Ashworth College Reviews of Associate in Psychology

I wanted to give this school a review, I've been waiting to graduate and I just did! Oct. 9, 2018. I am so happy that I did go to this school, it gave me the flexibility and most of all, the cost. I enjoyed it so much, I referred to my own son - who has a full-time job and also requiring flexibility. Yes, the school is not perfect but is it Nationally Accredited, they also have affiliations with other Regionally Accredited schools that you can later transfer credit! I have referred over 3 people... Read More in my year and a half in this school. I will be walking this coming Aug. 2019.

I am working towards my Associates Degree in Psychology. I am on my final course of my 1st semester and so far so good. I will apologize in advance because this will probably be lengthy, but I wanted to base this on my experience thus far. 1st, do research regarding the requirements needed for the job/field you are working towards. Ashworth is accredited, but they are nationally accredited and not regionally. Several fields require regionally accredited degree's. Most regionally accredited colleges... Read More require the coursework to come from a regionally accredited school if you are looking for transfer credit, but some regionally accredited schools will still accept the nationally accredited courses. 2nd, you have to do the work and be self disciplined enough to hold your self personally accountable for accomplishments or failures. 3rd, like any for profit school, business, or organization employee's are not always happy in their professional setting. (I am stating that fact based on all of the negative reviews I have seen on numerous sites.) I personally have NOT had any issues with the staff. I had to send tickets regarding my transcript and both were responded to within 48 hours. My books shipped within 72 hours of completion of my previous course. My instructors graded my assignments within 48-72 hours as well. I can honestly say, that I wish I would have discovered this school years ago when I attempted online classes with my local college. Working a full time job and being a single mother does not allow much time for studies of multiple classes, so needles to say I only stuck it out for one semester. I am close to 40 now and wanting to change careers, this goal would have already been accomplished had I found Ashworth years ago. This is what I have discovered on a personal level, for those that are on the fence about the school, start with your Associate Degree to see if you like the school. I have started with my Associate, after a ton of research, I have decided to transfer to Western Governors once the Ashworth degree is complete. From all of the information I have found they will accept the Ashworth credits, which means I will start at WGY with several classes out of the way. I have been in the financial industry for almost 20 years, so I will go after my Bachelors in Business at WGU and return to Ashworth for my Bachelor of Psychology after that. WGU is regionally accredited and the University of Alabama will accept their degree/course work. My end goal is to become a school counselor. The UAB offers a Masters in Educational Psychology even if your Bachelor degree is in Business. In my state we are short staffed on teachers in certain counties, so if you have a Bachelors degree in another field they will still allow you to teach under a temporary certificate (to avoid student teaching). With all of that being said, my goal is to obtain as much knowledge as I can in psychology and then apply that to an educational career change. My whole point to all of this .... go after your dreams, do not base your decision on what someone else says. Not everyone will have a great or good experience, but you never know unless you try. I firmly believe, based on my current experience, Ashworth is just the stepping stone I need to achieve my end goals. I would recommend this school for those that are mature and responsible enough to do the research on their job requirements/certifications and self sufficient enough to complete their assignments.

I attended Ashworth for one semester. The $900 tuition for five classes and free textbooks appealed to me. I decided to give it a shot and see what it was like. Well, I know understand the saying, "You get what you pay for." I never once heard from or spoke with my professor. I received one to two sentence responses on graded work. The textbooks are outdated and several of them looked more like magazines then academic books. Though they're nationally accredited, I've discovered that regionally accredited... Read More schools won't accept anything and I'm learning that many nationally accredited schools won't transfer Ashworth credits. This school is certainly one of a kind - and not in a good way. If your simply looking for a piece of paper from an "accredited" school, then Ashworth might be for you. If you actually want to be intellectually challenged or seek coursework with substance and rigor, you will not find it at Ashworth.

The certificate program I took with this school was OK. I got a well written physical textbook and had no problems. With the degree program however, I noticed their grading was quirky. For instance they would comment on a Essay Writing exam that the essay was well written and then give me a D- grade. Also, I noticed some of the exam questions would ask about material that had not been in the lesson. When I asked the professor about this she told me to email her the question and correct answer. I... Read More did and got no response. This happened on just about every exam. The online e-books are written poorly with multiple typos and even mistakes that alter the correct info that you retain. I feel they could do a lot better with the school considering the money they have rolling in!

The program was challenging. The tutors were knowledgeable and helpful. The materials were professional and informative. Was it perfect? No, but no school is. Sometimes you'd get a rep who clearly hated their job, and sometimes you'd get someone who didn't really have an answer for an issue you were having. But you know what? That happens with every school on planet earth. I graduated from this school in 2012 and because of my degree, I got a sizable raise and went from answering phones in a call... Read More center to managing that same call center in less than a year. Most of the complaints I see about this school come from people who were in the diploma and certificate programs. There are no requirements for those programs like at least having a GED, and so you get a lower caliber of student. Many of the people complaining have no business at all coming anywhere near collegiate coursework. College is not for everybody. These individuals attack the schools' accreditation even though it's US Department of Education recognized (DEAC) and has been in operation since the 1920's, and they complain about minor inconveniences that they feel should never happen simply because they're spending money. Those people simply don't get it, and there is a reason why they didn't succeed with Ashworth and will have trouble succeeding any place they go. Ashworth offers a long-standing concept in education called Independent Study. It's a proven method that has stood the test of time. Tutors are available, but they're not there to hold your hand. If you're a disciplined, self-starting person, you will do well here. If you have patience and basic reasoning skills and emotional intelligence, you'll do well here. If you're lazy, hate to read, have a short fuse, and feel self-entitled to perfection simply because you're spending money, then not only should you avoid Ashworth, you should avoid college altogether in any form be it online, in-person, by mail, or by carrier pigeon. College is not for everyone, nor should it be.