University of Maryland Global Campus Online Degrees, Rankings, and Reviews

I began with UMGC in January 2019 and graduated May 2021. This school was a breeze to work with and I am not exaggerating. From enrollment, to signing up for courses, to the graduation dept and even the financial aid dept. Communication is clear and concise.... Read More There is no issue getting ahold of any department that you need to speak to and the employees are very knowledgeable and helpful. If I had financial aid questions or questions about which courses to take for the next semester, they were always a phone call away! I had a small issue where I was being charged out of state tuition, I brought it to their attention and completed the necessary steps and my in state tuition was honored. The professors were great but there are always a few that are more challenging to deal with than others and that is anywhere. All in all, I enjoyed my time at UMGC, I learned a lot and was able to work full time and balance my online courses as well without being overly stressed. This is, of course, an online school so focus, time and late nights are to be expected but because I did not have to stress about the school itself and could focus on my courses and home life, I was able to be more productive. I would have gotten my Masters with UMGC however they do not offer the program I am looking for (Social Work - MSW). Such a shame because it would have been amazing to continue my educational journey with them. If you are considering UMGC, Apply NOW!

I am a well established professional and veteran, currently working in an IT related field for the government. Despite the success in my career, I decided to go back and finish my degree during COVID times, as I may soon be inclined to change my career... Read More path. Frankly, the only reason I am writing a review about UMGC is to offer a truthful testimony, as many of the reviews present here are untrue. Out of all of the instructors I had (around 28 in 18 months), maybe two could use some serious improvement - the rest were diligent professionals. The classes would be challenging for someone new to the workforce, but an experienced professional would have no issue "shortcutting" the content... That is a perk of being an "old" and much wiser student, anyway - I'd easily do the same at a Harvard or otherwise. To summarize, UMGC is a great value, it is regionally accredited, it is respected by employers, and it gets the job done. The online resources are great, and the classes hit the keynotes. Anyone who's been around knows that this is exclusively about obtaining the piece of paper at the end, and lesser about the education... everything is learned on the job in the real world... a degree is just an admission ticket. There were a few losers in the courses that never stood a chance; those people are behind the negative, no-substance reviews here.

The complaints that I have are few, but common to all the courses so I will start with the positives. There are no expensive textbooks, the professors do not get kickbacks from publishers, and the courses guide the student along the same exact path as... Read More universities that require expensive textbooks. That being said, virtually none of the courses in the undergraduate program have an umbrella course that wraps everything up or boosts the student to a professional level. For example, the managerial courses do not have students be a notional manager but rather solve very basic problems such as what to do with scheduling conflicts. Courses that talk about business ownership do not have students run a notional business but rather study what other people already accomplished. The courses will get the student to around mid-range if the student is involved and takes the work seriously, getting to the top-level will require a lot of personal experience. However, none of the previous comments touch on the core issues with the programs. Foremost, there is far too much overlap so the students end up doing the same assignments many times over--usually the same 20-page report due at the end of the week. Open book quizzes that are copy and paste questions from the textbook. Group discussions with forced responses that end up making everyone say something without having real interest in the topic. Another issue is the quality of professors. About 75% of the ones I had were good. The other 25% is a half-and-half mixture between professors that grade so harshly that you will get a failing grade for not writing in their preferred tone of voice, or the opposite where professors disappear for weeks and grade everything at the last moment leaving students to wonder if their work is on the right track or not. Possibly the biggest complaint is that the university uses course resources sourced from other schools. When they do that, the student is left wondering how much better of an education they would have if they went to the other school. UMGC/UMUC should replace those resources with ones from their own school. This problem is common with just about every degree path.