Fort Hays State University Comments

As a virtual student for the past year, this has been a good learning format for me. This school is regionally accredited, brick and mortar, and has been around for over a century. If I had to complain, most of what I would gripe about would probably pertain to most of the virtual programs everywhere. First, feedback on assignments is sometimes minimal if any. Secondly, there are deadlines on assignments but the teachers take FOREVER getting your grades back. This makes me ask why have such strict due dates when you are going to take a full month to get back with me with my grade? Lastly, you are teaching yourself and your actual text book is really the instructor for your course and not a live flesh and blood teacher. However, I do not mind this so much because when I attended traditional class rooms in college I had difficulty paying attention to the teacher because they were either boring or I was too tired or distracted to listen to them. For the money, you cannot beat Ft Hays. You can get an affordable degree that will work for you anywhere in the world; especially if you try to transfer to another school later on or begin another program else where. You do learn a lot and this school does not have the terrible reputation that the big for profit on-line schools have worldwide.

Hi, John - 

Semesters are the same in duration as they are in traditional colleges; approximately 4 months in the fall and 4 months in the spring. This goes for both on-campus and on-line courses. The virtual campus does offer classes during the summer that are right at 8 weeks in length, but they are very difficult because in most instances you are still doing 4 months worth of work despite only having 8 weeks to do it. I am a virtual student at Ft. Hays and it is a great school. I took 2 courses last summer and it did about kill me because of the semester being so short. The fall and spring terms are not that bad and you have plenty of time as a virtual student to have a life and go to school as long as you balance it properly.

How long are the semester at FHSU?

@ FHSU BGS Student '10

Thank you so much for the information. I made contact with my previous school and their programs and the credits I earned with them have indeed been evaluated and approved by the ACE. However, I think FHSU policies for accepting transfer credit do not make provisions for this. The transcript analyst I spoke with at FHSU simply said "if your credits are not regional then we cannot allow you any transfer credit." Perhaps some schools are granting some leeway on nationally accredited transfer credit that has been evaluated by the ACE, but FHSU does not seem to want to go there! Oh well, we live and learn. Thanks again for the info. If you have any suggestions on anyone specific I could ask at FHSU, that would be good. I believe that lady who told me "no" was a Ms. William. She was assigned to me because my last name starts with a "C."

@ Yon I found this online. Think you should check if your DETC school has had its courses evaluted by the ACE....hope this helps.

"several schools indicated they would accept courses from DETC-accredited schools that had been separately evaluated for credit by the American Council on Education (ACE) (ACE evaluates non-collegiate courses offered by schools, private industry, the military, and others). In that case, they would accept the ACE recommendations for awarding credits for these courses. Some DETC-accredited schools have submitted some of their courses for ACE evaluation, but not all schools have done so, and even schools that have may not have submitted all their courses for evaluation. It would be wise to check."

Shaun has no idea what he's talking about.  The courses at FHSU(including general education courses)are extremely rigorous, just like any other quality public or state university.  

Shaun, do you even know what a degree from a degree mill is?  It's a degree that you pay money for up front, and then you're handed a fake degree.

FHSU is accredited by the north central association of colleges and schools.  The same accrediting agencies as all of the big 10 schools.  

Get your facts straight before you come across as a huge buffoon.

I do not see how Ft. Hays could be compared in any sense of the word to a diploma mill. I am a virtual student there majoring in Sociology and the course work is challenging with real course work, timed exams and strict deadlines. I can say that some courses are easier than others and some instructors are tougher than others, but that is the case nearly everywhere you go! They are regionally accredited, which means that they are audited and held to very strict standards. The same agency that accredits them also accredits schools such as Baker College, The Chicago School of Psychology, Anderson University and Benedictine College, just to name a few. Summer sessions at Ft. Hays are especially tough and not for the faint of heart, as you are doing 17 weeks worth of assignments within a mere 7 week period. I know because I have done it! The only thing I can say bad is that you do not get a lot of "atta boys" moral support or encouragement from anyone on staff at FHSU as a virtual student. You are invisible to them when you are studying and learning from a distance instead of sitting in a classroom. However, as a grown up, I do not need that kind of encouragement and enjoy being on my own in this learning process.

