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I have one bill that is for a set of books and a degree course that I signed a contract for and paid a deposit to take through a correspondence school. After only one month, I realized that I could not complete the course and sent the books back and told them that I would no longer be making payments and that I wanted all my money back. They told me that I still had to pay--whether or not I finished the courses or sent back the books. The course was supposed to be $5000, but they offered to let me settle for $2000. I don't even want to pay that because I got nothing out of the books or the course.
Even though you may feel that the course proved worthless to you because you decided not to complete it, you did sign a contract obligating you to do so. Unfortunately, most such contracts have no stipulations built in that say you may simply stop paying on the contract if you change your mind somewhere down the road.
However, many reputable correspondence programs do have provisions for pro-rating parts of courses if they are not able to be completed as planned due to unforeseen circumstances.
So, before you make any decisions about accepting or not accepting this settlement, you will need to check your original course contract document. If you do find a provision for pro-rating but the school will not honor it, you may need to enlist the help of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and report the school's activities.
The fact that the school is willing to settle for less than half the amount so quickly may indicate that you are, in fact, entitled to a pro-rated fee reduction, or even a refund. If you do not find a pro-rating clause in your contract, you may have other recourse besides settling. For more information on the legal practices of correspondence schools in your state, you may want to contact your state Attorney General's office. This office is usually listed in your phone book under "government offices."
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