Universal Technical Institute Reviews and Complaints

I am a recent hire, current instructor at UTI Exton, PA. I have learned a lot about the company after only working there for a short time.

I can tell you that what they tell and promise their employees is not true. I understand that there were no raises this past year, but yet the company has the money to build and open a new campus in NJ? The Exton Campus President, Bob Kessler, is nothing more than a "yes-man" who tells you word-for-word what the company has prompted him to say. A big liar in my book.

It is a corporate environment like no other that I have ever seen. UTI managers are obsessed with covering themselves and they will do whatever it takes to make that happen. It is a shame, because the students are the ones who ultimately suffer from the company politics that the management team cannot move beyond petty differences. Another instructor hit the nail on the head when he told me that the company is totally dysfunctional.

Like I said, it a skewed corporate environment that only exists within the walls of UTI. They say and promote one thing, yet do the complete opposite. I have never seen such a mess anywhere else. I have also learned that it is not only the Exton, PA campus that follows this detrimental corporate down spiral, but it is fluent throughout the entire company.

UTI promotes people based on who they like, not by job performance. If they promoted based on job performance, people like Rosangela Dempster and Ryan Galatti would have been blown out the door years ago, instead, people like them have done nothing but moved up, despite their inadequacies to effectively perform their jobs. Rosangela and Ryan are, by far, the worst managers and people that I have ever had to work under and the rest of the management team is not far behind them. They feel as though they know every thing and they will forcefully argue with you when you offer a differing opinion.

That is a terrible manager. UTI is an awful company to work for, their management is 100% horrible and incapable of performing their jobs effectively. They blindly tow the company line and they even do that poorly.

UTI management is not properly equipped to do their jobs and it shows, right up to their CEO, Kim McWaters. I am currently looking to leave this company and I wish I had kept looking before accepting this awful job.

I viewed the school in 2005 after my very persuasive recruiter told me I was a shoe in for a racing career after my time at the school was over he made his thousand dollars aAnd went on his was I moved from Connecticut and I was a student from 2006-2008 I was student of the course twice and graduated in the top of my class when all was said and done I couldn’t get a job changing tires at Walmart when I asked for assistance I was put on hold and ignored financially and mentally this school ruined me and after ten years I am still putting the prices back together I have advice for anyone who is considering going here don’t do it go to a local college gain real world experience and be happy you didn’t make the same mistake as the rest of us if this is real I would like to be added to the list and hope to finally get some closure from this thank you ...(NASCAR technical institute graduate)

I was a diesel instructor at UTI for many years and I will tell you how they run the show from the inside. UTI is only concerned about money.

Education is a secondary, or a less objective for them. It is a business, but it is the most dysfunctional business I have ever seen. They preach a code of ethics that you will never see or hear of in the real world. Their professionalism standards only rival that of a church.

BUT, It is nothing but a crock because they don't adhere to it themselves. They claim that they do, but their managers are all a bunch of spinsters who figure out how to bend every thing to their advantage. It is all about money and UTI only wants your money, that is the truth. Check out their stock prices, it is awful.

They don't care about your education or if you learn anything while you are there. They will fleece you for all of you money and hand you a useless certificate after that, you don't even get a degree. They push you through to make their numbers look good and pocket your hard earned money. Do yourself a favor and go to an accredited school and get a degree when you are finished and spend less money doing it.

UTI will only give you a certificate that means nothing and will actually make you less desirable to employers. All of UTI's staff is aware of the fact that industry employers roll their eyes every time they hear you are a UTI student UTI's Ed managers and Ed director are just a bunch of spinsters. When faced with the unethical education practices in their classrooms, they denied that it was happening and that they told their instructors to do it. Arizona is clueless as to what happens at any of their campuses and they don't care as long as money is flowing in.

Money Money Money ...

That is UTI's core concern. Does this sound like a school you want to go to?

I went there and had a grant and financial aid and the whole 9 yards. Unfortunately events took place and had to leave, tried returning for months however my recruiter kept telling me several different things on how to return.

Got a hefty bill. Was told NOT to worry about it ( i have screenshots) and now i get calls from a debt collector. Uti is nothing but a scam. For the short time i was there my teacher showed passion for vehicles but his proffesionalism and his ability to teach were minimum in skill.

Im not talking about all institutions im just talking about the one in norwood. DONT GO THERE GO TO MASSBAY

So when I was an immature deadbeat 19 year old I told mommy I want to go to "college" to learn how to work on cars and be a mechanic and make a lot of money! She was so proud that ONE of her 3 sons was interested in furthering his education, so she was ready to sign loans like a fly thats ready to eat turds..

of course the recruiter had zero issues with taking advantage of a young and dumb 19 year old and his financially illiterate mother.... SO $30k worth of loan signing at the age of 19 and im ready to drive my beat up 1987 bmw with a broken hood latch from NH to the sunny Orlando Florida UTI location. I used a student services type of website to find a room mate transferred my employment from NH valvoline to an orlando location.. my hourly pay rate went from $11/hr in NH to $7.85/hr in Florida....

o.O I could BARELY afford anything. But i did what i had to do while I was there, Payed attention in all my classes received student of the course in multiple courses and directors list awards. I had a GPA of 3.85 upon graduation, but the whole time I was attending UTI, I realized the staff, including the instructors only gave a flying *** about ATTENDANCE and APPEARANCE. do i feel like anyone really gave a *** about what students were learning?

