Franklin University

I started it Franklin University when I was employed. My employer laid me off in 2001 in the middle of classes and did not pay my deferred tuition leaving me with a very large bill. I could not pay being unemployed. Have not been able to make that big of a chunk out of my budget since. I approached the school face-to-face since I have called several times left messages no one returned my call. I wanted to talk to someone face-to-face. Instead my option was to talk to somebody over the phone in the middle of the lobby with no privacy or confidentiality. I was denied a face-to-face meeting with the business office and was told by the person at the desk that due to the holiday weekend almost no one was available. Someone did come out and talk with me about trying to get a transcript but because there's a bill that is 16 years old they won't release my transcript. My biggest complaint or problem is I've asked several times to work with someone to get this bill paid down or accept a smaller amount to make it paid in full and I've been denied correspondence or a meeting for over 16 years. Now all I want is my transcripts so that possibly I can finish my 4-year degrees somewhere. If I would have had the money I was only 3 classes away from finishing my degree plus I hold a 3.88 at this school. You would think that they would want to work with people instead of humiliating them in public and in an open Lobby or denying them by not even returning phone calls from previous voicemails that I have left throughout the years. This is not one of my top suggestions for anyone.

This place has me so furious I cannot see straight! I signed up for more information for a Bachelors degree and before I knew it they had me signing up for classes. The only problem is that's where they leave you, signing up for classes and nothing more. I called this university several times to get some assistance because there were no local offices near my home. I never received any support; in fact each time I called I had to leave a voice mail only for nobody to ever return my call. Well I ended up finally connecting with someone to let them know how frustrated I was and I wanted to cancel everything. You can only imagine how frustrated I became when I received a collections notice in the mail stating I owed this fraud of a place $5,800!! Now I have a collections department calling me every day telling me I owe money for classes Franklin University is saying I TOOK! I NEVER TOOK ANYTHING! This place is fraud! They will charge you a fortune to take classes even if you do not take them!! STAY AWAY!!!

I decided to attend Franklin to finally finish my bachelor's degree after many years of attending community colleges off and on. I had a wonderful experience transferring my credit hours and completing the admissions process. I was assigned an admissions coach who checked in on my regularly and ensured that I knew how each step would go. I had been so frustrated with the poor treatment and general lack of interest in my education that I received from the local community college, so it was nice to have someone so interested and excited about getting me started. I've only taken one class now, it's the class they make all new students take that lets you familiarize yourself with the university and how the systems work. Some things about the technology seemed confusing, but the systems just received an update 2 days ago, and I can already see improvement. As for how challenging and useful the coursework is, I don't feel that this class is a good one to judge from, but I do feel very prepared for any of my online classes coming up because we have been given challenges utilizing all possible platforms. The student learning center does a great job of making their services available virtually. The library does a good job at this as well. I feel confident that I will be able to get a quality education without setting foot on campus.

Franklin's curriculum is backwards to traditional colleges. Franklin University's classes have one teaching themselves first,then going to class and finding out how one did. Assignments are give, and are to be completed before one even starts a class, then you show up for your first class,and turn in assignments. Further,depending on how the teacher delivers the material, one may not get instruction for the next assignment until the following face to face meet. Imagine if you are learning to drive without instruction first. Just go ahead and drive on the busy streets and we will tell you how you did later. If you hit anything you fail, yet if you happen to teach yourself,then you pass! Good luck. They will gladly take your money though,and wish you the best. I have a good GPA above 3.5 by the way. If one already knows the courses and one just needs a degree go for it, but if you want to learn from the start, um well good luck, for it is very difficult...I would go somewhere else if I was not already invested into this money pit of a worthless college!...

