Our Policies

This website and all Academy websites, classes, texts, publications, videos, audio and class recordings are protected by copyright – advance written permission must be obtained to duplicate, download, save, share or distribute.

Shipping and Return Policies
The mission of the Store is to promote and further classical, liberal, educational services. All of us at the Store do our utmost to provide prompt, quality service to each of our customers and we have been gratified with the overwhelmingly favorable response to and growth of our program. In order to assure our ability to continue our apostolate, we have found it necessary to develop practical and reasonable policies with respect to orders, returns, refunds, replacements and other similar matters, which are stated below.

Privacy Policy
All information (of any type whatsoever) provided to the Academy is considered strictly confidential and will not be shared with any other persons or entities without the prior permission of the customer, except at the request of the customer, unless we are required to share such information by law without giving prior notice to the customer.

Shipping Time: Please allow approximately 1-2 weeks for delivery.

Book Return Policy: Book Return Policy
14 Day Return Policy for Books Only - all else is non-refundable. The 14 days begins the date of receipt of the book(s) as established by the carrier (usually UPS, Fedex or USPS) records. Any returns must be posted by the 14th calendar day after receipt of the books being returned. Return postage must to be paid by the person returning the item(s). Returned items must be received by the Academy in new condition. There is a 15% restocking fee deducted from the credit or refund check.

No Refunds for Academy Enrollment Fees, Online Class Tuition, Great Books Study Guides, Good Books Study Guides, Socratic Class Guides, Book Report Forms and Lesson Plans
We hire and train staff based on enrollments and tuition received and remain committed to that staff for protracted terms. Therefore Enrollment fees, tuition, charges for Lesson Plans, Book Report forms and Study Guides and Class Guides, are strictly non-refundable once ordered. Therefore, please be certain that you wish to enroll with the Academy, or to join an online class, or to purchase Lesson Plans, Book Report forms, and/or Good Books and Great Books Study Guides, before placing your order. Once your enrollment, tuition, Lesson Plan, Book Report forms or Study Guide or Class Guides order is placed, at that time it is non-refundable. However, installments in our payment plan for the online classes may be terminated at any time upon 72 hours written notice to us using our Withdrawal Form prior to the next installment charge date - otherwise the termination will be processed the next month. The Withdrawal Form may be submitted online or via regular mail (both are effective 72 hours after receipt). Any Payment Plan balances, for enrollment fees, tuition, Guides, or otherwise, outstanding the last week of May for that same academic year concluding (i.e., the one ending the same May) will be charged to your credit card in full that last week of May - no outstanding balances for an academic year will be carried beyond May of that same academic year (thus not into June or beyond except with our prior written consent).

Withdrawal Credit
Students enrolled in our online, live classes who wish to withdraw, may do so using our simple Withdrawal Form, and any tuition they have paid will be available to them from credit towards the tuition for that same online, live class resumed later, for up to two years (subject to any tuition prices changes). That credit may potentially be applied to the tuition for our other online, live classes but only with written permission from the Academy.

Recording Consent
Our online classes are recorded (audio, video or both) for future use (with our permission) by students, parents and/or others. Any person(s) enrolling in, participating in, moderating, teaching, visiting, or joining our classes to offer technical services (or any other services) in any of our online classes, absent written objection delivered to the Academy, is presumed to consent to such recording and future use, and such consent is hereby explicitly given, without any royalty or other claim to remuneration of any kind, whether with or without monetary gain for such use by the Academy.

Insurance and Proof of Delivery
All items are shipped freight on board (FOB) the Academy Bookstore's shipping dock (usually via either United Parcel Service or the U.S. Postal Service) and shall be considered as delivered if so reflected in the records of the common carrier. Because of limitations imposed by UPS and USPS, all claims for damaged items or items not received must be made within 30 days of receipt. This means that the customer should consider purchasing shipping insurance as damage or loss during shipment is at the risk of the customer. Insurance is available upon request by the customer at the time of the order or by separate e-mail or phone call at the time of the order. The Customer will be billed for the actual insurance cost. Customer bears the risk of loss for items not insured. All items are shipped using a tracking number or delivery confirmation number issued by the common carrier. Items are considered delivered if the records of the common carrier reflect that the item was delivered as addressed. The customer is responsible for payment of all items so confirmed as delivered. There really is no other way for us to protect ourselves against shipping loss, without insuring every shipment and thus not giving our customers the option of paying for insurance or not - and most of our customers prefer to take the risk and not buy shipping insurance. We want to continue to offer them that option, since it reduces their costs by about 5-10%.

