Laney College

The instructors at Laney are top notch!
Laney receives a fraction of the state and federal funding that DVC receives. That said, the facilities are not in great repair. Some of the students have crap attitudes, which is not the fault of the staff or instructors. I don’t go to Laney, however, to hang out in the public bathroom. I go because I want to better my career prospects. Also, unlike when I was a teenager, I actually enjoy school!
Every instructor I have had actually CARES about the outcome of the students. Also, Laney’s electrician program has an excellent reputation.
If you want to get ripped off by a for profit school and pay 10x more per unit, go ahead. Laney accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is to prepare you for a quality career. Did I mention it’s free?
I work in the Financial District and I able to get to my night classes within 15 minutes sometimes. The Lake Merritt Bart station is a few feet from the campus.

Right in the heart of Oakland lies Laney College. It’s a short walk away from BART and Chinatown. Not the most convenient out of its sister campuses (Alameda, Merritt, Berkeley City). If you want some food, your best bet is the sketchy Marco Polo hot dog stand parked across the street from the Tower. You can also walk two blocks to go to the even more sketchy Hometown Donuts corner store. Other than those two options, you’re out of luck.
People write ALL OVER the inside of the restroom stalls, and the staff doesn’t give two shits about it. Speaking of the restrooms, they’re gross, dimly lit, and not some place where I’d want to be.
Only at Laney you’ll find used condoms on the floor, people coming to class drunk, people coming to class smelling like weed, and half the class pulling out their phones to cheat when taking a test.
So basically, Laney is a straight up poorly maintained campus with a lot of students that don’t care much about their education.

I really wanted to love you Laney College. First 2 visits for a parking permit. But wait you can’t just buy one if you are taking 3 units of less. You have to buy a permit daily. And there aren’t machines in all of the lots. 5 calls later and I got permission to get one if I promised to only park there when I had a class (not sure why I would park there otherwise) but the staff member who promised to call the cashier with authorization didn’t and wasn’t available for several days. So, total of 4 visits for a parking permit.
And the campus is not very well lit so walking from my night class does not feel very safe. And the roof is leaking into my classroom.
The class itself is a bargain, hence the 3 stars.

This would be a half rating if there were a 6 star option! 3 stars for the good and nice teachers I had and the food and the nice scenery of the lake in the back. Loss of 3 stars for the graffiti at places (especially in the bathrooms) and some horrible teachers, but this is mostly a teacher review! Anyone know Akemi Uchima? She’s a Japanese teacher here at Laney. I had her class spring of last year and I was not really happy at all in her class. Very few times, peers would talk to me in there, other times I felt awkward sitting in that class. I hardly ever volunteered to speak in her class because every time I tried, she always found a way to embarrass me in front of the whole class, so I ended up dropping out of her class, and will not consider taking any of her classes again! Another teacher is do you know Andrena Zawinski? She is an English teacher here and I also would NOT recommend taking her classes either! I’d say she’s even worse than the Japanese teacher! I currently have her this Spring 2015 semester and all semester long, she has been very rude and disrespectful to me! I only missed ONE assignment in her class, but yet she’s claiming that I missed a bunch and is threatening to fail me for it! Not cool! And she was very rude to me and excluded me from participating in the whole class just because I showed up that day without that one assignment when it was due! I expressed how she made me feel in class to her through email and she didn’t respond with an «I’m sorry» or nothing! Instead she responded trying to play victim and saying I was «calling» her names! She even mocked what I said to her (yes, in a teasing way) and never apologized for that either! I recommend not to take both these teachers, but I ESPECIALLY do NOT recommend taking this rude English teacher, Ms. Zawinski’s classes! She doesn’t care about the students, she just cares about that money she gets for teaching students! After this, I definatly won’t be taking her again!!!

I don’t think this place deserves this low rating. I have been taking classes in Laney for over a year and I know this place quite well. Their facilities are not like a five-​star hotel, and their food quality or bathroom cleanliness will not remind you of your home.
However, the staff is very nice and the teachers are really great and helpful. If you come here to learn, the latest should be the most important thing to you.
Another good thing about Laney is its location — right next to the BART station, so no car needed to get here.

Out of all the colleges in the Peralta district, Laney has the more variety of classes available. The campus is pretty simple to navigate through. Most of the professors I met are super nice if not the best. If there are people worrying about taking classes at laney, don’t be because we are a really friendly community.

I took a summer session of trigonometry. What I liked was the free parking after 6pm right across the street from the classroom. Having to walk 100 feet to get to class was really convenient. What I didn’t like was the teacher’s policies. The woman herself was nice but grading each individual homework problem is a bit ridiculous. After turning in every single homework I received a grade of 52% (out of homework) which makes up of 10% of your grade. My test average was 90% so unfortunately this caused me to end up with a B…

Complete joke of a school. Teachers are the worst! Most teachers require work to be done on an expensive online website so they don’t have to do any work. Funniest thing is, the Internet on campus is ridiculously slow and often doesn’t work at all. This place is just a pit where they throw our money. Shut it down and re-​allocate resources to a legitimate school like Berkeley City College!

