American Military University

Hi Everybody, I had a great support from the AMU staff during the process of enrollement, since my course was paid by my employer, and had some bureaucracy. When I started the course, I had excellent teachers that always were available and helped me when I needed. All the materials used during the course were provided by the AMU, by access to on-line libraries and without costs.

Extremely pleased with nearly every aspect of the school, the professors/online classroom facilitators, and E&DM degree program. Degree/career guidance is a bit lacking - had to perform my own career guidance through site research.

After 2+ years of classroom learning I left to work, and decided to complete my degree 14 years later. I chose AMU based on their initial impression, but was soon very disappointed and have decided to discontinue my studies after only one class. - The online portion is poorly organized with no central tracking area for assignments; this makes it difficult to make certain that you haven't missed anything - The time required for just one course amounted to 12-15 hours a week, which seems longer than it needs to be. More of an emphasis on "busy work" than actual education, at least for the Introduction to Online Learning course I was enrolled in. At this rate it would have required 4 years for me to complete the last half of a Bachelor's degree, considering that I work 60 hours a week and can only take one class at a time. - The familiarization was limited to watching a video, which I felt was inadequate given that the entire purpose of this class was to develop proficiency with online learning. The class structure is of course a major departure from traditional classrooms and insufficient time was devoted to this. - The professor delivered canned answers and follow-up questions and did not actively participate in the course; a more proactive instructor would have been tracking progress to ensure that assignments were not overlooked in their substandard website. - Emphasis was placed on volume and structure with assignments rather than content, and examples of what assignments are to resemble are not provided. - Support when registering was great, but when I encountered issues it was non-existent. The professor was disengaged and when I ultimately dropped the class, my request for a partial refund was denied.

Overall, I can not complain. Having three kids, a full time job, and still a guardsman, AMU worked for me. The ability to log on and complete assignments at my own time and pace, does have its advantages. I learned a great deal of information, although at times I felt that some classes just did not fit and were there for fodder. My biggest complaints are Materials and Teachers. The online books can be confusing to find since that feature changed while I was a student and I did not receive a "how to" like I did when I first started. It is my hope that that feature has been worked out. Secondly, I disagree with the countless dead links within the classes. I feel the teachers should look into these things prior to class starting, and I also feel that I was not the only student to identify these items. I also had a tough time with the outdated material. The world of Emergency Management changes quite frequently right now, thus, the department heads should stay on top of those changes and update accordingly. The teachers, well some felt as if they were teachers, kudos by the way, and some felt as if they were facilitators that seemed to only log on to grade work. Too bad there is not a checks and balances in place to monitor teachers activity like there is for students. A little feedback goes a long way within the forums. The design of the program and the pages used to do classwork on are easy to navigate and understand. Do not really know how to explain the institution much more besides the staff, support kind, were top notch. If I had to call for a problem with tuition assistance, or anything else, they were great, informative and on top of finding answers. I also looked at three other online programs and this one was the best bang for the buck. All in all, 15 months is almost over and I can not be disappointed in the least bit. I had to apply myself and do the work. It was very easy at times, not so easy at times, and very stressful during other times. I do recommend this university to those who are older, more structured in life, returning to school to re-class or obtain a higher degree. For those straight out of H.S, try your hand at a brick and mortar first.

Completed my Masters in Emergency and Disaster Management in Apr 2015. Good classes, reasonable price, great flexibility with access and being able to work with the instructors to move coursework around your life. Like any school, you'll get out what you put in. Talk to the instructors at the start of the class, check all requirements and turn things in on time. If you have an issue, there are forms to extend the timeline to complete the class or withdraw. A lot of people note a problem with debating a grade or submission issues; I did run into this with a single professor on a single assignment (out of ~10 assignments over 13 courses, not bad). The prof was being unhelpful, so I went through the dean of my Master's department and everything got sorted out. It took two weeks and was stressful, and all done through email, but eventually it all worked out and I just avoided that prof for the remainder of my courses. I chose AMU being active military since it has the accreditation to transfer credits to any school in the country, I could take courses and do work to fit around my own schedule, and being an officer (which these days requires a bachelors) I didn't have to take a GRE to apply to a Masters program. I regularly recommend AMU and have gotten my wife taking classes through them. No school will be right for everyone, but if you do the work and read the student guide for advice if you have a problem, AMU works great.

