Posted on Sep 20, 2014
Which on-line "accredited" university is the most Military friendly?
15.6K
30
35
1
1
0
I have far exceeded the hourly requirement for a Bachelor's Degree, and already hold 3 Associate's through CCAF. I am looking for on-line universities that you have attended that were:
1-Good on accepting transfer credit/experience
2-Not big on lots of "community" projects (working on things with other students).
3-Good on being flexible with their "adult" students.
I am in the market and value the opinions
1-Good on accepting transfer credit/experience
2-Not big on lots of "community" projects (working on things with other students).
3-Good on being flexible with their "adult" students.
I am in the market and value the opinions
Education Studies
College
Military service
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 16
3
3
0
I used Excelsior both for my bachelor's and now my master's program. The great thing about their master's program is it only costs 275 per credit hour, so per semester out of pocket to you is only books and $75. Very affordable
(3)
(0)
2
2
0
2
2
0
I have used Ashford University to complete my Bachelors and about halfway through my MBA. Their Bachelors classes are 5 Weeks, Masters are 6. Almost all books are online and all but two were covered in their military grant. Classes for the Bachelors stay along the TA Cap, unfortunately, this is not the case with the Masters. There was no requirement for group work other than discussions each week. Typical class is 2 discussions per week that are due on Thursdays, two (Total of 4) replies by Sundays and all quizzes or papers (Typically one or the other for a week) are due by Monday midnight, your local time. They gave me 40 or 50 S.H.s when I started with them and that was based on nothing but military education and one Microsoft class. If you haven't already found something thing check them out.
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
I have review this quite extensively, my favorites are:
-UIW: at TA Cap, Free books, great on transfer hours
-Liberty: at TA Cap, Free books for undergrad, MANY degrees, great on transfer
-U of Mary: at TA Cap, very transparent processes
-Florida Tech: their Wisdom Warrior program drops tuition to TA Cap, great reputation, military partnerships (with campuses on some posts as well), and some great programs
-Penn State: grant to reduce tuition to almost as low as the TA Cap for undergraduates, phenomenal repuation, many programs.
-UIW: at TA Cap, Free books, great on transfer hours
-Liberty: at TA Cap, Free books for undergrad, MANY degrees, great on transfer
-U of Mary: at TA Cap, very transparent processes
-Florida Tech: their Wisdom Warrior program drops tuition to TA Cap, great reputation, military partnerships (with campuses on some posts as well), and some great programs
-Penn State: grant to reduce tuition to almost as low as the TA Cap for undergraduates, phenomenal repuation, many programs.
(2)
(0)
1
1
0
1
1
0
SFC Michael Jackson, MBA
CPL Mitchell, why you picking on my school? I'm a UOP alumni. I didn't think it was unfriendly. In fact, I found it to quite suitable. here's why.
classes- met in class only one night a week, 6-10 pm. It was after the duty day. didn't disrupt workday
class length- a class was only five weeks long / every semester you knock three classes which is full-time even though you're only one class at a time. Phoenix is expensive because of this feature. it's an accelerated program
breaks- only breaks was during Christmas. meaning you continue classes thru summer and off peak time periods to finish up quickly
options- started taking in the classroom / able to switch to online / match between the two
books-didn't have to order books, just paid a resource fee and use provided PDFs on the website. saved me a lot of money
Even though I believe it's a good school that doesn't mean it's MOST military friendly. American Military University wins that award in my opinion. Most of the faculty is prior service or affiliated with the military. I felt they were flexible and fair when challenges arose like a short field exercise, training event, or last minute alert. When I went, they a special program and it was the cheapest college for me. It was FREE! Back then, TA paid 75%, AMU gave a 25% grant, and a book scholarship. Don't know what the deal of the week is. I went from 2000-03. Might be worth checking into http://www.amu.apus.edu/index.html
classes- met in class only one night a week, 6-10 pm. It was after the duty day. didn't disrupt workday
class length- a class was only five weeks long / every semester you knock three classes which is full-time even though you're only one class at a time. Phoenix is expensive because of this feature. it's an accelerated program
breaks- only breaks was during Christmas. meaning you continue classes thru summer and off peak time periods to finish up quickly
options- started taking in the classroom / able to switch to online / match between the two
books-didn't have to order books, just paid a resource fee and use provided PDFs on the website. saved me a lot of money
Even though I believe it's a good school that doesn't mean it's MOST military friendly. American Military University wins that award in my opinion. Most of the faculty is prior service or affiliated with the military. I felt they were flexible and fair when challenges arose like a short field exercise, training event, or last minute alert. When I went, they a special program and it was the cheapest college for me. It was FREE! Back then, TA paid 75%, AMU gave a 25% grant, and a book scholarship. Don't know what the deal of the week is. I went from 2000-03. Might be worth checking into http://www.amu.apus.edu/index.html
(1)
(0)
CMSgt James Nolan
CPL (Join to see) Here is what I can tell you so far: (and I am paying out of pocket-transferred my GI bill to my daughter whose education is more important than mine-so money was of course an issue)
I had applications in for:
AMU SFC Michael Jackson, MBA but they were taking too long for my evaluation (which was free) and they were friendly and they were going to be charging approximately $750 per course for 3 hours
Excelsior College-application was free, they were nice and helpful, they were slow on evaluation for me, they came up 10 hours short of where I thought I should be. They were going to be running about $750 per course plus books.
