Ashford University

I enrolled in this institution thinking I was actually making a good choice. After I figured out that I'd be better off at a traditional campus getting hands on experience, they enrolled me in more classes. Used up the little extra financial aid I had left over. The day after I requested my transcripts outrageous fees were on my account. Tried to get it fixed, but I was told in order to get my transcripts I had to pay any holds on my account until I could recieve my requested Transcript. I feel that was an attempt to force me to remain taking classes. Ashford isn't for everyone. I'm done with it!

I have been pursuing my Bachelors in Health care Administration for two years now and I have to say I really love attending Ashford. My instructors have been very knowledgeable about the courses that they teach. Most of them go above and beyond when there is something that we are having trouble understanding and they provide us with websites that we could use to perform further research on those subjects. I do not understand how anyone could call students that attend Ashford idiots that is just plain disrespectful and uncalled for. As for the comments that some people made about the advisors being incompetent that is not accurate. I have never had a problem with advisors or instructors messing up like the posting that I read on this site. The whole staff at Ashford that I have been blessed to be associated with are awesome. The people at Ashford are very caring. In my opinion, Ashford University is indeed a higher learning type of environment. There are no idiots there. My classmates are very intelligent and hard working. I would definitely recommend Ashford to others. I would suggest that as with any major event in a person's life, that he or she that decides to further their education do a large amount of researching concerning college degrees, that way the possibility of them achieving desired results would be likely to happen.

I have been a student at Ashford since August 2010. I was excited to be returning to school and they made it all so easy; I have wondered and wondered since that day in the back of my mind, why it was so easy to enroll with in mind, "if something is too good to be true..it always is". I initally enrolled to complete my AA in Business and was very happy with AU when they transferred nearly all my all previous earned units towards my AA. At the end of 2010, because of all of the benefits of attending online, I started to feel that I could take my education further and contacted my Academic Advisor to enroll into their Bachelor Degree Program. She happily informed me that she could transition me into this program, and she very well did. Over the months, I randomly check my Degree Progress to review all that I have completed and what lies ahead. 15 months later I see that I am 7 units away from completing my GE and going into my major coursework and would have completed 69 units at this point. I checked the unit requirements for an AA degree at AU and it is 69 units. However 15 months into the program my academic advisor contacted me to find out how things were going and I happily inform her that I am close to receiving my AA. She informs that I am in a BA degree program and will not receive an AA Degree and if she would like to enroll me into that program she could do that for me??? What would be the point and doesn't AU think that this would be an important policy to make clear to their students????!! Before this, I had considered enrolling into their Masters of Education program but am now shopping for another online degree university. Loretta Hampton

I don't know what a lot of you people are complaining about. From day 1 I have had a wonderful experience here at Ashford. Here are some good things I have to say about what Ashford has to offer. 1) ADVISORS: My advisors are AWESOME and answer every question I need answered. They send me emails that I request the same moment I am on the phone with them. I have had nothing but motivation and support from these people and they have made it so easy for me. 2) CLASSES: I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am to not have to get up in the morning, gather supplies, and worry about finding a parking place at school. These classes are 5 weeks long each, so you don't have to take on 3-4 classes at a time for 4 months long each. You worry about one class at a time. You have two discussions per week, one quiz (open book), and one assignment (which normally consists of building blocks to a paper so once week 5 comes up, your paper is already done). Is this something to complain about? I think not. Not that it's easy, but it's for people who actually work, have children, travel, etc., yet still WANT to get their education. 3)TEACHERS: Teachers here are great! It's a big discussion board, so emailing a teacher is just a click away. You ask, they answer. Someone complained about "teachers not having control of the quizzes". This is far from the truth. I take my education very seriously so when I'm done with a quiz, I will look over anything I answered wrong and double check if I was falsly marked wrong. Yes, this has happened, and my teacher gave me FULL credit after I informed her.

I love attending classes as Ashford and am very proud to be part of a campus not a just an office building somewhere. Even our basketball team made it to the playoffs.

