Northcentral University

It's too bad that this school treated me badly - I went through a life and death struggle with cancer while attending this program. Now I have my DBA degree - 30 years hands on experience - and I can't find one online teaching job. Crazy. I know I have better skills than any professor out there. 5 yrs and 50K later - Nothing

I enrolled in the DBA in Information Security in 2011 - I finished all the classes in 1 year with a 3.9 grade average - I took the comprehensive exam and finished in less than half the time - Now I am 9 months, thats right 9 months into writing a concept paper that seems to never get approved. You spend a week making revisions, then 3 weeks waiting for feedback - meanwhile you pay 860 a month tuition. I can honestly say no matter what - I would not recommend this school to anyone - even if I got my degree today. The whole program is a scam, the teachers are useless, and they are not pushing anyone to a degree

What a joke this school is, I pity the people that attend this school and needs some adjustment or help in any procedural thing, they are in for a shock and a big fat F. I was ready to got with money in hand but I need for approval from the school of business Dean; talked to him directly and he swore on his mother's grave he would get back me the following day by 5PM. Two months later, after repeated emails, I talked to his flunky and the DEAN said NO - I told the no good S O Bs that is not ethical and I was glad they screwed me early on so I would never attend this school. To this date I have not heard back from the Dean or the flunky. Stay far away from the school, I have degree from other Online Universities (AMU, TUIU) and they are a million times better than this university. James B. Kirk, CW(R)

I read through a few of these and honestly there are good and bad intructors at every school, so do not prematurely judge your first class. NCU has a great format for those who are motivated to complete their degree. The doctorate level coursework is a challenge just keep on registering and you'll see for yourself. Additionally, I have a MBA from Penn State and guess what I did it online and NCU's format is more conducive to the learner and comparable in academic rigor. Bottom line, stay focused and centered on your goal. Pick the school which is best for you, maybe its NCU maybe it isn't. I needed a school that would help me accomplish my academic goals while still allowing me to work and support my family full time. Guess what I paid 56K for the MBA and I wish I had found other less pricier schools to attend. At this level (the doctorate) you need to have a regionally accredited school, your resume and credibility of schooling will speak to for itself. I tell my students (see I'm a college professor also) to choose a brick and motar school that offers online degrees for their BS and MS degrees for the doctorate choose the school that fits........NCU will fit even the busiest schedule.

NCU has both good and bad qualities. First I'll list what I have found to be the bad ones. 1. NCU does not participate in Title IV federal funding. That means that any loans you currently have in deferment will not stay in deferment. The school web site does hint that some lenders *might not* let your loans be in deferment, but that warning is not adequate. If I had known beforehand that I would have to be in repayment status while attending this "regionally accredited" school, I would have chosen a different school. 2. Since they don't participate in Title IV, you have to fund your tuition yourself. That might mean taking out personal education loans or charging it to your credit card, or simply using their payment plan. Fortunately for me, I can use GIBILL. 2. They have a fee for just about everything. If you want to have an additional transcript evaluated after initial enrollment, $50. If you want to change how you pay for your tuition, another $50. If you want to change from the DBA to a PhDBA, another fee. 3. As of the time of this writing, I am in my first course at NCU. This particular course is mandatory, and you cannot get credit for it from an identical course at another school. 4. As this is my first course at NCU, I can only speak to my experience in this course. There are 7 writing assignments. Write six 2-3 page papers, then one 15-20 page project paper. There is a "suggested" schedule of when to turn in each one, but you can go at your own pace and turn them in sooner. I read of one student who completed an entire 3-month course in just 8 days. There is no mandatory course discussion with the rest of the class, like at other online distance education schools. Also there is no lecture or lecture notes. Instead, you are assigned to read the textbook and write your papers using scholarly resources. I guess some people might count this as a good thing, but I consider it a weakness because you don't receive personal experience input from the instructor or fellow learners. Maybe that is why they don't call the instructors "instructors" ...they call them "mentors" instead. That ought to be "red flag" enough. 5. Degree and Institution recognition. There is another "North Central University" in Minnesota for Pentecostals. Some people might take offense at the possibility of confusing the two. According to the list of NCU's faculty members, many of them have degrees from NCU...it makes me wonder if they couldn't get a job anywhere else (because of their degree) and were forced to come back to NCU for work. And now for the good... 1. A PhD 100% online, no residency or campus visits. 2. Fair tuition pricing...at least for me since I'm Active Duty military. 3. Excellent online research tools. 4. Thus far I've received excellent service from the staff, but my first "mentor" is making me worry because she gave me no useful feedback on my first written assignment.