Southern New Hampshire University Online Reviews of Bachelor's in Mathematics

Be very wary of the SNHU online courses. The points based grading system is terrible and instructor feedbacks are like one or two sentences. I would not recommend even if you feel you are a good self-learner. Other schools are more supportive. Courses lack any sort of video lectures/instruction from the teachers. For a few more dollars per course there are other better options. You get what you pay for and SNHU is the cheapest. The SNHU subscription to EBSCO Host (library resources) is a lower tier... Read More subscription; many articles are not available to get and many pdf downloads have a time limit. The way the registration system works - you have no control over it. You have to work your online registrations through your advisor so you don't have much direct control over setting up your schedules. The advisors also assign what they feel you should be taking vice what you want to take so it was a constant battle to plan/sequence courses. I will go to a different school now.

There is nothing wrong with SNHU, but you will be doing lots of homework in such short frames that it will be difficult to have an opportunity to actually grasp the material. SNHU is very "learning objective" based, so it will not be like in a traditional classroom where the homework and test reflect the overall mood and ability of the class; you will be expected to test or do homework on every subject matter in the book. Lower level coursework that I took with this university had very active professors... Read More who would also provide their input and supplemental information. Once you reach 300 and 400 level coursework, there is little to no instruction and you are left to your own means to understand the material. This may be appropriate for humanities or writing based courses, but for mathematics it is impossible to learn material in this manner. You will be relying on youtube and google to teach you mathematics for this curriculum because the professors certainly don't. Did I mention the courses are only 8 weeks rather than a traditional 16 week course! It is pretty tough if you are going for mathematics with this online program. I would only recommend doing SNHU online if you do not have any other means to go to school during the day. This is by no means equivalent to a traditional education and I have done both.

I think SNHU gives people the opportunity to excel at college. I was a transfer student that took 20 courses at SNHU. Many courses were difficult requiring around 20 hours per week of study time. But if you take the time to study the material each week, you should do well in the classes. I feel like I got a high quality education and the degree I'm receiving means a lot. Classes are 8 weeks long and generally 2 classes is full-time. While it helps to be highly intelligent, doing well in school is... Read More about being responsible by investing the time necessary to learn the subject matter. No matter where you go to school, putting in the time and effort is a necessary condition for success. Certainly, if a degree program requires little effort then the degree is of little value. For anyone choosing an online program, SNHU is certainly worth consideration. They also have advisors and other people committed to helping students succeed, which was another plus.

Prepare to write over and over and over and over and over again. I'm working on the math degree and I've probably written the equivalent of a novel in terms of discussion posts, discussion responses, essays, and final projects. And the real pain in the butt? You write an in-depth two paragraph response and it's not written the way the instructor EXACTLY wants it written or it's not EXACTLY written how some arbitrary rubric specifies it needs to be written: you get docked. Prepare to teach yourself... Read More everything. Instructors are basically just proctors. You get the homework assignments, tests/quizzes, readings, etc. and you do everything yourself. So know what you're getting into beforehand. Finally, the courses are extremely linear. The format of every class is practically identical; each course is separated into eight modules. Each module including a discussion board post assignment and usually a homework assignment (along with the required readings), and you'll always have a final project worth 30% of your grade. I would go with SNHU as a last resort but only as a last resort.

I am five-eighths of the way through my first term at SNHU online. This will be my third degree, the first two were from (different) brick & mortar state universities. I also teach developmental math at a local community college. And I taught one term at ITT Tech, which is a diploma mill to such a disgusting degree. I never returned. I am impressed with SNHU and with what they have been able to achieve. I am taking two classes, one of which I find extremely challenging, the other only mildly so.... Read More The quality of their advising is far superior to anything that I have ever experienced. The community college where I teach, in particular, does a horrendous job of advising- the students are completely uninformed about their educational programs. SNHU really helped me make the right decisions (financing, scheduling, etc.) At ITT Tech, it was all about selling to new students, to enhance prospects. SNHU doesn't have the profit motive - my enrollment advisor was cautious and informative, not at all pushy. My academic advisor is helpful and available and acts as a mentor and a champion. A sizable chunk of my classmates in both classes are former military, which I really like for some reason. I don't have any military types in my family or immediate circle, so it's nice to have discussions with them about math online. It's nice to see who these wonderful people really are, how their minds work. I do worry about the impressions out there of the school, such as the negative ones that appear on this forum. I worry that the degree will be snorted at on my resume. But I think they are trying to do the right thing. If they keep it up, the school will only keep improving. Check out the article on Slate.com entitled "The Amazon of Higher Education."