My wife is a student at FHSU, and so far she's enjoying. I'm a MS student at KSU, and she went here for two semesters before transfering to Fort hays online. she's doing web design, so although many universities offer web programing, not many in web design. Overall, we're happy with it. The course load is comparable to what we see here at KSU hour per hour, although some classes (e.g. Stats) seems watered down. Overall a good bet for the buck, although I can see how (at least in some of their general ed classes) it is becoming more of a degree mill. 

  Economically speaking, universities make a decent amount of money offering High School courses for kids who want out sooner - perhaps FHSU would do better to focus more on what they are good at (Web design, core courses), allow High school courses to bring in the revenue, and allow student to get their gen eds at community colleges and transfer. That would be optimal - it would allow them to focus their business model on providing better education in core courses while offloading unnecessary baggage that comes with offering 'online' degrees.

There are benefits and drawbacks to everything in life.  You pay for what you get.  The first semester that I took was a nightmare because the message board that you are required to use by all classes for virtual classes was down for a good majority of the semester.  Also, it is hard to get in touch with a professor.  The largest drawback that I see is that the format of the classes vary from professor to professor.  Most assignments are straightforward and self explanatory for the field of work I'm in.  Also, I feel like I was prepared for my career.  However, it would be very helpful to future students if ALL classes had the same format.  A benefit to the virtual college is that I can take credits while I'm still working and I don't need to have someone as a proctor since the college that I'm in provides the testing safeguards.  This is definitely a plus for me as a working professional.

We are redmnied that Dr. Speck UNSUCCESSFULLY interviewed at six other places before MSSU finally hired him.  The search committee should have asked themselves why all of these other universities passed on Dr. Speck.  That should have been the tip-off right there.

I am a person on Disability and was lucky enough that a grant will cover tuition and some textbooks(rented or used being cheapest). My problem is that there is not enough money for all my text books.I have scoured the internet,local bookstores-you name it-i have looked there.Any suggestions for a student like me, who has, in all honesty not a dime to spare for my materials for 2 courses that my grant refund couldnt cover either..?

Jake can dish it but can't take it.

Rogerio and Pie,

In all seriousness, please let me know which courses you have taken that are so easy to pass at FHSU. Perhaps your input will help me finish my degree there with less stress?!? As stated before, I have only taken one course that was a little too easy. I still, however, had to read the entire course textbook, understand it, and pass several exams based on my understanding of the book. The only thing that made the course easy was the instructor decided not to assign any essays or other written assignments for that particular course. I still had to put in a lot of time reading and comprehending the textbook. You guys must be really smart or are taking lower division courses that are not as stringent as upper division course work. Please explain:)

pie, wrong, breathing has been dropped as a requirement too. ;-}

Impossible to flunk out of Hays..just have to be breathing.

Jerry,

If by diploma mill you mean(on average per undergraduate class:1)2-3 research papers 2)multiple timed proctored exams 3)Intense discussion boards requiring research 4)Power Point presentations...then yes, FHSU is a diploma mill.

You probably didn't catch the sarcasm because you are too busy preparing for the special Olympics.

John, 

If you mean Andrew Jackson University then I can certainly agree that you experienced a challenging learning environment. I have never attended there, but I have heard from many students about how challenging it is. I think the web cam proctored exams that AJU requires may add to this. Despite their lack of regional accreditation, it seems as if AJU wants students to learn and also wants to be recognized as a reputable college. I am not so sure if national accreditation will be the wave of the future. I have 2 NA degrees and would love for this to be the case. I, however, live in North Carolina where NA degrees are not typically accepted for most jobs. I found this out way after I completed my NA degrees. This is what drew me to Fort Hays. I needed an RA degree that I could afford out of pocket and this was the best choice in that regard. In fairness to those who have rejected my NA degrees, they were way too easy for me to complete. I did not go NA because of that, it was just how it was and the quality was severely lacking compared to what I am now experiencing with Fort Hays.

Both of you are partially correct, any school with a Department of Education and CHEA recognized accreditation, be it national (DETC) or regional, is a valid school. "Diploma Mills" have neither. Fort Hays is valid, of course, but it is far easier than getting my DETC degree from AJU was. I don't know why that would be, just my experience. I think national accreditation is the wave of the future preferential-wise, regional is too widely varying in their rigour and too open to interpretation by the individual councils. This is a known problem. DETC has very strict standards and policies that do not vary across regions.

