American Public University

Now, I just started going to APU for my Bachelors in Information Technology and am very pleased so far! Through work I get a tuition discount and free eBooks which was a major factor in choosing this university. I was skeptical as I had never heard of it, but was assuaged when I saw it was highly rated and had a good return and graduation rate. So far in my first semester I must say the financial aid and student services staff are very knowledgeable and helpful, I've never had an issue unanswered. I have to say that my financial aid took quite a while to go through though (issues with faxing/uploading). My instructors are from highly respectable fields such as Aeronautics and Astronautics and Military History and a great deal of experience to back it. The materials used in the course are everything you would find at any other institution and the coursework is very challenging and you learn just like you would at a brick and mortar institution. I think the only downside is that at an online school you really have to know how to pace yourself and stay ahead of the work because attending can be difficult with daily distractions.

There is no way I can feel good about recommending this program or university to anyone. The instructors do not communicate, much less teach. I took a computer hardening class that was nothing but Microsoft Server lectures and activities. I have my Server 2008 R2 certification, I don't need repetition of this material at this cost. There were other classes like this as well. If you want to do IT, find a different school.

I have not attended any other higher learning institutions, so AMU is all I know. I have been taking classes off and on for a number of years now - both while I was in the military, and after I got out. The process for getting admitted was very simple, and I was able to transfer 76 credits from my military experiences! That's a lot of credit, and it will help me to get my degree much sooner. I also changed my major a while back from Middle Eastern Studies to Information Technology. That was also a very straightforward process. When I stopped taking classes for over a year, I was dropped from the University, but getting readmitted was very simple, thanks to the dedicated administrative staff. AMU also makes it very easy to make use of your GI bill, if you have it. After to get signed up to receive those benefits, it is a simple process of signing into W.A.V.E. and clicking a button at the end of each month while you are an active student, and you get your money a few days later. I have heard that the courses at AMU are a little bit more expensive than some other institutions, but the cost for the courses is still much lower than the amount of the GI bill benefits, so you can take home a nice chunk of change each month, if you receive GI bill benefits. I would also like to mention that my wife completed her Bachelors in Religion at AMU, and she was very pleased with everything involved in making that achievment. AMU was very good to her while she was enrolled. All in all, in my experience, I have been pretty happy with AMU overall. It's not perfect, but it's very reasonable, and it is an affordable option for college classes, even if you don't get benefits. I would recommend AMU to others who are looking to get a college education from the privacy and comfort of their home computer.

As with any course or instructor at any school in the world, you never know what you are going to get. I'm 5 courses from completing my degree in Information Technology W/General Concentration. I have had great instructors and terrible ones but I had that at my previous University as well. I enrolled in AMU/APUS after leaving college 15 years ago without my degree. So I'm familiar with both systems. An online education is different than a "Brick & Mortar" school, but not by much. You have to have better time management skills online as the week will creep up quickly on you but, there are no lectures so other than that it's pretty much the same. And to those that say "AMU doesn't teach you anything," All I can say is, are you serious? Nowhere in the world does anyone "teach" you anything. You chose to learn the information or you don't. If you think having a professor lecturing you an hour or two a week is an education then go sit in a classroom at the exact time you are supposed to so they can "teach" you! But, you will still have to read and understand the material, you still have assignments, deadlines and professors with too many students and too little time to sit down and teach you everything. I personally like learning from the books, videos, web links, and other sources without having to deal with a professor standing in front of the room lecturing me or worse listening to a professor having to deal with those terrible questions asked by unprepared students that take up half the course and ruin the small bit of class time. Are there better schools? Yes! But, if you need to finish a degree, need the flexibility and are willing to put in the work to learn the material then this could be a reasonably good fit for you. The admin support has been fantastic and if you need help or guidance in a course all of the professors have always answered my questions or guided my attention in the right direction to find the answer.

I have had some excellent experiences in terms of my instructors and the interaction that I have had with most students. Many of my instructors have provide me with feedback that helped me to grow in my writing and in my learning. Additionally, text books have been less expensive than at another University that I attended. Also, if you have an issue with the price of a text you can always find an alternate source for purchasing your text books. Initially, I had some issues with financial but they were resolved in a timely manner. I also had some issues with grading, but they were also resolved. Having these issues really helped me to understand the processes better and the appeal process especially. It was nice to know that if you disagree with a grade or have a situation that contributes to your inability to post an assignment on time, your disagreement can be given a voice and an investigation will be made into any and all allegations to bring truth and resolution to the surface. No experience is every perfect in life in general and it would be foolish to think that in the arena of academics things will run smoothly without any problems whatsoever. Overall, my experiences with APU has been great.

