American Military University

The entire course syllabus is a disaster and meant to create issues and confrontation. It was poorly written, dreamed up, and executed. The person who wrote it does not have a clue or training to create curriculum. The person who approved it, even worse. It caused so much time to be wasted with no true outcome of anything remotely positive. In fact, it had caused many to leave the course early on, and then those who remained are to suffer and continue we all do. Having to take extensions has caused blistering valuable time to be wasted and taken from the students personal and work life. It also costs students to spend more money on the course with no hope of ever completing within the 16 weeks let alone after any extensions and all the other BS items forcing you to write 500 words on "why APA is the best format," and "plagiarism." This wastes so much time. This was the type of papers done in undergraduate days. All motivation to complete this course has left. All excitement of completing the program is no more. It was a total waste of time and every single idiot from the professor to the provost simply does not give a damn when you attempt to speak to them about it. I will SURELY tell everyone I know to NEVER take this CJ course from AMU. I have personally recommended this university to others and they have signed up. I have to tell them all to watch out and possibly take their units to elsewhere. It is not well thought out, nor do they offer you everything to take advantage of. GUARANTEE, you WILL be forced to take extensions if you accept writing a Thesis and getting approval from the IRB. Don't do it! Instead, take the other option of not having to do that research and get the paper done.

If you are looking for a regional accredited University that is willing and able to assist you with your studies, providing you with clear and understandable instructions American Military University (AMU)is the right choice. I applied got accepted along with the maximum transferrable credits and completed my BA in Criminal Justice. This has opened several doors for me and I am happy that I chose AMU. Absolutely no regrets, thanks AMU for being one of the premier online schools that put students first. Trevor Cameron

I am currently within two months and a half months from finishing my BA in Criminal Justice from American Military University, apart of the American Public University System and I have truly enjoyed it. I started in the summer of 2010 to finish out my Associates Degree in the Air Force for Criminal Justice, then I went to another online university for my degree, but it was structured under the traditional university model, where they have the Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer semesters and did not offer the courses throughout the year that American Military University does. I started to work on my BA in the fall of 2015 and when I transferred my credits over from the Air Force degree, they accepted the entirely of them, so I started in as a Junior and only needed 60 credits to graduate. I enjoy how they have classes starting every month, all year long; with this option I have been able to complete two to three courses every eight weeks since the end of 2015, with an anticipated graduation date of November 2016. The instructors are knowledgeable within the subject areas, especially within the Criminal Justice field; many have real world experience within the field. However, there are some instructors who act like they are the "one all, be all" but you will get that with any school you select. If you are using tuition assistance from the military or utilizing your G.I. Bill, it is really easy to use when paying for the courses. For undergraduate work, the eBooks are amazing, and the discount you get for them makes them free for the student. When I was applying and getting all of my credits transferred over, the customer support was extremely helpful getting the answers I needed. I have not had to use the student advising at this time, only when I applied for graduation, and at this time it is very seamless. The online library is an amazing resource, which has a great deal of publications, books, and other types of academic information which will help completing your assignments. I have felt challenged within the courses and I have also honed my APA citation style of my coursework, and the instructors have aided in that significantly. I have really enjoyed my experience and time at American Military University and I would definitely recommend it to my peers who are contemplating completing their undergraduate degree.

I took 3 Criminal Justice Masters Degree courses and I am thoroughly disappointed with the quality of the academic responses of my peers. I was shocked some of those people made it through their undergraduate studies! I expected the caliber of students and professors to be of a much higher standard. In addition, I was looking forward to challenging subjects or encouragement to explore new information on topics posed in class. My courses felt like undergraduate level work except it was more expensive and the required responses / paper were longer in word count. The material was not at the level I expected in continuing my higher education. I will pursue other schools that will challenge me in my field of study and will limit those who are just walking through the motions but clearly are not equipped to engage in intellectual conversations or post appropriate, well thought out responses.

I am currently enrolled with AMU and have finally made it to the final course for my Master's Degree in Criminal Justice. To begin, if you are maybe considering selecting AMU to obtain your Master's Degree in criminal justice, choose wisely. The AMU manual states you can take a final exam over a thesis but once you are signed up to take courses that option is no longer valid. I am not saying the university is a bad one, but when you call AMU for anything be ready to always speak to a different person with at many times a different answer. For the course I am currently in our instructor was thrown at us at the last minute according to him and we as a class have been thrown under a bus. We do weekly 500 word essays about dumb stuff which takes up a bunch of our time and then we all are trying to write our thesis along with jobs, families, etc. Then I have also talked to other students taking the same class and their AMU instructors were great and very helpful. In the courses prior to this final one I encountered both good and bad instructors but that is to be said for all colleges and universities around the world. I just wish this final course which represents all of us graduating, the instructor would have designed it another way where we centered all our efforts on the thesis and no other stuff which takes up time.

