American Public University

I’m about 75% complete with the program. So far, so good! The professors are experienced professionals in their fields. Many are even published. The course load involves a ton of reading and writing. You get out of it what you are willing to put in. If you aren’t disciplined this is not the school for you. You must stay on top of your studies to be successful. I have a previous master from a brick and mortar school and I have by far learned more valuable information at AMU than there.

I have just completed all coursework and am entering into the capstone paper. I have read both graduate degree and undergrad responses here. I think that really, you need to be at least 30 years old to take an online program. It is truly for adults. You, as the student, must be proactive, attack each course and in communicating with the university itself in addressing issues like advising and financial aid. KIDS need not apply. The undergrad reviews are rife with children who do not accept responsibility in life. With that said, my experience at AMU has been fantastic and fulfilling. I will also graduate this year with a graduate degree in history from Nebraska. That's right, two graduate degrees in two and half years. Am I burned out? YES...but it is so cool...where else could I get a military studies masters? Two other colleges offer it and they are not online. The school that is online is exorbitant in costs. I have LEARNED much, enough to keep pace with the military men around me and I have begun addressing asymmetric warfare issues with STRATCOM at Offutt Air Force Base. I already have two job offers to teach and three other job offers, one with the government and two in the private sector. You see, I have been through the grist mill, car accident in 1998, and seven years of surgeries and rehab which ended my career in medicine. Returned to school in 2010 (Nebraska), bachelors degree in history, then on to graduate school. Learning happens based on what YOU put into it. There was actually little difference between Nebraska and AMU. NO difference in quality. You, the student, are in charge of your learning. This is what a 53 y/o man understands, and what a 20 y/o kid needs to learn.

I am currently 3/4 of the way through this program. I did my undergrad at one of the best schools in North America and have attended 2 other brick and mortar schools completing various other post-secondary programs. I have learned a lot from this course although I do have one caveat. This program will only give you what you put into it. As a post-grad program, much of the learning is instructor mediated, student driven. If you put in the work and have good classmates, you will get a lot out of this program. If you just want to do the bare minimum and pass, you can do that too. All in all, this is a great program for any military members who are looking at gaining a wider perspective while gaining a valuable accreditation.

I just love how "for profit" universities are taking a beating these days thanks to the so-called "public" universities, who are losing a ton of money in government handouts (aka: grants and student loans), successful marketing campaigns. I received my BS in IT Management from AMU 2 years ago. I found the classes to be very challenging (esp. compared to my "public" university experience) and the education I received was a much better value than anything I had received to that point. The staff was very professional and the entire experience was positive for both myself and my wife.

American Public University is a good on-line school. I was a private pay student (no financial aid) and found the school was as good as the public community college institution for administrative matters. One mistake was made on my billing which was handled in a timely manner. I did not require assistance from the counselors to plan my schedule as I found the information in the catalogues sufficient to determine graduation requirements for my business management degree. On-line status reports were updated accurately and easily accessed so that I could track my progress without a problem. The quality of instructions was overall very good. Naturally, I enjoyed some instructors more than others. The required interactions with other students were helpful and informative. One of the areas at which I think the school excels is the requirement for well written papers and reports. Students learn to research, to think and to organize their thoughts so as to communicate effectively in writing. Mastering the ability to effectively communicate in writing will help any student excel in any career. APU assisted me in obtaining a quality education. My business management degree has served me well within my career and helped me in my current pursuit of a CFP designation.

This place is really bad. The admissions process is confusing and a big pain b/c no one ever calls you to try and help you along the way. I never received a single phone call from any of them after leaving numerous voicemails. I have to agree with ppl about the financial aid experience. They didn't do a very good job explaining what needed to be done. They pushed my credit card authorization form back and I was 3 days late starting my classes because my tuition payment was never processed. The phone ALWAYS rings busy and it is very hard to get through. When someone finally answers the phone you get bounced around by anyone who answers your phone call. I strongly suggest considering other online schools. APU is just one big mistake I've made.

The program was a good balance between structure and flexibilty, in that it was focused, but allowed me to study what I wanted within the area. I had easy contact with my profesors, who gave me constructive, useful feedback on my papers, and all but two of them responded to questions very quickly. The books I had to buy were almost all very good; in fact, I kept most of them. I wrote a lot, and believe that I developed as a writer because of it, even to the extent of having two papers published on a military history website. As for technology, I experienced no real problems -- the online classroom environment was intuitive and never unavailable; registration was easy; and the school's support staff was easy to contact and gave prompt, useful answers.