I started my BASS w/Education Concentration in Jan 2008. I finished in 8/2010 with the help of transfered credits. I would have finished sooner. However, I took two short breaks. All of Ashford staff members were very helpful to me from beginning to end including explaining the financial aid process with loans and extra helpful academically. Now it is Jan2011 and I am preparing to start the Masters Program. All in all the education is there for you to receive if you want it bad enough. Ashford is ready and willing to help anyway possible._________LPR

I am taking one online class and an on-campus class at a traditional university. Sometimes I think of the differences of the two learning experiences and which one I learn more from. By taking an online class at Ashford it forces me to read more and then apply that knowledge to writing APA professinal papers, therefore more knowledge sticks in my head. I have learned to write effecively and professionally through the material at Ashford. The traditional university is a great experience as well, but it is terribly longer than I prefer. In comparison, I retained about the same about of knowledge from both schools, but in a shorter amount of time with Ashford. Great Institution.

Just get ALL your ducks in a row BEFORE you begin, despite the smiles, sweetness, promises and pressure. Get all questions answered, such as teacher student ratio, how many credits will be accepted, etc. As with me, rarely are 99 credits accepted, but a fraction of that is the norm (even from a nearby Top Ten University as mine were from), 90% of promises of people to do their job will be blown off, you will get about a 15% return call rate except for initial sales person /'advisor' - at first. Handle or track your own financial aid if possible. A large faceless corp. bought this school so buyer beware and know what you are dealing with. You can extract a degree but it won't be a learning experience with live professors, in fact you probably will never be able to talk with them, their teacher student ratios are probably astronomical, TA's as well. This is business folks not academia!

I am a mother of 2 adorable children who influenced me to return back to school and obtain a BA in Healthcare Administration. Now after reviewing some of the reviews, I am starting to wonder if the people who attend the school previously was 22 years and up this is Ashford requirement for the age limited at Ashford University. Most of the reviews sounds like whining children, IF you didn't read the fine print before you actually took the courses than you are the idiot, everything in life including schools have policy, terms and conditions. All the information about Ashford appears to be from people who didn't do their homework, I am tired of people who want to criticize just because they are not happy with their decision. We all make mistakes in life, maybe your mistakes was intending online schools, as it is not for everyone, Ashford is just like any other school you get what you put in, nothing is going to be easy. online and offline school are a hassle with financial Aide what school can you attend if your financial Aide isn't right, I love this school I am in my 8th class the technology here is wonderful I am improving as a writer. Once you see yourself learning something new then you know you have taken your life into a new direction of learning new things. I can't speak for those who drop out because of not being satisfied and then want to play the blame game, Ashford is accredited school who is approved by the state, and also federal funding is approved by the school so how can you say that it is a scam. Nevertheless, many have complain about the stupid things, not answering phone calls, or responding to emails, I mean are you people really serious with these complaints?? I think that most of you are trying to find a reason to drop out of school, well good luck flopping from school to school, I will be done with my BA in DEC 2011 and will be returning for my master. No i don't work for Ashford my response are 100% real, as people may think that students can't leave good complaints not everyone think alike. Oh before I forget it is not up to the school to process your financial aide they are responsible for applying your funds to your account and keeping an account balance inquires in student portal, Now Ashford has a new classroom much easier to grasp, If for any reason you have complaints about funds contact FAFSA.EDU an obtain the contact information there.

I'm a current student of Ashford online, and after reading some of these reviews I am wondering if we are attending the same school. The school IS accredited, (I did my research in that before signing up). Secondly, anyone who says the courses are "for idiots", I'm not sure what your definition of "an idiot" is. My current course is five weeks long and in order to finish we are having to read 3-5 chapters from our book per week, plus another 1-2 from a secondary book. The discussion board is good, becuase it subsitutes for "Classroom participation", and shows that you've read the material. My instructor has outlined the fact that you are graded on your responses and knowledge of material, as well as writing and spelling skills and structure. My final paper for this course is due in three weeks, and it's in collegiate APA style format. Being middle aged, and in todays economy, I don't have a rich mommy or daddy to pay for me to spend my days driving back and forth to a brick and mortar university, and where I live there are NONE of the cheaper "community colleges" for me to attend. I've been going to colleges across the country on and off for 20 years due to my work situation, and because of this, Ashford gives me the best choice for my time and money, and in this economy. It's not perfect. The two biggest issues that I have with them so far is that the bookstore, (which is NOT part of Ashford, but sells the books), screwed up my delivery, and their online tech support guy was "Lazy" in attempting to help fix an application problem with their software. But that has NOTHING to do with the courses itself. Like all adults, you need a level of maturity, and understanding of what you are getting into when you sign up for this. Many of the same "whines" I've read here, I heard from guys who joined the miitary and then decided that "they didn't like it"....

