Colorado Technical University

I completed my B.S. in Information Technology here. The flexibility of the schedule enabled me to work full-time as a software developer while earning my degree through courses taken remotely at nights. After completing my degree here I went on and received my M.S. in Systems Engineering/Computer Science from Loyola Marymount. Today I am the Director of Engineering for a company which I love working for. I will always to be a major proponent of schools like CTU that enable students who need flexibility in their schedule to have a place to learn. With all of this said, I believe the students who tend to be most successful at CTU are no different from the students who are successful at any other school. Please be prepared to work very hard and don't expect any hand-holding. If you can do these two things you'll do great anywhere. If you can complete your coursework at CTU with 3.6 GPA or above your life is going to great. Best of luck to anyone reading this.

I have 11 classes left to finish my bachelors in information technology for networking. I have enjoyed every bit of the classes and the wealth of information the professors are able to contribute. I was hesitant going back to school, especially online but it has been great. I am able to go at my own pace which is great. To anyone asking themselves if they should pick Colorado Technical University, I say do so and you will be glad that you did.

I tried to attend Full Sail University first but was denied over a felony conviction. My ex fiance graduated from CTU so I thought I would try CTU as I familiar with them and have seen a graduate degree first hand. Enrollment was super easy and very straight forward. I passed 5 fast track exams, which saved me 5 1/2 weeks per passed exam, and also saved me $350.00 per credit hour per class. 22.5 credit hours to be exact. Although I was not using VA benefits from previous service duty, they still gave me a 5% military discount off of my total tuition. My teachers have all been polite and help me pretty quickly when needing help or have questions regarding specific tasks and assignments. My financial adviser (April Frazier) has been nothing short of awesome and helpful. The financial aid department does seem to be a little short when talking to them and getting answers, but the site does indeed have a financial aid and accounts tabs where you can directly see whats being billed and when it is being billed. This seems to be updated in real time and seems not to use batch processing. The library and their staff have been awesome, and the Net Tutor for IT students is incredible for help with projects, and they will even review your papers before you turn them in to make sure your covering what needs to be covered for the assignment. This school has gave me every tool I need to succeed. I have seen some really nasty reviews on CTU and I am confident in saying, the people that are complaining probably signed papers with out reading and understanding what they are signing, expected an outrageous amount of stipend loans, did not give the effort in class or assignments, or didn't attend class and then wonder why they got kicked out and owe a balance. I really can not speak on anyone else's behalf but myself have had ZERO problems from CTU Schools, Instructors, Administrators, or Counselors. I would recommend CTU to anyone who is serious about getting a higher education. As far as the bills I see people talking about could be usual, if the student is no longer registered when student loans are requested by the school. There for any accumulated balance can not be paid by student loans, because you are no longer an attending student, there for they can not legally collect loans on your behalf. Thats probably why there is an out standing balance due, and why your getting calls from collectors trying to collect a debt for your actions or lack of.

