Southwestern College

I've been going to Southwestern College (Winfield, KS) for about a year now (started in February 2008). The classes are 6 weeks long each, which can be hectic at times, but the shorter class format is allowing me to earn a degree faster than with other programs. For courses I've found to be the most intensive, taking 1 at a time has helped a lot. For the others, it is quite possible to take 2 at a time if you can afford to invest significant amounts of time in the coursework. I am currently deployed to Afghanistan where I work a full-time job, and have found I have very little free time with a full course load (2 classes at a time, 3 sessions per semester for a total of 18 credits). Taking just 1 class per 6 weeks still earns you 9 credits per semester. You do have to be disciplined with the shorter class format. If you start to get behind, catching up can be extremely difficult. Southwestern College uses Blackboard as the delivery format for courses, so I was free to log in at any time and didn't have to try to get online at a certain time. That definitely helped considering the vast difference in my time zone from the U.S. Every instructor (except 1) that I've had has been very helpful and supportive. The 1 instructor I've rated below the others initially tried to help a bit, but seemed to dismiss me after a week or so. Whenever I would receive graded homework back, she would only state that my answers were wrong, without providing me with what the right answer should have been (math-based course). I wasn't able to learn much, since I couldn't find out what the answers should have been to be able to work the math backwards to see why I had missed the question. I ended up withdrawing from the course and completing it later with a different instructor. The second time around, I took the course by itself so I could devote more time to the material, and ended up acing it. Southwestern College is also a part of the AU-ABC matriculation agreement with the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF). The shool accepted my 2 CCAF associate's degrees for the general coursework and elective requirements leaving me just the business administration curriculum to complete. Additionally, for military personnel, Southwestern discounts their tuition to just $240 per credit hour which meant my military tuition assistance covered just about everything. The only amount I spent out of pocket was for books, and for those classes I took after my tuition assistance fiscal year cap had been exceeded. Overall, I am very pleased to have found this college and will be very proud of my degree, knowing I truly had to earn it. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely select Southwestern College. My only regret is that I will still be here in Afghanistan when I graduate and won't be able to join my classmates during commencement.

I just completed my BS in Security Management at Southwester College and I found the program very challenging. The instructors ranged from good to excellent, not a stinker in the bunch. My only complaint was that the courses were only six weeks long, making you hustle to keep up, and forget it if you fall behind. As with most online degree programs, it is very heavy on reading and writing, but manageable if you stay on schedule. I enjoyed my online experience so much that I plan to begin an online graduate program soon.