Ashford University - MBA

Teachers Great--Office Staff Not So Much!!

By: client.care247 (In Progress) on July 30, 2009

Materials:		Teachers:
Institution:		Support:
Value:		Technology:

Review:

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.