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Very true about the professors. Most AMU professors have decades on impressive experience in their fields. They have "real world" experience along with academia experience.
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Originally Posted by kalli007
I have found AMU to be very affordable. I have my Bachelor's Degree and one year of Graduate work from a brick and mortar University, and AMU is costing me less per semester by a long shot.
They do not require Graduate students to take the Online Orientation class, and Undergrads can get it waived by filling out a form. They are most definitely accredited and have an impressive faculty.
Trust me this is no diploma mill - one of my classes alone has 11 books! You will earn your degree at AMU.
I don't understand why some people think that just because you attend school on-line that is less affective. I can attend a brick and mortar school and waste a lot of time traveling back and forth or I can take advantage of that extra time being spent on the road at home in order to spend time studying.In conclusion, it takes self discipline to study either on-line or at a brick and mortar school which determine the success of a student not what school they attended. Also, when a person apply for a job the only thing that they care about is whether the individual graduated from an accredited school not where they obtain their degree from!Read more: [url]//www.city-data.com/forum/colleges-universities/261432-what-do-you-know-about-american.html#ixzz0a4Uho4TB[/url]
I too stumbled upon this thread and had to register to give my opinion.
In my case, I started my education at the University of Florida, but after meeting my wife and having our first child, I needed to put food on the table, so I joined the military. 8 years later, I recognized that I needed to finish my degree, but with 3 kids and a fulltime job in the medical field where I am constantly on call, I simply do not have the time to go to a B&M school. That's what led me to AMU. I registered there primarily because my brother-in-law who recently graduated from there with a degree in Intelligence Studies was able to secure a job with a defense contractor within a month of graduating with a salary that pays him roughly $8k per month gross (seen pay stubs). That's just under $100k per year and they had absolutely no problem with his degree. I wanted to major in Emergency and Disaster Management, so as a public servant, I knew that AMU would be well received. Likewise, no school in my area had this degree, so it was either move which wasn't an option or go to AMU.
As far as what it's like at AMU, it's really not any different than what you would find at a B&M school nowadays with so many classes being online. My wife just graduated this past year from the University of South Florida and 75% of her classes were online. She would typically have 3 online classes and 1 at the college per semester. I actually did a few of her online classes for her, so when comparing it to what I see now at AMU, there's no difference. The classes are setup almost exactly the same. The main difference is that AMU gives you the option of taking 16 week classes or 8 week classes. I tend to prefer the 8-week classes simply because the longer ones tend to drag on and get old towards the end, but they are extremely demanding and taking more than 2 is very difficult. The pace of the class is very fast with fewer opportunities for tests, so you have less margin of error if you bomb a test or a paper and you better stay on top of your studies or you'll be in trouble.
Also, I think I actually learn MORE at an online school than I did in the classroom. In a class setting, the professor guides you and focuses on what he wants to teach. In many cases, a lot of the material from a textbook won't even be touched. That's not the case at most online schools. You don't get those cues as to what the professor is going to focus on for the exams like you do in class, so you really have to know all the material very well. There's also more writing assignments due at an online class because that's your major form of communication. There is absolutely no doubt that I have had to write more and cover more material in a class than I ever did at the University of Florida. Simply put, just because it is an online class, it doesn't mean that it's going to be a cakewalk. It's every bit as challenging at what you would find at a B&M university.
The way I see it, for a person in my position with an extremely demanding job, a wife and 3 kids, the simple fact that I have taken it upon myself to finish school should be applauded and that's the case for most people who attend AMU. For most of us, if we could attend a B&M school, we would. We all know that a degree from a major college holds more water than one from AMU, but having a degree is better than not having one at all.
AMU is a scam, they set the bar low. Everyone here who speak highly of AMU is bias because they either have a degree with them or are working towards a degree with them. So your comments have no credibility. If I have earned a degree with AMU I would be defending them as well to protect their reputation of the school and my degree.
The truth is this school like other for profit schools are after your money not your education or quality. Classes are easy and not demanding at all. There is very little value to learn from other clueless students in discussion boards. Instructors are apathetic and are in it for the extra income. True they are probably professionals in their fields, but teaching for the vast majority of them is a part time job.
For the discussion boards my friends copy and paste their responses from various places like wikipediea and get full credit. Honestly most instructors won't give you feedback on your discussions. Who has time to read them 20-40 replies all literally saying the same thing. For papers, sure each class might require to do one but is open to any subject you want. My friend submits the same paper to every class, every semester. He is a senior at AMU and does not how to reference in APA or MLA format. I took a look at his paper and it was crap. Lots of mistakes on it, the kind a work a freshman submits. Yet he gets 100% all the time, I really doubt the instructors even read those papers.
The books are not even full editions, AMU provides free books (not really, they are included in the HIGH tuition cost) One of my other friends was taking an algebra class and his book looked like a pamphlet.
Now you can defend AMU all day long but at the end can you tell me your education with them is real, when you are not even require to do at a minimum a proctored final exam? All exams, and quizzes are OPEN BOOK! they are not testing your knowledge they are testing your ability to look up information in a book. How can you compare that degree with a school that test students the legitimate way.
The fact is this school is in it for the money, with their 8 hours courses, you can probably get a degree in less than two years if you really wanted it.