Ummmm...Jerry, I am not so sure I can agree. A diploma mill is a place that will give you a degree that requires little to no class work or assignments for a certain price. As a sociology major, I have taken 12 courses so far and can honestly say that only one of those was a little too easy. It still required that I read over the material, understood that material, and passed timed exams. The rest of the courses I have taken have been pretty intense and required lots of writing, studying, and research. I have actually even dropped a couple of courses that were too intense at the start of semesters due to some of the course requirements. Fort Hays also has regional accreditation, which is the gold standard everywhere in the world of higher education. Diploma mills give you fake college credentials for a price. They are rarely accredited and if they are it is usually national accreditation through the DETC. Ft Hays makes you work for your degree. I cannot see them fitting the label of diploma mill in any sense of the word. 

Courses are diploma mill easy, but you get a better looking piece of paper. Works for me! Little pricier than most DMs though. Online system is a little buggy.

I am sorry I forgot to answer one of your questions...No they do not let you see quizes and exam questions in advance. I guess that would hinder the learning process and defeat the purpose of testing all together. Good luck.

Dear Future Ft. Hays Student -

Quizes and exams are typically available during a designated timeframe that the instructor sets up. You take them using a browser you download onto your personal computer called "Respondus Lockdown." Some instructors post the exam a week before it is due, which gives you a few days. I did, however, have one instructor who posted the quizes and exams two to three weeks in advance so that students could get them done early if they chose to do so. You are NOT allowed to re-take an exam once you have taken it once. It is a one time only  deal on that. Course materials are made available to students in online folders they can access once the student enrolls and the semester has officially started. Most of the classes are set up by the instructors where the written assignments (essays and papers) can be completed well in advance of the deadlines if the student wants to work ahead. I have been attending Ft Hays online for two years now and it has been a great experience. You purchase your textbooks either through their bookstore and they will ship them to you or you can buy them off of Amazon.com.

In regards to their quizzes, exams and tests. Do they allow you to retake an exam after you have submitted it for a grade? Do they allow you to see all the course materials, quizzes and exams in advance? That would allow a student to work at their own pace and possibly complete the class sooner.

I love Fort Hays. I have attended several online schools and Fort Hays is pretty good. I believe the course work is difficult and provides a good general education. I am graduating in May and have been accepted to a Master's program there. I have had no problem with financial aid or my academic adviser. There have been a couple teachers that are not as great as I would like but that is everywhere. I even feel like most of them care. The key to an online education is being able to self direct. 

I just finished my first semester at FHSU as a virtual student. This school is GREAT. At first I was a little hesitant after reading a lot of reviews - so I emailed the virtual student department and asked a lot of questions. Kevin L. Splichal, Student Success Coordinator for Virtual College replied right away and was extremely helpful. I decided to give it a try and I am happy I did. I did not have any problems with Black Board. Kevin told me they use to years ago but since the system has been upgraded there have been little to no problems. I had absolutely no problems with it. Professor Robert Moody is one of the best teachers I have ever had! I highly suggest Education majors take his foundations of education class. Not all teachers are as great, I did deal with one whom I think did nothing the whole semester. We were to read, quiz and test and that was all we did the whole semester. That class felt like a waste of money. However for the most part FHSU has been really good. They have your degree mapped out and easily lets you see what you need. Your adviser has to approve your schedule, and if he/she sees you signed up for one you do not need they will double check with you to make sure you know it is not needed for your degree. I'll be doing my second semester there in the spring. Highly recommend it.

I love FHSU virtual college. Its been a great experience and I recommend it to everyone I talk to who is interested in returning to school. I plan to continue for my Masters.

I think Shaun is saying that some of the course work at FHSU is too easy, which sometimes is indicative of a diploma mill. I have never taken any of the general ed stuff yet, but I am supposed to eventually as I work towards my degree. I transferred with a BS degree from a nationally accredited DETC school to Ft. Hays and they would not accept any of my credits for transfer, which is why I am having to start from scratch and work my way towards my BA in Sociology. I worked hard to eary my nationally accredited degree, but not quite as hard as I am working now at Ft. Hays. It is like night and day and you do learn a lot at FHSU. I think courses like Statistics will vary in intensity according to who teaches it, especially if the course is set up to be taken on-line with little or no teacher interaction. However, I agree with you Josh in that this does not make a school a diploma mill in and of itself.