Grantham University-which was free to apply to and have credit evaluated, but they came up 15 credit hours below where I should have been, and wanted money to do a "prior learning assessment" which I began, but they started wanting significantly more effort than it was appearing to be worth, and they were charging approximately $800 per course. They were extremely friendly (had a prior Army representative dealing with me)
Charter Oak State College-I never formally applied because they were going to be running about $1100 a course and you have to pay for books.
Columbia Southern University-super friendly (in fact my arguments/negotiations with admissions got my buddy 6 more hours of credit and he was not involved). They were by far the most responsive of the colleges, and I mean they were on the job. They got the evaluation/application done quickly and for free. They were the least expensive of all the colleges. The accrediting is acceptable to the Federal Government (they are the Distance Accredited variety-cannot recall exact name, but looked it up through the Dept of Education website because I am not the trusting type). They were satisfactorily generous with credit and will allow up to a total of 90 hours into the school through credit or CLEP/DANTES. I enrolled in my first class and had my books at my house in 3 days. I also have 2 friends that are attending it and have been for about a year who like it. I have a good friend who graduated 4 years ago, who really enjoyed it.
My plan is to finish the Bachelors (I can finish each class in 4-10 weeks, completely self paced) within the year and then move on to the Masters while I am in college mode.
I see heavy debate coming, if the first course is anything like the whole program, because the book is so far, WAY LIBERAL, and I am very conservative.
The good news is that because you are military, the whole process of evaluation is free, so it may be worth a check.
I had applications in for:
AMU SFC Michael Jackson, MBA but they were taking too long for my evaluation (which was free) and they were friendly and they were going to be charging approximately $750 per course for 3 hours
Excelsior College-application was free, they were nice and helpful, they were slow on evaluation for me, they came up 10 hours short of where I thought I should be. They were going to be running about $750 per course plus books.
Grantham University-which was free to apply to and have credit evaluated, but they came up 15 credit hours below where I should have been, and wanted money to do a "prior learning assessment" which I began, but they started wanting significantly more effort than it was appearing to be worth, and they were charging approximately $800 per course. They were extremely friendly (had a prior Army representative dealing with me)
Charter Oak State College-I never formally applied because they were going to be running about $1100 a course and you have to pay for books.
Columbia Southern University-super friendly (in fact my arguments/negotiations with admissions got my buddy 6 more hours of credit and he was not involved). They were by far the most responsive of the colleges, and I mean they were on the job. They got the evaluation/application done quickly and for free. They were the least expensive of all the colleges. The accrediting is acceptable to the Federal Government (they are the Distance Accredited variety-cannot recall exact name, but looked it up through the Dept of Education website because I am not the trusting type). They were satisfactorily generous with credit and will allow up to a total of 90 hours into the school through credit or CLEP/DANTES. I enrolled in my first class and had my books at my house in 3 days. I also have 2 friends that are attending it and have been for about a year who like it. I have a good friend who graduated 4 years ago, who really enjoyed it.
My plan is to finish the Bachelors (I can finish each class in 4-10 weeks, completely self paced) within the year and then move on to the Masters while I am in college mode.
I see heavy debate coming, if the first course is anything like the whole program, because the book is so far, WAY LIBERAL, and I am very conservative.
The good news is that because you are military, the whole process of evaluation is free, so it may be worth a check.
