Liberty University

This is a fraud review! I went through a 4 week enrollment process - spoke to at least 9 counselors along the way. I am a JD (ran my own law practice specializing in consumer fraud) for ten years, and I have a BA in English Literature. I received an acceptance letter, enrolled in classes, purchased $500 in textbooks, and paid $57 for a background check. Then, and only then, was I told that based on a "content competency" review of my unofficial transcripts, I needed to take 5 additional undergraduate classes. My previous graduate coursework and experience could not be used to satisfy these requirements. Several of the classes were ones you would expect to take as a part of an MAT program. The other two were entirely irrelevant. This "content competency review" is a creature of Liberty's invention with no basis in Virginia law or licensure requirements. They admitted that it was something that Liberty felt important to do so that every student came in on a level playing field. I received federal student aid. Had I bought into this fiction it would have cost an additional 15 credits and one year of my time. This is out and out fraud and a scam. I have every email sent to me by Liberty and not a single one talks about the "content competency review" and it only came up in passing after the fact. It does not appear as a link on any of Liberty's admission web pages. They admit that their goal is to advise students of this requirement PRIOR TO THEIR BEGINNING CLASSES - well, if you only found this out a week before you started classes - you may not have any options for finding another school in such short notice. I fortunately had started the process early and as soon as this came to light I withdrew and found an "honest" school with total transparency. You do not have to accept this - if you have an undergraduate degree in the field you want to teach in - there should be no other "content" classes required and no other reputable school will require such. This is a Christian store-front college laundering federal student aid money of unsuspecting students. There is no Christian substance to this school. It is all lip service and pandering.

Best online experience that I have had throughout my educational experience. I completed the degree in a little over a year and a half, and I am presently teaching in the public school system. I enjoyed incorporating my beliefs into my coursework. I do not understand the negative comments from students regarding scripture and Biblical world views being incorporated into classes. Liberty is an authentically CHRISTIAN university. If you have problems expressing CHRISTIAN concepts, perhaps you should have enrolled in a secular university.

I am working on my MAT with a specialization in elementary education. I haven't had any problems since starting the program in the Spring of 2011. With the graduate education program you have to attend 3 intensive classes although it can be hectic making room reservations the experience is worth it. The only negative thing I have to say is if you are an online student you basically have to find your own internship for student teaching luckily for me my old teacher that is now a principal offered me an intern at her school. Overall I would recommend LUO to anyone who is able to work independently and have good time management because the MAT courses can be rigorous.

I chose Liberty Online for my Masters program because it was convenient and cheaper than other options. The teachers are by far the most positive thing about the school. They provided constructive feedback on assignments and sent weekly emails to the class to stay in contact. What I didn't like was the support system and other resources available to students. Blackboard, the system used to complete ALL online coursework, is constantly down. The academic advisers are students themselves, and know no more information than what is already accessible on the website. There is no help finding placement for student teaching or class observation assignments if you are out of state, and almost every course requires this. Finally, online program participants are required to attend intensive week long courses in Virginia, but are offered no help finding housing or accommodations for the week. This seems silly, since they are mostly offered during school vacations when the dorms could be available. Liberty is a good school, but not the right choice for me. I will be continuing my education elsewhere.

I have been attending LU since March of 2010 to earn my MAT in secondary English education, and I can't recommend another school more. I will be done this May following student teaching. I will miss this school so much that I'm now considering getting my specialist and doctorate here. Prior to enrolling at LU for my masters, I had attended a public community college to get the basics out of the way, and then finished a BA in English at a large public state university. With these varied academic experiences, I feel justified to say that I can compare apples to oranges when analyzing the differences between a small-to-large public college/university to a private Christian school--more particularly a highly reputable school like LU. My praises of LU is primarily rooted in my most common grievances that any student will face at larger universities--large class sizes, inattentiveness from advisers, offices often losing my records, never being able to reach the offices to get their mistakes fixed b/c the student-to-office staff ratio is far too disproportional, and lack of flexibility in schedules (classes filling up somehow before enrollment is even open). As far as class content, both are comparable in great professors and challenging curriculum. Yep, constantly pulled/pull all-nighters for both. LU's offices are almost always available (but they don't mess up my paperwork, so I don't have to call them), the class sizes are smaller than my high school classes were (my average LU class size is 13-25), I never have a problem with availability of classes, since there are always multiple offerings of one class to choose from, most of my professors are astounding and very talented educators with doctorate degrees and all with MANY YEARS OF REAL EXPERIENCE as highly reputable educators in the k-12 arena, which they reflect on (you don't know how rare that can be in colleges of education), and I have always been personally and academically challenged. I've enjoyed the difference between public and Christian schools, and this isn't only because I'm Christian (non-demoninational). I think that there is a major attitude difference between the professors and staff at LU compared to my other colleges. From the moment I started looking and inquiring about LU, the people I interacted with were different--not in that I could even tell that religion had anything to do with it...they were just more outgoing and caring. I guess for the first time, I didn't feel like a number. OH, one of my primary complaints about my particular public university was probably the thousands of dollars in fees that change every semester. LU is so plainly laid out. The entire reason that I didn't attend my BA university for my MAT was because after fees were taken into consideration, LU was much LESS EXPENSIVE FOR A MORE FLEXIBLE EDUCATION!!!! I had taken 6 online classes with these other colleges, and LU uses the same type of program, so I was very familiar with how to navigate everything. It's a learning experience for newcomers to online classes, but I'm no tech-guru. I'm surprised by many of these comments. Give yourself an hour or two to explore it, and you can do it. NO MATTER WHICH online program you are in, you MUST be self-disciplined. For those interested in the MAT program at LU, please take this school into major consideration. I am very proud and honored to say that I am an LU student. In my program, I have had to go to intensives, one week spent on-campus for a week-long class, three times. From the outset, I was intimidated by this. However, LU schedules these when teachers are not going to be in school (summers and Christmas break). I just completed my last intensive, and I am going to miss these very much. If you are wondering what these are about (since all MAT students have to do 3 intensives), be excited about these--not persuaded elsewhere because of the thought of them.

The online MAT program requires that you read through many documents before you understand everything that will be required of you - it seems like I was finding something new that I had to do every semester. It is frustrating that there is no one page that shows all of the requirements. That being said, I had a good experience overall. I had one teacher who did not return emails or grade assignments in a timely manner, but all the others were very good. Also, one of the three required intensives turned out to be a waste of time, but the other two were excellent. When I called the school with a question, I always talked with a student. They were always very nice and could answer general questions. If I had more specific questions though, I had to email several professors to finally find the right person and get my questions answered. I was impressed every time I visited the campus. Liberty's goal for students in the MAT program is to provide a quality education that produces excellent teachers. I believe they accomplish this goal quite well. The moral of the story: if you can be extremely self-reliant and persistent, you will do fine.

It is been frustrating from the beginning to get my questions answered. My experience has been that every couple months I find out another test, course or expectation that is required for degree completion. For example, I just found out that I have to take a special trip to Virginia to take a one day test that is only recognized in Virginia. Further, many departments simply forward you on to another department rather than do the research needed to answer your questions. Then there are the intensives. You are required to come to campus for 3 one-week intense classes. At which point, you are responsible to find your own off-campus lodging and none of the student services are offered to you. It's been a disappointment so far and would not recommend this online program to those seeking online Master's degree in Teaching.

I received my Bachelors of Science from Liberty University through the onlne program. The classes are pretty tough but what are you to expect. I am now enrolled in the Master's of Arts- Teaching program and it is a rigorous program. However, I am very pleased with the school!