An excellent experience. Both my Undergrad and Graduate Criminal Justice degrees were earned here at The American Military University where I was free to work at my own pace online with excellent instructors at a very reasonable rate. AMU provides everything you need to earn a legitimate degree which helped me greatly further my professional career. Books are easy to order, instructors have significant real world experience, and the learning platforms are well designed and maintained. Well worth the investment of time and resources, I would go no where else.

I graduated in Nov of 2012, after about 2 1/2 years. As long as you go in realizing this is an online program and will not compare to any in residence program you'll be happy. Students and teachers alike to not take online university as seriously as in residence. Forum participation by many other students was not up to a level I would expect from a masters degree student. I don't mean just grammar and spelling either. I caught students responding to forum questions by plagiarizing other articles in their entirety (this was reported, and I can only assume appropriate action was taken). This was frustrating because a large part of the classes is forum participation, and most students just post the minimum for required posts and responses. I also got the distinct impression classes were not really taken seriously by professors either. Of all the papers I had to do for these classes, I don't think any were graded on content. The only grading marks I got back on any of my papers were critiquing for not meeting that professors personal modifications to APA style perfect (one prof took points for an APA style change, despite the change being directed in his own syllabus). I also hardly saw professors participate in the forums, guiding the discussions or actually instructing. All of this being said, you will get out what you put in. If you take the classes and programs seriously you will learn a lot, but not as much as an in residence program. Likewise, if you just want a paper on your wall that says you graduated.....like California Cost, Touro, or Trident online universities.....this will meet your intent. Probably one of the better online universities, but still an online university.

Just starting to begin obtaining my BS in Criminal Justice. I read through most of these reviews and have come to the conclusion that a lot of these reviewers probably are not familiar with an online format. It is not the same as attending lectures or on ground classes.You are not going to get that same experience. College is not high school. Professors are not hired to go over the same material 10 times because you or even the class is not understanding it. They are hired to lecture you. It is your job after class to seek out the help you need to comprehend the material. Professors are not even required to talk with you after class. Do most professors go out of their way for students in that regard? Yes. Online classes are loosely scheduled weeks in terms of there are no assigned lecture and meet times. There is a time where your discussion board opens, and you need to fulfill all your requirements, generally by the end of that week. The problem is a lot of students think this means you have a week off, and just scramble to write some discussion posts or take that exam or write that paper on Saturday when it is all due by Sunday. Online courses are more work than on ground classes in that there is no structured time for a class to meet, read through and discuss chapters or assignments. You have to make for that time yourself. A lot of people just are not cut out for this type of learning. I read some people unhappy with a pdf for a book. I think the idea is actually pretty genius. Textbooks are so expensive and you do not make back what you pay for the book. So this university offers free books, different formats, and people are complaining? Other companies/schools offer ebooks that you rent for the semester. I've never met an angry student about saving money on books. Professors anywhere are hit or miss. You run into a lot of adjunct professors. They're cheaper for the schools and not all should really be in the position to lecture. Either way it is completely normal for an online format to have to wait a couple of days for a professor to reply to you. A lot of these professors are a.) teaching many courses, at many schools, on ground and online. b.) have a regular 9-5 just like you do, and grade/do class work at night, just like you do. Not always, but a lot of the time I see students 48 hours out from a due date suddenly being frantic because they post a question to the professor and get upset she/he has not responded immediately. Well, we are all adults. It is called time management. You review your assignments/deadlines at the very beginning of the week. Ask questions early in the week and plan for the lapse in communication and work on something else while you wait. Use your peers. See if anyone else can help steer you in the right direction. I just get fed up with people whining about a school/class/professor when in reality it boils down to that person lacking the responsibility, the drive and accountability for their own poor management skills. Do not waste your time period at any solely online school or online classes offered at a traditional campus, if you lack the ability to prepare, manage your own course load, and have zero resourceful qualities about you to improvise when things do not go as planned.

I have all positive things to say about American Military University. I had started at a different college and it was an absolutely horrible experience, I was referred to AMU by another military member and I am glad that I took his advice. I graduated with a BA in criminal justice in March 2014. I will recommend this outstanding school to any one who is serious about online learning. The staff, professors, and anyone else that I needed to speak with from this institution were highly professional and educated in what they were talking about. Again a great time and I am glad that I went to such a great institution to earn my degree from.