I took my first college class in 1990. I've been all around, been to several schools and feel compelled to share a bit about my experience at AMU. AMU has several advantages. It's fully accredited. No matter where you move, you don't have to change schools. I have observed that AMU has superb instructors. Why? Because they have the ability to solicit the best in the field no matter where that instructor is located. AMU is not limited to the whatever local yocal they can get to come in and teach from the local area. Almost all the professor bio sheets are top notch in experience. The school itself is very solid: academic plan is clear, super student support, easy billing, scheduling easy, straight forward student handbook, etc. -- there's no confusion as to where you are and what you have to do. You do have to get the "feel" of the online environment. However, I'd argue that you'd have to get that at any brick and mortar school. AMU is certainly better for active duty military and busy professionals. If you're young and want the college life feeling; well go live in a dorm on a large state campus and go for it. I have found the academics at AMU to be a bit more difficult than attending local night school. Online, the instructors can just go; "read it all". At night school, you get well;... only worry about this chapter and these sections. You're under a time crunch to get everything done. Therefore, I became really good at fast research, using online libraries, developing templates for the various writing styles and formats, as well as creating quality work on time. You don't have people looking over your shoulder to ask questions; so you have to think and figure things out on your own if want to do well. You are required to do the best you can with the information you have to work with; interpret guidance, formulate, create, proof read, etc. - all inside the timeframe you have to work with. These skills alone have translated directly into fast paced, high stress professional environments. I do not recommend AMU to everyone. For busy professionals who are looking to really step up academically and professionally, it's a super way to go. Downfalls: Expensive [but well worth it] Some of the electronic course materials are user difficult. But, course materials are always changing and you'll find a variety of delivery methods in your classes. A lot of typing: I don't know who these people are that say AMU is easy. You better get crackin' if your going to get your forums and assignments done. Respectfully Submitted, Harry

I attended American Military University from 2008 through 2014, graduating with my Bachelors Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management. I was able to complete my program while serving on active duty in the military. I had taken courses both in a brick and mortar institution, as well as, online with another university. AMU utilizes the latest technology to provide the student the best opportunity to learn real world skills that can be applied to a rewarding career. Honestly, I had some great instructors, but also had a few that I felt were not engaged enough in the classroom, and did not provide the best learning experience. I have experienced less effective instructors at other institutions as well. 95% of the instructors I had were excellent. AMU provided me with 36 semester hours of transfer credit, from military courses, experience, and courses from other institutions,which gave me a good start on my program. AMU is an excellent university for those serving in the military, law enforcement, and emergency services, as the school offers many great degree programs that fit into these occupational fields. I would also highly recommend American Military University to anyone looking to further their education.

I just completed my Masters Degree while on active duty. You must be dedicated and allot the time needed to complete your lessons. This is not an 'easy' college - standards are high and the workload is intense. I do recommend this college to those willing to put in the effort!

AMU allowed me to work at my own pace and finish my Master's degree in less than two years. That includes taking a break for a semester, working two jobs during a portion, and conducting several military exercises. I could not have done it without the support of the professors. I only had difficulty in one class with a less than responsive instructor but was still able to maintain a great GPA! I have recommended AMU to many of my friends, fellow Soldiers and Officers, and other family members! I'm ready to come back already! Cindy