absolutely not other than to be a good worker be, shut up and do your job pretty much. So i graduated with my "certificate" no degree of course, now im not even a college graduate and I have #30k in debt... whatever I graduated UTI now I can go be a mechanic and make the big bucks. I got a job at an independant shop as an entry level tech.

fast forward a year later I got into a bad car accident(other drivers fault) was out of work for longer than 6 months due to recovery and I ended up losing my job. I have to say though I learned more in 1 year working in the automotive field then I ever did attending UTI. that was the end of my automotive career, because I could not find a job in the automotive industry around me due to only working for a year then having an employment gap of almost a year. I now have been working in Manufacturing for almost a decade, I am a production supervisor and my UTI "education" has not and will never do anything positive for me EVER.

I currently have 2 student loans one was oringally for 20k. So far I have paid back $21,232 on this $20k loan, and guess what the current principal balance is? yea... $19,939....

I had another $10k loan I have paid approximately $7,000 on this loan and guess what the principal balance is? yea... $13,961.. So..

this should be criminal, UTI is not a college and should not qualify for student loans. This is loan sharking.... Trust me I make more in manufacturing than I ever would have in the automotive industry and I still can't pay these student loans... Its ridiculous.

They are over priced and you absolutely positively DO NOT get your monies worth when you attend UTI... You are better off starting in a quick lube or an independant shop as a oil/tire guy and working your way up to to an actual tech by learning on the job from experienced wrenchers... I deserve a DEGREE for what's going to end up being over $100,000 when all is said and done. Unless UTI starts offering Degree programs, They should not be allowed utilize Student aid...

What these "for profit" schools are doing should be criminal.. I am now a debt slave for no reason Uti is nothing more than a money pit

Welcome to education for profit and a cut-throat company atmosphere. Since UTI went public all they are concerned with is money, money, money, a quality education is far down on their list of priorities.

They say different, but that is not the case. They push students through and then brag about their "student success" when in reality the majority of their students are just as bad when they graduate as when they started. This is because the instructors are evaluated, raise wise, on how many students pass their class and they have to explain why students failed. It puts the instructor in a no-win position where they are forced to push under achieving students through and make the classes so easy that anyone can pass.

Some of the instructors will high-light the test questions in their powerpoint and actually tell you what is on the test as they give the lessons. Some will even read the test to you and give you the answers before you take it. It amazes me that anyone could fail a class at UTI. The managers of the company are all a bunch of snakes, right up to the CEO and they will 100% tow the company line whether it is right or wrong.

When you speak up, you will be blown out the door. They tell their employees that they have an open door policy, but don't speak up because they will get rid of you. UTI is probably one of the most deceitful and dishonest companies out there .... Yes, it is a company, NOT a school.

Enrollments are down and their stock is in the toilet ... That should tell you something.

I wouldn't spend the outrageous money that it costs to go there when there are better options with community colleges and accredited colleges that teach the same thing. BTW, UTI is not accredited.

I graduated from UTI in Norwood, MA with a 3.8 GPA. Upon first impression, UTI looks like a wonderful place to study.

The place is big and spotless. Upon entering, the first thing the recruiter shows you is a huge display case with all the Snap-On tools you receive as a gift upon graduating, they tell you that the school guarantees job placement and gives you the impression that you will become ACE certified. They tell you about their amazing classes where you can build your own hot rod from scratch. It only took a couple of months for me to realize what a facade this all was.

The walls are practically made out of paper, the majority of the job placement is for very low paying positions such as oil change and tire rotation techs, as well as Starbucks and Walmart, jobs that require no type of education and you can easily find on your own... The walls are practically made out of paper, it became clear very quickly that the school is basically a big cardboard box that they repaint constantly to make it look nice on the outside. The motors and transmissions that you rebuild are in horrible condition and missing parts, weeks of work for nothing. The tools you're promised you will never see, instead, they give you a $200 voucher, and upon using this voucher Snap-On sent me used tools.

But worst of all, you never receive an ACE certification, instead, you receive a certificate from the school. They tell you, that because the curriculum is strictly technical without any academic work, the school is considered an accelerated program and 1 year of study is worth 2. You need 2 years of experience to qualify for your ACE you're later told, so you can take the ACE test on your own, but after I had contacted the ACE they informed me that that is not the case, you need 2 years of work experience, and school experience is only worth half, they also informed me that they do not consider UTI to be an accelerated program, so the 2 years of experience I was promised by UTI, actually turned out to be 6 months... I do take some personal responsibility here, however, I was young and nieve and with little direction.

I should have done my research and would have easily found the thousands of complaints about the misconduct at UTI. But good for you UTI for being able to trick so many young, unsuspecting students for profit. I still owe student loans due to this horrible scam of a school, I was unable to successfully gain employment as I graduated around the time of the collapse of the auto industry and being a UTI graduate did not make me a competitive candidate for employment in any sense.

The automotive programs such as BMW and Audi which claim they will pay for the second year of study for exceptional students conveniently pulled out of the school around graduation. Going to this school was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, 8 years later, I am still suffering from the student loans.