I first contacted this school just to get general information, as I planned to look into several schools before making a decision. I can validate what a lot of other posts here have already stated: be careful! Once you make that call, they will suck you in and make it very hard to get away. After I made the call, I was immediately pressured into completing their online application form. (I wasn't even ready to apply, though! I just wanted information!) But okay, so I agreed just to "apply"....and then I'd continue on with my plan to research other schools in the meantime. Well, they advisors they set you up with (upon your first call) will call you incessantly, day after day. It is very annoying, very high-pressure.....they just want you to sign up. It is more pressure you will receive than at a used car lot. I honestly wonder if these "advisors" are paid on a commission or something like that.... Anyway, I've done my research and for many reasons I've decided not to attend this school. So I encourage everyone out there to please do your research!! Draw clear boundaries with these guys and don't be forced into a decision. Here is what I found (and the reasons I won't be attending this school): - It is NOT the cheapest online degree program out there. Check out a lot of other state and private universities, especially the ones that are reputable campus schools (not just the strictly online schools). - You may get more financial aid by going to a state school, because most states have state grants that are provided for in-state schools too. - The traditional university format has it's strengths: you get to pick your own courses each quarter and the traditional quarter-format is much more manageable in terms of work/life balance (for me,anyway). - Many schools will NOT accept credits from Ashford if you choose to transfer or apply for graduate school. Please look into this if you've got educational plans beyond Ashford. - Lots of complaints filed on Better Business Bureau. I compared their file to that of other schools I'd been researching, and it didn't even compare. Now if you think about it, why would any even have a reason to file a complain with BBB for a SCHOOL??? Well, of all the other schools, only one of them had 1 complaint filed. Ashford, on the other hand, had about 35. That's a lot for any business, let along a school. So do your research, folks. It's up to you But who knows....this may be the perfect fit for someone out there. But not for me.

Ashford University is a moneymaking scams university. The faculty and staff members call you 24/7 until they get you to sign up for all of these courses and apply for loans that you know nothing about. Then they stop being concern. The help and phone calls stop. They drop you like a bad habit. Stay away from that school.

So far I have not had many issues with Ashford. I am a very persistent person and I love a good battle. The first issue I had with the school was regarding my transfer credits. They told me X number of credits would transfer but then changed it when my review was complete and I had already taken two classes. I politely found the current person to speak to about my credit and got that issue taken care of. I was charged the wrong amount but contacted the financial aid office and got that taken care of. I was due a refund check and I felt that it was taking longer than expected, so I phoned financial aid back and within the week I had my balance. I think the object with any school or business in life is to be persistent and take the extra steps to resolve an issue. No one is perfect and like every school, there are flaws. You either want an education or you don't and you either are going to buckle down and complete your degree or continue to complain and use it as an excuse for not completing your education. Be adults and either get ready for school or continue to complain about everything.

I completed 9 credits at Ashford University. To be honest, my experience was not all that bad. In fact, "good enough" may be the perfect words to describe my thoughts here. All 9 of my credits tranferred seamlessly into my local state college when I was ready to move on, which was rather quickly. I will admit that my writing skills improved significantly during my brief stay with Ashford. Although, I must say that writing was always a relatively strong skill for me anyway. All in all, I learned several valuable skills at Ashford University in spite of the fact that I only took 3 classes. I had three different instructors. One was mediocre, one was absolutely excellent, and one was lousy to the deepest depths of what lousy could possibly mean to any one person. This is the reason that the overall rating I gave was a 5. Having said that, I ultimately transerred out of Ashford because I am a high-achieving adult student and I could get into better colleges. Ashford is so open enrollment that people without high school diplomas have claimed to be admitted into Ashford. Honestly, I got to see really serious grade inflation first hand because some of the people in my online class were barely functioning at a ninth-grade level and were being passed through the system. This is true without a doubt. I think it is very likely that AU's reputation will continue to collapse for as long as witnesses to this grade inflation phenomenon are talking online. A college degree from Ashford will probably be viewed as a college degree for people who couldn't perform well in a traditional university. This comment is not to slam its curriculum, which I already admitted was decent. This comment is designed to mention that not everyone is quite capable of being college material. In my opinion, Ashford University is a college that better serves the needs of these people than those who can be successful at more selective institutions.

