ECPI University

The school is a very evil scam. You don't realize it at first. Then you're in denial. Here I am at 90 credits and I'm realizing that I've wasted my time. I was expecting things to get better after a handful of introductory courses. The fact is, that they never get more difficult. At 90 credits it's just the same old introductory nothing - I've learned it all already. It's horrible on a thousand counts. Worse, complaints are met with discrete punishment.

I’ve read a lot of reviews about ECPI and decided to put in my 2 cents as well. I’m an armed services veteran eligible for post 9-11 GI Bill. I’ve also worked as a field technician for 7 years after leaving the military. I just graduated from ECPI with BS Electronics Engineering Technology (online) a few months back. This is not an engineering degree, you can google "BSEET vs BSEE" if curios about the differences. Many of the ECPI reviews are from people who did not finish their degree and it feels like they just need to vent. I think I can be a little more objective and set the record straight on several topics. ECPI University is regionally accredited which is what you want. Even though it is somewhat counter intuitive, national accreditation is a lot less respected than the regional one. All big schools that everyone hears about are regionally accredited. With that said, ECPI does not have an ABET accreditation (EAC or TAC). Devry compares to ECPI favorably in this regard since it has both regional accreditation and ABET (TAC) for some programs. However, both of these schools are considered “Private For-Profit”. There are many great private schools in the US but most of them are not for-profit. Fairly or unfairly, but some employers will block you if you attend a private for-profit school such as ECPI, Devry, University of Phoenix, Strayer and many others that advertise themselves frequently. So, be prepared for that. Overall, quality of education is satisfactory. Many of the computer and network related classes use certification books as class text books. That way you can learn what’s needed to get certified and get a job afterwards. Some classes are less challenging, although several classes are really tough. If you think that you just take a test at the middle and at the end of the term to get credit, you are wrong. Final and midterm tests count for only 10-15% of your final grade. Many classes have course projects that you’ll need to write throughout the term and lab reports that need to be submitted every week. For an average person who is willing to put in the time, the degree can be completed with reasonable amount of effort. And yes, you will need to put in the time to be successful. Also, the certification exams can boost the chances of getting the job even more. The funny thing is, if you work in IT, having a degree may not even be necessary. Sure, having a degree won’t hurt, but you can get an entry level job and start a career with certs alone. There is a job placement assistance after graduation. I’ve been to a job fair at one of the ECPI campuses. Most of the companies were there to hire entry level medical assistants. The rest were hiring IT network specialists. Northrop Grumman was supposed to show up as well, but there was just a resume collecting cardboard box with their name on it instead. This was not superior to any of the job fairs that I went to which did not have any requirements to attend at all. One thing that I liked was the fact that there were a lot of employers in general at the job fair at ECPI. Some of those employers were state law enforcement and well known private companies, so no, it’s not just the Burger King that hires ECPI grads, lol. My personal job search is still ongoing four months after graduation. I’m currently employed with the same employer I was before I went to ECPI, mainly because I already have a decent job. Now I’m looking for a great job and this is going to take time which I do have. I had been invited to an in-person interview by two very impressive employers for junior level career positions and I got these interviews without ECPI’s help. I haven’t been hired by any of these companies, but the fact that I was even considered is telling me that some places won’t care as much about what school you went to as long as you have a four-year degree, the right experience and ability to get security clearance if required. Credit transfer from ECPI to another university is possible, but it depends entirely on that particular university. For example, both GMU and ODU accept ECPI credits. You can go to their respective websites, go to the credit transfer sections, pull down ECPI and see what credits transfer and as what. Of course not everything transfers, and what does transfer, it only does so as electives for the most part. This means that getting an associate’s degree from ECPI versus any community college in Virginia is a big mistake if you want to attend a public university afterwards. There is an agreement in Virginia between community colleges and public universities. After getting the right associate’s degree, you can go directly to junior year of a 4-year school and all of your credits will transfer. An associate’s degree from ECPI will not only cost around 20k more for a 2-year degree, but will likely only provide around 20 credits as electives instead of 60 towards the bachelor’s degree. The only time when it would make sense to go to ECPI knowing that you are not planning to graduate is if you find out what school you will attend afterwards and take only those few classes that are guaranteed to transfer. This could help someone who is deployed and can only take classes online until they come back to US. The landscape changes a little if you plan on getting a graduate degree afterwards. The schools are less picky when it comes to completed bachelor’s degree when considering for admission into master’s degree. Some of my fellow ECPI graduates were accepted into MBA programs at public universities. Somebody was provisionally admitted into an MSEE at a school that has ABET (EAC) accredited BSEE. The provisions were that they needed to take one semester of calculus and physics and get at least a B in both. Afterwards, they are cleared to take the 30 credits of graduate classes, write the thesis and receive their MSEE. This is possible because ECPI is a regionally accredited school. ITT Tech graduates with their national accreditation will experience a lot more trouble trying to get into a master’s degree program at a public school. ECPI is very fast compared to most schools. You can take 4 or 6 credits every 5 weeks. If your GPA is high enough, you can ask for overload and take more than 2 classes each term. You usually ask for overload during those terms that you are only scheduled for 4 credits (1 class and a lab) to have 7 credits total (2 classes and a lab). There are no breaks in between and you go straight into the next term after the current term ends. There are a total of 10 terms in a year, with two terms being 6 weeks long instead of 5. ECPI costs way more than a community college and comparable to a state 4-year university. It charges tuition per semester and it comes up to about $6800 every 15 weeks (as of January ’13). Regardless of whether you take 4 or 6 credits per term, the tuition is still the same. You can expect the bill to add up to about 60k if you go from zero to bachelor’s at ECPI and it is possible to complete it in a little over 2.5 years if you take no breaks. If you have post 9-11 GI Bill, ECPI is working out very well. It is yellow ribbon certified, which means you won’t have to worry about exceeding the annual tuition cap. Also, the benefits are based on the number of months. ECPI accepts credits from military transcripts which can make it possible to complete the entire degree in even shorter time period while receiving housing allowance every month and money for the books before each term. The remainder of the benefits can pay for a portion of the graduate degree. When it comes to professional engineer license, it is possible to get it with an engineering technology degree from ECPI. In Virginia, the requirement for such degree holders is 10 years of progressive engineering experience before being permitted to take PE exam. This is in contrast to only 4 years of progressive engineering experience for someone with ABET accredited BSEE or BSME. The point is ECPI way takes more time but still doable. Keep in mind that some other states are less generous and will not permit engineering technology grads to sit for PE exams at all. This can present challenges with your existing PE license reciprocity between the states in the future. Attending ECPI University can be a good decision if you are not planning to transfer credits out of it, manage to pay for it with grants, employer tuition assistance or veteran benefits. Paying the full price out of pocket or with loans can take many years to pay back without the guarantee that getting this degree will lead to a salary increase. In such case the risk is too high in my opinion. If you are currently not working, planning to attend ECPI and use student loans for that purpose, stop immediately, ECPI is not for you. You will be much better served by attending a community college or any public university. If you want to actually learn something to improve yourself and don’t care about the degree, stop immediately, ECPI is not for you either. Just buy the books you need on Ebay or Amazon and learn it yourself. This will be 80% the same as if you attended ECPI and a heck of a lot cheaper, however, this can easily be said about many schools. The problem for working adults is that their life is too busy and getting a bachelor’s degree in traditional way can take up to 10 years if taking only 2 classes per semester. If you are a working professional who already knows his job and just needs a piece of paper to ease the job search or get a promotion at work, ECPI might be for you but only as long as it’s done without interrupting your current career and preferably on someone else's dime. Bottom line, a 4-year degree from ECPI will meet the minimum job requirements for having a college degree *in some cases* and it can also open the door to a graduate school. But if you can complete any 4-year public school in a reasonable amount of time, it will be superior since you can get an ABET (EAC) Engineering degree and won’t ever have to deal with anyone questioning whether you went to a “real school” or not.

