Teen Mania Raises Prices Over 50% After Indicating That They Wouldn’t

Dear Incoming Class of August 2014 Interns,

You were probably told that when you arrived at Teen Mania in only two months, your total yearly cost would be $8,400 and that would include you living in a furnished dorm and eating all your meals in the cafeteria. And just two weeks ago, Ron Luce himself announced that would not raise the cost for interns.

Image Reads: “Like a number of ministries, Teen Mania has faced many financial challenges over the last several years due to both 9/11 and the 2009 economic downturns. As financial restructuring occurred to accommodate budgetary changes, the day-to-day expenditures associated with the facilities and maintenance have became (sic) burdensome and costly for the ministry to maintain. [Highlighted section] Rather than pass along an increase in fees to those who are studying at the Honor Academy, we chose to make additional changes to our organization structure and operations in order to minimize our financial risk and vulnerabilities and to implement improved financial standards and best practices.

But things have changed.

Starting today, the new price is $12,800 (52% price increase).

That does not include food.

And you must furnish your own apartment. (Except for bed, dining table/chairs and kitchen appliances.)

(And it only covers 9 months, not 1 year.)

You need pots and pans to make your own food? Gotta buy ’em.

Want a couch to sit on? Better go to Goodwill!

Because none of that is included.

On the other hand, now you only have to work 10 hours per week and can use the rest of your time to take up to 12 hours of college credit online (tuition not included!)

But hey, at least Teen Mania gave you two whole months to come up with the extra money. After all, most college kids have an extra $6,000 laying around. So, no biggie!

EDIT: Click Here to Read Source Document at HA Website.

13 comments:

Esthersays:May 29, 2014 at 9:49 PMReply

Did I miss (or forget) a memo saying that the Core Values were being rewritten to exclude Integrity? Because when I went through, one of the core values was Integrity, defined as “We always do the right thing regardless of expediency”. I mean, I know they’ve been ignoring that and Excellence for a long time, but I’m wondering if they’ve completely removed it officially.

How in the world do they continue to justify this crap?

Ericsays:May 29, 2014 at 10:48 PMReply

According to the staffer quoted in this post, the previous tuition resulted in 42% net excess to TM’s coffers. I wonder what percentage of the new tuition will be profit for TMI?

Shannon Kishsays:May 29, 2014 at 11:06 PMReply

This document is very revealing— http://www.honoracademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ATFLI-5_29_14-V3.pdf

Anonymoussays:May 30, 2014 at 2:54 PMReply

So let em get this straight, does this mean even for students ho have ALREADY been accepted and are planning to enter THIS AUGUST? We were told the price would NOT increase because we have already been accepted at the lower price. Do we NOW have to pay even MORE? And if so, since NONE of this is what we originally signed up for, can we get our money already paid BACK??????

Recovering Alumnisays:May 30, 2014 at 2:55 PMReply

I’m told that students that were already accepted will start be notified of the higher prices today. You have until June 13th to decide if you will enroll at the new prices. Not sure if you can get your money back…They’ve never given refunds in the past but hopefully they will change that for this situation. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Anonymoussays:May 30, 2014 at 7:51 PMReply

Maby I missed it… Did you say where this info came from? From the announcement going around on facebook it didn’t say they had to get their own housing…. or anything else like that. Just wondering what the source is on these ‘facts’

Anonymoussays:May 30, 2014 at 7:53 PMReply

I imagine these are the Core Values of ATFLI and not TMM. I’m sure TMM will retain Integrity – oxy moron I guess. That is my guess.

Recovering Alumnisays:May 30, 2014 at 7:54 PMReply

Anonymous – Thanks for pointing out I forgot to link to the source. I added the link above – info on the HA website. Thanks!

Anonymoussays:May 30, 2014 at 9:39 PMReply

Is School of Worship even being OFFERED anymore? I see nothing mentioned about it in the information release. And is it not called Honor Academy anymore? None of this is what we signed up for. If they refuse to refund money paid, isn’t this grounds for a lawsuit?

