Penn Foster

925 Oak Street

Scranton, PA 18515

20 Reviews

School District
Grade

9-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by student on January 21, 2025

very good teaching and good way of working with the kids
Submitted by student on January 02, 2025

I am very disappoint in this school! I choose to take the tax prep class. All you do is read a book that you can buy at any book store and answer questions. Had I known this I would have just bought the $20 book and saved $700!! There are a lot of typos in the test vs the texbook esp on numbers for example, the answer to a question was 65 but the only answer close to it that Penn Foster had was 66. I've been noticing a lot of these mistakes. There is no real instructor and if you have questions good luck getting help. My advice is go with a local schoool and real instructors.
Submitted by other on November 14, 2024

I enrolled in Penn Foster to finish high school faster. Which I did, but the quality of education they provide is absolutely horrendous. If you plan on going to college after, prepare to be completely clueless and behind almost all of your peers academically. I'm stuck at the level of education I received in 9th grade before I enrolled in Penn Foster. I 100% regret enrolling in that school. They provide nothing of value and whatever "help" they offer for your courses is useless. You're basically completely on your own and you're free to cheat as much as you want. If you want a good education DO NOT ENROLL IN PENN FOSTER. Go to a public school for free and earn legitimate education there instead. Or if you want to stay online there's Lighthouse Academy or your state's own online public school. If you value your education don't enroll in Penn Foster.
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2024

Enrolled our granddaughter in April 2024. We paid her tuition in full. She loves it and is doing great. 10 out of 12 of her credits from HS transferred. We were told we would get a refund for the ones that transferred. After numerous phone calls and emails, we keep getting the runaround and they won't let us talk to a supervisor. They put a ticket in for one to call us, 10 tickets later, still nothing. They were quick to take our money but won't refund the credit transfers. With that said, If you expect any type of refund, forget it. Customer service in finance dept is horrible!!!
Submitted by student on August 11, 2024

Transferring in was really easy. Their counselors walked me through the process and notified me when it was complete. Coursework is self paced. No time limits on exams and they are frequent but short. This school has given me an opportunity after some things prevented me from attending regular school and aged out.
Submitted by other on July 02, 2024

I am a LIFETIME LEARNER, well I was until they cancelled the LIFETIME LEARNER program. Pretty messed up, I completed 7 courses that I paid for completely, I completed 2 courses under the lifetime learner program. I will NEVER use PENN FOSTER AGAIN. This is so unprofessional
Submitted by student on June 28, 2024

If you have ADHD or any other learning disabilities there’s no guidance here. I have very bad ADHD and I get very bad anxiety over time exams. When I been to other schools throughout my life I be given extra time on my exams. For example if it’s a hour test I will have a hour and half or 2 hour yeast be 3 hours. But this school there’s no guidance whatsoever comes to this. I don’t have family or friends to help me with this.
Submitted by parent on March 18, 2021

My son complete penn foster high school program over a month ago. They have not sent diploma or transcripts and refuse to talk to me with him on the phone. Hes a 18 year old kid so they ignore my questions and will only answer him. He doesnt know what to ask them when we are both on the phone. We live in Maryland and penn foster claims it takes a month to send the diploma. The rep today threatened to hang up if I kept asking where is the diploma and EMAIL transcripts. She put the transcripts person on the phone who infirmed kid Gray that the transcripts I paid for were not coming bc she claims they were ordered before he graduated. This is not true. I ordered AFTER they failed to mail the diploma. Anita Williams
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2020

There is good and bad about Penn Foster. The good...you get a real degree for high school or a certificate. The material if you study you will learn material. There is little busy work. Most of the material is reading lessons. You have flashcards and answers questions that are not graded. Only tests are graded. The bad....you only get so many days to decided if Penn Foster is for you. I believe 7 days to get a full refund and 30 days to get a partial refund. You cannot look at the material of other classes, just the class that you are in...so it is not like you can browse:( I am surprised that the material is truly just reading and tests. In an age of technological advances you are on your own to watch videos, see maps or supplements to the material. There really is no one checking on you, ever. I requested materials in paper instead of online but never got them....It is fine. We are going to supplement with some other materials. I do not like that you can only take 1 or 2 classes at a time. A student has to have quite a bit of a class done before the next class opens. It really is fine. Quite affordable. It is basic, if a student really struggles they might have a hard time understanding some of it.
Submitted by other on July 29, 2020

100% satisfied with my studies at Penn Foster. Sadly, but true that I’ve learned more in 4 months while being enrolled with Penn Foster than I did at traditional schools. And I’ve been in traditional schools most of my life.
Submitted by student on February 24, 2020

i'm enjoying penn foster high school so far, i'm %45 done and I had no problems with the school at all. don't listen to people who is saying that the school is money hungry or don't care about students. they never took my money without permission.. my monthly payment didn't go through twice and they just call or send a email that I haven't payed for the month. they don't charge me unless I do so. which is great.. also this is a real high school diploma.. I contacted over 15 colleges/universities that accept penn foster as a high school diploma in florida.. such as FIU. WHICH IS THE TOP UNIVERSITY IN FLORIDA. Don't listen to people saying it's fake. it's not.
Submitted by student on January 22, 2020

would've just stayed with James Madison online school
Submitted by student on December 31, 2019

When I enrolled in this program, I paid in full for the first semester. I spoke to an admissions adviser, who told me I would get refunded for any transfer credits I received after enrolling. I did get credit for biology in October, and I still have not been refunded. I have been wasting so much time and anxiety trying to get this resolved, but no one there is willing to help.
Submitted by student on December 22, 2019

I had a absolutely incredible experience that made me learn not only the studies, but also more about myself.
Submitted by student on December 14, 2019

Excellent program. Getting my Electrical Engineering HS diploma 8 months earlier than expected, Confident in my knowledge and already earning apprenticeship hours.
Submitted by parent on August 20, 2019

Very good. My daughter obtained her degree without a problem. She finished before her friends in traditional high school. And, she started college today. I did contact local community colleges and universities before enrolling. I was told that the Penn Foster degree was acceptable for entry to all of them.
Submitted by student on July 24, 2019

Takes too long to get a refund. Does not have correct training for students with disabilities. Very rude and disrespectful customer service.
Submitted by parent on July 29, 2017

One thing I will STRONGLY caution prospective students and parents about. Do not believe the statement that these are actual high school diplomas. They are not. Universities, employers and the military will view them as GEDs only. So if you or your child are looking to go beyond high school, be aware of that.
Submitted by parent on April 05, 2017

My daughter is attending PENN FOSTER High School after trying to deal with medical issues and continue traditional high school. It has been a lifesaver for us/her. The payment plan is affordable, classes are set up to be done one at a time and at her pace, and any questions we have had have been answered right away with just a quick email. In response to the other review here...we are still making our payments and our daughter is one exam away from graduation. PENN FOSTER is a great alternative to traditional high school, affordable and comes right to your home.
Submitted by other on March 13, 2014

I attended this school via online classes. The customer service was consistently poor, and my school books were always late due to miscommunications within the system. Their terms of agreement are also unclear and you're not assigned an advisor to guide you through your courses. Their automated system is very frustrating. When trying to get routed to student services, or transferred to another department, you get routed back to the main menu and have to start the process all over again. Future students, please be aware that once you've completed 50% of your course you'll be expected to pay your tuition in full whether you finish or not. And they don't always allow your credits to be transferred.