California Institute of Applied Technology - National City, California

Jesse T.

I'm currently enrolled in this school, originally as part of a certificate program now in an applied bachelor program. This school will be what you make of it. I received my first industry certification in 3 months, and I wasn't exactly in a rush. If you do the bare minimum, you're going to get a bare minimum experience. I have had no issues with the admissions office, student services, veterans services, or instructors. Everyone at the school is an email away, and there are plenty of resources that are made available for you to advance your knowledge and skills.

Ronald D. (.

Great experience here with staff, instructors, and counselors. Cybersecurity Bachelor’s Program is challenging but also works around my schedule, I
highly recommend CIAT.

William C.

Imagine zero accountability and blame-shifting personified. Picture this: you’re in your final class before earning your associate's degree. I reached out to the school  to continue into the bachelor’s program, which was my original plan. However, they required me to enroll in the associate’s degree first. After 16 months of classes and paying with my G.I. Bill I’m told I won’t graduate because they don’t have my transcripts from Palomar Community College. The school had no issue taking my money but now refuses to explain how this oversight happened or provide the name of someone I can contact to address my concerns. Zero accountability, Zero recourse. I perform the school's job and transfer my records to them with three weeks to spare.

Fast forward three weeks to the start of the new semester: I find out I don’t have any classes and received zero communication from the school. When I reach out, I’m told I’m missing a "crucial" registration document. How does this even happen? Why did no one reach out to me? Do you have standard operating procedures or a checklist? Only after I get irate on the phone does someone finally help me, allowing me to get into my class. However, I remain doubtful that the school will actually grant me a degree at the end.

Warning don’t rely on the BAH stipend for necessities. Have a backup plan. You have to hold the administration's feet to the fire at every single step.

Johnny T.

CIAT courses are definitely challenging; however, it is geared for anyone with desire to learn from beginner to more experienced IT person. The discussions provide an opportunity to research IT related topics and interchange ideas with instructors and students. The courses in the associate degree Information Technology with concentration in Networking program are geared to help students prepare and successfully pass certification exams. Thus, opportunities are provided to make contacts within the school and use resources to gain experience needed for employment in IT field. I think that CIAT courses are definitely excellent both for content and delivery of materials to be learned. The CIAT School experience was great. I definitely think it was worthwhile even though it was challenging and required student to do a lot of independent research in the discussions and labs were very detailed with written instructions. There are opportunities for video face-to-face instructions or telephonic instructions provided by instructors. Student services is also available to assist with course work or any issues involving accessing course materials. As with most endeavors, communication is important; thus, communicating with instructors or student services is important to overcome any challenges experienced during the course of studies. I would definitely recommend this school to anyone trying to start a career in IT.

Joshua O.

Ive been a student at CIAT since September 2019. Its been a great experience from day 1. Ive been working in IT for about 6 years and I have a lot of industry certifications/experience. They took 95% of my certifications and applied them as credit towards my degree plan. A few terms in, I got a little busy with work and could not participate in classes and they allowed me to take a break from class and pick back up in a new term. They have been very accommodating to me and my needs as well as understand the work/life and school balance. Great president, admissions advisors and student services staff. If you're an experienced IT professional and looking to boost your resume with a degree, I highly recommend.

Shawn O.

Laziest college I have seen. Instead of instructors creating their own course work it’s mostly just links to Microsoft or some other kind of freely available lab. Most my classes have been poorly structured, some of the instructors don’t seem to know the material they are teaching. Most answers to questions involve an answer similar to “Google it.” You can get the same education as here for free on YouTube and other sites since that is what they point you towards anyways.

Outside of the poor instruction, requesting any kind of assistance for accounting or benefits is a nightmare. They will tell you anything to keep you attending and keep the VA check coming in. This school is nothing but a scam, they don’t care about your education and they don’t care to help you. If you’re looking for an actual education and help getting into the job market look elsewhere.

Silent253

Great experience. One of the best IT oriented Colleges you can find. Don't believe the people with negative reviews. The courses are designed for you to do a lot of research on your own and a lot of studying on your own. In the end you learn a lot if you put the time and effort. If you don't know anything about IT then start with a beginner course then work your way up from there. They offer many programs for varying levels of IT knowledge or experience. Choose the right program for you and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. This is the best way to get those IT Certifications every employer is looking for and it is also a good stepping stone if you want to get into the IT field.

Peter S.

Loved my time at CIAT! In fact, I plan on coming back next year to get on with my Bachelors. The student services team has always been understanding about any LOAs I had to put in due to life events or the military. The teachers are all really nice and a good portion of them even have a sense of humor, imagine that, equally as understanding as the student services team and they 99% of the time will be more than happy to help you outside of class or give you extensions. It's a cram, but that's expected and you are free to go back and review all those lovely textbooks to get certified after the fact, so don't feel discouraged if you don't go for a certification right after a course concludes.

Unfortunately, you still have to take math classes... 🙁