The University of Arizona Global Campus

I rarely write reviews, but I wanted to address some of the misleading reviews and the plethora of unjustified tears that have been shed all over this site. Many of the poor reviews stem from the individual failing to do their research prior to enrolling... Read More in a program. For example, the University does not hide the fact that their PhD Psychology program is not APA accredited, and therefore not accepted if one wants to practice as a licensed psychologist. The same goes for the required accreditations for teaching programs. Additionally, the programs may be more expensive than others. They may be less expensive than others. Again, this stems from an individual failing to do their research prior to enrolling in a program. Yes, there are some annoying hoops to jump through such as responding to your classmates weekly. I suppose this would be on par with having class attendance count toward your grade in a brick-and-mortar program. There are hoops to jump through just about anywhere. As the for the program itself, you get out of it what you put into it. This is a highly independent program, as is any online program. No one is going to hold your hand all the way to graduation, and clearly this makes some people very sad. The regular classes basically require a lot of writing to formatting standards (e.g., APA, MLA). Like any college, I had some professors who were easy, and some that were very hard. As for the degree mill idea, I had the same thought at one point when I saw some of the work of my classmates. I saw people pass classes who were probably writing at a junior high level grammatically. However, it became very clear to me when I reached the dissertation process that these people get weeded out. I imagine it would be frustrating to make a large investment only to not graduate. However, this again goes back to the individual not doing their research and carefully considering the risks and rewards. I'm a former Green Beret. I am very familiar with what is and isn't hard work. The dissertation process is not for the faint hearted. This institution is definitely not a degree mill. By the way, it's a regionally accredited university (WASC). I researched this BEFORE enrolling in the program to assess the credibility of the institution and how it might be perceived by employers. It is within the realm of possibility that the reason people are not getting interviews or jobs is because of their previous experience and the other 100 factors employers look at. I suppose blaming the institution is easier than taking a hard look in the mirror and recognizing areas for improvement. I make $160k a year in the rural Midwest with my degrees from the "mills." Last comment is there were some growing pains when they transitioned from Ashford to UAGC. I have had a couple of financial issues occur. Yes, I did have to make several phone calls and track down the right people. I imagine in our iPhone and Amazon culture this is an egregious inconvenience to some. I think this can all be summed up in a simple quote: "Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." Good luck!

UAGC seems to be a fairly polarizing school. Some people hate it, some people love it. For my personal experience, I felt like the school did a fine job at providing me an education and improving my future career prospects. I'll break down my review into... Read More different sections. STAFF AND FACULTY: My career advisor was great. She was extremely responsive and easy to get ahold of, she would send me occasional e-mails encouraging me to keep up my work and would praise me throughout my schoolwork citing my grades and effort. She worked with me to put together a class schedule that made the most sense and would best fit into my time requirements. INSTRUCTORS: Most of my instructors were good. None of them were exceptionally amazing, but also none of them were completely terrible. I would classify the instructors as average. Grading varied from teacher to teacher, but their grading rubrics were always transparent and provided you with an outline on what you needed to do in order to get a good grade. The curriculum is all self-taught. None of the classes I took had an online lecture option and they seemed to follow the trend of read the book, do a discussion board, write a couple papers, and repeat. The coursework consists of a lot of busy work like discussion boards, journals, and occasional quizzes (depending on the class). With UAGC being online, I expected the discussion boards. At the end of the day, discussion boards aren't difficult, just time consuming. All quizzes are open book and they do not do finals or end of course tests. CLASS STRUCTURE: Classes are 5 weeks and have a constant enrollment option which is great if you are active duty military and need to deploy or TDY. I took two classes every 5 weeks and found it to be manageable and never too overwhelming even with work. SUPPORT STRUCTURE: They provide an online library to view and read scholarly sources, provide free resources like Grammarly and Microsoft Office, and have plenty of tutoring/paper review services available. The paper review service had a very quick turnaround time; most of my papers were returned within 10 hours. Books are included with tuition and available online. PRICE: UAGC is affordable, especially with active duty military. They tuition match to $250 per semester hour and do not have a technology fee or book fee. They do charge for graduation, but it is only $150. If you attend the ceremony, you do need to purchase a cap and gown. OVERALL: I would consider recommending UAGC to other people if they are comfortable with a self-teaching environment. In terms of career aspects, I have not ran into any issues with UAGC on my resume or any problems getting an interview. I feel as though their curriculum is fine and the classes provide you with an appropriate amount of beginner knowledge to begin your career. Keep in mind, you aren't going to Harvard or even a state college. This is an online university catered towards working professionals and they do a good job at achieving that mission.

I was hesitant to attend this school (I started when it was Ashford University), but it was great for my life. I was in the Army when I attended the university. It took almost 8 years to get my degree in the Army life and school. However, fast forward... Read More to today within a year, I found a great job in my field, supply chain management, and I am making very good money. I am happy with my decision to attend the university. I even had a death in the family and had an emergency drop. The professors were great and worked with me, and it was easy to start right back up. Best advice, stay disciplined, get a routine and learn! Thank you again for a great experience! Good luck if you choose to go! Also, I am in the number #1 program for supply chain management in the nation after UAGC. GO GREEN!