Rush Orders, Time for Delivery
Please allow approximately 1-2 weeks for ordinary, domestic US delivery. Backorders (of books currently out of stock) take longer as they are often due to publisher's decisions beyond our control. Although the bookstore does try to process orders within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays), there is no guarantee of such, particularly during the rush season (from June through September). No refunds will be made simply because shipping takes more than 1-2 weeks - that is just the ordinary time it takes. See our refund policies, above. Please place your order well ahead of your projected start date. Customers may request Next-Day or Two-Day Air shipment but requests for shipment by Next-Day or Two-Day Air are processed as are all other orders (i.e., on a first-in, first-out basis). Once processed, such orders are then shipped via the manner requested by the customer. Acceptance of an order requesting Next-Day or Two-Day Air does not necessarily mean that the customer will receive their order within one or two days of when the order is placed. Rather, it refers to the shipping time once it leaves our dock. No refunds can be made for Next-Day or Two-Day air charges. If the common carrier does not perform as directed, the customer must seek their refund or redress solely from the common carrier (and not from us) for their failure to deliver as contracted. We will be happy to provide our customers with all relevant shipping information.

Shipping Costs
All posted shipping prices are for domestic (continental U.S.) shipments only. Foreign shipments or shipments outside the Continental U.S. will be billed based on actual cost plus associated handling. Next-Day and Two-Day Air shipping charges will be billed at actual charges. At the customer's request, we will be happy to estimate shipping and handling charges for shipments outside the continental U.S., however we will not be held responsible for the accuracy of such estimates, and only handling and actual shipping charges will be billed. Errors or Mistakes in Orders: Because all institutions are run by humans, mistakes can and will happen with orders from time-to-time. The true test of any fulfillment service is its response to mistakes that are made. Please be assured that we will at all times act promptly and in good faith to address all customer concerns and in the application of the foregoing policies. We regret their length and detail but that is life in the modern world where we must deal with numerous folks we do not yet know, on a daily basis. Thank you. The Academy complies with all federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, creed, marital status, age, disabled or Vietnam-era veteran, or disability as defined by applicable state and/or federal regulations or statutes, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and other school-administered programs. The Academy is an Equal Opportunity employer.

Dismissal Policy
While we have not had a single instance necessitating the following policy, in over twenty years of operation, like all educational institutions the Academy reserves the right to dismiss students for improper behavior, either by the student, their siblings or their parents. Reasons would include (but are not limited to): persistent incivility or rudeness to our staff or other students; failure to observe class rules, instructions by moderators, and/or decorum online; harassment of other students or staff in any manner; use of inappropriate language either online or in correspondence to us; misuse of Academy equipment or materials (not purchased); yelling or shouting at staff or other students. The Academy reserves the sole and exclusive right to determine when and if any of these policies have been violated, leading to dismissal of the related student(s), or to decide whether a warning is merited in advance of any dismissal, or not. In the event of a dismissal for violation of this policy, there will be no refund of any amounts paid for enrollment fees for any student dismissed, regardless of when paid. This includes (but is not limited to) any tuition and/or regular enrollment fees. Any services paid for with such forfeited enrollment fees and/or tuition would be terminated. If the parents are the cause for the dismissal, the Academy reserves the right to dismiss any/all of their children, as circumstances seem best to dictate to the Academy. The Academy reserves the right not to accept enrollments, for the same reasons. Again this has not happened and we hope it will not ever be necessary. This policy exists in order to enable the Academy to maintain its pleasant and encouraging educational environment, if faced with this problem. The Academy complies with all federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, creed, marital status, age, disabled or Vietnam-era veteran, or disability as defined by applicable state and/or federal regulations or statutes, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and other school-administered programs. The Academy is an Equal Opportunity employer.