FHSU has been a great online experience for me. I am 49 yrs old and attended one CC in CA, SFSU, and Univ of Phoenix. My community college years, 1978-80 make up the bulk of my credits. San Francisco State contributed about 15 more credits in 1981-82. I then worked full time, raised two kids, bought stuff, etc., all excuses not to finish my degree. I then took 9 classes at UOP in criminal justice. I didn't return to UOP because of their falling reputation and questionable awards of credit.
I started at Fort Hays in 2008 after reviewing at least 20 universities for the best mix of cost, degree offered, and requirements. I choose BGS because I have the business background already and wanted mainly to finish my bachelor's, not so much train for a career. Because of my prior college credits, I will be getting concentrations in both general business and justice studies.
My adviser is always every responsive to my numerous questions about fulfilling my last few requirements or finding me a missing syllabus for a course I am considering.
Instructors have all been pros. I disagree with most of the complaints I've read about instructors that seen uninvolved or somehow distant, unable or unwilling to hold a student's hand. I'm a district manager for 7-Eleven, Corp and have 25 years of work experience and life wisdom to buffer my challenges during my last semesters so perhaps my attitude is biased. Online higher education is not for the student who can't problem solve independently. If you need constant support, have difficulty making decisions, can't analyze an assignment's requirements, want constant feedback on progress, attend a traditional school. Online will only disappoint you.
On the other hand, if you have a proven track record as a self-starter, are tech-savy, confident in assessing your standing in a course, FHSU is likely a wonderful choice to complete your degree.

As of the last 7 months I have spent at Ft. Hays, I have not experienced any technical problems or issues with BlackBoard. The classes I have taken thru the virtual campus have utilized BlackBoard as a way of students taking tests, submitting assignments, and promoting discussion with other students via the discussion board. I have also had to access folders for each course in order to review deadlines and course requirements, but have not had any technical problems at all. I believe the school may have resolved these issues, as they were obviously a problem for many people according to this discussion forum. BlackBoard is great because it is user friendly and offers a quick tutorial for first time users. The school does have an IST department if you do encounter problems or have questions with BlackBoard. Ft. Hays is great because they have an extremely "open" admissions policy with a short application you fill out on-line and submit with a $30 app fee. If you only want to take a few courses, or earn a professional certificate instead of earn a degree, you can do that too and they offer a bunch of certificates you can earn in a year or less, depending on your drive and initiative. Be sure to order your books through Amazon or somewhere else because the bookstore is a little expensive. Some courses require that you order DVDs or some other kind of media, which in this case you would have to use the bookstore. However, once you are through with the media materials you can ship them back to the school for a full refund minus shipping. I can't think of anything to complain about because so far Ft. Hays has worked great for me.

I have been attending Fort Hays virtually from the East Coast for two full semesters now and have learned a lot. I have a perfect 4.0 average, but have had to work hard. The course work is challenging and the instructors thus far have been fair, knowledgable, and accessible. If I had to complain about anything the first would be that summer course work is way too much material and too comprehensive for a mere 7 week semester. I had a lot of trouble keeping up with the two classes I took during the summer because the homework assignments, essays and book reports were too much with very little time to complete due to such strict deadlines and such a short semester during summer sessions. I could only take one day off from class work per week in order to barely keep up with the demands. Alas, I made it and learned not to take more than one class over the summer. The second complaint I would have is that Fort Hays does not accept any nationally accredited school credits for transfer at all. This means they won't take any Associate degree credits earned through a DETC nationally accredited college no matter what! This has forced me to re-take courses and pay for courses that I already took via distance learning at other institutions. This is a common policy with a lot of regionally accredited colleges, but it would be nice if they would take each student's transcripts and grades and look at them on an individual basis before just saying "NO". Other than these issues, I have enjoyed my experiences so far and you cannot beat the cost at only $500 a course for a regionally accredited college education.

What distance learning degree were you actually trying to pursue at FHSU?  FHSU doesn't even offer an engineering degree online, so I'm wondering why you are so concerned about ABET accreditation?  If you thought you needed ABET accreditation for information technology, you are sorely mistaken.  Look at big ten Unis that offer degrees in IT.  Most will not be ABET acred. because it's simply not necessary for the field of IT.

