Universal Technical Institute

I’ve been a Harley dealer for about 13 years and in the industry for almost 30. Over the time, I’ve hired a ton of entry-level technicians from UTI, formally motorcycle mechanics Institute. The Phoenix campus turns out fantastic students. The level of technical expertise that they received during their training, serves as a fantastic foundation for people that we have turned into Master technician over the period of 2 to 3 years after the graduation. Period. The staff and instructors at the school are highly skilled and trained, and very easy to work with, both as a student or if someone in my role, looking too higher. The campus is modern and kept in perfect condition. They teach instruction for all brands of motorcycles, but my specific interest is in the Harley-Davidson graduate. This is the one school that Harley-Davidson invest in with time and resources to make certain that they are teaching what hardly requires in the way that they require it. Great job everybody and keep up the excellent work! You are world class!

My experience at this school has been a mix of good intentions and major disappointments, but unfortunately the negatives overshadow everything else. To give credit where it’s due, the instructors themselves are knowledgeable and genuinely helpful. They clearly understand their subjects and try to support students as best they can. But beyond the instructors, the rest of the program feels neglected. The facilities are in terrible shape and seem completely overlooked, which makes it hard to take the training seriously. One of the urinals in the bathroom near HVAC and Welding has been leaking since day one, and actually there are now two out of four that are out of order. Even worse, the HVAC course feels like it was put together by engineers who don’t understand HVAC. The curriculum is disconnected from real world industry standards, which is the opposite of what a technical program should offer. The enrollment process was another red flag. The people who give the initial tour and pitch the school come across more like fish oil salesmen and con artists than professionals guiding future students. It sets a misleading tone from the very beginning. Job fairs were equally disappointing. Very few companies showed up, despite the school advertising strong industry connections. I genuinely thought this place had a solid reputation in the HVAC community, but that turned out not to be the case. Looking back, I feel like I wasted time and money because I was led to believe this program would be 80% hands on and 20% computer work, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Hands on training was rare, and that lack of practical experience is a big part of why I do not feel prepared, causing me to have to start from the beginning after graduation. I could have started over somewhere else in the first place and been further along in my career than I’ll be after graduating from this program.

All this school cares about is money and their name, they preach Little to no homework, very hands on, even that you get to have access to their tools and garage on occasional weekends. during my time here i was exhausted working as a lube tech a job i got with very little help from UTI, and doing more homework than actually touching vehicles. 75% of class time were lectures. and the teachers are a joke, wanted to fail me for saying Dual overhead cam instead of Double🤣 there was no open shop like they said, and i have to pay them to leave their lying school, Wild. Save your money if youre in the area of the Avondale campus i recommend GCC yes its a community college but they actually hire you on at a dealership, giving hands-on lessons, for 1/8 of UTI's pricing.

I graduated UTI in 1985 prior to that at a young age of 23 I was working as a shorthand cook in a restaurant with no direction in life. Until I met the guy at the restaurant recently hired as dish washer part-time and started talking about UTI and taking just a diesel tech course, he invited me one evening to take a tour of the school and I was hooke! I never look back. Now at the age of 64 I plan on retiring from that industry in 3 months. It was the great middle class income for me!

i wrote a review a long time ago and im shocked it has disappeared I went to uti in 2017 to 2020 i took the auto/diesel, ford, gm and the welding programs. Now being out for many years I'm able to put what i learned and info into the review. So i think this school is very good for teaching the basics. I have many friends that went through the manufacturing programs and are still working in the field today and enjoy it. I've asked them if they felt uti was worth it and all of them have said they feel it does, now for me i feel like the school was worth it . I do think it should be cheaper... that being said if you take your ase after taking the class 9 / 10 you will pass the test for them. Now if you want to actual make good money make sure you take the manufacturing training and get a job with one of them out the gate. I got many job offers for ford and gm when i finished. The school will teach you many of things and the teachers are very good(most of them were tech) and if you listen to them you will learn tricks of the trade but its very basic. Once you finish the school you will have to take what you learn and apply it while also remembering that you will always be learning in the auto field. i do feel like thought your schooling you will hear your going to make blank and most of those offers were untrue , unless you get your ase and get as much manufacturing training as you can and stick to a specific manufacturing and get master cert rating for them to make the big money. out the door i didnt get offer so much (2018 $18 flat rate) once i did get out and get couple years under my belt i left the field making ($30 flat rate) . this school can help you become a tech and have many people to help you get jobs and network. this school is for dealer work ALOT for students come to do performance an they do have some really cool classes at the end for it ..but its mosty bases around working at a dealer and doing warranty work etc. now i built my (drift car) while going through the program and the classes do come into play if you pay attention! a lot of student half a$$ and cheat through the classes even though they are very easy. and if you fail a class you aren't trying because it is setup so you pass i say its 60/40 class work to shop work. Overall i think good school, good teachers.... pay attention and you will get a job I went through the welding program during covid so i cant give honest review because classes were really messed up and school closed down and re opened in months . I learned to weld so i can do fab work in my garage i made life long friends at this school and learn so much i cant explain... i toss some pictures of my dd at the time and guest of another professional Drifter Andrew S that went to school there and he happened to stop by on lunch at school to show his car to students @Sideways_McGee i made couple videos on uti on my tic tok