Class or "Track" Changes and Program Cancellation
We reserve the right to change, modify or cancel any or all Great Books Program, Socratic or other online classes, including but not limited to times, moderators or online locations, at any time, if circumstances warrant (for example, low enrollment in a given class), in our sole discretion. In that event, any portion of tuition not already used would be refunded on a prorated basis of 1/32th per each week of scheduled class or exams remaining (i.e., of the 9 month September-May academic year) at the time of cancellation. Students wishing to change "tracks" or programs from a less expensive one to a more expensive one, may have their paid-in tuition and enrollment, calculated from the time we receive written notice of the change (email is fine), fully credited towards the new "track" or program tuition and enrollment, however there are no refunds of amounts already paid in (see refund policies, this page, above, for more detail).

Please send all checks and money orders to: P.O. Box 25777, Colorado Springs, CO 80936.

Enrollment Priority
Because some students are working in multi-year efforts to earn Associate's Degrees and/or college credits, the Academy reserves the right to give them priority admittance and enrollment status over high school track students (and AA track students may be given such priority over College track students), when necessary to accommodate them in full classes and class times. Any enrolled student who is displaced from a Great Books class in such a case will be afforded the opportunity to enroll in another class time of the same level, if available; such a student may instead choose to request a full (100%) tuition refund. If no alternative class time is available, a full (100%) refund will be made to them promptly. Any student so displaced, will be placed on a wait list for the next available open seat of their level. Once a student's first Great Books class begins in the first week of September, that student will not be subject to such displacement for the rest of the year, provided they are current with their tuition.

Regarding Holy Apostles College & Seminary courses:
Students may quit the A.A. track at any time, with no further financial obligation; however payments already made (monthly or per semester) are nonrefundable except for the five Holy Apostles College & Seminary courses: Holy Apostles grants tuition refunds to students who have officially withdrawn from class(es) on the following schedule: Prior to first day of classes, 100% refund; by the first Friday of classes, 75% refund; by the third Friday of classes, 50% refund; by the fifth Friday of classes, 25% refund; after the fifth Friday of classes, no refund. Holy Apostles College & Seminary sets their own refund policies and these may change without notice, so be sure to check their catalog and/or website to determine what refund policies are currently in effect. What this means for A.A. track students is that when they decide to take the five Holy Apostles courses in 11th and/or 12th grade, or later, the foregoing Holy Apostles refund policy (or its subsequent revision) applies to those courses only, and only for the portion of the $350 monthly payment that applies to those courses. To calculate that amount you would need to contact us.


NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY

Neither the Angelicum Academy, nor the Great Books Academy, nor the Ignatius-Angelicum Great Books Program (“GBP”)[formerly known as the Ignatius-Angelicum Liberal Studies Program (“LSP”)] discriminate on the basis of race/ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, or age, in the administration of any of its employment, educational programs, admissions policies, any scholarship and loan programs, athletics, recreational, and other administered programs or activities.

The ACE College Credit (“ACE Credit”) Recommendation Service.The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) has twice evaluated and recommended upper division college credit for all 8 courses (totaling 48 credit hours – 6 per semester) of our Great Books Program, and has also reviewed and recommended 3 lower division college credit hours for each of our four Theology Online courses (so 12 hours total for those theology courses).

These ACE college credit recommendations may be viewed online at:

https://www.acenet.edu/National-Guide/Pages/Organization.aspx?oid=a8099b28-9016-e811-810f-5065f38bf0e1 [Nota bene: our corporate name used there is the Western Civilization Foundation, non-profit, est. 1984, of which the Angelicum Academy and the Great Books Academy are dba’s].[10.28.23]

For decades, colleges and universities have trusted the American Council on Education (ACE) to provide reliable course equivalency college credit recommendations to facilitate credit award decisions. The structure of a college or university degree program or departmental regulations may affect acceptance of ACE CREDIT recommendations. Ultimately, every college and university has the discretion to accept credit for ACE CREDIT recommendations, or not, as they see fit, so be sure to contact the college (usually the credit transfer expert in the admissions office) where you intend to apply before starting the application process to find out their policies and procedures beforehand.

