2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on June 6, 2013
(email verified)
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Great School!
I ended up at NU after finding out I was .5 of a unit short in transferring to SDSU after already getting an acceptance letter. POINT FIVE! I was crushed when my acceptance was withdrawn. I was still able to take a course at SDSU for a semester while being enrolled in units at my community college so I did get to sample SDSU as a school. After completing my .5 of a unit, I had a change of heart and decided that with the crowding situation at state I may be there for another 3 years instead of my preferred 2 years. I decided to look into NU but had doubts because of rumors that it was a diploma mill. I was lucky to have an acquaintance as an advisor and I was blunt about my concerns about diploma mills. He educated me that NU is a non-profit and private university that is accredited by WASC which is the same accreditor for SDSU. All classes could transfer from NU to SDSU without any issues if I should change my mind again. I chose to complete my education at NU with a BA in Management and concentration in HRM. I could not be happier with my experience. I was working full-time so I took a handful of my courses online and have never worked so hard in previous schools as I have at NU. Keep in mind I am an A and B student and always have been, anything below is unacceptable in my book. I've had courses where I had 4 papers, 4 quizzes, 4 discussions, 4 live chats, a midterm, final and a whole lot of reading all in 4 weeks! It was much tougher than the course at SDSU I experienced. However, this is not the school for you if you are straight out of high school and looking for campus life and community. This is for people who are looking to put aside the BS and get straight to the point. I just graduated recently and am thrilled! Commencement was an amazing experience and everyone was very proud of their accomplishments after working so hard. I noticed some concerns about NU's financial and academic advisors. However, I hope my story shows that this is not unique to NU. As a student and an adult, it is up to you to make sure your requirements are met. I looked over my own units and went to TWO advisors on multiple occasions at my community college and the .5 of a unit was overlooked by everyone. I would have to wait another year just to attend SDSU and would probably have to spend 3 years there due to budget cuts. I am so happy that there are other options out there. As a student, remember you must check, re-check, and check again! If something still gets messed up in the process, the good news is you have options! I am now looking into getting my MA in HRM and National University is at the top of the list of schools I am considering. I hope this review finds everyone well! As the President stated at commencement: NU may make it a little easier to get in, but you are going to have to work your way out!
5 of 11 people found the following review helpful
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9 of 14 people found the following review helpful
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Lynette_lacy
(Graduate) on January 16, 2013
(email verified)
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They Lie
From the first day I entered their facility I was lied to. I was told that I only needed a certain number of classes to graduate and they DOUBLED it on me half way through my education. They have this thing they call "Upper Division General Ed". General Ed is for junior college not getting your BA. They also lied and told me that a certain class would fulfill more than one of their general ed requirements, and then they went back on their word. And of course, shockingly, when I was ready to graduate, they were waiting in the wings and told me that I didn't earn enough credits at NU and had to take yet another class. Of course, because I was supposed to graduate in June, this extra class didn't happen until August, and what do you know, financial aid stops in June. So they tell me to reapply for the next school year, I jump through all those hoops only to get a nasty collection call telling me that I have to have 13.5 units to qualify for financial aid. Why did they tell me to apply if I wasn't going to qualify? Because they lie, and cheat, and steal and they aren't happy unless they are making someone else miserable. Do not go to this school, they treat you like a number not a person and all they care about is getting as much money as possible from you.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
9 of 20 people found the following review helpful
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on October 4, 2012
(email verified)
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Bachelor of Science in History
I attended National for exactly two courses. Let me state, the Instructor for World Civilizations was fabulous. 1. The issues were with my First Instructor, who informed the class on the very first day that he does not give A's..grades are not important. It was his viewpoints that mattered only...unless you were the other white students in the class. I was one of two of the African Americans in this class. This man actually sang a song about slavery he learned while attending Catholic School as child..in class.