Recovering Alumnisays:May 30, 2014 at 9:42 PMReply

I’m not sure what the status is of the School of Worship. The Honor Academy is now called the Acquire the Fire Leadership Institute. If you were originally planning on attending in August, I would definitely read through the entire document on the HA website to see if you are still interested.

And keep in mind, if they change things on you now, whats to stop them from changing more things once you arrive? They have a track record of not keeping their word.

If you decide not to attend, I do hope you are able to get your money back and I would encourage you to apply significant pressure on them if they balk at the idea.

Pastor Scottsays:May 30, 2014 at 10:16 PMReplyThis comment has been removed by the author.

kymberlydawnsays:May 31, 2014 at 4:20 PMReply

Did anyone notice that the ‘real’ cost is $18,400, but becomes $12,800 after a couple phoney scholarships (everyone must ‘win’ them because the advertised price is 12.8)? The ‘work study scholarship’ is $2,550, which if you work 10 hours/wk for 36 weeks (9 months) you essentially earn $7.08/hr (still below TX minimum wage). These people aren’t stupid, this is the newest way to cover their behinds and avoid lawsuits whilst still relying on slave labour.

Anonymoussays:June 27, 2014 at 12:39 AMReply

Yes it is

13 thoughts on “Teen Mania Raises Prices Over 50% After Indicating That They Wouldn’t”

  1. Did I miss (or forget) a memo saying that the Core Values were being rewritten to exclude Integrity? Because when I went through, one of the core values was Integrity, defined as “We always do the right thing regardless of expediency”. I mean, I know they’ve been ignoring that and Excellence for a long time, but I’m wondering if they’ve completely removed it officially. How in the world do they continue to justify this crap?

  2. According to the staffer quoted in this post, the previous tuition resulted in 42% net excess to TM’s coffers. I wonder what percentage of the new tuition will be profit for TMI?

  3. So let em get this straight, does this mean even for students ho have ALREADY been accepted and are planning to enter THIS AUGUST? We were told the price would NOT increase because we have already been accepted at the lower price. Do we NOW have to pay even MORE? And if so, since NONE of this is what we originally signed up for, can we get our money already paid BACK??????

  4. Recovering Alumni

    I’m told that students that were already accepted will start be notified of the higher prices today. You have until June 13th to decide if you will enroll at the new prices. Not sure if you can get your money back…They’ve never given refunds in the past but hopefully they will change that for this situation. Good luck and let us know what happens.

  5. Maby I missed it… Did you say where this info came from? From the announcement going around on facebook it didn’t say they had to get their own housing…. or anything else like that. Just wondering what the source is on these ‘facts’

  6. I imagine these are the Core Values of ATFLI and not TMM. I’m sure TMM will retain Integrity – oxy moron I guess. That is my guess.

  7. Recovering Alumni

    Anonymous – Thanks for pointing out I forgot to link to the source. I added the link above – info on the HA website. Thanks!

  8. Is School of Worship even being OFFERED anymore? I see nothing mentioned about it in the information release. And is it not called Honor Academy anymore? None of this is what we signed up for. If they refuse to refund money paid, isn’t this grounds for a lawsuit?

  9. Recovering Alumni

    I’m not sure what the status is of the School of Worship. The Honor Academy is now called the Acquire the Fire Leadership Institute. If you were originally planning on attending in August, I would definitely read through the entire document on the HA website to see if you are still interested. And keep in mind, if they change things on you now, whats to stop them from changing more things once you arrive? They have a track record of not keeping their word. If you decide not to attend, I do hope you are able to get your money back and I would encourage you to apply significant pressure on them if they balk at the idea.

  10. Did anyone notice that the ‘real’ cost is $18,400, but becomes $12,800 after a couple phoney scholarships (everyone must ‘win’ them because the advertised price is 12.8)? The ‘work study scholarship’ is $2,550, which if you work 10 hours/wk for 36 weeks (9 months) you essentially earn $7.08/hr (still below TX minimum wage). These people aren’t stupid, this is the newest way to cover their behinds and avoid lawsuits whilst still relying on slave labour.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *