule and everything is chaos all the time. they forget to tell you things or tell you last minute then blame the students. I was an evening/ weekend student and ended up on days. I missed out on work and the school pretends small class sizes are designed to help you, when asking for help the teachers throw temper tantrums. I was bullied and singled out by those teachers as well as atleast 6 other students i know. The policy is looked aside for certain students and favoritism is very much a thing. Appeals have been made multiple students and they pick and choose who to help vs who to not. after paying 20k and making it to every class for 2 years, my friend was denied re entry after not passing her last 6 weeks, when other students have had their grades changed to push them through. I have photo evidence of all of this and will be reaching out for loan reimbursement.

This a very good college. The teachers are great and very understanding of students who work full time jobs with kids or not. The front desk staff Nicki and Kristine are very nice and they do their job very well, I've never had an issue with them.

⚠️‼️ PLEASE READ IF PLANNING ON GOING TO THIS SCHOOL ‼️⚠️ I want to start off by most importantly saying THIS IS NOT AN ACCREDITED SCHOOL! They tell you in the beginning that it is but once you attempt to transfer those credits to a different institution weather it be to continue your education or transferring school, they WILL NOT accept them. I’ve tried with Keiser, FSW, FGCU, and who knows what other schools/universities have to remind you ATA COLLGE IS NOT ACCREDITED! Second all this school cares about is YOUR MONEY! They make you pull out loans for NO REASON. I took ONLY THREE classes and am already in debt 6K after receiving grants AND paying out of pocket, I somehow still needed loans and provide monthly out of pocket expenses FOR ONE SEMSTER. When approached Financial Aid advising about it, she fed a bunch of bullcrap that made no sense but I continued to listen to see how far they would get which I then contacted FAFSA myself to establish confirmation of aids they were dispensing to ATA. Long story short, nothing made sense. On top of that this school is beyond unorganized. During my semester we started off with a teacher, midway replaced with another one who changed the complete way of teaching, assigning homework, test/exam study guides were nothing that was on the test nor the layout, all after learning the current teachers style of instructing, to a whole completely different level of teaching where grades dropped IMMEDIATELY and did not even have enough time to adapt to the new change. You walk outside for a "break" and you see professors smoking and hitting vapes, cigarettes, WITH STUDENTS AT THAT. They pretend that they are there for you, but they are really not. They just want your money. During my advising, I overheard two of the other advisors speaking, stating they did not feel like helping the next parent with their first timer college student because they had zero credits and she did not have time to go over "all the stuff that needs to be done before their child even thinks about starting college, how without credits you will not pass because you have no experience as a college student" BECAUSE OF THE MESS THEY HAVE BETWEEN PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS! Overall, they seem to take advantage of parents and kids with low knowledge of how college works. Most jobs nearby, other than Lee Health will see where you have graduated from (what school) and they will simply reject you because of that. I highly suggest continuing research on this school before moving forward. OH, they make you come in to meet with an admission advisor JUST for one question, and when you do end up deciding to move forward with this school, they make you take a test you must pass right after all the counseling and showing around of the school, the last stop is the library where they make you sit and test, passing will basically be your acceptance test. The most 1st grade questions ever. Please look elsewhere and DO NOT consider this school!

I attended school here before ATA transition. While they’re were transitioning, they didn’t know who would be our teacher. Days before a new semester started they hire a teacher whose language barrier intervened with her teaching and made it hard to understand .When we asked questions we were dismissed and told that we should know this stuff. Not only that but when we went to staff to complain NOTHING WAS EVER DONE. This school is very unprofessional.

If you were planning on scheduling a tour, don’t. The administrators are super nice, but the college itself it’s so unprofessional and unorganized. The receptionist they have is super rude, unprofessional and does not know what she is doing whatsoever. Went there for a tour, filled out the form and was told after an hour of waiting that I was not scheduled for a tour and that the admissions person I spoke with did not work there. Got a message a couple days later saying that the person does work there and they knew I was scheduled and saw I went and was not attended but until after I had left. Read the other reviews and save yourself the headache.

Definitely recommend this school to other people looking to become a nurse. The cost was cheaper than other schools in the area, but the education received was high quality. They work with you to make paying for your education easy. The staff is very supportive and friendly. The education that is provided prepares you for your NCLEX so your not blinded sided. It is a smaller size college, so your voice is heard here.

I had a great experience at ATA college. Everyone was very helpful and had the best interest for me to graduate. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I would encourage anybody who is looking for a nursing career to attend and you won't regret it. I just graduated and passed my NCLEX! I'm forever grateful for attending and the help I received from everyone. Thank you! 😁