Phone system is really annoying. Tried to contact the cosmetology school to make an appointment for their student services, called both numbers on their services page and a third on the program’s web page and nothing got me to the student salon/​spa services area. I gave up.

Nothin but love, highly underpaid staff, the school is what you make of it, nice swim program, nice place to change careers, nice biology classes, nice photo program, nice place to meet my best friend (really did)…

As a graduate of Laney College, I have some deep reservations about California System of Education. Community colleges have four objectives:
Transfer Classes to Four Year Schools:
Technical Education and Workforce Preparation;
Lifelong Continuing Education;
Senior Classes.
Laney has maintained accreditation, which is an improvement over other community colleges. As a transfer student to UC Berkeley, I took all the general education classes for Cal Berkeley.
I completed two years at Laney and transferred to Berkley. The first quarter at Cal I took three upper division classes.
Berkeley grades on a curve. I was competing for grades with students that had attended prep high schools and completed their first two years at Berkeley. I did not have the writing skills or the background required of a Berkeley student.
As an example, there was no reference to the 100 Reading Requirement, and upper division students were expected to integrate the entire reading list into coursework.
Laney has few transferable classes like Computer Science One. There is little offering in the way of Workforce Preparation in fields like AutoCAD, HTML 5 Programming, and current technologies in Web Development.
There is limited opportunities for trade training like CNA, nursing, dental assistance, and business professions. All citizens of community should take CPR and Advanced First Aid at Laney. Be ready for the next earthquake. You will be on your own.
Lifelong Learning courses are limited and there are such rich resources such as the Oakland Museum for Lifelong Continuing Education.
Offerings for Seniors is limited. There should be four to five levels of classes
Laney is a good school. The ADA model employed by the state translates to about $ 1.35 per student contact hour between student’s and faculty. The failures of the education system is the result of decades of spending cuts.
Everyone should enroll in at least one class at Laney. The best class I enrolled in at Laney was basic Mandarin.

I AM A FAN OF LANEY COLLEGE!
I’ve attended other Peralta colleges and Chabot (ugh. to this school). I honestly adore the counselors and professors. I can’t even complain about the location. Right next to bart and there IS a parking if you must drive? I love options. The financial aid line was really long, DMV long. So plan with the intent of being there for awhile, bring a healthy snack and music kind of long, lol.
Education:
I took a math course specifically with Carl Mampaey. That man is a godsend! One of the few teachers who explain their lessons very carefully and in a humorous way (I totally use his jokes ’til this day). I think what I like most about this course was the students in the class were awesome and were there to learn. We also helped each other out. Dr. Mampaey always boosted your self esteem with that «wow! you got it right!» attitude or if you didn’t, «you will get a wow soon! Just try and don’t give up!» attitude. It’s silly to say but really important to have in a MATH class. I learned a lot and also referred all of friends to take his course. Laney, you’ve got yourself a gem here! Don’t lose this instructor because our class agreed that he has got the skills to teach, for sure!
I started at Chabot and due to a LACK of support of ADMIN., safety reasons, certain instructor mishaps AND impacted classes I decided it was time to get out! LANEY was kind of my last hope, I met with the counselor and explained to her my experience at Chabot and why I needed her help. She was very understanding and helped me get into the classes I needed. She basically fixed Chabots mishap for me and she didn’t even work there! She wasn’t bias, rude or anything. So grateful for her and she doesn’t even know it!
Environment, it’s really a nice and to the point college. I feel like most community colleges in the Bay Area have your fair share of people who are there to: just get the $$$, who have the intention of wanting to learn but aren’t ready and those who ARE. But it’s up to you to figure out what type of student you want to be in a «limited» setting. I preferred the Saturday classes because the classes had more driven students that were there to learn and also happy to discuss the classwork given. It was great!
Peralta education system (all staff), thank you for being the gateway for me to moving up to a state/​uni. You have not failed me and therefore, you have made not only I, but my parents so damn proud of me!!! Someday, I hope you reimburse me for my commute though! ;)
Lastly, school is difficult and a journey of its own. You are already making the right decision by reading this because it says that YOU have a purpose and drive to learn. Best of luck in whatever you choose to do, Unilocalers!