I began my schooling at CTU in the fall of 2011 pursuing a BSIT with 0 knowledge about computers other than how to surf the internet and play games on them. At the time I was making twelve dollars an hour with my employer. A few months into my education I applied for and earned an entry level job in our systems department. Since that time I have received four other promotions, each one due to the education I received from CTUO and the work I put in outside of the normal course work. I am an infrastructure engineer now and my pay has a little more than tripled since 2011 with plenty of room to grow at a Fortune 100 company. Pursuing and obtaining my degree with some hard work has led me to a completely different life. Guess what? I did this at CTUO. I am bothered by all of these bad reviews about the school and staffing. This is not the case from my experience. You will of course have instances where teachers do not communicate as well as expected or have issues with financial aid from time to time, but that happens everywhere. I have attended brick and mortar schools previously including a local community college and IU Bloomington. My experience was no different at CTUO than any of the others. It was kind of a pain to get my financial aid straightened out in the beginning, but once that was taken care of all was well. The hardest part about CTUO and I'm sure a lot of online schools that I think a lot of people don't get, is dedicating the time to not only just complete the assignments for the grade, but to go above and beyond to insure that you learn what you need to and it sticks. In five week courses that, in my experience, change without returning to similar work for months at a time it is difficult to retain everything. There are lab sessions as well as being able to self-study that help with this though. As far as the teachers, they have all been fair and usually respond to any emails within a couple of days and unless they have another live chat to conduct most are willing to stay later to discuss any questions from the lecture. I personally don't know of another online school that even has live chats with the instructors so that is a bonus itself. All of that said, the school IS kind of pricey. Tuition rates went up after my second session to $320/credit hour if I recall correctly. Each class is typically 4 credit hours, so you are looking at almost $1,300 per class. This does include any technology resources that you will need though, like text books (most are indeed e-books), virtual lab sessions (TestOut and JBL for I.T. majors), as well as free Microsoft Office. There is a lot of writing and no real tests for most of the courses. That is a big reason why you the student need to make sure you go above and beyond. Do I think that you could possibly go elsewhere and get a "better" education for the price, yes. By better I simply mean a degree from a more well-established brick and mortar in-state school. However, I guarantee you WILL NOT have the flexibility of online schooling, WILL NOT graduate as fast, WILL NOT get to interact with teachers who actually work in the fields they are teaching and WILL still have bad experiences every now and then. Online schooling is not for everyone and there are cases where you can pass classes and not truly learn anything. That is typically the fault of the student though. I believe these reviews bashing the school and staff are missing part of the story. In the end no one is perfect including CTUO and it's staff and there are always two sides to every story. Take my words for what they are, a simple opinion based on my experiences. Yours could be different. Just know that as with anything you get what you put in. If you put in the work, and not just enough to pass or get an A in the class, but really work, CTUO can work for you. It did for me anyway.

I am currently attending with a 3.84 GPA in the BSIT program and I cannot say I agree w the other reviews. It is truely that you write a lot. But in the big picture, I wrote 10x more at a traditional campus when I attended prior to this. The flexibility is pretty nice, although some instructors do set dumb times for Live Chats or interactive class if you prefer to call them that. The discussion boards are meant for you to look through and gain insight or help your fellow classmates... a key tool in working in the professional IT world. It is aboot interaction not simply knowledge. As for that aspect, I have been enrolled full time for almost one year at CTU and in every IT class I learned something. I have taken advanced placement classes in high school dealing w computers and knew C++, Visual Basic, Java, HTML, and a handful of other languages from these classes. I had above average intricate knowledge of computer hardware and software and yet I still did learn. Most likely the other reviews did not stay in school longer than the 101 classes and could very easily be why they "did not learn". I am not saying the school is the best out there, bit it really osmotic a bad option. You DO solve actual math probs in class too btw... its a tool called Intellipath that they use. Its a major part of your grade also. So idk what bs was being said about it not. Anyway, the classes are riddled with some students who clearly dont care but the key is to not deal with them. It really is a case of you get what you put into it. In a way it is like you are getting guidance by an instructor (most w PhD's and dual degrees) to do the research on your own and learn the lvl of work you put in. So the one review is correct in.a manner of sealing. They are not there to walk you through classes... and being online you obviously signed up to learn in this way so you gain flexibility while still being able to gain an accredited degree. The books have been very good selections and go further in scope than the basics most classes cover. Along with that the interaction of the Virtual Campus is easy and simple to use. All in all, it has to be looked at that there are all different skill levels coming to learn and they cannot swamp the majority bc of a few students being more advanced. In those cases they should b asking for help... my instructor sat on the phone with me for nearly an hour two nights ago to explain and help me gain knowledge on material we were not even going in to yet. I have had quick replies from most instructors and they have all been very nice. One thing I have heard about as a negative had been the financial aid office though. Personally I have had great results talking to them and they have been spot on with every penny I was given. I also signed my loams to not be changed by them. Any dates they have given me have held true. Others mainly complain aboot not getting funds back when THEY expect them and not even talking with a FA supervisor. If the ppl expect $ back fast tho, forget it. With hpw many ppl rip off n stick the Dept of Education w loams and whatnot so they can get stipends fast... it makes it a longer wait each yr for the rest of us. So it is not CTUs fault. You personally control the option of handling your loans... so to those who complain... did you handle them yourselves? If so, there's your problem... bc they cannot change anything n u need to fix it. For those who let them control the loan amts, your problem lies within allowing them to change variables and it leaves you with less in stipends, plus they love to roll money over to further classes. Best thing you can do is not worry about those and focus on schooling if you go to CTU online. You will get what you put into it. They surely do not holda your hand. Hope this helps...