Got my Masters degree in a little over a year, it was not easy but instructors did grad more than fairly. The interface and technology is the easiest I have encountered to interact with. The thing that sticks out the most however was the instructors. Most, if not all of my instructors were or currently are active or retired police officers/special agents - many of which hold multiple degrees and careers in law enforcement. I have attended two state university during my undergrad and this rarely would happen. It was a major relief and made you really pay attention to what they had to say. Overall, my studies at AMU were great.

I enrolled in AMU after almost 20 years upon obtaining my Bachelors Degree from Penn State University. At first I was apprehensive as to online learning and the accreditation process of online Universities. I just attended my Master Degree Graduation in June 2013 and I will say that this was by far the best decision I have ever made. AMU was both challenging yet understanding when it came to normal everyday life issues that arise as a professional adult. My professors were extremely involved in the courses and were there to answer questions quicker than I could have ever imagined. Your books and materials can be purchased thru outside sources as you would at any college town. It truly was a great educational challenging experience one that I will cherish. This experience has even led me to start thinking about a possible doctoral degree. I highly recommend AMU whether you are military, law enforcement, or simply a regular business person. You will not regret your decision! Good Luck!

Having started my Masters program earlier from an institution I received my undergrad from, there was a significant time lag between classes. AMU has been great from the start. They accepted some transfer courses that I didn't expect to receive credit for and the registration process is so easy and definitely "student friendly". The curriculum and professors are first-rate. Having read their bios, it is great to have such a broad eperience base in the instructors...they all have time in the career field in some sort of way. AMU is not a "paper mill" as some other schools are and I would highly recommend this university to anyone who is not able to attend actual "sit in classes" courses due to their job & family commitments. Highly recommend this to all!!

Really enjoyed the program. Fast and efficient. Teachers were flexible and understanding. Great for military meembers.

I am just starting at AMU, awaiting transfer of credits which should place me just over half way to my BA in CJ. The admissions process was smooth, information provided timely and accurately thus far. Financial aid was fairly easy to deal with, as well as initiating the VA process utilizing the GI Bill (Chapter 30). The only issue that I have with the requirements are related to the required course for online studies. This course is intended to teach you how to learn on line and guage your ability, according to the details, and I am paraphrasing. Here is my issue; I have taken dozens of online courses at two other schools. Having said that, and having transferred my credits which came with a current 3.4 GPA, not too shabby, the argument for me taking this class should not be to guage my ability to learn on line. Now...they DO offer the ability to waive the course. To do this you have to submit a resume, write an essay paper and request the class to be waived. Here is my problem; after you have done this, you do not receive credit for the class but credit as having not having to take that class. What happens next is the class MUST be replaced with another elective class to make up the valued credit hours. I have no issue with making those requirements to waive the class, but if you are forcing me to take a class that my record clearly reflects not needing, at least give me credit for the course in the same fashion you would with transferring credits. Outside of that, I have no problems with entering. After reading some of the negative responses I am entering with a cautiously optimistic point of view and am motivated to finish my BA and move on educating myself from there. Good luck to all.

To all of these people who say it is a scam and that if you get deployed they try to scam you is far beyond accurate. All teachers have a biography and most teachers I had in the CJ field have shown their credentials. I completed my program in 2 years and all the courses were relevant and the books I received were comprehensive. Financial Aid, Academic Advisers and the teachers were all great and everything was handled in a timely fashion. All of my teachers were intelligence officers, forensic examiners, lawyer and security personnel with most have a JD or PHD. The fees are not that high (tuition)at around 900 per class isnt too bad. They have many programs in all areas of education. To those who have commented negatively are probably just people who couldnt handle the online learning curriculum and did not so too well in their classes. AMU, I would definitely recommend.

I just finished my MA in Criminal Justice and I feel it has been such an accomplishment. I am a homicide investigator and officer in the Coast Guard Reserve so free time is limited for me. The program allows for flexibility to maintian such a schedule. Most importantly, the school certainly meets the objectives of providing top notch education, and high standards for completion. I feel I earned my degree and at no time felt any professor wasn't worthy of his/her position. I would recommend anyone wishing to fulfill educational goals to do so with AMU.