The Judiciary committee did nothing. 2. I started class in July and have yet to receive my post 9/11 monies. I could not get the VA manager,s direct supervisor from my advisor and eventually learned by Veteran Affairs that the personnel with those titles at the Universities..are not employed by Veteran Affairs. 3. I was informed via email that I had been dropped by National because they had not received my transcripts, which my advisor stated she had ordered. My advisor, informed me there was nothing she could do. Imagine my surprise when I learned that all of my colleges had submitted my transcripts. I believe due to the incidents above and the omission of facts, especially by the VA Manager, the University has discriminated against me because I questioned and asked for resolution with the issues that arose continually during my time there. I informed the VA Manager(who is employed by National)The Judiciary Committee, My advisor and her immediate supervisor....I would be filing a formal complaint. One a good note... I called Veteran Affairs, made an appointment and was assisted by the Education Case Manager, who personally processed my claims and I should be receiving my payments within the next few days.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
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6 of 14 people found the following review helpful
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on August 14, 2012
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A Fair University that Supports Corrupt/Mindless Professors in their Instructional Endeavors
I agree with the most recent review. I experience the most interesting array of teachers at times. When I was younger I was an Honors advanced student with letters of interest from colleges as of taking the PSAT. However, I was abused in my family situation. Thus, while I have somewhat made peace with these facets of life, I can never seem to please the teachers at National University. Having studied abroad and on the east coast and received good grades from prestigious Universities, I find it utterly baffling that teachers that continually post about their professed love for reality tv, grade me down on my discussion posts and provoke for more quality work from me.
Additionally, I discover it even all the more puzzling, how a professor [can] maintain even the slightest ethical integrity and their position within the University when they explicitly denoted instructions for a comparative essay and then had the extreme philosophy to essentially flunk me out of two major assignments and midterm and thus ruin my entire month of work because he was not fond of my stance and he claimed that "I couldn't possibly write with such advanced vocabulary." I appealed to the University and they told me that someone would be in touch. Of course, nobody every did rectify or even attempt to appease the situation. I have never in my life been basically forced to withdraw from an English class in the attempt of salvaging my GPA. Being that English has always been my top subject since I was a little girl, and that I have been immersed in Classical Literature since that time as well, I would never have imagined to be accused of intrinsically falsifying my manner of speaking and writing. I have been always fond of 'elevated' language. Connectively, [this professor] would have remembered this of Longinus and his philosophy on 'elevation of style,' within language if he had perhaps inhaled a few less herbal substances in his years of California educational system. A waste of a Phd. Truly. Forgive me if I am bitter. However, you would think National University would advocate for a student so close to graduating, whom has always performed exceptionally well in her prior English courses. You would think a student graduating would be an amicable event, and nothing something that should be vindictively deterred.
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4 of 11 people found the following review helpful
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Tll249
(In Progress) on June 16, 2012
(email verified)
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There's something about those professors
First, I am not flunking and have never flunked any courses at NU. My lowest grades are B's. So this is not one flunked-student reviews.
I filled out a grade appeal after struggling with a professor I felt was not grading my assignments fairly (if you've ever had a professor who graded your work based on his personal beliefs other than following the school's guidelines, then you probably know what I mean). Of course, the school didn't approve of the appeal. After this, I realized the two professor's I've had are saying similar things as the previous professor regarding my work (even though I follow THEIR rules for the assignments) and giving the same grades. I wouldn't mind calling this a coincidence if for the past four years I've been in college I hadn't received the appropriate grades for the SAME type of assignments (writing activities, journal entries from reading assignments and comments on students' stories). And I know I'm still a hard working student and if anything, I've made much improvement. So, what exactly could be going on here? Now, the advisers and student services are excellent in contacting me when I have question about something. So are the professors. But it seems to me like the professors from this program are going overboard with their expectations on how students need to answer to each other's work. Sometimes, it almost seems like if you don't see things their way, then you're wrong. I had one professor who even when I would follow his suggestions on commenting would not be satisfied, and probably wouldn't be even if I was to give the very answers from He'd come up with. It was like a child asking why why why why why every you answer a question. I'm currently taking a course in which the professor is behaving similarly and I'm wondering, is this my punishment from the school for filing an appeal or what? For the MFA program, I'd recommend another school.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
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Unodir72
(Graduate) on July 27, 2011
(email verified)
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A Degradation of an American College Education
I can say with confidence - and can back with plenty of evidence (I am writing a book on this topic) - that National University (NU) represents everything wrong about the for-profit model and the subsequent degradation of the American college education. I recently graduated with a MS in Information System, 3.9 GPA and "Honors" Capstone. In my evaluation of the school (part of the graduation process), I gave failing grades in nearly every category. Interestingly enough, not one person from NU has bothered to contact me to ask me how they can improve. I guess from a business process standpoint, they are doing just fine. Oh, and sure they have a regional accreditation, but after my experience - which was reflective of many others - it’s likely that accrediting bodies are highly political.