If you read the other review by Mikepettinato, then you got all the information you need to know, but I know how I am with reviews (one alone does not mean much) so I thought I would share mine here also. I gave a 3.93 GPA, have been going to CTU for over and year and have learned NOTHING. I truly do not understand how anyone can fail at this school or get anything less than an A because of the way the courses are set up. Not only are they all exactly the same, which I would not hate if it involved learning valuable information, but most instructors just give you the answers for the first few weeks! I guess now that I say that I can see how someone could fail because being given the answers for three weeks then being sent out on your own can be a disaster, but almost everything is on Google, right? I know I get a better education from Google! And do not expect any attention or cohesion among the staff. Everyone will tell you something different, no one will be right until the one who gives you the bad news and good luck getting someone to care once you are enrolled. Expect your tuition to go up at the drop of a hat and teachers that talk more about the pet sitting on their lap than the stuff you are trying to learn. And most of all, look forward to the most ignorant crap you will ever read (and have to respond to) in the discussion boards. I guess what I'm saying is I'm only here for the piece of paper I get when I graduate (which probably won't mean much) and it's a good thing I already know quite a bit about my degree program or I would be really screwed. I have been looking into other schools and am in the process of trying to find one that will accept at least a few of my credits. That's the thing with online schools, once you pick one, you're stuck so pick well!

You may be interested in this college for one reason or another, but you probably want to get your education for a job. You need to know that if you give them your e-mail or any information they will abuse the crap out of it. Upon sending my info to them online on their website requesting some information, I was called the next day by a recruiter who would not stop talking to me, even at work. I asked him to call back later. Oh, they called back alright. They called back the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day etc. Once I stopped answering they apparently elevated my situation to one of their "top recruiters." I didn't buy it at all, this was the most pushy, needy woman on the planet. But, somehow I was about to start classes when I decided it wasn't time for me. Apparently this was unacceptable and I was told "NO" at first. I just said to her, I don't care what you think AT ALL, I am not doing this. This was not enough apparently and they elevated me to her boss at some point. This is when I told her that I do not want to talk to that person ever again and the only way to get them to stop talking to me for now, was to tell them I would be taking classes next "session" instead. So guess what they did, started calling me again 5 weeks later and it was the same push woman who wouldn't let it go. Well, my temporary employment at my awesome job ended and I was stuck questioning what to do. So, when this obnoxious woman called back, I ended up agreeing to take the classes. This didn't stop her from calling me every single day until I filled out the online forms. Once I did this I never heard from her again. This was both a blessing and a sign of shady things to come. The first class they FORCE you to take (I say the first, because you have absolutely no control over which classes you take, when you take them, and the time they are)is a very, very elementary introduction class to the "online campus." Here you learn about setting goals and most of your grade is determined by idiotic responses to people's phony interest in the school and "information" we were getting. Also, there was no book for this course, but you still have to pay the full tuition fee, which I was told was so inflated due to books and material. The "live sessions" are one hour, twice a week, incredibly boring listening sessions. After the first 20 minutes of the teacher figuring out what she was doing and talking to students she began her now 40 minute lecture. This was about 5 minutes worth of material expanded for the duration, in part because of her slowness and in part because really dumb people had actual questions about what she was talking about. This class was mostly a joke, but it was just an introductory class, so I assumed that my next set of real classes would be much different. My next set of classes start and lo and behold it is exactly the same setup. We are forced into responding to students for a grade with half-assed and phony responses. I still only have a 1 hour (ish) period of listening to a boring instructor and now there are group assignments. On top of all of this, I was taking classes that I didn't want to and didn't care about. So finding the motivation to get up at 5AM to listen to the teacher live was impossible. Apparently someone intelligent thought it was okay to have a 5am live class, which I figure I am paying for a class to participate in. I e-mailed the teacher about this and he said it will not change. So after the first week of hell, I decided I didn't want to do this. This is when very bad things started happening. I call them up on monday and ask to be withdrawn from the terribly rushed and boring 5.5 week classes I was forced into. I got an immediate "NO." Apparently you only have the first 5 days of class to withdraw and get your money back. Unfortunately this was the moment I realized I participated in a huge scam. There was no pleading or arguing with these people that would change their mind, because it was "policy." But the good news was, I could withdraw and NOT get my money back! These people are a joke and could care less about any one student. After weeks of pleading with financial aid advisers, my financial aid was revoked because I accepted the withdrawal and I was stuck with a $900 bill and a $1200 loan for 2 classes I did not take, or want to take. I even filed a dispute with financial aid describing my situation and what had happened. It was promptly denied and I was left screwed over, learning nothing. Sorry for the really long rant, but this place is mostly a money grubbing scam. If you want rushed courses that are packed into 5.5 weeks and cost over $1200 each this college may be for you. If you want little to no time with an instructor and a 1 hour twice a week listening and holding internet hands "live session," this may be the college for you. If you want forced group interaction, awkward communication, and a to hear meaningless responses from people that are probably dumber than you (no offense), this may be the college for you. Just know, you are only a dollar sign to these people.