I am not going to say that AMU is the best school out there, nor the cheapest. However I started attending AMU while I was on active duty with the Corps. And I found with my work schedule and the lack of time to attend a traditional school, AMU was perfect. I had no problems with my professors in the criminal justice program, how ever the general education teachers were not the best in the world. If you are a person who needs their hand held during school then AMU is not for you. If you are looking for a school that has constant communication with their professor in regards to class work, then I suggest you attend a traditional college. I enjoyed going to school with AMU because for the most part I was able to complete my required assignments at my own pass. I tried a traditional school and the class was moving to slow for me, because of all the stupid questions about the topic that was covered multiple times. If the student didn’t understand the assignment then he should have stayed after class and not hold up the rest of us. I also liked the fact I was able to complete my weekly assignments when ever I had a free time. Were as a traditional college you have to attend classes two to three times a week and complete any work that is required. At least with AMU online schooling you are just required to turn in the work. For the most part my professors responded to all my emails with in a timely manner. These professors teach multiple classes and could have a semester student load of about 200 to 500 students. With that in mind I was able to accept if a professor took a day or two to respond to an email of mine. I also loved the fact that all the books for my undergrad courses were free. I do not know of any other schools that would pay or have a grant for your books. The only thing I have to complain about is that fact that after I completed all my required classes I had to complete a survey and pay a hundred dollars to graduate. I also think the other reason I did so well with AMU was because I had a plan. No matter if you attend an online school or a traditional school you need to make a plan and try to keep to it as best as you can. You also need to stay on top of your paperwork. If you fail to turn in or update Federal Aid then it will be your fault for not being able to start a class on time.

I am presently enrolled in the Masters program at AMU, and I think it is great. Some classes are a much more detailed than others, and this is normal. I value what I hvae learned, and I am not looking for an easy way to get a diploma. AMU is not easy, and you will earn your diploma by learning and working.

I completed my BA in Legal Studies from AMU in November, 2008 and, after carefully researching several universities, I recently started my MA in Criminal Justice at AMU as well. I began AMU in 2004 while I was active duty. When I registered for both my BA and Masters I have gotten and immediate response from AMU staffs either by e-mail. Considering it is an on-line school I believe this practice to be perfectly acceptable. While in active duty I deployed and went TDY several times; I never had an issue getting an extension or dropping my classes. The professors where extremely knowledgeable and experienced on the materials they were teaching, often challenging students to do well. Discussions were posted by the professors and all students participated. I was able to contact my professors frequently if I had personal issues or if I had questions about my assignments. English is my second language. Professors where understanding of that. I never felt that I was put in the back burner for not being an English native speaker. When you register for a class you are provided a list dates the classes are offered and the names of the professors who will be teaching the class and their biography. This is an outstanding practice since everyone has different personalities, thus you might work better with some professors than others. I’ve never had my schedule or professors changed out on me. One great perk with going to school at AMU is that text books are included in your tuition. Not only did I get my text books deliver to my home, they also got delivered to my places of deployments and TDY’s. I’ve even gotten my books in Puerto Rico while I was there on vacation. You get good quality text books that you sell back to the store they buy them from. Yes, you get a free text book that you can sell back and get some cash in your pocket. The same text books are provided to you online at the library. I am not saying that everything was perfect all the time, but it was at least 90% of the time. The negative was overcome by the positive. I was setting my own schedule, going to school from anywhere in the world, having my books delivered at my door (wherever that was), not having to schedule vacations around school, having the flexibility to manage my military and civilian life (I am now in the reserves) and finally graduating from a bachelors program and now having a degree that makes me more marketable.

I'm just about done with my MA in Criminal Justice and overall have enjoyed my learning experience with the University. With one exception, all of my instructors were knowledgeable and very helpful. The one who wasn't I believe is no longer with the program. If I ran into any issues, I always felt as though if I couldn't resolve it with my professor directly, I was able to go to the Program Director. She has a great open door policy. Going to school on-line is like everything else in life - you get out of it what you put into it. Really hoping that they decide to pursue a CJ PhD - if so, I will definitely sign up!

I have been attending AMU for 9 weeks now; and so far, I have been far from impressed. I wrote my final paper and received the feedback from my professor stating that my paper was too short. I pointed out to her that the final paper requirements stated that the length of the paper was to be the amount of pages I wrote-so she kindly bumped me up a couple of points. Then in my other course, I had the same problem. The professor wrote: "Paper should be two-three (3-5) pages in length". Okay, so what is it, 2-3 or 3-5? Then to top that off, there was no emailing her because she took it upon herself to take the week off for Christmas. I know I am not the perfect student, and that there is no such thing as perfect professors. However, I would think that we can and should expect a little more from a UNIVERSITY. I recently earned my BA from another online university, I took 14 courses there, and not once did I have these types of problems. I guess you really do get what you pay for! I am presently looking into different colleges and I am hoping that I can find one that lives up to the same type of standards as my previous college. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, you make your own schedule here, choose the professor you would like to take the course with, and they change it on you without even telling you. You log into your portal and tada! It has been changed!!! This has happened to me twice in 9 weeks. What is the point of choosing your courses and professors if they are just going to change everything to how they want it anyway? I should have known to stay away from this university. I had applied and no one bothered contacting me about how to go about the rest of the process, and I tried calling and I got a voicemail, left a voicemail, never got a call back. So I withdrew and then they called wondering why I withdrew I let them know, and they asked if I would give them another chance. I did, and now I regret it...

