American Military University

American Military University is showing the way for how college education will work in the 21st century. The Master of Science in Space Studies program is a well-run, rigorous, and yet flexible curriculum. The faculty is highly knowledgeable and experienced, and I thoroughly enjoyed and learned much from my studies with them. As with all graduate programs, you get out of it what you put in to it. Some courses were harder than others (I'm looking at you, Orbital Mechanics and Rocket Propulsion!), but all of them demanded extensive writing and reasoning that surpassed what I have typically experienced in traditional brick and mortar universities. The Space Studies program was directly relevant to my work at a national laboratory. I have contacted AMU to convince them that they MUST do a PhD program...this would be well received, and it is much needed given that everyone is realizing that space (commercial OR military) is critical to our nation's future. Keep up the great work, AMU! I'll be ready to apply when the PhD program is available!

I am about half-way complete the MSc Space Studies, Aerospace Science concentration. So far the program has been very enjoyable. The flexibility of the university and their responsiveness to my individual needs has been absolutely outstanding, and stands in stark contrast to my experience obtaining my BSc at a brick and mortar university. I was expecting to be required to do much more engineering and mathematics than I have so far. The majority of the required effort has been writing research papers. While I am doing a bit more writing than anticipated, I will freely admit that the coursework has done much to enhance my overall academic skillset. The teachers have all been excellent. I've read a lot of comments about people "giving away As" at this institution. I can't speak for the course average GPAs, since to my knowledge they don't publish that information, but I will warn you that the coursework is not trivial. The programs at this university are designed for working professionals. So, while you may not be overburdened with nonsense busywork that kids in an undergrad experience, do not expect to skate through the program. You will need to spend the time to do the readings and proper research if you want put an honest effort into your education. At the end of the day, you are in charge of you own learning. My only suggestion for improvement is that some of the course materials could be more up to date (in some cases textbooks were over 10 years old). I’m not for a second suggesting the university update their books annually – let’s be honest, that’s just a cash grab technique used by academia – but I do think that some analysis should be performed on the materials to ensure the material stays relevant, if not already done.

I have completed the course work for the Masters degree in Space Studies and will have the thesis project completed shortly. Overall, this was an excellent educational experience and a very good value. The course work is highly interesting and well formatted. There are some terrific instructors, including former astronauts and the co-discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, all of whom showed distinct interest in their students. The course materials are relatively inexpensive and many are found online at no cost. While most of the instructors were fairly liberal in their grading, the courses are chock full of information and a significant effort is needed to get all the reading and projects completed on time. That is, this is a properly challenging degree program and not for anyone who intends to skate through or only complete some of the work. One minor drawback was the use of dated materials for some courses, such as policy materials from the last presidential administration rather than the current one. The only other drawback is the lack of face-to-face interaction, which is typical for purely online courses such as these. The University itself does a great job of providing information, support, and feedback for financial and other matters and I had no complaints whatsoever with AMU's administrative processes. When I asked questions AMU provided quick and accurate answers ... very well done. In sum, for anyone who is comfortable with on-line learning and a high degree of self-paced study, this is an outstanding degree to pursue. A good metric to consider is the large percentage of active duty military officers, particularly from the Air Force, enrolled in these courses ... if AMU is good enough for the officers of the world's best Air Force, then it's a great value and an eye-opening experience for we civilians!

This degree provides excellent grounding all aspects of space studies. There is opportunity to study planetary sciences, aerospace sciences and aspects of the space industry such as mission management. There is plenty of opportunity for research and a lot of opportunity for discussion with other students. My overall experience has been very good.

Great value for a program you will find nowhere else (at least not online). In fact, many of the school's programs have no equivalent in the online world. I've found the faculty very helpful and the coursework interesting. Discussion boards provide for great interaction, and also force one to learn to sharply fashion his or her arguments in writing. The faculty has also been very willing to work with me when work or personal situations caused me to be on the road (this does require the student to be proactive). I certainly sharpened my skill as a researcher and writer, which I have found very useful in my career! I'm taking a second masters through AMU, and also loving it!