This school is a joke. A week after receiving my award letter for financial aid, I received an email from the financial aid office at Ashford saying that effective immediately, they would not disburse refunds until 7 weeks after the original disbursement date. In the meanwhile, I inquired about my books, I asked if they could be credited to my account and was told that they couldn't. I withdrew quickly. That's what I get for not doing research first.

Ashford is a joke. Don’t make the same mistakes I made. It is a money making scam. The degree is worthless in the job market. It is so bad I am thinking about retaking the courses from other school. Wasted my money and time. Posting comments 3 times a week really hasn’t done anything for me. Prior to enrolling to the school I was expecting to see recorded lectures at least. But I was wrong Ashford has none of that. And program is expensive… I am strongly against from anyone to signing up for this school.

This school is so screwed up, I used to work there and take classes there. I actually took classes before i started working there. Wow what a mistake that was. It took me 7 months to get fin aid. They never told me about all the hidded fees. The classes are ok if you want to learn about writing papers on the subject of your choice. I went to work there and thought well that i could get my education for free as the perk of working there. Again very wrong, only if you enroll atleast 4 students every week. If you dont get your job done, they will pull you out of the class and then make you pay for it. They treat there students horrible, they make you ask them any type of personal information to use against the students, its what called AMMUNITION against so you can black mail them to stay into class. They will take any student that they can get enrolled, and if the student doenst send there transcript request page in, then they will hound for it, or they will just forge it them selves. If you dont believe me, after you apply, dont send them your transcript request page in for a couple days and see how many phone calls you get, even from personal cells,(which is not allowed by the higher learning comission). They will help you through the first class and then drop you to an academic advisor who has already about 400 active students, that they work with. If you are going into the education program, make sure you check with your state and let them know its online. The same state with the school(Iowa) will not except the program if it is taken online, the state education will only except the campus degree. This school is a joke, i quit working there because of ethics, not becuase i couldnt talk someone into an application. They treat their employess like crap and they have thier employess lie to students. Dont you think if they were reptuable school, that they would monitor phone calls, they dont, they can say anything that they want to students, and most of them will. Just to hit their goal. They have such a turn over rate that they are starting a busing system so that they can hit the bigger towns about 40 minutes away. Casue they cant keep employees in Clinton where the campus is located. this school has been under previous name, former Phoneix online employess had decided to start their own, so they bought a school that has been open since 1918, and through the name ashford university on it. What a joke, i would suggest that you use a local university for online, and make sure you read a much as possible before enrolling in this school and other school that you are looking at.

I'm in my 7th course at Ashford and I'm loving it. My endeavors here started off fairly easy but now I have major academic writing assignments due every other week. In most classes, instructors have been great. I say most because one of professors knocked off 30 points because I turned my research paper in one day late. The rest of them only deducted 10 points a day with a 3-day maximum late penalty. I don't have a hard time staying busy and I've learned a lifetimes worth of knowledge. Ten page research papers force you to apply yourself-whether you want to or not. Warning-every course has at least 2 major writing assignments. If they aren't submitted, you will fail. Everything must be in standard APA style and follow Ashford academic guidelines-which are entailed in a 300 page Ashford academic writing guideline book that is sent to you with your first textbook purchase. The first paper I had to write was on plagiarism. Ashord makes it well known that their instructors have access to all these different software programs that detect if your using someone else's words as your own. They are very serious about this and threaten to expell any who plagiarizes. To keep my GPA above 3.75, I have seriously had to work hard. I'm going to be very pround of my Ashford degree.

I have found that at times they get AU namesake on some of the text books that you are scared to purchase outside of the school in fear of missing something...other than that the school has been a pleasure. Instructors are very helpful and treat you with respect. This is a good school for the money.