As I am in my second year attending AMU I am in a position to express my true feelings about AMU and their system of education. Most of the professors are currently employed in the field that they teach so they are totally on top of the real world in their industry. This is a major plus in my book. In two cases, I felt that the professors went overboard and graded not on the students comprehension of the material but on the exact rules of citation and grammar to the extreme. In other words, "you may know the material cold however we are taking off because of the extra comma in the third paragraph" type of thing. These two cases are overshadowed by the other professors who went totally overboard to help me and ensure that I learned the material and was able to think with the information in real life. I do not need this degree as I have been very successful in my life however I am enjoying studying at AMU and as my wife points out, that I only consider dropping out around the finals deadline. Then when my grades are posted all is well again. This is very normal for any university on line or brick and mortar. If something is not a challenge than I would not be getting much out of it. AMU has my vote and I am very glad to be taking classes online at AMU.

I think AMU is a great school with great resources available for you when you need them, whether that be advisors or study material. The instructors were great and helpful, of course there's always that 1% that can turn any great experience into something different. The one thing I do not like is the fact all the course materials and books are only electronic and the school doesn't supply hard copy books anymore. I have to have material right in front of me so I ended up renting text books for my own personal comfort. Overall, great school, great staff and I'm glad to have attended.

I will be working on transferring to another school. Both my husband and I have had continuous issues with financial aid at AMU. Disbursements and refunds take an unusually long time to be dispersed, if you need the money to pay for your internet to attend classes find another way of paying for your needs because every month it has taken longer and longer to get refund checks. We have experienced continuous mistakes on our ledgers showing funds 'missing' and extra funds added that shouldn't be there. If you want to attend AMU/APUS and have no issues, pay for it yourself or it will become a major headache.

APUS/AMU recently upgraded their online classroom and it is much better. I graduated in Nov 2012, and had a wonderful experience. The teachers for my concentration were knowledgeable and provided good assignments to help further my understanding. Some of the basics, like math and english, were pretty simply and didn't challenge me. But, I bet that is normal. Good interactions with other students and easy to track progress in the courses. None of the problems people seem to report about wrong tests or what not. That may have been an issue during the transition from their old online classroom to the new one. I also get good feedback from professionals in my career about the quality of the program. I recommend it.

I started AMU as a stay home dad and then got hired in my field of study. AMU allows me to take three classes at a time while working full-time and still have a family life. I can work at my pace and the instructors have always been nothing but helpful and willing to support you anyway they can.

Great program. I looked at many others and this has far exceeded my expectations. I just wished they had a PhD program for their Emergency and Disaster Management degree plan.

The Emergency Management and Disaster Planning program at AMU is an excellent learning experience for those who wish to pursue EM practices. At first, I was nervous about taking an online course. However, I can proudly say the program not only teaches the principles of EM but also enlightens you to the future of EM and the vision needed to mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from future events. Having experience in current operations, that vision stands out among all others as going the extra distance to prepare students for both current and future operations as well as Doctorate programs. If you want to learn EM, AMU is the place to do it.

I started the Emerg Mgmt & Disaster Preparedness Masters program in December of 2009. I can truly say that I had a great educational experience leading up to this point of starting the capstone program! Although I miss the brick and mortal atmosphere of having sidebar conversations and building an actual living network of friends and peers in this field, the forum environment tries to make up for that. If you’re not use to writing, I suggest getting some practice in. I’m appreciative of the amount of writing and research because if you’re going to be in any field with a Masters degree, it’s good to have your writing skills up to date and know how to search for information with the use of technology. Again, an online degree is what you make of it and this environment doesn’t work for some people. I opted for the online environment because of the hours I worked, commute times and gas prices. I thought that online schooling wasn’t going to work for me, but I hung in there and gradually I improved. To the procrastinators, kiss your Fridays and weekends good bye. This requires discipline and some style of time management. I got caught up in the freedom of putting homework off because of this or that and later paid the price by losing my free time on the weekends. AMU is a great institution and would recommend it to anyone! I even considered looking into another program to broaden my skill set even more. So if you don’t mind the writing of many papers and need a school that flexes with your schedule…then give it a shot and you will be graduating before you know it!!!