I have been a student at FHSU since January of 2009, I will graduate with their BGS degree next month.  I was able to transfer 60 hours of community college credits and take everything else I needed online.  I chose to take more than 18 hours because I really wanted to just get done so I took 18 through FHSU, several through Columbia College and several through Missouri Southern State University.  This gives me a unique perspective from which to comment about their respective online class offerings.
I found FHSU to be VERY affordable first, MSSU was the only other school with online classes that was lower at $143 per hour, and their BGS required algebra (which I do not care to work on for the next ten years).  Second, like any online classes FHSU has teachers who are not on campus and, thus, teach from a distance utilizing prerecorded media like dvd's, audio lectures via Blackboard, discussion boards, etc...  I found there to be NO REAL DIFFERENCE in quality between any of the instructors at FHSU, Columbia College, and MSSU.  They all are not very accessible, nor do they work very hard at making you feel like they are connecting with you.  Online classes suck, if you ask me, but I do not have time to go to a brick and mortar school, so they for me they are a way I can finish school and better my chances in life.  Quibble about details, but the bottom line is I will graduate next month with a bachelors and start a masters degree in January.  Without FHSU I doubt I would be this close.
I have experienced NO issues with Blackboard at FHSU, not even once!  I did get shut out of Blackboard during an exam at MSSU however and found them to be less than "tight" on how they do things.  I found the number of students in each course to be inconsequential, you do your work and that's all you need to do.  Who cares whether they are teaching 20 or 100?  IT's online and self-directed anyway, it should not matter to you.  The courses themselves are no joke, they are REAL COLLEGE CLASSES with real textbooks and real essays, exams and discussion boards that you MUST work on or you won't get the points.  They do dispense financial aid very close to when classes start, but so what?  You should order your textbooks from Amazon anyway, I have saved hundreds of dollars from simply finding used books on Amazon, I highly recommend this strategy!  The things you have to get from the FHSU book store are shipped pronto and I have never had an issue.  
Conclusion: This is a decent school if you want to go to an online school.  It actually exists way out in Western Kansas (I visited the campus twice) and is a legitimate university.  If you want a fancy degree from a fancy school go ahead, but you will not be getting that online most likely.  ALL online classes suck from the standpoint of isolation and frustration, but FHSU's classes have been tolerable for the most part.  I do not have any problems with FHSU and have chosen to pursue their MLS degree in fact.

My husband is in the Army and we moved to KS. This is by far one of the cheapest prices for online courses that I have come across. The teachers are very well educated and I enjoy the mixture of students. The classes are no joke, you have exams, quizzes, and discussion boards. This is the main reason why I love this school. It feels as if I were in the classroom setting. I have a degrees from a private school and I hate the fact that I paid twice (if not triple) for it when I could have paid less at FHSU.

You should have done your homework before you signed up for classes at FHSU.  If you wanted an ABET accredited degree, why would you even enter a program that's not ABET accredited?  

They are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools -- www.aqip.org

The Masters in Liberal Arts is accredited by AGLSP -- www.aglsp.org/current-1.html

If you needed a school that was ABET accredited, why would you not research that prior to beginning?  How is that their fault?

FHSU Disadvantages:

1) The course sizes are large, up to thirty students. Instructors may teach five courses. You do the math. Instructors may not return phone calls or emails. It is hard to get quality time or feedback with large teaching loads and large class sizes. Expect many course assignments to be to read a chapter and post on it on Blackboard. You may be assigned to an adviser with one hundred other students. 

Advantages:

1) Cheap
2) Convenient

This diploma mill of a school should be shut down. The support staff aren't, and the degree is useless for my job because they aren't ABET accredited.

Seek better options elsewhere.

Hello,

I would like to ask some current students who take the courses online how do you get the books and materiel's (e.g. are they sent to you via postage overnight?)  Also, if there is a delay in receiving the books (e.g. 7-10 days) then when does your start date begin since there is a delay in receiving the materiel's.  How does Devry handle this or how does it work?

All comments are welcomed!

Thanks

Loved the program.  I was able to finish my studies while living over seas.  The courses were just as intense if not more than on campus courses and highly structures.  I love the blackboard format and found it very easy to use.  I would highly recommend this program to anyone...