I must start by saying that I graduated with a 4.0 at CTU, so I'm not just another disgruntled student who thought he/she was going to get an easy ride; I put a lot of time and effort into earning my degree at CTU. I went above and beyond on my assignments to try to really understand the subject matter. Learning the material was really important to me, not just getting an A with the least amount of work possible. Overall, CTU is not a very good value. The school is among the most expensive there is for online programs. The programs are really a joke in my opinion. First, the school tries to use the same exact syllabus for each class, which just doesn't work out very well. In other words, you end up writing a paper on math instead of actually doing/learning math problems. Secondly, the discussion board postings are worthless. Every week you have to participate in discussion boards, but there is never really any meaningful discussion going on. The discussion postings are mainly students who can barely read or spell posting comments such as, "great work, keep it up!" Third, you get virtually no help from the professors. During my time at CTU I tried to contact professors on several occasions to ask questions/seek more help on various subjects. I never received an answer of any sort. I was always told to Google it or watch the class lecture. I did watch the class lecture, but needed some additional explanation. What is the point of having experienced professors if they are just going to tell you to Google it? They don't even "teach" during the lectures; they simply read a PowerPoint slide to the class. Fourth, many times the subject matter was off base. For instance, in the object-oriented design class we wrote a procedural based program, not an object-oriented program. WTH? I got a 99 for the class, but didn't really learn much about object-oriented design. I learned more about object-oriented design within an hour of reading Head First Java on my own time than I did during the entire object-oriented design course at CTU. It seems that you are graded more for your ability to write than you are for understanding the subject matter. I will say that the technology is top notch, but it does little to overcome the weaknesses in curriculum. Fifth, financial aid was also dishonest with me. They are pressured to tell students whatever they need to tell them to get the most money possible. I explicitly explained to financial aid that I didn't want to take more classes than my student loans would cover in a year and if I had to drag out the length of the program that was fine. The main point was that I didn't want to have to pay out-of-pocket. Of course they told me I had plenty of available loan money and kept me enrolled in the maximum number of classes each term. Next thing you know, they said I'd need to pay $8000 for the remainder of the year because I had already used up all my loan money. I paid because I had no choice if I wanted to finish. This really left a sour taste in my mouth. Before this happened, my opinion of CTU was just that they were any other business with good intentions but simply had a very weak program. To me, the dishonesty there showed me they are worse than that - cons out to extort as much money as possible from their students in as short a time as possible. I'll leave with this: the program is very, very easy and you won't really learn much, even if you go above and beyond. But, you will earn an accredited degree. If you're a working adult that hasn't been in school in over 20 years and consider yourself weak academically, you might benefit a little from CTU's degree program. Otherwise, there are much better schools such as UMASS (same price as CTU) and Western Governors ($6000 per year) for the same price or less than CTU. The important thing to remember here as potential students ponder attending CTU is that earning a degree is not the answer, it's really what you do with the knowledge gained. With that said, I cannot recommend CTU for 95% of the population. You'll end up with $50k in debt with little skills or knowledge to show for it. Even if another school such as Western Governors were found to be no better, at least you'd only be $12k in debt, not $50k. I only posted this review because I don't want other students to be in the same boat I'm in; that is, a lot of debt with little education. I'm looking into attending another institution and earning a second degree just because I feel that my time spend with CTU was pretty much useless. I hope that those reading this won't make the same mistake I did. Please, find another school to attend.