American InterContinental University Reviews of Bachelor's in Information Technology

My experience so far with AIU is somewhat of a hate and love relationship. If all of the professors was like my student advisor, that this school would have been rated 5 out of 5 stars. I have had some great professors and I have had some worse ones. Last semester I was at the verge of quitting because I felt I was not learning anything and every time I reached out to the professors I get google it or youtube it or I have another job and so I don't expect them to respond when I need them to. I don't... Read More pay google or youtube but I have learned a lot for these sites then I had from the school. Some of the professors will go out of their way to make sure that the material is well understood. This seameter, I emailed my professor what I had done for the assignment, and I was told by him not to email my work but rather I should email him specific questions. He taught us nothing on mockup but expected us to complete the assignment, which I did, I was only looking to see if I did the right thing. I am doing the best I can but I am at the end and I won't quite. It's not the best and it's not the worst, my advice they need to hire professors that really do love teaching and care for the students. So yes, if you are passionate about learning, then you will do well because regard of what the school throws your way, you will find a way to pull through. I don't expect to remember everything I have learned over the years, but I expect to see them and remember that way I know I did learn and not waste my time. I for one look forward to graduation. Will I do it again? No I wouldn't because the school have taken so much time away from my family and when I do try to spend time with my kids, I feel guilty and I by doing so would result to me falling back on my school work. That I don't like about the school.

I have been in school since 2004 on and off. I have experienced a lot of classroom environments and different schools both brick and mortar and online. AIU is probably my favorite given how many tools they give you to learn and collaborate. The professors actually care. An here's a headline many under advertise: NO TESTS/MIDTERMS/FINALS! You heard that right. No filling in bubbles or googling test answers. They have what's called Intellipath which is like a lab. You are given access day one of class.... Read More Nothing is due until the last day of class, however, it helps to keep up with the materials. Intellipath can be done multiple ways, but they allow you to improve your score to 100%. You can suck at certain sections, but work through them to improve your score. Even better, if you know the knowledge area, you get credit for knowing it so it eliminates old lessons you already know. The grading system is geared towards participation and discussion. LOTS of group projects will be assigned and you will pull your hair out because despite being IT students, many don't even bother to check their student email or care to participate until week 4 (the week it's due). However, unlike most schools, AIU does offer plenty of tools for collaborative work to occur. I can say their portal is actually designed by user interface experts that got real input from users, and they are constantly improving. My only gripe with the school is financial aid. They are horrible at explaining things. Be persistent and you will find the answers you need. Most complaints I read on here are from people who might not have opened their eyes and explored outside of their comfort zone (or haven't scrolled down?). Live chats often provide assignment clarification. Also, a teacher is more willing to work with you if you keep an open line of communication. Attending an online program is a lot of work. It requires effective time management skills and work ethic. If you aced other schools by filling in bubbles, I'll recommend you search elsewhere. If you were like me and are intimidated by brick and mortar cs classes I highly recommend you give this schools a shot.

I haven't graduated yet, but I feel as if though this is still not quite the school I have any business attending, I only did this to get experience for a job and right now my job hunt sucks and it did last year and it probably will this year. Why did I even bother dealing with this school; because nothing is ever good enough for them. I print out a 4506-T "Non-filing," form and shortly after my student page is shut down  - nothing there, I can't log in and I can't do anything as it pertains to my... Read More classes, they sighted me because I didn't have anything to offer to them, of course I know that in 2018, it will be my last year attending online school, on campus is much better, just take classmates, students and professors talking down to you; trust me it's way better than getting no responses from a goofy school like AIU! I can't take them, I gotta, go vomit!

Their online program was great. Having the ability to pause, rewind, and review the lectures was extremely valuable. I earned my bachelors degree and got a job as a software engineer, now making twice as much as I was before starting college. The best part was that the material didn't focus on memorizing useless facts and obsolete techniques, but rather focused on the underlying fundamentals that technology is built on. All of the classes were challenging, and I had to retake Biology because the... Read More material was fairly difficult. At the end of the day, if your going into the Technology Sector, its critical to find the school that is the most up-to-date from a technology standpoint or you will end up learning about the algorithms that were used in the 1980s and 1990s being taught from some guy who learned everything he knows about computers from a book. 4 stars.

Before enrolling I never had any experience in the field of I.T. so I drilled the counselors on my prospects to getting a good job after graduation. My issue was, with only basic knowledge of I.T. related information, how could they teach me to magically be an I.T. professional? The counselor literally quilted me into enrolling saying "You're over 40 and should FINALLY get your degree!" Well I NEVER got a job in I.T. It has been over 12 years now and I couldn't tell you anything about I.T., Networking,... Read More etc. I did learn about web design...with the cheapest program imaginable, MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE! Not DREAMWEAVER or something more advanced! Basically, the education was not up to par with what I needed to learn in I.T. so I was never worthy of a good job in the field. I would have had to get more training, which was doable, but more expensive. I just wish the training was not so rushed and the curriculum was more conducive to teaching all the levels of training that could be useful in future technology. Example: In Programming, they never taught C+. They taught VB.NET! USELESS! And now...they're not even in Los Angeles anymore. I'm up to my neck in Student loan debt. I do not recommend this school for I.T.! RUN!

