Columbia Southern University

Overall my experience was excellent with Columbia Southern. I did get some useful feedback and the academic adviser was easy to work worth. I will say there was a large varying degree of instructors and the strictness in grading. One thing to pay attention to is the accreditation. CSU is a nationally accredited university and if you desire to attend a regionally accredited college there is a very good chance that the regionally accredited school will not accept your transfer request. If you start... Read More at a nationally accredited school then you will need to end at a nationally accredited school. You think it is the other way around but this is not true. I was lucky and found a regionally accredited school which accepted CSU's degree so I was able to start my Master's a few months after a graduated. The course work is definitely geared towards professionals and most of the professors were easy to work worth. I had one issue with one instructor and my adviser was very good at communicating with me. I believe CSU is always trying to improve their academic standards so hopefully they will we regionally accredited some day if not already.

CSU is not a bad school but it does require you to educate yourself about accreditation. CSU is a nationally accredited university and if you desire to attend a regionally accredited college there is a very good chance that the regionally accredited school will not accept your transfer request. If you start at a nationally accredited school then you will need to end at a nationally accredited school. Now, with that said there are some rare exceptions as it is up to each individual regionally accredited... Read More school to decide for themselves if they will or will not accept your transfer credit. I have transferred my CSU credit to my local regionally accredited Community College (one declined, the other accepted) in which they accepted a full years worth of credit, and once I earned my BS Degree in Criminal Justice from CSU I was able to enroll in a masters program with a regionally accredited University (CSU's sister institution Waldorf University, but from what I have read it seems they will accept CSU Degrees but not individual courses). It is however up to you to know the difference in accreditation and then be willing to shop around to find a school that will accept your credit should you decide to change from Nationally to Regionally Accredited institutions. I do hope this information helps you to be more informed as you decide as to which institution of learning you wish to attend.

I am 1/2 way through my masters degree program and thought I would share my thoughts. CSU might not be for everyone but it works for me. Some reviews complain about advisors and disbursements. My advisors change every few weeks. I can see where this can cause confusion for folks. I don't require much from them so it doesn't matter to me. I could see how this could be a problem for someone in undergrad who doesn't understand what classes they need. As for disbursements this is difficult at most colleges.... Read More The money comes from the fed usually so the college has to wait until it arrives. I am a law enforcement officer at a college and I am frequently called to enrollment services to deal with irrate students who get very angry. I don't think CSU is unique there. Overall I am very pleased with my program. My command staff is aware that I am working on my masters and that alone has given me an edge. There is a promotion board coming up and even without the degree I am a strong applicant for promotion. I have been able to take information from class and apply it directly or used it to explain something several times already impressing my supervisors. I am very happy with the program so far. The school isn't perfect though. The quality of the professor varies widely. Some have been very involved and others much less so. I think a few just read enough of your work to write a short comment in the grades section and move on. Others rip your paper to shreds and question you a great deal. This is often true in brick and mortar schools too though. This school really requires a great deal of self motivation. The student does nearly everything, no one is teaching you the material. You have to learn it on your own. If you aren't able to thrive in that environment this might not be the place for you. Since I do like self learning it works great for me. The student also has to know what they are getting involved with. As many have said this school is Nationally accredited not Regional. Sometimes this matters and other times it doesn't. Do your research before you sign up. For me it doesn't matter. I work for a Regionally accredited college but they accept National degrees. One of the deans' phd is from. nationally accredited school; good enough for me. This school isn't Harvard or Yale either (it doesn't claim to be). Your degree might not have the brand name recognition that a major school has. Just make sure you research your academic needs before you sign up (you should do that at any school though). Is it perfect? No. Is it good? I think so! Is it a good value with a good return on your investment? For me it has been. Good luck!

There are many, many choice of online education providers. Having said that, this institution may not be for you and here's why. Many of the professors have no idea about the course curriculum. I have called several professors during their office hours to discuss the unit topics. Not once did I receive anything in the way of direction, insight or even a glimmer of knowledge. I wasn't looking for an answer, just clarification. One Fire Science professor I called was intoxicated and couldn't even discuss... Read More the topic. He wanted to know about my life goals and offered loan forgiveness advice that wasn't applicable. Another Criminal Justice professor wanted to brag about being a court expert and published. Again, he offered his resume and not clarification on the subject at hand. The academic advisers are some of the worst available. They will offer classes that do not correspond to your degree action plan, return emails/calls in a few days and are generally not helpful. You actually need to take charge of your own degree program and tell the advisers that you will be taking certain classes and in the order of your choosing, otherwise they will enroll you in classes that will not count and you will have to pay for them. Overall experience, not impressive. I went on to earn my Master's from another institution.

