Kennedy Western University

I had gone to a brick and mortar business college and received 3 Associate Degrees. Having no schools in my area that offered a BS degree unless you attended day school, I enrolled in KWU and got my BS Degree in Quality Control and Quality Assurance Engineering in 1992. This was paid for by the company whom I worked for after they checked on the school's accreditation and reviewed my credits and assigned courses. I have seen on line criticisms of the school and realize the critics did not attend the school nor did they review the course work required. So how can they comment on the quality of the school? Myself, I had to read all the course books and having already been in QA/QC field for many years recognized the authors of the books to be the prime references in the QA/QC field world wide....Deming, Crosby, Bhote',Juran, and Taguchi. Likewise, I had to take tests on the material. In a number of cases I was not sure of the answer and found I had to read some of the material more than once to find the answer and/or make sure of the facts....a THOROUGH education. I applied for, did the course work, wrote my Thesis, and acquired my Master's degree in 1996. Now retired, I can fondly look back on the "Quality Manager" position I held in a number of companies. Each new company was a step up in size of the organization, the size of the QA/QC department, the number of people and multiple Quality Standard Certifications our companies won (ISO-9002, ISO-9001, QS-9000, TS16949, ISO-14001, CQI-9, AS9100b, Ford Q1, AS910C,and NADCAP.. All primed for success with the education I got at KWU.

I had completed a bachelors in Electrical Engineering years back from an "Accredited" University, and decided to continue my education by completing the masters program at KWU. While I immediately noticed the coursework was not as intense in Mathematics as my BS degree, the coursework was not at arbitrary or mundane...it was very good and on topic for the electronics fabrication industry. I nearly finished my masters degree when KWU dropped the program then closed. There was not ANY online colleges offering the same type course work related to my degree. I am upset not to have finished my degree, but I live in one of the states that eventually passed a law to not recognize KWU diploma. I remember my frustration with the accredited colleges taking hours and hours of classes that didn't have anything to do with my area of study. I'm glad others found the course work thorough and challenging, maybe different than other courses, but valid and useful for working people. This is a case that the result of the study seemed more of a which hunt with people whose minds were already made up. Non-accredited in certain states is much different than the term diploma mill. This was not the latter.

While not being nationally accredited, the company I worked for, a nation wide telecom company, found their program acceptable for people like me who worked too far from a brick and mortar school. They paid for my BSEE, accepted it, and promoted and paid me as a an individual with a degree. I found the course work challenging, and the proctor administered tests tough. The hardest part was writing the 135 page final paper. It is too bad that the school had to close because it fell into disrepute because of other non accredited diploma mills. KWU was definitely not one of those.

I got a PhD from KW and now I'm getting a PhD from an accredited traditional University. I find them different. But to say an education by the format of KW is ignorant in the true sense of the word. What I learned via the KW format has served me well. When I finish my second PhD I will attempt to return to this page and tell the God's honest truth about the KW education and the value it was to me. As an adult learner I did my research and learned a ton. I didn't require a professor 24/7. I was able to go right to the authors of the books or the experts in the field of study to get my questions answered via the wonders of the internet. In some ways I worked harder and learned more than the traditional way. Well as soon as I get that second PhD I will be able attest to the value of both methods. BTW the KW one cost me 10 K and the accredited one about 50 K. It's all about the money and who's in the club people. Come on!

KW's BSME course was difficult due to the non-classroom structure. However, the texts were first rate and the subject advisors were very helpful. Unfortunately KW folded before I finished my Masters so that is money down the drain.

Like so many others have said, my degree from KWU has been extremely helpful in advancing my career path in the petro-chemical environemental engineering field. The depth of learning is, like everywhere else, how far you wish to go, and the usefulness of the degree is what you make of it. In the mid nineties, when I enrolled, it was about the only option I had as a highly tasked executive in a quickly growing company. The instructional materials were top notch, and I had no problems with support at that time. Since completing the PHD program, the credential has definitely benn recognized by multinational corporations where field performance counts a whole lot more than "the brand" of the degree. Again, it is what you make of it.

An unusable degree issued by an unrecognized business (should never have been called a University) that is now thankfully out of business. The only saving grace is that I was granted enough free credits for life experience that the cost wasn't too bad. Easy courses, take an exam (with or without studying) and get credit.

