American Military University

I completed the Strategic Intelligence MA degree in 2009; the program has since been changed to Intelligence Studies. Previously, I completed a BA at a "brick and mortar" school," the Intelligence Studies Certificate Program (Masters level) at the National Intelligence University (DIA/Bolling AFB), and I'm on my second full Master's degree at another "brick and mortar." AMU was a great choice for what it is and I highly recommend it for any student who needs the online option due to location, work schedule, or military deployments/PCS. Due to my work, I was unable to commute to a campus location, and I was active duty and had to PCS and deploy during my degree program. Compared to my past and current "brick and mortar" experience, the AMU classes required far more writing. You get out of any program what you put into it- I worked hard, did the readings, learned from my mistakes, proactively worked with the professors, and did extra research for each class- and graduated with a 4.0. As an intelligence professional (active duty Army, retired as a LTC, worked in joint/interagency/NATO assignments), the classes and degree directly impacted my daily work and my career. I only had one bad experience with a professor, but I was able to document my complaint carefully, and worked with the Department head to drop the class. The distance learning option does not have the networking and discussion of a normal class, but for my limitations it was a great choice at the time. If you are willing to commit to a degree, have the time, discipline, and interest, I strongly encourage anyone to consider AMU. Most of the professors I had were published in their field. I saw many of my peers apply for AMU or other degrees, but dropped out due to a lack of interest, writing ability (you have to write to get a degree), or discipline. People who need special writing coaching or tailored instruction to explain things will have difficulty with online content and should stick with a community college or other alternative until they are ready. If you are a self starter and have good study skills, you can really get a lot out of this degree.

I had initially thought when i had began the MA program that it would be a challenge and that i would be learning new material but in reality i had just covered material from the BA program more in depth. What posses a large issue, is the professors where there are often instances of being a overly hard grader. You get what you put in,but buyer beware that the professors ultimately could have a good day or bad day and reflect this upon your grade opposed to actually reading the work and giving legitimate feedback.

I obtained My Masters and Baccalaureate degrees from AMU, and for the most part; I have learned a lot as a result of it. However, my experience had a few unacceptable compromises. I was a Chapter 33 Student. That is to say, that my expenses were funded by the Post 9-11 GI Bill. But somewhere in the processes of enrollment and completion the VA did not receive notices of completion from the school. All in all; I had to pay for my undergrad out of pocket when the VA came to collect. I tried to sort this out with the school, but they were tight-lipped, and gave me the run-around. It took a few years to pay the government back. The Master’s Thesis. During My Literature Review, the professor accused me of writing an “Op-ed” which put my entire Master’s Program in jeopardy. I was pressured to drop out of the semester, and return at a later date in order to save my efforts, as well as My GPA. Six months later, I returned and completed the degree, but all in all it took an additional six months to an already exhausting program.

Military go somewhere else! -- I tried out this program because of how flexible I heard they were; not the case. I had TDY's and holidays come up and they either wouldn't give me an extension or did into another TDY/holiday. Wasted tons of effort and TA trying to figure out their system (its NOT user friendly) because a verbal from an instructor won't suffice. Further today I was notified I was disenrolled. Going back to Webster, these guys are just terrible overall (instructors are fairly smart though)

I received my B.A. at a traditional brick-and-mortar school. I received a diploma in nuclear power, courtesy of the USN. In this program, I got out what I put into it. I was largely responsible for my success, as well as what I took away from the program. The teachers were highly qualified, and the materials largely exceeded my expectations. When I studied, some courses still had a quantitative component, but the majority of the work is qualitative in nature. Those hoping for a program that leverages one of the fields of applied mathematics should look elsewhere. However, if you want to be able to build strong qualitative analyses with a focus on one of the intelligence disciplines, this is an excellent program. If you want to take your research and writing to the next level, the instructors are more than happy to help. As a master's program, it is up to the student to take the initiative, if the goal is to attain a world-class education in this field.