I'm very surprised at the comments about AMU. I have not had any problems and frankly think the instructors are great. Also, it is an accredited school. My employer would not pay for it otherwise, and they do very through checks. I am curious to hear an example of the problems you have had, other than the reimbursement for deployment issues. My only issue is the shortened course time, most classes are now 8 weeks and I do not find that beneficial.

im well 2nd yr at AMU and have found the overall process outstanding. Books ARE free and an online version is available as well. Ive had to break from class for two reasons 1 Emergency leave for 6 weeks Got a 1 month extension after I got back to finish (no penalty) and 2 wife was having surgery Im still in that class but received an extension to turn in the test and homework (no penalty). Also if you want to look up your instructor go to the link meet our faculty I have had no problems seeing you my professor is most of the time thats how I choose my prof. while im registering.

I began pursuing a B.A. in Criminal Justice at AMU after a ten year hiatus. I had dropped out of a local community college that I attended immediately after H.S. graduation and I had intended to but been unable to return to school until three years ago. When I began pursuing my degree at AMU I was shocked by how challenging the classes were in contrast to my C.College experience. Although it seemed you could get decent passing grades with little effort, achieving an A- or A at AMU is quite challenging and forces you to study hard. I thought perhaps it was my absence from college that made AMU seem so challenging, until I attended two classes at a local major public school at the behest of my employer (both business management classes). They were much, much easier to achieve an A grade in. I am convinced that by striving for high marks AMU will offer students an exceptional educational experience. Students who wish to simply "graduate" may also find AMU a decent diploma-mill that they can put marginal effort into and still achieve passing grades. If you're looking to continue your education beyond a four year degree, put the extra effort into AMU and you'll be rewarded.

I am currently pursuing a bachelors degree in criminal justice from American Military University and think it is a great program. I love that I can earn my degree online while I work full time. I am half way through the program and have found my professors to be very knowledgeable and skilled in what they teach. They use a combination of textbooks, lecture notes, and videos to help the students understand the course. All of the professors I have had so far have bachelors and masters degrees related to criminal justice and have a great deal of background in the field. All of my textbooks and course materials are provided and I receive all my physical textbooks through the book grant (absolutely great!). When I first started with AMU, I thought the courses would be easy since I would be taking them online. I soon realized that was not the case. The courses are demanding and require hard work and effort. You have weekly discussion boards, quizzes, and exams like you would at any university. So far, I am very pleased with American Military University. I look forward to completing my criminal justice degree online and would recommend the university to people out there who are looking to earn a degree online. The school is accredited and affordable!

APUS is just another college scam. None of the instructors are supervised, none of their credentials can be checked out(so you might be getting "educated" by somebody who has an AA, best case scenario). Department of Education can't do anything about them because they are a private college,a business and not an actual school. Any private school can get accredited, i is not based off quality of education. The books they claim to give for free as often just low quality pdf files. Somebody needs to report them to the publishing company. Now instructors at AMU do whatever they want to do. They give assignments that are not related to class, they will fail you if they do not like you or your ideas, they will not explain anything, not mentioning teach. If you try to complain to school officials, they will try their best to cover up for the instructor and convince you that you are either : 1) an idiot 2) a foreigner and therefore an idiot That being said - not foreigner friendly. You will be filing discrimination complaints like there's no tomorrow. Not military friendly as it claims to be either. If you will get deployed and try to drop out of classes - good luck getting your money back. You will keep fowarding copies of your orders and they will keep having "system errors". I love the PR team though, so many great comments that sound way unrealistic. Good job guys! Anybody who had a bad experience with AMU please do not "let it slide", file a complaint with the "office of civil rights" or at least create an online blog describing your problem. People need to know the truth and the school needs to get shut down.

Overall I have had a great experience with AMU. The classes are not a walk in the park, and I do actually learn. As with any educational institution I have had some bad Professors and classes that I did not learn much from...on the other hand; I have had more classes and professors that were worth my time. I noticed a few people bashing AMU after they took 5 classes and such!? Doesn't say much for you to quit after such a short time. Also, I am convinced that anyone who has problems with this school administrative wise...its probably not the schools fault, as I have found them to be more then helpful.

This school is great for military and as you can already see is 100% accredited. For those skeptical, I have used my military TA and VA benefits here and those institutions wont pay for non-accredited degrees.

Very pleased with my decision to attend AMU. Exceptional bargain.