I started attending Franklin after a disappointing transfer to OSU Fisher (their switch to semesters royally screwed a lot of people). I have an associate's degree in Business and will graduate soon with my BS in Financial Management. Franklin accepted ALL of my credits and helped me create a plan to graduate within a year, as well as move seamlessly into an MBA, which will only take about a year and a half. All of which will now be done online since I've moved from Columbus. In the midst of classes this trimester, I had to move and switch out of on-campus classes. My adviser was very helpful and easy to contact. I've spoken with a few other departments on the campus, like the VA Office, and everyone seems to be very helpful and punctual with responses. It seems as if the primary source of communication is email, which is fine, but it does take a few days. Don't expect to get direct phone lines to anyone you need to speak to. Flexibility for adviser meetings, or meetings with anyone, is great -- on campus, on the phone, or through a web chat. The online learning format is very, very user friendly. I have dealt with some not-so-friendly platforms, and it's refreshing to see a college put so much effort into making it easy to navigate and understand for students. The uniformity (i.e., the look and feel) of all the courses is huge. When it's a 6 week (or sometimes 3 week) course, there's little time that can be spent trying to figure out where things are supposed to be. They've done a great job as far as online instructional design. I actually never used FranklinLive for any of my courses, but the concept is there. One and only complaint so far? The in-class computers (not the labs) are worthless. It is absolutely absurd that an institution which thrives on their online learning format have computers which take forever to start up, and constantly freeze when attempting to access web browsers or a flash drive. From my last on-campus course, 90% of the computers took more than half an hour to start-up, making it difficult for students to follow along, or download documents from MyFranklin, with the professor. Not to mention the fact that the professors computer froze up constantly, too, interrupting lecture time. Computer labs are great. But in-class computers? I'd rather carry my own desktop to class than use theirs. Overall, I would recommend the school. No, it's not Fisher (OSU). It is pretty expensive but you certainly are paying for flexibility (online courses or 1-night lectures). Instructors tend to have real-world experience (most own their own businesses or work full-time in the field they teach). Classes are much, much smaller (no more 200 person lectures!). There are no TAs grading your work (ugh). And there's no such thing as lockstep at Franklin, which is pretty awesome for people who want to graduate this century.

After attending Ohio State for one year and Columbus State off-and-on for several years, I finally finished my degree at Franklin. I found that the professors were very knowledgeable overall with their subjects and gave real-world applications for the course material. I was able to finish my degree in only one year at Franklin and even went back for more classes this year in the accounting department. I plan to finish my MBA at Franklin too! The student services advisers and financial aid teams were always willing to help and I never had to stand in line for anything. I can't help but compare my experiences at Ohio State and Columbus State to Franklin. At OSU, I felt like I was a number, there were always 500 or more students in every class and I never seemed to see the same person twice. I felt it was way too big for my learning style. At CSCC, I always had to stand in line to schedule my classes and at the financial aid office, I had to wait over two hours in line each term. This was awful. I did like the smaller classes and the campus was very nice, but most of the classrooms were in disrepair, and the teachers were not lenient if you had family or work issues.

Franklin is a good school for those looking for a quick degree with minimal effort. They have an extensive online course offering, almost every class available. The are a bit more expensive than their local rivals, but you pay more for convenience and ease in completing. They let a good deal of lesser quality work slide under the radar, so if you're extra busy you can still get by. Don't expect world class help with questions, though.

I have one semester left to graduate with my BS in Financial Management. I obtained my AS in Business Management from my community college, and through their partnership was able to take additional courses at my CC and receive credit through Franklin. I love just about everything about this college - especially the online format. There are tons of supplemental materials if you need help, the library and tech support are wonderful. My advisor is probably ready for me to graduate, but he is so helpful I can't help but ask questions. I've never had a concern that hasn't been addressed. Most testing is essay based if possible, or you can arrange for proctored exams whenever essay's won't work (such as finance courses). It's on my time, so I can work or do whatever else needs done - school around my schedule. The technology for online meetings is a bonus as well, you can share applications and chat live, no need to use the phone for conferences. Highly recommend!

I've found Franklin to be Top Notch in all respects. Very throrough and organized and all my expectations have been met. They offer classes in multiple lengths of 6 weeks, up to the traditional semester. I was impressed that everything was covered in 6 weeks in a depth that will really help me, instead of glossing over things to get thru it on time. Great professors. The online format is proprietary but easy to use. Credits run about $225 for undergrad. The only knock I have on it is the use of Franklin Live!, a voice Internet system, which doesn't add anything but hassle to the courses it is used in (which isn't all).