I'm a student at Ashford and so far everything has been great. Keeping up with the reading has been the biggest challenge. My professors have been great. My acedemic advisor has been a great help by keeping me posted on the courses that remain to fulfill all of my degree requirements. Attendence is a big issue with Ashford. If you miss 2 days during the course, you won't get credit. These policies are strictly enforced so if you think you will be missing class due to other obligations/illness, then I wouldn't choose this school. After navigating through blackboard and becoming familiar with all of the assignment procedures, everything seems to be going smoothly. What I have noticed is that some classes are harder than others and the same goes for pleasing the professors. My acedimics advisor has been very helpful in keeping me posted for future class scheduling and has also provided me with helpful resources for getting discount textbooks. My experience has been pleasant and I'm looking forward to my graduation.

Great for the stupid, inept, lazy and incompetent masses. Horrible, horrible, horrible. I enrolled in Ashford a year ago and after a few classes, decided to leave. The professors are given a grading scale by the university so that no matter how horrible your assignments and weekly posts, even if you fail to meet minimum standards set forth by the professor, you still get at least partial credit! What happened to professors being able to tell students their work is far below sub-par and that they didn't come close to meeting acceptable college-level standards? What happened to NO CREDIT for abysmal effort? Ashford caters to the dumbest people around and cares nothing of academic quality or excellence. Great school if you're barely literate or never finished high school. Amazingly, a family member of mine with no high school diploma or GED was able to enroll here. Ashford allows almost any student, no matter how incompetent, to pass. Weekly required postings were often full of the same simple spelling and grammar errors, yet Ashford only allows for the deduction of a fraction of a point for this. Students are also only minimally penalized for writing like a fifth grader. There's no incentive to excel or try hard (aside from personal) because you'll pass no matter what. Now, a ton of complete idiots will receive degrees and will be reassured in their stupidity. Having attended a traditional university with stringent entrance requirements and high class performance expectations, I cannot believe the joke of an education Ashford is. I marvel at how they are able to maintain accreditation for their online program. Isn't college supposed to challenge the mind and encourage critical thinking? Most students can't critically think their way out of a paper bag. It's really as bad as some of the online message boards you stumble upon where the people clearly have little education. This proved true for 100 level as well as upper 300 level courses. If you hate idiots, stay far, far away.

The initial class at Ashford was amost life changing! I looked at several online programs and nothing provided the perparation for me as did Ashford. I enjoy the assignments and instructors. Some instructors are more engaged than others, but, such is life. The cost is acceptable for me with no hidden agendas that I have found. The assignments are very challenging but not overwhelming. The learning style works great for me. I would recomend this program along with others, as it is a good value.

I'm sure everyone's experience is different, but I just graduated with my master's in education, and had a great experience. It was pretty cool to attend graduation, and meet the study group I got to know virtually, and meet face to face. I feel badly for the guy who had a bad experience, but mine was awesome. My teachers were always available, they transferred 90 of my community college credits, and were affordable. AS a single mom, cost was important. Oh yeah, and my school district gave me a raise after I recieved my masters! Pretty cool!

Ashford is a joke. I should have known better when the enrollment advisor screwed EVERYTHING up from day one. He listed me with the wrong major. He emailed me information for my first class, which turned out to NOT be the class that he enrolled me for. In turn, I purchased the books for thr wrong class. 3 weeks later, I finally got the textbooks (that part, as far as I know, was the bookstore's fault not the school), only to then find out that I had the wrong books. They sent me the correct books overnighted and THEY paid for it, which was wonderful. They gave me a student advisor who proved to be the ONLY person that knew what the heck she was doing, so she is the reason I gave them another chance. Their textbooks are specific editions to their school and after 2 classes, I realized that neither textbook was organized well, did nothing in terms of explaining ANYTHING, and was written like someone with ADHD and dyslexia. The second instructor I had made no attempts at interacting with most of the students, and my emails were left completely ignored. When I had finally had enough and asked to be withdrawn, the financial aid person says to me, in her exact words mind you, "Well since you are withdrawing so soon you know you'll have to pay us some money for it right?" EXCUSE ME?! I was never told this (and who would have told me besides the enrollment advisor who admittedly did not know what he was doing)? I am not paying them a penny, and I flat out told them that after EVERYTHING with them, how dare they expect a penny more from me. I mentioned this to my student advisor and she said that she would look into it and take care of that for me. These people are incredibly clueless and not at all organized and I would absolutely advise people AGAINST Ashford University online.