Reading some of the other reviews, I would say that from my experience as an alumni some are correct, others are not. For Grad school, pedigree is often important, meaning that with AMU being a relatively new institution, there is no way for it to compete prestige-wise with universities that have been around since 1789 (e.g. Georgetown), but as the growing pool of graduates from this school move forward and achieve great things I think that the reputation will grow as well. The foundations are there making this a great institution for growing students academically to assume professional roles. When you look at the professors, many are "practidemics" that have worked in the IC and/ or bounced back and forth from the IC and academia, and are absolutely knowledgeable in the field. They may not be famous but that doesn't mean that they are not quality professors. I work in the IC full time, and completing my degree while still working was difficult but possible. AMU is flexible with supporting working students, and continuing education while working is one of this Universities best selling points. With the goal of attaining a masters I actually tailored my academic workload and course plan based on what I wanted to gain a deeper knowledge in, and what interested me. Overall a very positive experience at this University. I never did encounter a throwaway course or repetition in curriculum, and the grading rubric and standards were actually very high. I had to work hard during revisions, closely critiquing my writing style and editing for proper citation format, as the university and department policy is very strict on plagarism and use of style and grammar. In response to some of the negative comments regarding GRE not being necessary, okay...but regardless of standards for acceptance, if the student doesn't perform here it is reflected in their grade. I have had coworkers drop classes based on how time consuming and difficult they were when they were working, making the challenging statements of academic rigor just not true. In my opinion the value of an institution is based on it's students successes and achievements, and not how exclusive or elite the perception is.

I found my experience at AMU to be similar to that in my B.S. program at a brick and mortar research university. As with traditional schools, your experience depends heavily on the quality of instruction. I had instructors at AMU who fell across a wide range, from excellence to blatant apathy. I would strongly advise you to ask other students of their experiences with courses/instructors before registering. There are some excellent professors at AMU who clearly enjoy teaching and can really help you develop. There are others who are clearly distracted by other pursuits and should be avoided. The course curricula are mostly solid. Whereas AMU relies heavily on group discussion fueled by reading, the amount of effort you put into the reading a discussion weighs more heavily into your experience than it would otherwise. You need to make an effort to be a productive part of the discussion or you will be left behind quickly. In short, find the good classes and learn as much as you can. Maximum effort results in maximum benefit. The administrative side of AMU is good. All of my inquiries and issues were responded to and/or resolved quickly and painlessly.

I couldn't help but notice how you compared AMU with Georgetown..... Really?!? Of course it's reasonable to expect their professors are going to be of the highest caliber -- they rank 39th in political science in the United States (according to U.S. news.). If your measuring stick is Georgetown, then 95% of universities fall short of your criteria. Now, pull up CVs from a run-of-the-mill university and compare them with those of professors at AMU. MOST (key word) new professors in the field of political science have a few years of experience at most and primarily a research background. Who are you more likely to learn from? A researcher or a practitioner? At AMU, I think you'll find the professors are of above-average quality when compared with professors from other universities. In fact, this is reflected in the U.S. news ranking of online programs based on faculty credentials and training-- AMU ranks 39th in the ranking among universities including Univ. of Florida and FIT. In fact, their faculty's credentials are ranked higher than ASU's. Real facts, plain and simple.

This Masters program was extremely poor and repetitive. It did not prepare me to perform graduate level research and analysis. I felt I was taking the same course over and over. I stopped doing most of the reading assignments and my submitted papers were of such poor quality my boss at work would have ripped them up and handed them back to me... yet I still had a > 3.9 GPA. I did not feel this prepared me for any work in the IC. Additionally, in comparison to other Universities, the list of professors is a who's who of nobody. I have friends whom took Intelligence/Security graduate programs at brick and mortar universities (e.g. Georgetown) and were taught by true IC veterans (CIA Chiefs of Station, etc) with unique insight and perspective.

I am not currently working in the intelligence field so the material is very challenging to me; but the instructors and fellow students have welcomed me into their "circle" and have been very receptive of my ideas, thoughts and comments. I have learned a lot and look forward to carrying the knowledge over to my current field of criminal justice.

This is a fine school. They allowed me provisional entrance into their Master of Intelligence program while finishing up my Bachelors degree in political science. This allowed me to acheive my goals at a much more rapid pace and not lose time by having to wait unecessarily. I am currently at the end of two master degrees; one with OU (International Relations) and one with AMU(Intelligence Studies; Strategic Operations)both fine and reputable institutions that I highly recommend, without reservation. As for those who criticize the program, are often those who could not cope with the rigorous demands, and often a case of sour grapes. I have been a US Army education counselor for over three years so I do have a notion of what I am speaking about. It is your life, your education, go for it and be all you can be. I am exremely pleased and satisfied with my learning and progress with AMU and you will be too.

Thus far, I am in my 10th graduate level course and I have learned more about my field of study, then I have actually learned in the field. Moreover, I find most of these courses more challenging then others I have taken at the war college. Overall, I would recommend this institution and program for all of those who are serious about there education. AMU is my recommendation.