Just because is accredited or the government or institutions pay for tuition to this organization speaks nothing of the quality of the education you are getting. Accreditation varies widely, In my opinion I don't understand how a place like AMU can even get an accreditation. Do some background search on AMU and you'll find out that the first time they tried to get accredited they were denied, so they moved to a different region known for easy accreditation.
Lastly, just because is an accredited degree it does not mean that is an accepted degree by either employers or other schools. So check with potential employers and schools before you waste your time with this institution.
My sources are anecdotal, and based from observations from at least 10 students of AMU. I'm in the military and right now there seems to be a lot of military people attending AMU. One of my co-workers is even an instructor in AMU (teaches logistics classes) and let me tell you he is no teacher material.
But don't take my word for it or the word of anyone here, just do your own research.
Wow your post tastes like a bunch of sour grapes. I do not attend AMU, I am simply researching since I thought to continue my education after attending Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin,TN( regionally accredited). I give you all this information because I attended this "real school" with a campus and thousands of students online. Yes completely online with 3.2 GPA I graduated only to set foot on campus 1 time. So yes schools completed online are good and some might be fake or diploma mills but I have spoken with University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Martin, Union University, Tennessee State University and they will except transfer credits from AMU so I can't believe that these top notch schools would do so if the programs/teachers were as bad as you said.
yes, but you also have to pay 750$ for a "intro to online college" course that does not even count for anything. just a rip off. no other college does this.
To the contrary, I took classes through Baker College Online, a brick and mortar school with online degrees, and they also had an introduction to online learning course
AMU is a scam, they set the bar low. Everyone here who speak highly of AMU is bias because they either have a degree with them or are working towards a degree with them. So your comments have no credibility. If I have earned a degree with AMU I would be defending them as well to protect their reputation of the school and my degree.
The truth is this school like other for profit schools are after your money not your education or quality. Classes are easy and not demanding at all. There is very little value to learn from other clueless students in discussion boards. Instructors are apathetic and are in it for the extra income. True they are probably professionals in their fields, but teaching for the vast majority of them is a part time job.
For the discussion boards my friends copy and paste their responses from various places like wikipediea and get full credit. Honestly most instructors won't give you feedback on your discussions. Who has time to read them 20-40 replies all literally saying the same thing. For papers, sure each class might require to do one but is open to any subject you want. My friend submits the same paper to every class, every semester. He is a senior at AMU and does not how to reference in APA or MLA format. I took a look at his paper and it was crap. Lots of mistakes on it, the kind a work a freshman submits. Yet he gets 100% all the time, I really doubt the instructors even read those papers.
The books are not even full editions, AMU provides free books (not really, they are included in the HIGH tuition cost) One of my other friends was taking an algebra class and his book looked like a pamphlet.
Now you can defend AMU all day long but at the end can you tell me your education with them is real, when you are not even require to do at a minimum a proctored final exam? All exams, and quizzes are OPEN BOOK! they are not testing your knowledge they are testing your ability to look up information in a book. How can you compare that degree with a school that test students the legitimate way.
The fact is this school is in it for the money, with their 8 hours courses, you can probably get a degree in less than two years if you really wanted it.
That's a bunch of garbage. You obviously know very little about AMU.
1. Papers ARE NOT open to whatever you want. That's a bunch of rubbish. There is no way in hell your friend submits the same paper each semester to different classes. Either you or your friend are completely full of crap.
2. Most of papers have to be submitted through Turnitin which scans papers for plagiarism and past works submitted. Many, many B&M universities use Turnitin as well.
3. The discussion boards are a small part of the class and is generally there just to get a discussion among the students. You get graded for participation, not on content, but if you don't do quality work, you won't get credit.
4. Yes, the tests are open book. I had many open book exams at the University of Florida as well. The problem though is that they are worded in a way that basically forces you to learn the material. It's not like you can just look up a definition in the glossary and put it down. It doesn't work that way.
5. They don't have "8 hour" courses. They have 16 week and 8 week classes that are worth 3 credit hours. I've taken both and it's the same amount of material covered, but the 8 week class is extremely demanding because of the pace of the class. It's downright impossible to take more than 2-3 at a time, so in essence, you're only going to take 4 classes per semester just as you would if you took 16 week classes and you're not going to get a degree in under 2 years. The reason you CAN get a degree faster is that they offer start days for classes every month, so you can roll right into your next semester without having to take a break.
[FONT=Verdana]I attended AMU before they were regionally accredited and I completely understand the skepticism. They are nationally and regionally accredited now and are the same as any other large school. In fact, you can do some research and see the curriculum offered by other colleges and see if there are any major variances. I am sure you will not be surprised. It is up to the individual not the institution to whether or not they will succeed in life.[/FONT]
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I attend AMU and after doing a lot of research for an accredited distance ed school, APUS definitely is there at the top. They ARE accredited! It's one of the top schools that the military recommends to their personnel. If you have respect for our military, that alone should say something. Their tuition is competitive and they accept financial aid and scholarships. Right now, I am studying for my Bachelor's in Legal Studies. I am excited to get started in the major ed part. The choice of electives is pretty nice as well... they have Bloodspatter analysis! Their professors are awesome, and every single one of them has a great track record which you can read from their Bio's. Hope this helps. APUS really is a good distance education campus.
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American Military University