This review is for the swimming program, specifically Marcia’s 6am and 12pm. Marcia’s one of the swim instructors at Laney, but also coaches the Master’s program that meets at 6am (M-​Th) and 12pm (T&Th, but M-​F in the summer). There’s usually 2 – 3 swimmers per lane, so you’ll get a solid 55 minutes of lap swimming in, as in, it’s an awesome workout. Marcia structures the hour much like swim practice for teams; drills and timed intervals. And don’t let Marcia catch you slacking, she WILL call you out.
Impressively, the Laney pool is still as clean as I remembered it in HS a few years back. Yeah, it’s showing signs of age, but the water is always clear, unlike the ones at a lot of private gyms.
Word of caution. The Master’s program and the lap swimmers who come during the times mentioned are experienced swimmers. There’re actually beginner swim classes taught throughout the year, so do check those out if you want to learn.

This review is for the financial aid office. To be fair my professor here was wonderful, and just as exasperated with the administration at Laney as the students.
The WORST. If I could give zero stars I would. I think it’s funny and sad that the only other review I saw here that name-​checked the financial aid office supervisor was taken down. If the supervisor of the financial aid office is a real person who shows up in the financial aid office to do anything other than collect a paycheck I will eat my hat.
The RUNDOWN: if you are looking for anything other than a fee waiver, good luck. I have my undergrad but was attending Laney for med school pre-​reqs before entering a formal post-​bac program. I wasn’t looking for free money, just the federal student loan that I had no problem securing the previous semester at Skyline College.
Strangely, at Laney if you already have an undergrad you have to fill out a formal petition for federal aid, which I did gamely within the first couple weeks of the semester. I was somewhat shocked that upon handing it in nothing was entered into a computer, and I was advised to check in in SIX WEEKS (um this would be halfway through the semester) to see if anybody had looked at my petition.
I checked in the next week, and once a week every week until ¾ the way through the semester. I called the financial aid supervisor and left messages and emailed him several times. No response. Nothing in the computer after months of pestering the office. At one point a person working there told me the head of the aid office was definitely there and could speak to me in person (I must have looked especially exasperated) and after waiting for him to come out, was told by this person who appeared pretty uncomfortable, that no, in fact the supervisor is in a meeting. I am pretty sure this was a lie. I was told to speak to a Dean if I was having trouble.
The worst decision I made last semester was to apply for financial aid at Laney and not BCC, where I was also taking classes. Who knows if it would have been better, but at least BCC is not notoriously corrupt like Laney. It’s sad that a school that could provide so much for a large population of the East Bay is so grossly mismanaged. I had similar experiences with pretty much all administration this semester, although I have a ton of respect for my prof who was great. I also would not be surprised if Laney’s accreditation came under review — it’s about time.

The Update, er Sequel of Laney College de moi, by me. I really tried to keep an open mind regarding Laney College despite the mixed Unilocal!reviews. The majority of the reviews were quite right about Laney College. This past spring semester was a rough one to say the least! It was due to coming here twice a week for French language lessons and having to deal with the some of the students’ personalities contributing to the elements and the atmosphere of Laney College; I had to transfer to another French class section a month before the semester ended and to arrange for safety escort service. So it is: Eek! Methinks not of Laney College!
The atmosphere and environment of the first French class (I was in) was filled with competitiveness, pettiness, jealously, and immaturity. Not to mention the prerequisite chatty students who made it challenging, difficult for the instructor and the few serious students in the class. There were some ESL students who could not grasp the concepts, never mind the pronunciations of French words. And there were some who made me wonder to myself, «What the HELL are they doing here in this class?!»
There was a student who was rather jealous of me because I had some French language, history and culture under my belt. «Excusez moi, Mademoiselle – pardonnez-​moi d’avoir trente ans d’expérience de la vie devant vous!» («Excuse me, Miss – pardon me for having thirty years of life experience ahead of you!») This student would also rudely interrupt the class because she could not grasp many of the concepts of the French language. I dreaded hearing a particular whiny, high-​pitched voice interruption when the instructor would lecture the class.
There was a student in the class who called attention to himself by talking with nobody in particular and gave grief to the instructor and the class. The class was reviewing for a second quiz when this student starting talking to nobody in particular, causing the instructor and many of the students first to politely and then rather angrily telling the student to be quiet repeatedly. One of the students turned the air blue telling the student to shut up. I walked out; I could not deal with this chatty student trying my patience in my revising for the quiz in class.
This student took a couple of opportunities to give me grief. The first was telling me he knew he was late when he came into the classroom (my desk was by the door). The second time resulted in my filing both a formal complaint and a police report against him. Before class, I was looking at the bulletins posted in the library windows when I caught sight of his reflection standing next to me. I immediately got away and headed inside the library to study for another French quiz stressing me out. I sat near my favorite librarian who was on top of her game maintaining quiet. The student came into the library walking around. About four minutes before class was to begin, I was getting my sweatshirt off of the chair when I noticed a mess inside my sweatshirt hood. What the heck?! I asked the librarian for a wastebasket to dispose of the mess. I took a picture as well. I realized who did it. She told me that he was shorter than me which made it easy for him to pull off what he did. She asked me if I wanted to call the police. I was so shaken up, I was not sure. I knew I wanted to speak with the instructor about this student first. I asked the instructor to speak with him in private; we talked before he administered the quiz. He informed me he would be speaking to his boss about this student’s conduct. The instructor sent me an email advising me to email the dean regarding this incident. All of this led to my filing a formal complaint, my filing a police report, my missing three class sessions, my being transferred to another French class section, and my having to arrange for safety escort service for the remainder of my time taking French classes at Laney College. I will say I am glad my concerns were taken seriously by the administration and the campus police.
Fortunately, there was a bright side. This particular class group was serious and supportive of one another in the pursuit of studying the French language. The instructor assured me that this was a good group of students – he was quite right. We even had a French-​themed party on the last day of class – pain, fromage, biscuits, craquelins, du jus de fruit, et eau minérale – bread, cheese, cookies, crackers, fruit juice, and mineral water. This was a great group to finish French class with, it was quite obvious I enrolled in the wrong French class section from the start.
There is a bright side as well as good news – the best revenge of all! I earned the highest grade possible despite the stress. And the good news is I can wait to continue my French studies at Cal instead continuing at Laney College. C’est si bon! It’s so good!
As Robbie Nevill says:
Update #10 for 2013