Good luck finding a school who teaches intelligence studies, is regionally accredited, has world class professors who know their stuff inside and out. One of the professors had to cancel class when Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia, because he is the Chief Military Advisor.

Just like anything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. The same could be said for an Ivy League education, or one's experience in the United States Armed Forces. For those who expect their education to be given to them, I wouldn't recommend AMU. Sure, you might get passing grades, but seriously - is it worth all that for a piece of paper with no personal meaning behind it? For professionals and practitioners who take education seriously, and who are willing to put in the time to really learn, then AMU is ideal. You can really get a lot out of an education with AMU, but you'll have to sacrifice weekends and evenings to do homework and required reading. You'll be encouraged by your professors as much as they perceive your sincere ambition to learn backed up by some very hard work. For those who wish to take an education, AMU is as good as it gets. The only limits on a student's academic achievements are self imposed.

I am currently enrolled and am taking the final requirement for my MA in Intelligence Studies. I chose this school at first because it fit my budget (Military TA) and schedule (Full time Military). Nearing the end of my program, I have to say that the experience at the school has been an outstanding one. First off, the assignments and course work was challenging. At times it was a bit easy, but that may have been because I had prior insight into subject. The subjects I did not have any insight on, were very challenging and educational. The teachers were for the most part, engaging and gave useful feed back. I did have a few teachers that were not so interactive, but every school has those teachers. The support was outstanding. When ever I needed to speak with student services, they were helpful, understanding and responsive. If I sent an email, it was replied to the next day. I am stationed in Japan, so saying that the service was outstanding means a lot considering the time differences that had to be overcome. Over all AMU is an outstanding option for anyone in the military. Now I feel I must address some of the negative comments. Every person's experience will differ, but here something’s that should be considered when starting a program with AMU. The support will help, but as an adult you cannot or should not expect everything to be done for you. I had to stay up late at night to contact support, but when I called, they were always helpful. I cannot speak about being deployed, but again, as an adult you should be responsible enough to plan ahead. As far as the teachers and lack of teaching, you are taught in high school and in some undergraduate classes. The part of being a Graduate student is that you have learned to develop your own ideas. You accomplish the reading and formulate your own opinions. After all, you will soon receive the title of MASTER in a given discipline. The teachers do not "teach" you because after you are complete with your program they expect you to be almost on par with their education or close to it. One thing I should also note about some of these complaints. They sound recycled and have read the same complaints from other college reviews. AMU is a great option. It is not Harvard or other well known universities, but why even compares AMU to these Universities? With an open mind, effort, and responsibility, AMU will get you to your goal.

I completed a Master's in Strategic Intelligence and found the courses comparable in content and difficulty to those provided through the JMIC/NDIC. It took a lot of work to get through it.

I have been with AMU since 2004 and have had great experiences all around, even through multiple TDY's and deployments to Iraq. The faculty truly understands the military sacrifice and will typically work with the student to resolve any scheduling problems that arise. The classes have been challenging and applicable to my job in intelligence. As for course-work, be prepared for lots of papers. Since most students go to school online, the benchmark for grading is written: term papers, essays, and multiple discussion board posts throughout the week. I have never had an issue with TA and the advisers have always been more than helpful.

I have attended four "brick-and-mortar" universities to include: Texas A&M-College Station Texas A&M-Kingsville University of Texas- Pan American (UTPA) Northwestern State University. That being said I can honestly say that American Military University was not only the most challenging university I have attended, but provided the best quality of education. At any of the brick-and-mortar universities I attended (before I joined the military) I rarely went to classes did poorly on tests and still got As and Bs from professors with no real or relevant experience in the fields they taught (with little feedback as well). I no longer had the time to attend courses in person because of my work schedule so I had to find an online program. The downsides of the university is that most professors do not provide much feedback during the course and the education is on par with the effort you put in (imagine that at a university, oh my!). A lot of people are apprehensive about this school because it is an online program, but the professors are experts in their respective fields; a lot more than can be said about most traditional schools. At the four traditional colleges I attended I never read one book cover to cover, but while going to AMU I read nearly 60 books plus numerous articles, journals, etc. I finished my degree with a 3.8 GPA and was in the top 20% of my class (as indicated by being accepted to GKHS), while most schools a 3.8 GPA is no where near the top of a class and much easier to attain.

If you are looking for a graduate level program in intelligence, this is the only one that is regionally accredited and 100% online.