I have been attending APUS/AMU for about 2 years and in the IT program, the professors don't communicate very well and quite frankly many of them don't even check their spelling or grammar. I have had a few good ones, but a majority of them don't give any or very useful feedback and certainly not in a timely manner. Some don't even grade your work until after the class has ended, making the feedback worthless to you. I have had week 2 assignments left ungraded until the end of the course. If I was doing something wrong I would like to have known before the class ended so I can correct myself. Besides the professors, the concentration on writing forums and papers is unsettling. While I am concentrating on learning computer skills, I'm actually only improving my writing (BSing) skills. You can seriously BS your way to a degree in this school. The content of your forums can be complete garbage and you will get full points. Feel free to make spelling and grammar errors all over the place, the instructors do it too! You can learn just as much on Google, but alas we all need a piece of paper that says we have a degree.

While I was taking general education courses, such as Math, Science, and English, the instruction and materials were excellent. The instructors were involved and had thought-out responses. The forums seemed constructive and I truly learned much. Since I began the IT-focused content, everything went downhill. The instructors were less involved, responses to questions took longer and, frequently, did not answer the questions. It is evident that many instructors do not read the entire e-mail message. In addition, I also believe they do not always look at all of our work. Of the four IT classes I've taken, every one showed consistent problems with the online content. Instructional materials were not filled out completely, links were broken, and in several cases, instructions in one tab have conflicted with instructions in another. The entire program feels like it's on autopilot with the occasional babysitter to loosely monitor things. I'm very disappointed and am greatly concerned about the value of my IT degree.

After taking online courses through three other institutions, I was very impressed with APU's approach. The expectationns each week were manageable, had realistic expectations for my time available, and was engaging. The professor gave quick feedback which was thorough and related to when i had written. Would recommend the certificate programs as well.

When I started at AMU I really enjoyed the classes, I guess I didn't know any better. As I progress through more classes I am finding the quality of the courses are subpar. I left my rating of "teachers" at 5 because there are some good ones, but believe there are more bad there, well lazy may be a better term than bad. One class I had in wed development had just been redesigned and my class was first to take the "newly" designed course. We spent 3 weeks covering an outdated development tool that is no longer even supported by the developers who made it. 3 WEEKS!! My most recent classes, there may be more but I only just took notice this past term, the materials were uploaded to the class in 2010...it is almost 2014. Everything in the classes are the same, post a response to a discussion board topic of 250-500 words, reply back to 2 classmates with 150 words and do an assignment or quiz if they are even offered. Also, when I first started, actual text books would be mailed out to you, then they moved to pdf file text books, now they are starting where the don't even let you downlonad a pdf copy that you can have after the class ends...the download periods are for max 3 days at a time. There is never any sort of lecture in the classes, most of the times the "lessons" section does not even have a script of a lecture or any sort of weekly overview that the facilitator has put together to give you their impressions of what it is we are "learning" about. They use no video, don't even bother putting links to youtube videos that may be of help. No sort of attempts at interaction between facilitators and students other than the typical one line reply thanking you for submitting your post or assignment or saying good job on it. Hold a live meeting every once in a while as a Q&A session, heck even having a Q&A thread in the discussion boards would be a nice addition since they hardly ever even do that! I learn more for FREE from youtube videos than I do from the courses, but doing that won't get me that piece of paper. Since I am about 8 classes or so away from my degree I can't afford to waste money by transferring somehwere and losing credits in the process. I will continue on and finish the degree here. I pretty much only want the degree as a check in the box at this point in my life, but I guess I was expecting to actually learn some things in the process...other than having to learn it all on my own that is. Maybe my expectations were just set too high.

In my third year, wish I would have hunted around for an online school more. Most classroom focus is put on posting atleast 250 words in your weekly forum post rather than there is on the course's content - which you're on your own for. Instructors, while some were nice to work, were mostly absent. I got the feeling they were working out of a call center in Manilla. They almost never participate in the discussion forums and assignment feedback left much to be desired. If you're looking for an online degree that's somewhat affordable and doesn't say "Phoenix" anywhere on it APUS will suffice. If quality of education is one of your priorities then shop around first.

I was reading the other reviews and started to wonder if this is the right place for me. So far I have had good time studying online. Studying online is the only way I could pursue bachelor's degree since I am a single mom and have to work too. I have not had any problems that were presented in some of the reviews. My admission was easy and for the second year in a row I got my financial aid and I have not had any difficulties with that. I just follow the instruction that seems to be quite clear for me. The courses are affordable enough. I like the online books. They are most of the part easy to study but little boring of course. Lectures are super easy to access. I have had decent instructors. Some respond faster than others but all of them give feedback when I request it. I am planing to study Information Technology. I am new in the field. I, of course, hope that I would learn what I need to get started. My plan is to seek some kind of position as apprentice as soon as I have enough knowledge. I believe I have a long road ahead of me but I feel positive at this point. As I said studying online is my only choice since I could not afford to pay babysitter, in order to go and attend a class somewhere. And I have enjoyed the freedom to do my classes when I have time. I have taken 8 courses and received generally A or A- for each one of them so far. It did not seem to be too difficult. I just would like to know if getting good grades so easy is sign of too easy classes. But these are my core classes, so I will attend one more year before I will start speculating about that point. It might get harder. I enjoy the school I just wonder if it is good enough education to get into IT field later.