The program is great for working adults, however when it comes to the end of the program the institution is not supportive towards internship, the advising department has people who are not sure of the program is valued and it takes them too long to fix any issue. If there is need of an internship they need to be open minded and assist students in whichever way they can.

I am currently enrolled in my first course at AMU and was not sure what to expect. So far, it's been a positive experience. The instructor is responsive to questions that the class has submitted. Yes, there is a lot of work and you have to be disciplined in order to keep up and meet the deadlines. I like the fact that your classmates are from all over the world which gives you a interesting perspective to questions and topics that are being discussed. In addition, I like the fact that the courses are offered on a monthly basis and the my classmates are located all over the world. That brings a more diverse opinion to our discussions.

I have had nothing but a positive experience at AMU. The professors are above par and maintain a challenging curriculum. I attended a traditional private ($$$)brick and mortar university in Boston for my undergrad and it pales in comparison to the education that I received at AMU. In addition, the professors were eager to help me improve my scholarly writing and to get me up to speed on a Masters degree level. In the end, your degree is what you make it. If you do not have the educational maturity to be self motivated then AMU is not for you.

I am one course away from completing a Masters from AMU. The first half of my degree process encountered good instructors who challenged and actually took the time to provide feedback on papers. They provided weekly summaries (lectures) and actually took the time to critique the papers, of which there are MANY at AMU. The last few classes however, ugh. No feed back, or a simple, incomplete sentence of acknowledgement. No lectures, no getting into the discussions, NO TEACHING. I understand this is a Masters program, but the way I see it, I am not perfect and could probably use some "fixing" in my papers. For the money going into this "for profit", I would expect a better product. I am one class from doing my thesis and have seriously considered dropping and going somewhere else. That is saying alot since I have invested 2 years so far to complete the program and am so very close. I do not feel challenged in the past few courses, the interaction with other students is good, but there is a lack of critical thinking in posts. Most just regurgitate the information like a 7th grade book report. The programs are accredited and overall, I think a degree is a degree, but I was hoping for a bit more challenge.

I'm in progress, have 6 more classes to go. Most classes have alot of reading & writing, some have 20 page papers due- I don't know if that's standard with master's courses, but please, we're not allowed too many independent thoughts and there's only so much to write about. I've had only 2 classes where the "instructor" actually chimes in on the board. We are not instructed, online learning makes us teach ourselves. Most of the books are too old. That needs changed.

I am within sight (4 months) of completing my degree with AMU and I am very happy with the way it has progressed so far. I had no problems with UOP either but I like the 8 week as opposed to their 5 week classes. AMU also offers 16 week classes so you can catch a breather sometimes...8 week courses can be grueling. Of course I did some of the classes from Mexico and the Bahamas so the flexibility is nothing to sneeze at! I like my school and would recommend it to anyone. Mark

I have just completed my Masters in Emergency and Disaster Management from AMU. Having recieved my undergrad degrees from a private university I was concerned about the information and level of education I would receive from an online Masters Degree, but it was my only option in the field of study I wanted to pursue. Overall, my expectations were exceeded. I had to leave one class to respond to a natural disaster and the process to do so was flawless. Most of the instructors held the class to a high level of participation, and the school did a fantastic job of asking for advise about every class and professor. In my opinion, it was worth every dollar.

As an active duty member of the US Air Force, I quickly fell in love with American Military University based on their support & willingness to work with me during my short notice military deployments. As they have a thorough Student Handbook that outlines student options, I was able to request course extensions online when I would be enrolled in class without access to the internet. My area field representative quickly answers questions I email him with and most importantly, the quality of education is the best I've received in my multiple schools I've attended. AMU is the way to go!

