Steve: yes that's right. I don't know if they have interest though... presumably yes although Wallstreet takes 93% (I believe but I'm not 100% about the %) of the total and Citigroup the rest so it's a form of interest but it is actually called "factoring" of the invoice. Normally in factoring there is no interest to the debtor as it's basically already paid. Either way... I'd like to invite all the trainers and language schools on here following this discussion to prove that they can offer a course of apx 3/4 hours a week for just €150-€180 a month. Whether or not you like the idea of using credit to study... it still offers a large population the opportunity to do so when their financial situation may not be 'cash' rich. We live in a world where we live on tomorrow's money... sad as it is.

p.s. this is why the franchises of WSI do so well compared to independent ones... they have no workming capital problems from the start as they get CASH IN HAND UP FRONT! nice huh... for school I mean

To Steve Kaufmann: yes & no... ALL wallstreet schools ALL OVER THE WORLD have the possibility to finance the students course via citigroup. This means (here is my answer to Keith) that the student who may not have the €1,200 (that's italy's average course cost per student, not to be taken as a global average) cash in bank can still have the course for apx €150/€180 a month. So keith... yes the final price is high... the monthly cost isn't. So good for some, bad for others

Well I've been a service manager in Italy and have worked as teacher for them on and off for years. Yes it's true that they are 'brand focused' and yes it's true that in comparison to some schools they are at the higher end of the market in terms of total cost... but we should remember that it is cheaper for most in terms of capital outlay as the students are financed via CitiGroup Bank and therefore they only pay a monthly fee. For example a student in Italy pays a total course price of €1,250 on average but the student sees only €130 a month going out of their account so they can afford the course and it's therefore cheaper than most on a monthly basis as €130 a month for other schools can't be beaten. Most schools in Italy would ask at least €35 an hour due to the taxes & teacher costs so if the student does the traditional 2 hours a week (whereas at WSI you can do as much as you want) then the course costs over €300 a month. Kinda puts things in perspective really, doesn't it? I must also add that although I don't work there anymore (I'm the founder of www.SkypeProf.com) I would suggest them to someone looking for a low cost option. In terms of B2B training... forget it they are terrible!