Harder than Traditional: Graduate (BS Mechanical Engineering)- personally my experience with KW was that it was extremely challenging and a most difficult program with strict checks and balances. The specific nature of KW programs require one to essentially learn every page in each text and the final thesis was brutal by all accord. At no time, was I awarded credits merely for work experience.

I completed my degree in 2006. It was hard work. The course content was every bit as good as other colleges I've attended. It took me two years to complete and I am very angry that identifying this school on applications is having a detrimental affect on my job search.

finished all my course work, was 25% into my final thesis... no word, no email, no phone call... i try to log into my account with no luck, phone calls were disconnected. worse part... after a month of searching, i found warren, warren university that took over would not take my credits.... absolutly worthless and disgusted!!!

I finished 7 courses and was half done my Thesis when they stopped answering my emails and phones messages. Then they changed names and closed. The money I paid and the Degree I deserved went with it. Now I'm left with nothing. Now what?

I'm applaud at what I'm reading and finding out this degree is garbage, I completed the studies and graduated and have transcript and diploma. Also IRS wants more information from(that I don't)they needed to fill a 1099 T something they were suppose to fillout and didn't what total disrespect for any of us.

I have 6 other degrees, including a professional degree via conventional programs. I chose to do K-W courses instead of going to seminars etc. for my continuation training. These courses were paid for by the federal government and I studied hard and used my grades to document completion to the tax payers. I found the study to be just as hard or easy as you wanted to make it. My dissertation I would put up against any program. And some of the course work was better than the conventional programs. K-W was strongly involved with distant learning long before state universities began offering distant programs. I think K-W got a bum rap when compared to some of the programs available at this time. Any agency that would hire solely on the basis of a PhD in my book is more corrupt than any so called diploma mill. I am retired now so the degrees mean nothing to me ... the education does and I gained an education from k-w based on the amount of work I put into the study.

Be carefull which online school you attend! Failure of this school ruined many lives and left many people in debt including me. It was a sham. They sold you inch thick text books and you take one test. No lectures, no teacher or student interaction, no progressive learning. They lied. The smartest people at this school were the administrators that walked away with our money and turned off the servers and locked the door. They didn't even file for bankruptcy. Word to the wise - Use only nationally accredited schools that have strong financial backing!

I have completed my PhD in Engineering Management in 2003, It was a great program, excellent communication with faculty team and appointed advisor. Kennedy Western was rated third in top twenty. The change of name to Warren National and then closing the operation, put me and my degree in a very embaressing position withing my company and business community. This is a loss of credibility I am facing now, which is to me a big disappointment after all. nevertheless, I am still pround of Kennedy Western and the degree I have obtained.

The program was very beneficial in helping me grow personally and triple the size of my medical device business. My dissertation on Polymer Nanotechnology yielded four US and international patents. I had a BS from UMass Lowell and an MS from UConn prior to Kennedy Western and the course work was comparable, maybe a little more challenging because you were mostly on your own, which is real life after college. You should never stop learning especially in mid carreer. This program allowed me to meet and exceed my professional goals while running my business and participating in an active family life.

The materials were great and courses were legitimate. While it is always better to have an accredited degree, I am glad I was able to complete the Kennedy Western engineering degree program. I learned a lot.

I also abandoned ship around 2001 due to the lack of support and discovering that their engineering program was worthless. In fact, it was softer than an environmental science program. The books were pretty good, but their idea a study was to read and learn every page of every book. I could have done that on my own without having to pay so much cash. I sould have known something was going on when I received the school package with a drawing of a crying baby stating, "I'm sorry."

I had to abandon my last class due to lack of support. Although I believe I got some out of the subjects that I did complete. I could have gotten the same by going to the library. I attempted to get them to change my degree, but was refused and told that I would have to spend another 5K. I wish that I could have finished the last math class, just to say I accomplished it, but I felt all alone with no help to support me.

I abandoned ship after discovering the bogus nature of this outfit and the worthlessness of any "degree" earned. There is a lawsuit in progress against them and for good reason. I am a member of the group of plaintiffs and I invite anyone else to check it out. Here's a link to a good source of information about that degree seller: www.cheyenneherald.com .

I graduated in 2006 based on my previous "traditional" and KW coursework. At no time did I get credit for any sort of work experience. I worked harder at this school than the traditional classes because I had to make the time and use internal determination. The 75 page final paper was brutal and the school review team reviewed it in DETAIL before approving. The only negative was getting a support from faculty given the method. I am overwhelmed with anger and disgust that my diploma is not worthless!