I agree with the previous post, APUS doesn't actually teach you anything. Much of what you need to learn must self taught. As the poster stated, it is a great place for getting a degree if you're not really interested in learning anything useful. 90% of the courses rely on submitting papers regardless of the course. For example taking a math course or computer programming course may require week after week of posting forums or submitting assignments in the MLA or APA format. For Math?!!! Get real. 70% of most courses rely heavily on weekly posting some dribble on forums just to get a decent grade which will account for 30-60% of your final grade.

Before starting the IT program do a little research on what you want your goal in the IT field to be, that way if you are interested in Network, you don't fill up your electives full of Web Design. AMU is a very good online school especially for very busy people. Doing school online means that the student needs to be self motivated and ready to push themselves to learn. Like any school you have your good and bad instructors. It's good to get into the school forums and ask other students what they thing and try to stick with the ones you like. The school uses ebooks which some people have a very difficult time using. For an online school the use of technology is surprisingly limited, but improving.

It boils down to this - especially in IT - if you are already IN the field, already IN the workforce, especially as a network administrator or along those lines - fine, this school can give you the paper that says you have a degree. But if you are wanting to actually LEARN, go elsewhere. Spend a little more, and go somewhere that the teachers TEACH and dont just babysit the classroom (hint, they do NOT make up their own lesson plans and 90% do not engage and of the bazillion papers you have to write here, be prepared to get NO feedback) while working their "real" jobs. You cannot learn what you need to know about networking, security, IT support in an all theoretical manner. You may have the degree, but you still wont be worth much in the workforce. - I had a 3.94 GPA, so its not that I "failed" the class - what I failed was learning actual SKILLS you can use to get and keep a job, what I got was alot of theory and teaching myself.

APU's IT BS program was challenging and I learned much more than expected. I was in a unique position as a student viewing this education, having been an IT Manager and Software Development Mgr for many years. The programming professors are HIGHLY technical and leaders in the field, creating a real challenge for students. Motivated learners who do not require a step-by-step hand-held approach to education will soar. All of the admin depts of APUS are outstanding making registration and financial aid painless. The online environment is terrific. No group projects requiring dependence on others for your grades and weekly discussions are interesting and lively. Plan your course progression wisely, so not too many programming courses at once. Books for undergrads are FREE! APU is a great value and students can complete a degree quickly if time permits to overload. Completed a full BS in 18 mths with heavy overloading and an almost perfect GPA. Liked it so much I am now half way through my MS in IT! Highly recommend!

APU has been a fantastic experience for me. In any situation you may have professors you do not like and some you will love. I have had a couple who were VERY challenging and I almost despised them by the end of the class. In retrospect, I learned so much from them. Not just about the subject of the class, but of responsibility and to expect nothing less than the best out of myself. My husband received his Master's from a "brick and mortar" very reputable university and he has had so many problems with getting the wrong information from the staff, who act as if they don't have a clue what is going on. His recent graduation was less than acceptable and not up to what should be expected of a University of this size and reputation. Just because a college has a building does not mean they are going to have better instructors and staff than you will find at APU or other online schools. I have had nothing but positive interaction with the staff and professors at APU and they are very helpful. The book grant is great too. At first I was worried about not having a book in front of me, as some of the classes have e-books. However, I now have an e-reader and I can download my books to it. (Many classes do have regular books) It works out perfectly. I am a late in life student who went back after 15 years (and 2 kids). I started in the Associate's program for Web Publishing, because I wasn't sure about learning online. After meeting the requirements to do so, I transferred to the Bachelor's of Information Technology program. I was very proud to make the Dean's List last semester. My grades are not "given" to me. I work hard to make those grades and really have had some professors grade me harder than I was expecting. It makes me work harder and I am so proud every time I make a good grade. Do not start any online program thinking it will be easy. Online learning takes much more dedication on the student’s part and is not for people who need “hand holding”. Just remember when you read a review, that people have varying expectations out of similar situations. If you see someone vehemently bashing an institution, they are disgruntled. Now ask yourself how many businesses, schools, etc. that you or someone you know have been disgruntled with at one time or another. You just cannot make everyone happy all the time. The staff and professors of APU are human just like the rest of us.