Ashford University : MBA Reviews
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J623
(Graduate) on September 27, 2011
(email verified)
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Progressive Improvement
I am a proud, recent MBA graduate of Ashford University. I had an instructor or two that I felt could have exerted more effort and things did not always go perfect. The other eleven or twelve instructors were outstanding. I put an effort into my reading, my discussion answers, and my papers that gave me maximum value for my future. The program will develop your writing skills to the point you feel you could write a corporation’s policies and procedures handbook. The program’s design allows a student to become comfortable with the online environment and progressively becomes more challenging. I know the accounting, economics, finance, and operations management classes are thought-provoking and sometimes perplexing. In life there are many kinds of people, including solution finders and complainers. I am a solution finder. I had questions pertaining to financial aid and questions about taking two classes at once. It may have taken a few days to get the answers or work out the details, but because I did not wait until the last minute and I was patient, the very capable administration at Ashford University provided the needed outcome. I am now enrolled in a PhD program at Ashford’s sister school the University of the Rockies.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on June 27, 2011
(email verified)
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Go to Ashford
If you can go to a traditional campus and take 5 classes a semester go to a traditional campus. If you work full time or have a family, and can't take AT LEAST 5 classes go to Ashford otherwise it's going to take 5-12 years to get a degree. They offer an accredited degree for a fraction of the cost of their competitors. Every school makes money off of you and your financial aid. Tuition costs pay for faculty and staff at ay university, plain and simple whether it's a community college, online program, or ivy leage campus. Most of the people on here who complain about Financial Aid are the students who are only signing up for a school and using Financial Aid to try and pay some bills. Unfortunately, if you don't go to school, post attendance, or do your work you get dropped and have to pay for the class that you failed. Long story short, don't sign up for school ANYWHERE unless you're actually committed to finishing. If you can't go to a traditional campus go to Ashford. If you can't go to ashford don't go because if you can't succeed there, you shouldn't be going to school. PERIOD.
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Jyoung1va
(Graduate) on December 10, 2010
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A very valuable learning experience, and worth it!
I started Ashford in 2009 after I withdrew from an MBA program at another online university that did not give me the support I needed. What I found at Ashford was that the courses are divided into six weeks, and there is a certain value for each week's work, which keeps you working, and aware of deadlines, which is of real value in today's business world. Each course culminates, typically, with an assignment that pulls in all the learning of that course and ascertains that the student really does understand what the course has taught them. The coursework was challenging, and even though the school has no official thesis requirements, as my last assignment for my Information Systems specialization, I had to write a strategic plan for an IT project. As the assignment was laid out, it ended up being a total of over 50 pages at completion, but not only incorporated my IT courses, but actually finance, operations, marketing, and legal aspects as well. It was a great review, and underscored the learning I achieved in my program as a whole. I am now done with this program, and can call myself an MBA, and am proud to recommend Ashford's MBA program to others.
There was only one problem I ever had with Ashford, and that is that their financial aid representatives are not very good at communicating with students, and at one point my financial aid did get fouled up and was late. Knowing that this might be the case, when I did not get a response from my Financial Aid rep, I contacted the main office and got the information I needed. It all worked out. I got all my loans and was able to complete my program. All in all, I would say the school was worth my time and money, and will make a positive difference in my employability in the future.
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Jon13_14_casey
(In Progress) on July 26, 2010
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BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!
This school is a JOKE! I was attending Ashford's online program, and when I decided that it wasn't for me, they made it impossible for me to withdraw. My academic counselors did not answer their phone, return phone calls or e-mails. They signed me up for another class, and I just did not log into the class at all. When I did finally hear back from them, they were demanding money for the class that I never took. I also had a student loan (and Pell Grant) and they had all the rights to take more money from the loan, yet they were still coming after me for over $1,000. And now that I am ready to go back to school, they will not release my transcripts because they are still claiming this non-legit charge. Basically, Ashford has screwed me over because without my transcripts, I cannot attend school anywhere! THANK YOU ASHFORD!!!!
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Joseph.siemandel
(In Progress) on November 27, 2009
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So far its ok
I am a current MBA student at Ashford, and will say that it is not the best, but it is an ok option for Military Service members, mostly National Guard that are working civilian jobs. For military you get at a minimum of FREE BOOKS, Half your Tuition fee covered, and your GI Bill to help you out. I had my doubts about online school, but I was surprised to see that ASHFORD is a real location in Iowa, it is an accreited university with a lot of positive feedback, and is not a fraud degree.
It maynot have the pull that an MBA from a big known school has, but an MBA is not really a necessity anymore that people think, its a label, and I want to be able to say that I have an MBA, plus it helps to have a masters in the military for promotions.
People are negative because they fail, but if you give at least an effort you will pass your classes. The instructors will answer questions and will give you feedback and teh advisors are always in touch when needed. I had a little fiasco when I first got in and was told I could use Pell Grants, (which you can not in the Masters Program) but I switched over to my Post 9/11 GI Bill and tuition worked out well with the TA from the Guard.
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Client.care247
(In Progress) on July 30, 2009
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Teachers Great--Office Staff Not So Much!!