There are SO many things wrong with Laney, from the learning environment to the students to the services, or lack thereof, the staff provides. The only thing I appreciate about this campus is my counselor who helped me develop my TAG (Transfer Admission Guarantee), the fact that it is a supposed learning institution, which is to be respected, and the Nespresso machine in the cafeteria.
It really is ghetto. Attached is a placard I found in the library at Laney. Shameful! I bet you want to find it now, huh (if you attend Laney)? Can you say scavenger hunt?!

What a wonderful educational institution!
Yes, I am a Cal alum. Yes I bleed blue and gold for life. Yes I have the heart of a golden bear. However, the community college system is much different and has many things to offer that I never had at Cal.
I started the culinary arts program in fall 2012 and the staff is amazing. They get to know everyone’s names and really care about your well being and progress. I new instructors who would approach students because they were concerns about their grades in the class. The instructors really do care.
Moreover, then school is very affordable. $ 46 per unit. That’s a big difference from paying $ 12,000 regardless on how many units. Yes, the line for financial aid is long but well worth the wait for students who need financial counseling.
In addition, the school is accessible via bike, walking, AC transit, BART and car. It’s located off of 880, right next to Oakland Chinatown, Lake Merritt BART is literally acrossn the street, and the parking per semester is $ 40.
Another perk I truly appreciated was the free 10 pages of printing per day. Many of us don’t have printers at home. Access to this resource was wonderful.
Finally, the cafeteria food and Laney Bistro are all run by the culinary program. Stop by if you have the chance!
Until next time, keep pushing for your education!

Everyday is Bring Your Baby to Laney Day: pregnant moms and obnoxious-​ignorant people. I havent taken a class here in over a year; I hate this place. Teaching quality is questionable, the intrinsic value in students wanting to attend is questionable (some go for FiNanCiAl AiD$) and not to learn, and others hardly speak a lick of English.
In the near future, I really hope this place cleans up a lot. The only depart that is worthy here is the biology and theater. Oh, and never take an English course here. It really doesn’t help. If you’re looking for quality education among teachers that really, want to nurture your intellectual-​curiosity and academic growth, don’t go here — unless you have a baby, no car and no real dreams to succeed in life.

The campus is near Chinatown and Lake Merrit BART Station. If you are in the Environmental Design field, the school has great lower level classes for perspective Urban Planners. A lot of hot women on campus. Be aware the neighborhood south of the campus is shady.

This is another one of my ‘Oakland is so broke’ reviews… except, it’s not just the city, it’s the state, the community college district, and our educational system, that’s BROKE, and BROKEN.
Laney is ridiculous to deal with on the administrative end. They are soooooo unprofessional and unhelpful. They really need to take some time to realize the people they are dealing with are sort of… customers. And were it not for the students, they wouldn’t have jobs. It’s always a nightmare to deal with the offices of enrollment, registration, cashier, etc. You can’t even get a refund on line.
Check this out: To request for an enrollment fee refund, submit a Refund Request Form at the Cashiers Office on campus. Once the request is submitted, the refund processing time is 4 to 6 weeks (after the last day to add classes) during peak periods and 2 to 3 weeks during off peak periods.
4 – 6 weeks, really? And you take a $ 10 fee to drop the class for your tortuously bad service and time frame? Ugh.
As many a frustrating experience as I’ve had here, there are *some* teachers and faculty that really do care, and bless them for hanging in there and trying to do a good job.
It’s a bit of a community hub for me, and I have many a good thing to say about their resources and certain teachers, but it’s been painful to see the community college system go so quickly downhill in the last few years.