(1)
(0)
CPL (Join to see)
SFC Micheal Jackson I am glad you had such a great experience but the reason why I am disappointed in University of Phoenix is because they say they do all of this and that for the soldiers but once you're in the school it's another story. They say they are military friendly but why when I told my professor that I was going to the field for two weeks so is it ok if she could not penalize me for it, I was told that I needed to drop the class because she didn't want to grade anything that late. Also, I feel like when it comes to the grading of the discussion forum all teachers should be the same because some professors will just give you credit for anything when others take your responses to the extreme and not give you that much credit. Lastly, since I been with University of Phoenix I have applied every year for FAFSA, was awarded my money but never received it from University of Phoenix. Hmmmmm.......that seem a bit strange since it shows that award amount when trying to came taxes on the tax form they give you. University of Phoenix is money HUNGRY and will have people constantly harassing you on the phone asking for the resource fees. I actually had a financial advisor tell me that University of Phoenix was the better than Texas A&M. HAH! I told my mother what that man said and she told me that the Best schools never call you on your personal cell. She's right because Harvard never called me to join.
(0)
(0)
1
1
0
I go to Grand Canyon University and I believe they are the most military friendly they offered me 60 credited hours for business mangement.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
1SG,
Your best bet is to look at what the Department of Education says about a particular school. I went to Post University and they paid for my books and all 8-week courses, military friendly.
http://www.post.edu
Make sure the school is Regionally accredited by one of the 6 regionally accreditation agencies in the US, just because a school is cheap does not mean the education will be accepted anywhere, Also another misnomer, just because the VA says it ok, does not mean that it is ok as well, as once I was going to a school called Masters Institute of Technology in CA, that the owners went belly up and skipped the country, however because I had a student loan out. The Dept of Education forgave me of the debt due to school closing down, even though I checked with the VA first and they said that it was an ok school they have been around for 30 years at that time. Now you may have some folks that says it does not matter what school you attend, dont believe it, IT DOES MATTER. Trust me I have been in healthcare recruiting for over 13 years and I have seen it all. Good luck in your search.
Your best bet is to look at what the Department of Education says about a particular school. I went to Post University and they paid for my books and all 8-week courses, military friendly.
http://www.post.edu
Make sure the school is Regionally accredited by one of the 6 regionally accreditation agencies in the US, just because a school is cheap does not mean the education will be accepted anywhere, Also another misnomer, just because the VA says it ok, does not mean that it is ok as well, as once I was going to a school called Masters Institute of Technology in CA, that the owners went belly up and skipped the country, however because I had a student loan out. The Dept of Education forgave me of the debt due to school closing down, even though I checked with the VA first and they said that it was an ok school they have been around for 30 years at that time. Now you may have some folks that says it does not matter what school you attend, dont believe it, IT DOES MATTER. Trust me I have been in healthcare recruiting for over 13 years and I have seen it all. Good luck in your search.
Post University-Learn Online or On Campus
Post University, part of the Waterbury, CT community for over 125 years, offers both the traditional college experience and online learning.
(1)
(0)
CMSgt James Nolan
SFC A.M. Drake Good points. I would just go "cheap" if it did not matter...but working for the Gov't, any school has to be accredited, or it is not worth a thing. Do appreciate the comments. Way too old to waste time on classes that wouldn't count!
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Charter Oak State College. They were founded just for that purpose and accept ALL AF credits, most CLEPs, DSSTs, and are extremely flexible class wise and are under the TA cap.
I did my BS with them and am on the Advisory Board so if you want more specifics, hit me up via email
I did my BS with them and am on the Advisory Board so if you want more specifics, hit me up via email
(1)
(0)
SMSgt (Join to see)
I would suggest Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. I received my Degrees through them. With you being Air Force and the school being an Aeronautical University, you are going to receive a lot of credits for your PME, not to include your transfer credits. Look them up and see how many credits you would be able to transfer. In addition, the instructors seem to be fair and flexible with adult learners. They cater to Military and understand the heavy work load that we often face.
(0)
(0)
TSgt Joshua Copeland
SMSgt (Join to see), I have heard mixed reviews of ERAU. We have a satellite campus here and folks either love it or hate it. Not to mention they have some pretty limited options for degrees.
(1)
(0)
SMSgt (Join to see)
I guess that all depends on ones personal opinion and their own experience. You are correct about the types of degrees though. I believe there were only three that I could choose from that they would except my military credits for anyways.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Don't know if it's the most military friendly, but I know a lot of friends who have gone with Excelsior College for a degree. I think it is pretty military friendly.
Check them out at their web site:
http://www.excelsior.edu/
Check them out at their web site:
http://www.excelsior.edu/
Excelsior College | Excelsior College
Excelsior College, an online college with degree programs, courses and exams in Business, Technology, Nursing, Liberal Arts, Health Sciences and Public Service.
(1)
(0)
CMSgt James Nolan
CW5 (Join to see) Thank you, will take a look. It is one that I have heard of and have had a few people recommend.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google