Ashworth College

Learning Disabled College Graduate I graduated from Ashworth's Security Management program in 2012. I have multiple learning disabilities; therefore, this was an appropriate option for me. My only complaint is that the material was not on a PDF file; nevertheless, book scanners helped fixed the problem. I have experienced discrimination from many institutions, due to being (LD). However, Ashworth’s online design prevented that from occurring. I also graduated from James Madison high school in 09, which is their (RA) online high school. I obtained a few more career diplomas from them too. Ashworth College is nationally accredited. If you plan on going to a university, that is both regionally/nationally accredited, I highly recommend researching Ashworth. I am in my junior year, with an institution that is both (RA) and (NA.) If you are only interested in your local B&M, they may not accept Ashworth. This was fine with me, because a majority of these institutions do not accept (LD) students without the SAT/ACT. Standardized testing excludes and marginalizes students with learning disabilities. If Ashworth is not right for you, I highly recommend researching schools that practice and promote Fair Testing: http://fairtest.org/university/optional. If you have (LD) and are thinking about such a program, I recommend: BOOK SCANNERS GRAMMAR CHECK: GRAMMARLY Gotit Dyslexia Software Word Q and Speak Pro: word prediction Text-to speech: TextAloud Open Dyslexic Word Processor Dragon NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access): helps with coding https://www.nvaccess.org/ http://usabilitygeek.com/10-free-screen-reader-blind-visually-impaired-users/ The Security Management program explores a variety of Homeland and Criminal-justice topics; this includes (WMD) instruction. I am currently working in a field that is related to my degree, which in itself is unusually. I find myself referring back to my past textbooks often. Additionally, you will discover that their books are used in many certification courses. They now have two programs, which includes their Security Administration degree and a Security Management path. The Security Administration degree is an A.S. degree; the other program is an A.A.S. (applied science). I recommend the A.S., if you plan to get your B.A. /B.S. You will have fewer courses to take when entering into a B.A. /B.S. program. I took the A.A.S. and learned more about the industry; therefore, the choice is up to you.

I am in the Security Services Career Diploma program and it is great. I used to work as a Security Officer for 3 years and have found the books, advice and learning to be excellent. I enjoy not having a fixed schedule and working at my own pace, it is so convenient! Overall, great school.

I have been enrolled as an Ashworth student since 2009. I am a retired Law Enforcement Officer, and I work full time in a security related job. This is exactly what I have needed since 20 plus years ago I never had the time or money to complete my traditional on campus program. This school is Accredited by a US Govt recognized entity which gives it clout and reliability as a legit place for higher education. I enjoy it and look forward to continuing my studies with them.

I have just completed my degree in Security Management. I have read some of the reviews. As far as receiving my course material, I requested each semesters books be shipped all at once. I did not have to wait for each book to arrive seperately. Ashworth did this with no problems. I enjoyed the work at your own pace courses and not having to go to a brick and mortar school. My only complaint, the slow response to emails and long waits on hold when I had to call Ashworth. These are minor issues when compared to the flexibility the courses give you to work at home and on your time schedule.

I graduated this month from the Associates in Security Management degree program. All things considered, Ashworth College is worth it if: 1) You don't have time to attend classes due to family/work committments 2) You do have the discipline to work with limited direction 3) You don't want to spend much money on your degree Although there are occasional customer service issues, I was able to get all of them resolved quickly. The best way to contact the school is either to use the Helpline on the Student Services website or to ask for help at the school's internet forum. Probably the most common problem I had was getting them to ship the next course (they are supposed to send them automatically when 80% of the previous course is finished). One email was always enough to prompt delivery. The course content was good, although some of the material was slightly outdated. Most of the outdated material was the result of new Supreme Court decisions or because of updates in Homeland Security. This is understandable, but I hope they update their material ASAP. One thing that suprised me was how challenging the material really was. I'll admit that when I started, I thought it was going to be a walk-over, especially because all of the exams are "open book". Not so. The writing assignments were tough, particularly in the Introduction to Terrorism and Criminal Behavior courses. For time, It took me from April 2007 until December 2008 (20 months)to finish what is intended to be a two-year program. I thought that was reasonable. There is sometimes a great deal of down time between courses if you are waiting for a paper to be graded. Recently, they started allowing students to submit writing assignments electronically and I was able to get my last two papers turned in and graded within three days. I think the longest I waited was one month for a paper to be graded. If I wasn't waiting for a paper to be graded, I never waited longer than a week for courses or semester final exams. The cost is about as low as you can get at $80/credit hour. The only concern you should have before you sign up is contacting any four-year colleges you may transfer to/potential employers and finding out if they will accept a degree from Ashworth. Many regionally-accredited online schools will, but you better shop around first! I've found one already and will be starting my bachelors degree program in April 2009. To emphasize: do this BEFORE you enroll with Ashworth! For what it's worth, I had a good experience with Ashworth and would recommend it to anyone ONLY if I thought they had the drive and focus to stick with it to the end and did not need a lot of "hands on" from a instructor. As a working adult with a family who already has a great deal of experience in the degree field I studied, it was a great choice for me.