I started the week of Thanksgiving 2008, probably not a good idea, was ill for about half of the class. The instructor never answered my emails requesting information about my progress (ie. Whether I should submit missed work, drop). I ended up getting an F, after my advisor told me to move on to the next class and I did not turn in the final paper (you cannot get an F). I obtained an 88 on the retake (for another $1500 charge) , plus A’s & B’s on subsequent classes. I prefer to get my books now from campusbookrentals.com to help defray out of pocket costs. I have been given the run around on financial aid. My most recent disbursement arrived on 7/7. To date, five emails to three different people over the last month have remained unanswered regarding when I can expect my $4000-5000 stipend. By the time it comes my car will be repossessed or just voluntarily relinquished to the loan company. The only way I received my last stipend was to call the supervisor and threaten to drop out of the school and contact a lawyer. I have considered going to another school but figured there are negatives all over. I also thought that attending an online school that actually had a physical campus somewhere would be more beneficial than the just freestanding Internet schools. But, clearly I was wrong. Another thing you must realize too is that online schooling is still in its infancy. It really emerged with the dot.com boom. But no one has as large a market share as University of Phoenix and even they have bad reviews. You need to do your research on their finances, professors, and login requirements. Also, what the other students are doing has nothing to do with you. If they can't put together a full sentence then that’s their problem. Surely, you can find 2-3 other classmates to correspond on a discussion with. No one really knows what the perception is in the workplace about online degrees because there really are not enough studies. But, employers have to realize that when adults go to school online it decreases the amount of time they need off or away from work. No, you are not going to be able to compete with the likes of Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. The teachers are all different. One can be demanding like you are at an Ivy league school and another can obviously be just doing this for extra money in between his real full time job. It’s what you make of it. You can skimp on the assignments just to get an A or you can apply yourself so that you can have some real world experience to use. If it weren't for the financial aid problems and conflicting answers that I get from the office staff, then I would have been able to recommend this school with no reservations to others. The staff knows that I prefer they not contact me unless in writing because of my dissatisfaction with the advisement that I have received since 11/2008.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on December 16, 2008
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Military Spouse's Honest Opinion
I am now in my 4th class at Ashford University, and I find this to be a pretty good school. Ashford is a particularly good school for military service members, military spouses and dependents, veterans, and DoD employees, all of which are eligible for free books, discounted tuition at the Bachelor's level ($250 per credit hour), NO technology fees, and they take military credits. These are benefits that I greatly appreciate.
I've read through some of the other reviews who complain about the problems with financial aid and complaining that the classes cram a semester's worth of material into 5 or 6 weeks (depending on if you are in the bachelor's or master's program). Apparently, these people haven't attended a real brick and mortar school. Financial aid offices at brick and mortar schools get just as many complaints about people's financial aid as Ashford does. Unfortunately that is a normal occurrence. As for the length of the classes, has anyone every when to summer school or Maymester at a traditional college or university. Those classes are usually 4-5 weeks long. It's basically the same deal. I actually found the summer school classes to be more effective than the regular classes. I got better grades then too.
I will admit that the academic advisor's could be better. My first academic advisor was terrible, and I am glad to say that I don't have him anymore. My enrollment advisor was great, and he actually still calls once per class to see how I am progressing.
The technology is fine. I've used Blackboard before when I was working on my undergraduate degree at a traditional university, which has one of the top international business schools in the country (graduated in 2006). It's a simple and effective platform to use.
The classes do seem to require just as much if not more work than traditional ones do. The lessons do require critical thinking so this is not a degree that can be purchased. You do have to work for it. This is not a degree mill. If it was, I highly doubt that the US military would allow TA to be used here. This is a quality education. The books are about $75-$150 per class depending on if you are a graduate student or not (grad student books are more expensive). Those are reasonable prices because books at a traditional college or university cost just as much. The only thing I think that a traditional college has is that one can go to the bookstore and purchase used books, which can still be a little pricey.
I, as well as my husband, has had nothing but a pleasant experience at Ashford. As a matter of fact, my sister-in-law now attends Ashford and is having a positive experience.
You get out of college what you put into it. That is the truth at either an online or traditional school. If you work at it, you will do fine at this school.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on November 10, 2008
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My Honest Opinion
I am currently a student at Ashford University. I have completed 3 courses and have a 4.0 GPA. The books are excellent, the teachers are mediocre, but everything else about Ashford is awful. The enrollment advisors will do anything to get you enrolled, but once you are enrolled you can never get in touch with them again. I have left message after message with no return calls. It is hard to get your financial aid. They send you one award letter then change the disbursement date two weeks later. When you threaten to cancel the financial aid they get part of the financial aid disbursed to them so they will not lose any money. WARNING: They have just instituted a new financial aid policy. You must be in school for seven consecutive weeks to get 30% of your financial aid, and the remaining 70% is disbursed after 15 weeks. It is essentially 9 and 17 weeks, because they have an additional 14 days to mail it to you. By the time you get your first disbursement of 30% you are into the second class, and the remaining 70% is not delivered until the end of the third class. For the second disbursement the 7 week and 15 week cycle starts all over again. So you are in your 5th class and the second disbursement comes at the end of your academic year which is at the end of your first semester starting into your 7th class. I know this is confusing, but it is the honest truth. They instituted this policy on October 13 2008, and they did not notify me until November 7. So make sure you have money to pay for books before you start, because you cannot count on financial aid for them. You will need to use your first disbursement for the first seven classes, so make sure you buy all of your books with the first disbursement. I would not want anyone to be in my situation. Keep in mind you are paying interest for the money they are keeping for as much as four months from the day it is disbursed. They did this "in case you fail a class so they will have the money on hand to pay for the class you have to take over again." According to the enrollment advisor I spoke to today, people were using their disbursements for car accidents, pregnancies, and medical costs, then they would drop out of school. So, we all have to suffer for what other bad people do.
It is owned by a for profit company called Bridgepointe Education, LLC in San Diego, CA. The real Ashford University campus is in Clinton, IA, but the support for online students is in San Diego, CA. The Better Business Bureau has processed a total of 22 complaints about Ashford University in Iowa, and 10 more complaints about them in San Diego.
I would not recommend this school to anyone. Financial aid is to pay for books and expenses for you to attend school. I already have my Bachelor's Degree, and my previous brick and mortar school was not run in this unprofessional manner. My recommendation is to look else where.
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