I am active duty in the Navy and have just finished my Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering Technology. This school was at times very difficult, but only in a select few classes. The majority of the classes were very easy. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA if that helps to enlightening anyone. My biggest problem with this school are the instructors. Yes, they are all qualified for the classes they are teaching IE have Master's or PHD's in the their majors, but most of them are working professionals. The school boasts this as a plus, but in my opinion it is not. Since they do have jobs other than being an instructor they are not near as focused on teaching. In fact, I really believe the majority of the teachers could give two SHITS about being a teacher and they are just doing the bare minimums to collect their FAT pay checks for teaching, which they clearly don't do. I honestly believe that some of these teachers do not even grade my coursework. I think they just see if it's turned in and just give me a 100% if it was. I have actually tested that theory before by turning in the wrong assignment and sure as shit I got a 100%. These teachers don't care about giving you any sort of help or education. They just want another pay check by doing as little as they possibly can. It's really pathetic actually. This school's entrance test is the biggest joke ever and that's part of the problem. Long story short, if you come to this school expect to pay a lot, get no help from the instructors, and if you are to be successful in learning anything that is 100% up to you. You can leave a class actually learning if you taught yourself. If you are leaving that up to your instructor then you will leave ECPI knowing nothing. The only reason I chose ECPI is because I have a full time job and am a father of 3. Going the traditional route wouldn't have worked with my schedule. Also, this school is regionally accreditted, unlike ITT. If you want a degree and you were in the same boat as me I recommend it if you are dedicated to teach yourself. If not, then don't waste your time. This school is a FOR PROFIT institution unlike what this web page says. For profit school's are more expensive and don't give you the same type of education as a traditional state university or community college would give, but they are the only option to many people like myself with hectic schedules and life responsibilities. I hope this review helps some of you out that are considering it. Good luck in whatever your choose.

I found it worth my time and money.