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

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.

Received a lot of support from instructors while on military deployments and assignments. Course work greatly improved my ability to perform at work and the degree opened prospects for Officer Candidate School. I used mostly tuition assistance, however... Read More the amount I paid out of pocket was low due to the low tuition rate.

UMGC is an excellent online school with a very reputable school name, University of Maryland, behind them. Classes are difficult and challenging, however, they are fair. Communicate regularly with your professor and classmates and you will not have problems.... Read More The graduate degree I received was discontinued and replaced with the MBA program that is offered. It has prepared me for job interviews and for the next steps in my civilian career. I recommend this school to anyone.