I have enjoyed my time at CSU. I am actually going to work towards my Masters degree with them as well. Don't get me wrong, there were times where I just wanted to walk away from my studies due to a professor not doing, what I felt, was right. 98% of my professors were awesome! I would recommend CSU to anyone interested in furthering their education. There is lots of reading, writing, and research so just prepared to work. The staff has been nothing but helpful and I look forward to working with... Read More them. FYI, CSU is a little slow on the disbursement of funds; I did not depend on them. Whenever they came it was just like a small treat in my bank account. Again, I have nothing negative to say!

Columbia Southern university is a great school. I waited nine years to get back into college I was more worried about making money then owning money to the government. The school really helped me slide back into the groove. What I found amazing was the access I had to real people such as advisors and instructors to the ease of getting online to complete the work. I been working full time as a law enforcement officer and sorry to say completed some discussion boards in between dispatch calls. One... Read More story I like to share was I forgot about a discussion board, I completed the assignment with a kindle fire on the beach it took forever but it shows how easy access was (Computers, Kindle Fire). I learned a lot from the classes and read examples which matched real world issues in the field such as juvenile crime. My employers two sheriff offices and now the federal government all recognize my degree so don't worry its a real school with real results. In closing the school and college experience was great and I went back for the bachelor as a challenge. "Good Luck"

I just completed my BS - Criminal Justice Administration degree at Columbia Southern University. I was a "per course" student. That is, I enrolled in one class at a time and completed each one at my own pace. Most classes consisted of graded material such as essays, article reviews, research papers, and multiple choice assessments that needed to be submitted. The workload for each class varied. I found most classes to be challenging, but not daunting. There were a few classes that required over 30... Read More essays along with a research paper or two. In summary, you will be doing a lot of writing at CSU utilizing APA format. The courses are laid out well so I didn't feel the need to have much contact with the professors. They are there if you need them though. The Academic Advisors at CSU are outstanding and extremely helpful. The bottom line with CSU is that it's a quality education at an affordable price. If you're the type of student that needs a professor to hold your hand throughout your educational journey, an online education probably isn't for you. To the contrary, if you're a motivated adult learner, I think you'll be more than satisfied with CSU. I had a stigma early on about the national accreditation (NA) that CSU holds versus a regional accreditation (RA). The truth of the matter is that some RA schools won't accept NA transfer credits. However, many RA schools have no problem accepting NA transfer credits. In my case, I applied at 3 RA schools for grad work using my CSU degree and was accepted by all three. You will also find "education snobs" that look down upon online schools versus brick and mortar schools. I have attended both types of universities and can say without a doubt that my experience as an online student was far more challenging. The only difference is I didn't need to buy a parking pass, run around a campus going from class to class, and missed out on the "keggers." If you'll notice, most major universities are recognizing that degrees completed online are the wave of the future and are moving towards that option for students.

All my degree teachers were a joke. They were just giving out grades. My teachers for Algebra, English, Earth Science, and History, they were strict about the work. But I just took a Parole and Probation class. No more what I answered my teacher gave me an A, On some of the assignments I didn't even answer the whole question, he still didn't take points off. Plus it is not Regionally accredited. I want to eventually go to Virginia State, (I'm in the Army) but if I transfer they wouldn't even take... Read More half of my credits. I feel like I'm getting a certificate of attendance. Once I found this out I wanted to change schools. I just took my final class. I will be transfering to a better school.

Columbia Southern University isn't a degree mill. I enjoyed my tour I learned an awful lot the instructors were just awesome. The instructors were there to make sure that we understood, what they were teaching us. Most of my instructors held Doctoral Degrees, and had taught in the field well over ten years. That was a plus to me because I needed to know that they'd worked in the field of what they were teaching me, and wasn't just reading to me out of their textbook. I was an adult learner so I really... Read More wanted them to be older than me, that way I was sure to know they would have knowledge. About 98% of my instructors were much older than I was. This is an excellent university!!! There were times when I needed extra help in several of my courses I would drive over to the university, and someone was always there willing and able to assist me. In several of my courses I had midterms also finals that needed a proctor, I would drive over to the university and be proctored I live about 45 minutes away from the university. So for those who are interested in attending Columbia Southern University just do it (smile). The books and materials are shipped to your home most times about two weeks before your course starts, all of your books and material are brand new. Oh the books are your to keep after your course is over. Your refunds are sent out in a timely manner. So please don't believe all of the lies that others write about this university.