Pinnacle Career Institue Charges $26,250 for PT Certification

Yes, thats right. Pinnacle Career Institute chargers $26,250 for tuition and books to attend their 18 month Personal Training Course. I went there 2 days ago to check it out and was floored when they told me the price. I even called NSCA and told them about this and they said its flat out ridiculous what they are charging people for tuition and how they are marking up the NSCA Membership and study materials. Thats from the NSCA so if they think it outrageous then whats that say about Pinnacle.

Keep in mind, I purchased my NSCA membership and study materials all for $360, where Pinnacle charges $1500 for the exact same thing. What a joke and its so sad people are actually paying for this.

Pinnacle Career Institute
$24,750 Tuition
$1,500 NSCA Membership & Study Materials
--------
$26,250 for 18 months

Pinnacle claims to be accredited and they are NOT. I spoke to one of the local Universities here in Kansas City and they said if any school is accredited they will be listed with the Higher Learning Commission.

Here is the website and phone number so you can check for yourself

www.ncahlc.org
312-263-0456

Please be aware of places like this that charge these outrageous tuition fees. I was also told that what Pinnacle is charging is the same as one year at a Division 1 University...including dorms and books.

I love this site that Katie has made available for all of us wanting to pursue a career in personal training, however I hope the Pinnacle advertisement and others that operate like Pinnacle are removed and reviews of places like mine are added to prevent people from getting ripped off.

Do your due diligence before spending any of your hard earned money.

Good Luck!!!

Competition and Choice is good
by: Katie - Admin

You need to compare like services and not just prices (compare apples to apples). $24K for an 18 month program is on par with what you would pay for a private liberal arts college for the same time frame. While this is certainly a lot more than a self study certification program, it is lots less than a four year degree.

It is actually a good thing that we have different educational choices and certification options. Not every option will fit with your learning style or budget, but may work for somebody else. We have heard from a lot of people really enjoy Pinnacle's program.

I certainly agree that the markup on the NSCA program is excessive. But even with the markup, the program may still be a good deal for 18 months of education.

- Katie

$26,000!?
by: Canadian

You can get a four-year BSc in Kinesiology for $10,000 less. That price is just insane!

Wow
by: Anonymous

This is in response to the first post. I personally deal with Pinnacle graduates quite a bit. I have hired 6 as personal trainers myself and sent 3 of my current non certified employees to take this exact course. This price ALSO includes a 2 week bootcamp where they fly the graduates out to Las Vegas and they get additional training from professionals like JAY CUTLER. (Mr. Olympian if you weren't sure)And yes, this is INCLUDED in the tuition that you were referring to. Pinnacle also has over a 90% placement rate for their personal trainers. (May not be exact but it was something extremely high. Pretty sure in the 90's.) Just don't bad mouth a school if you aren't really sure what they are about.

accreditation
by: Anonymous

there are two types, state and federal. Good luck on finding out which works as far as either. UGH!! Wellspring, another KS/KC area school, has an accreditation through an agency recognized by the US DOE, but no state accreditation. You might check the US DOE for Pinnacle's accreditation agency.

Pinnacle, like Wellspring, probably offers other services, as well, such as career counseling and in-classroom instruction. When you are learning on your own, you are just paying for materials, not for an instructor's time.

To compare: Wellspring, here in Lawrence charges $7,500 for NASM certification. This includes two certificates (CPT and CES), in-classroom instruction, hands on training via an "externship," where you get to shadow a trainer and then train a client on your own (although, frankly, you should be paid for that, not pay for it), an exam and career counseling.

Through the NASM, you get materials, a practice test, a two day workshop (you have to come up with travel expenses, though) and the exam for the CPT for about $700. Unfortunately, that doesn't come with any instructors or help of any kind, outside of the workshop. Double that cost for the second certification, and the total is $1400 or so.

However, if you are like me $7,500 is out of reach, where $700-$1400 is doable. If you can find a friend who would let practice train them for free, and a gym that might let you shadow a trainer, you could at least get the same experience as in the Wellspring externship. Still, no career help and pretty much on your own until the workshop.

I'm leaning toward the cheaper option, but would go with the school if I had the financial ability.

Oh, and to compare, KU is $4,000 a semester for in-state tuition. That's a public school, though. Costs are much higher for comparable private institutions.

Life is too expensive :(

Pinnacle is Horrible
by: Anonymous

I attended Pinnacle for several months before I realized they were ripping me off. I started looking around and asking questions and no one would answer them for me. Sadly I had a family tragedy and had to drop classes but was offered on-line classes. I began taking them and kept coming up with errors. I shortly there after got a job in a gym and they told me to quit attending, they did not require the pinnacle certification.
Long story short a few later I joined the military and when I came back went to go back to college. I needed to get my transcripts from pinnacle and not only did they try to get me to come back to pinnacle, but they said I would have to take the classes I already took over, and that the program was now longer and $8,000 more expensive. Needless to say I will not be going back.

accreditation
by: Anonymous

im pretty sure it is accredited because the pot 9/11 gi bill pays for it and they wont pay for bull shit also fafsa grants and loans pay for it so it has to be accredited

Most Certifications A Joke
by: Steve Epperson

Most certifications aren't accredited by anything except maybe some health club association or other obscure organization.

Think the ACSM certification is accredited? Think again. The ACSM was founded in 1954 in a hotel room. That's right, a hotel room. In spite of their very misleading name, they are not a college. Sure, there are some MD's and PHD's who have a vested money interest. And yes, they publish studies-- no one's really sure who's money their using.

ACSM is a Texas corporation even though they are headquartered in Indiana. They are in it for profit just like NASCM, NSCA, ACE and everyone else.

That doesn't mean you are not going to get good information. I just wouldn't pay over $1,000 for any of it. You may as well get a real education at a 4-year school.

You can legally work as a personal trainer without a certification. That alone should tell you something.

Pinnacle Career Institue Charges $26,250 for PT Certification

Comments for Pinnacle Career Institue Charges $26,250 for PT Certification