I went to the AIU in Houston, TX for two quarters. Here are the pros and cons of this institution that I encountered: Cons - One of the IT professors appears as if she doesn't care about teaching. She introduced herself as a Doctorate in Information Technology, but from the measly lectures that she prepared and her timid tone of her voice (I had to literally move within 5 or 10 feet of her, just so I could hear what she was saying), I'm convinced that she knows absolutely nothing about teaching.... Read More She appears as if she is more interested in just doing the minimum and getting out of there early. Yes, I know it was an evening class and she may not be an "evening person", but she has a job to do, which is to teach the students. She failed miserably. I had to look at the syllabus and get all of my information from the Internet, just so I could learn as much as I could about the subject. There is also one English professor, who is from one of the Caribbean islands and has a thick enough accent that I had to listen extra carefully to understand what he was saying, even when I was only 5 feet away from him. I am surprised that the university would hire an English professor that has difficulty speaking English (I think that being able to actually speak the language would be a requirement of the job). He actually complained to the entire class during a lecture that he was "overwhelmed" by teaching classes at AIU because he "had his plate full" with a teaching job at Community College of Houston. Due to this, he was constantly behind on grading assignments and getting my final grade was like revealing a prize at a game show. Also, the tuition, books, lab fees, etc. for this university are outrageous! They would charge $100 for a book one could go onto Amazon or another website that sells textbooks and get them new for 1/4 - 1/2 the price or used for almost nothing for a used book. For what they were charging $80 for a new book at the book store, I was able to buy used for $1 ($4.50 with S/H) and another book that they wanted over $100, I rented for $25 from Valore Books. For $25,000 a year, one could get an education at a reputable state-funded university. Yes, I know that AIU does help with their graduates getting jobs after graduation, but based upon what I heard from the few graduating seniors, they may as well be on their own. Pros - There are two professors there that are very good. One is an IT professor that teaches the basics of MS Office and an IT Ethics class who is very good and actually is concerned about the education of her students. She goes out of her way to organize student activities to get them more active and have them interact with one another to improve their learning experiences. The other professor is a Math professor who also teaches the University Basics class that every student must take in their first or second quarter. I have had prior experience with going to a university, and I thought I knew everything about the "university experience". He taught us a lot about finance, time management, and the whole process of searching for and getting a job. He also goes out of his way to make sure that we understood the importance of what he is teaching. Also, the online classes were very good. They assessed what you already know and adjust the curriculum to what you need to learn to get the most of the classes without too much repetition of what you already know (they do review all the material in the video lectures and assessment procedure just to be sure that you didn't just guess and "got lucky and clicked the correct answer"). The financial aid staff is professional and did everything to make sure that I had as much financial aid as I was able to attain. My academic advisor (who is also the head of the IT and General Education departments) is very good at handling the troubles I had with the professors who weren't doing their jobs properly and making sure that I was enrolled in the classes that would best help me attain my academic and professional goals. I am currently not enrolled because I didn't get enough financial aid to continue my education. If I did have enough money to pay for the tuition, I am not sure that I would go back just because I am genuinely concerned about the quality of education I would get here because the lack of professionalism and caring of some members of the teaching staff they currently have doesn't justify paying that outrageous amount of money. If they were to lower the tuition and other fees to $15,000 a year or lower or use that extra money to hire better professors that actually are qualified to teach a class at the university level and actually care about whether or not the students are learning, then I would be more comfortable with the decision to return.

AIU is a terrible school. Their material is outdated!! One class said this: Facebook now has 500 million users! They also used outdated software! They also could NEVER tell me how much my reimbursement checks would be so I could never plan paying my bills! One time they said I would receive $500 and they ended giving me just $82! I nearly lost my apartment because of them! I did not end up graduating from this outdated "university" because they kept making my finances impossible and they never updated... Read More their learning materials. I transferred to a much better school! I do NOT recommend this school to anyone. They do not work with most major lenders! Stay away from this place! That's my humble opinion!

I had physically attended community colleges in younger years and considered myself a good student. After retiring from the military I thought it would be a good idea to get my BSIT. They were extremely helpful in assisting me with my 9/11 GI Bill and Employer reimbursement: Rating Financial Services at (8.9) due to occasional invoice in the wrong format. Course Material: I found most classes to be easy. Google Searches and restating the the M.U.S.E objectives were often enough to get good grades.... Read More I don't believe the grades were always a reflection of the effort. I would have preferred the classes to be more challenging. Evaluation: 7.2 Flexibility: As a full time employee and a father of small children I found the online classes to be very accomodating to my schedule. Working Midnight hours on Saturdays became the norm when trying to meet the Sunday deadline. Evaluation: 9 Group Work - This was the most frustrating as ocassionaly some of your group members showed little or no effort in completing their tasking. After the initial bad experience with group work, I volunteered to lead every group project from then on. If your concerned about your grades your going to have to take the initiative. Evaluation: 6 Professors: AIU hires IT professionals from around the world to teach the various courses. There were a number of professors that taught that had English as a second language. Sometimes the Live Chats were difficult to understand especially if your DSL service was poor and you had bandwidth issues. Most are helpful and understand student problems. People that complain about their grading our turning in late projects have to understand that it is AIU Policy, not the professors. Do your work on time and you will be fine, try to turn it in the final week and you will be disappointed. If you observe a professor behaving poorly simply respond to the teacher and CC your advisor. The school is a categorized a education for profit school, students who are unhappy don't return or make referrals. They will make adjustments if your cause is just. EVALUATION: 8 Finally, the school is nationally accredited and should be able to get you into other higher levels of learning. I will be attending Penn State in 2015 after providing my AIU transcripts. It is not nationally known for it's academics but they do provide a quality education for those that show enough comittment to seeing it through. I have recommended AIU to many of my coworkers, two are in programs now (each with their own levels of satisfaction).

Going to AIU was an excellent fit for me. I was able to study in the field I wanted and continue to work Full Time supporting my family.

When I went to AIU they didn't have the disciplines in BIT they have today. I would have focused on Assurance and Security if available when I attended classes.

Go to AIU, great program, challenging and yet flexible for those requiring... Read More full time jobs.