In the end, NU was a gross waste of my time. The on-line instructors exerted very little effort; courses were unorganized; expectations were mixed and confusing; plagiarism among students was rampant (as was the school's lack of ANY enforcement), and learning through the nonsensical, plainly uninformed, and poorly written posts of my "peers" was not an effective learning methodology. PERIOD. Highly profitable (i.e., pay instructors little money, let the students "teach each other," give them a quiz and a paper that will not be read, and rake in the dough) . . . but ineffective.
I know of at least two people who received Master's degrees without demonstrating an ability to form a sentence, construct a paragraph, or complete a thought above the 8th grade level. I know: They were my Capstone group members. I suppose it is a good thing that some employers place the value of a degree from NU in the same waste paper basket as those that come from the University of Phoenix, Capella, and the like.
Please feel free to contact me at unodir72@gmail.com for more information.
5 of 19 people found the following review helpful
8 of 16 people found the following review helpful
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Anonymous
(Graduate) on November 22, 2010
(email verified)
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be careful with financial aid
The academic quality of National University is well above average, especially if you're lucky enough to find a program that's offered onground in a traditional classroom. Online education, though convenient and a strength of the university, tends to be less predictable in terms of instructor quality, and many instructors have not yet learned how to really engage with students online. Many of the instructors also teach at other top quality public and private universities, so provided they're comfortable with the accelerated 4-week class format, and versed in best practices for online education, the instruction here can be compared favorably with any other 4-year liberal arts or technical college.
Where National University really suffers is in administration and financial aid. The university is understaffed and systems are woefully inadequate; thus many important matters related to records, financing and progress toward graduation may be overlooked through no fault of the student. Students receive minimal guidance since staff is overworked, and must be exceptionally self-reliant and pro-active to get the service they need; even then major blunders can occur. Be especially careful and attentive to financial aid; make sure that you understand the full cost of your program and any classes that you might be expected to fund on your own. The university seems to want to minimize overhead by inadequately training staff and paying them below market. In the long run this works against the university as students may leave their program with a bad taste from the administrative and financial problems they had overshadowing what was an above-average academic experience. In the end, one cannot be proud of a university where one had such shoddy experiences, and this is no way to think about one's alma mater.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
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Anonymous
(Graduate) on October 28, 2008
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Good Experience
I earned four degrees (an undergraduate [BPA-CJ] and three [MA/HRM, MA/MGT, & MPA] graduate) from National University while stationed in San Diego, CA. with the U.S. Navy in the early to mid 1990s. Ivy League it's not, but a solid education it is. Ninety-five percent of my Instructors were working professionals who brought great experience to the classroom; approximately 50% had earned terminal degrees. Five percent of the Instructors were, well, not so great, but I think that's the nature of any educational institution; however, now were malicious. My National University experience allowed me to later pursue a MBA in finance, and later an Ed.D in Organizational Leadership from reputable regionally accredited brick and mortar schools. I now have my own LLC, teach undergraduate and graduate studies as an adjunct at two universities in multiple academic disciplines, and attempt to give my students all the support and learning opportunities I was given by NU Instructors and Staff. Like most things in life, you get out of only what you put into any endeavor. National University was a great starting point for me and it has served me well.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on November 20, 2007
(email verified)
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False Advertising
National University promises superior level of education, compassion, mutual respect, encouragement, support within classroom walls, facilitate educational access & academic excellence through exceptional management of operations. I did not receive any of the above mentioned they promised. The instructor did not provide any info on how to submit assignments but reserved the right to take points off which does not promote academic excellence nor it is superior level of education. When questioned about it, he attacked me on a personal level which cannot be called mutual respect. I was told no matter what I do I should not expect an A, which can’t be called encouragement or support. The instructor was unresponsive & did not provide feedback so that I could learn from my supposed mistakes, which does not demonstrate support or exceptional management. When I let National University know about the situation they told me that their teachers are “not required to give feedback on student submitted work”. Then, may I ask how we suppose to learn or verify that the teacher would be correct? I would never enroll in this University and would take the enormous amount of money education cost somewhere else.
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