Raymond Sewer expressed strong confidence that the California Institute of Technology would play a major role in the cloud computing “boot camp.”

Caltech’s website promoted the online program, and its distinctive orange logo appeared on the certificates of completion that participants were promised.

“I thought, ‘This must be legit,’” said Mr. Sewer, 46, who lives in Denver and enrolled in the $9,000 course to transition out of the mortgage industry.

However, after enrolling, Mr. Sewer discovered that Caltech was barely involved. His main instructor, who would occasionally disappear during sessions, was based in Mississippi, not Southern California. Another facilitator was located in India. Neither had any direct connection to Caltech, a school Sewer had admired for its academic reputation and recognition as the backdrop of “The Big Bang Theory.”

He soon found out that Caltech had outsourced much of the program to a company called Simplilearn.

“It was a scam,” Mr. Sewer said during an interview. “They just wanted our money.”

Caltech, a prestigious private university in Pasadena, is known for its rigorous academic standards, but some of its online programs make it more like any other school. Across the U.S., many universities now offer non-degree online programs, presenting them as a way to broaden educational access. However, these programs often lack regulation, and may not involve university faculty or curricula.

Caltech spokesperson Shayna Chabner defended the online programs, describing them as a way for the university to share its expertise and promote lifelong learning. Mark Moran, Simplilearn’s chief marketing officer, added that the company’s courses “help thousands of professionals advance their careers.”

Other online programs have come under similar scrutiny. A June audit criticized the University of California system for failing to properly oversee third-party involvement in online education, and Minnesota recently passed legislation to regulate universities’ ties with online program management companies.

Experts have raised concerns that these partnerships may disproportionately affect low-income students, who often see these programs as affordable, efficient ways to gain credentials.

According to ListEdTech, a research firm, over 600 U.S. colleges and universities have used online-program management companies. More than a third of four-year public universities have adopted such programs to help balance their budgets.

Interviews and documentation, including advertisements, course communications, and legal records, suggest that universities can earn thousands of dollars per enrolled student, with the total revenue across the industry reaching hundreds of millions annually.

Some students, however, have been left disappointed.

Elva Lopez, in a 2020 class-action lawsuit, claimed that Caltech and Simplilearn violated consumer protection laws in a Caltech-branded cybersecurity program. After receiving promotional materials, Lopez enrolled and took out a $14,000 loan. She soon realized her instructor was not a Caltech professor, but a recent graduate of the same program.

Aggressive Sales Techniques

Few universities carry the same weight as Caltech, which manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and boasts a long list of Nobel laureates. In 2020, the school announced a partnership with Fullstack Academy, which Simplilearn later acquired. The arrangement, according to Simplilearn, would give students access to “some of the world’s brightest educators.”

Ms. Chabner acknowledged that Caltech had selected Simplilearn because of its strong partnerships with major corporations and universities. However, she declined to share details of the university’s financial arrangements with the company.

Simplilearn used high-pressure sales tactics, with prospective students being told they needed to enroll quickly to secure discounted rates. Students like Mr. Sewer felt that Caltech’s brand encouraged them to trust the program without further investigation.

Although they understood they wouldn’t be traditional students, they expected a significant role from Caltech. Many thought the phrase “powered by Simplilearn” referred only to the technology platform, not the instructors themselves.

Austin Barnes, a student from Colorado, recalled the sales pitch starting almost immediately after requesting more information. He fully expected Caltech personnel to be teaching the course.

“I thought it would be a Caltech professor, or at least someone closely connected to the faculty—a Ph.D. student or adjunct professor,” said Barnes, 34, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado.

But Barnes and others soon discovered that some instructors lacked impressive credentials, rushing through lessons before disappearing for long stretches. Classes were even canceled for dubious reasons, such as weather issues, only for students to later discover sunny skies in the instructor’s location.

When classes were held, students described the material as shallow, with some saying they found similar content available for free online. Career counseling was also minimal.

After paying $10,000, Barnes questioned whether the program was even worth $1,000. Sewer expressed a similar sentiment, lamenting how little the course had helped his career: “They put icing on a cornbread muffin and called it a cupcake.”

Ms. Chabner claimed that issues raised by students like Barnes and Sewer were “isolated incidents” that did not reflect the program’s overall quality. She noted that Caltech had recently introduced stricter quality control measures to ensure the programs met the university’s standards.

Simplilearn’s founder, Krishna Kumar, did not respond to detailed inquiries from The New York Times, but Moran defended the company’s programs, insisting that they were transparent about their role and had helped many students.

A Shifting Industry

The federal government, in 2011, relaxed rules on revenue-sharing partnerships between universities and for-profit companies, sparking rapid growth in these online programs. Public and private universities alike have since signed contracts with online-program management firms. Universities, including Georgetown and USC, have listed these companies among their largest contractors in tax filings.

Critics argue that universities are exploiting their prestigious brands to promote low-quality programs. “It’s a betrayal of students to use an elite institution’s name for a for-profit boot camp,” said Aaron Ament, president of the National Student Legal Defense Network.

Investors, however, have taken notice. In 2021, private equity firm Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Simplilearn for $250 million.

Despite this growth, the industry faces challenges. Mr. Barnes, for example, received his completion certificate from Caltech before finishing the course. Caltech and Simplilearn provided conflicting explanations for this.

Barnes remains frustrated with his experience, and others, like Ms. Lopez, have sought legal recourse. As one observer put it, universities now face a critical question: Is their reputation worth the risk?