The ACE CREDIT College and University Network. The numerous colleges and universities (about 1,600) listed on the ACE website are those which actively support and consider for transfer the ACE credit recommendations. See: http://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseaction=content...

From the Joint Statement on the Transfer and Award of Credit by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and admissions Officers, the American Council on Education, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation:

“Each Institution is responsible for determining its own policies and practices with regard to the transfer, acceptance, and award of credits. Institutions also have a responsibility to advise the student that the work reflected on the transcript may or may not be accepted by a receiving institution as bearing the same (or any) credits as those awarded by the provider institution, or that the credits awarded will be applicable to the academic credential the student is pursuing.” [text date: 5/11/2010]

There is no assurance nor guarantee that the Great Books Program or Theology Online courses will in the future renew its listing in the ACE College credit recommendation service National Guide, nor that ACE itself will continue its college CREDIT recommendation service, transcript service or National Guide. We may also decide in the future to use a different college credit recommendation service. The Great Books Program is a fixed program, meaning it does not substantially change because it is based on the canon of the great classics (the “Great Books”) of Western civilization, and the pedagogy is based on the Socratic method going back over two millennia to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. It is therefore reasonable – though not certain – to assume that, even were ACE CREDIT to cease operations at some time in the future, many colleges and universities would continue to rely upon the ACE credit recommendations already made.

The Angelicum Academy and the Great Books Academy do not use the ACE transcript service as we provide our own official transcripts directly to colleges and universities (“receiving institutions”). We are the “transfer institution” from which the credits are earned and which must provide official transcripts to the receiving institution. As the ACE transcript service relied entirely upon our transmission to them for information of courses completed and grades obtained, which simply duplicated our transcripts at an extra cost to students per transcript, we determined it to be an unnecessary expense and needlessly cumbersome.

Academic institutions establish their own transfer credit policies and procedures. There are approximately 4,500 institutions of higher learning in the US (including c. 230 Catholic ones). That is why we recommend to parents and students that if they have a particular college or university in mind for future transfer of credits from our Great Books Program or Theology Online, that they contact that college or university (usually their admissions department, and ideally a credit transfer expert if they have one) to ask them if they will accept such credits for transfer and with what procedures and regulations.

Nevertheless, in order to diminish some of the uncertainty of college credit-acceptance policies, we have entered into Articulation Agreements with a number of colleges and universities precisely in order to assure that those colleges and/or universities commit to accept our Great Books Program and/or Theology Online courses for college credit, according to the terms of those individual agreements. The very purpose of such agreements is to remove ambiguity regarding credit transfer and acceptance policies between the signatory educational institutions. If you are unclear about what credits they will accept, and for what degree programs, please ask and we will be happy clarify that for you. Thank you. [text date: 5/11/2010]

Class Changes and Program Cancellation: We reserve the right to change, modify or cancel any or all Great Books Program, or Theology Online courses, Socratic or other online classes, including but not limited to times, moderators or online locations, at any time, if circumstances warrant (for example, low enrollment in a given class), in our sole discretion. In that event, any portion of tuition not already used would be refunded on a prorated basis of 1/30th per each week of scheduled class or exams remaining (i.e., of the 9 month September-May academic year) at the time of cancellation. [2010]

FUTURE PLANS. Statements in press releases, publications, online, or made orally, by any principal or agent of the Angelicum Academy, the Great Books Academy, or Ignatius-Angelicum GBP relating to plans, strategies, economic performance, growth or trends, projection of results or timing of specific activities or investments, and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts may be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risk and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include but are not limited to, risk factors inherent in doing any activity. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as “may,” “will,” “hope,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “plans,” “goals,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” ” predicts,” ” forecasts,” potential,” or “continue,” or similar terms or the negative of these terms. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results or conditions, timing, levels of activity, performance of achievements. The Angelicum Academy, Great Books Academy, or the Ignatius-Angelicum GBP have no obligation to update forward-looking statements. [text date 7/6/2010]


"Academy" as used anywhere above shall include the Great Books Academy, the Ignatius-Angelicum Great Books Program, and the Angelicum Academy.