I found the university to be both challenging and intellectually stimulating. If this is your first online course, initially you might not comprehend the amount of work that is required for a successful learning experience. The majority of the coursework consists of researching material and then writing papers about subject. Make no mistake about it, you will be writing paper after paper and they are dissected word by word and comma by comma. Every week a different topic is put up for discussion and you must respond to at least two students with some meaningful dialogue. The response should contain references to your subject matter and be at a scholarly level. Your papers also must be of a scholarly nature complete with intext citations, references and according to APA 6th Edition writing guidelines. All written papers are subject to plagiarism review under TurnItIn. If you are unfamiliar with TurnItIn, it is a plagiarism review site that generates a specific report as to the percentage of copied material. It is impossible to copy and paste information into your written papers, so all work is original. I typically spent 2-3 hours per day during the week and all of Saturday and some of Sunday, researching the material and writing. It was necessary to devote this much time to keep up with the academics and to respond to my fellow students with clarity of thought and that the material I wrote was pertinent to the discussion. I graduated with a 3.9725 GPA, and earned every bit of it. Based upon my transcripts and GPA, I was accepted into two different doctoral programs, and have just finished my second quarter of doctoral work, holding a 4.0 GPA. The professors at APUS-APU/AMU prepared me for the rigorous academic work required at the doctoral level, and for that I am grateful.

I enrolled in a course and was then notified of a of military deployment. I contacted the university and advised my timeline was changed and I was not sure of my ability to start the program given my military responsibilities as a commander.I was advised to call them when I determined my ability to continue and then I could drop or continue depending on mission requirements no issues. I contacted AMU and advised I would not be able to start the course. AMU said sorry too late and I received an F grade on a course I never even started and received NO refund. AMU lost a student and this senior officer will never recommend this university. So much for support of military.

I am a Professor at AMU and I’ve read these reviews and I see nothing out of the ordinary. Some pleased, some not. I offer my two cents. For clarification before I start, I have an undergraduate degree from a small, brick and mortar, four-year University, private school and a graduate degree from one of the Top FIVE of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools: 1. EVERY University has poor professors. Period. Professors fall into three categories. Poor; great ones that students love and great ones that students hate. A Professor is not supposed to know more than you. His/her responsibility is to challenge you and in the process make you a better student. College is a developmental milestone, not a Game Show. 2. You ARE YOUR degree. I do not care where you attend college; Harvard or some mail order Dental School, YOU GET WHERE YOU GET IN LIFE on merit. I have colleagues with degrees from Cornell and Princeton and I would not let them babysit my cat. On the other extreme, one of the most successful people I know (small business owner, retired at 35 and lives very comfortably) barely finished high school. So, if you expect a COLLEGE DEGREE to define you. DO NOT ATTEND AMU. I don’t want you in my classes. I build decisive leaders with a strong foundation of academics and most importantly an understanding of academia’s place in the ‘REAL WORLD’. I build people the type of people I want next to me in my profession. On a personal note; if your post is riddled with misspellings and poor grammar, forgive me if your opinion of higher education does not hold water.

Beginning my final year and generally speaking, I'm very satisfied with AMU. Most of my instructors have been excellent and I have learned a lot in an area of study that I have already been working in. I did have one instructor I was not pleased with. I think she only scanned papers for format and basic content. I was always having to argue my case and as a result always received additional credit. I have had instructors like that in conventional classes as well so sometimes it's just luck of the draw.

I am taking my Masters in Emergency Management at AMU. I find the course work challenging, and I find the work load daunting. I have taken 6 courses at AMU so far. I am doing very well. I am working my butt off doing the work. 4 of the professors have been excellent with quick feed-back and thorough fisking of my written work. APA format is a killer. I graduated with a BS from a Pennsylvania State University in 1994. I breezed through everything I took there. Hell, I was half drunk and missing classes my Junior and Senior year. AMU is much harder. The essay format and weekly writing assignments make sure I don't miss a word in the copious amount of reading that is required each week. The discussion topics are hit and miss depending on the people in your classes. A class size of 20 seems to keep things lively.