American "Military" University is a cruel fraud perpatrated on the less educated and younger service people. I learned about this terrible little organization from a friend who was unfortunate enough to attend and enrolled myself because I thought getting a degree would help me. What a mistake!
AMU is NOT a real school in the same way Kansas State or Embry Riddle is a school. AMU is a diploma mill that is using the federal government to siphon money from unsuspecting soldiers without enough sense to question why a for profit school put the word "military" in its name. I would post the class discussions but they are so embarrising, riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, ignorant, and off topic that I don't want to come off as if I'm mocking the students OR THE INSTRUCTOR!
Imagine, the instructors who are supposed to be able to spell but can't, instructors are required to have a master's degree can't spell. shameful! There's a reason all the instructors are rated so high at ratemyprofessor. they'll pass your dead grandmother so long as you give them government money. they'll give her an associates or a bachelor degree too! no need to do any real work. Believe me, getting an associates for points is great but and so long as its accepted I'll go along with it but WHAT A RIPOFF!
Put your wallet in your hat and hold your head, people!
I attended APUS and had a very high GPA and was offered to be in the honor society. After receiving my loans I was told that I did not meet my SAP because I dropped a class and was told that the only way that I would be able to keep attending was to fill out a SAP appeal in which I did due to my children who were sick and were out of school for over a week.They approved for me to go back only until the next semester they started saying the exact same thing again. Although I was taking the classes and doing what was needed. they told me that I needed to submit an appeal and I did with the documentation from the first time because I had been taking all the classes and didn't see what the problem was. However, when I sent uploaded they documents twice they kept telling me they did not get them and could not see them. So I fax them twice and receive the same excuse they did not get them then they could not read them. So I was told the only way I could attend is if I could out of pocket in which I cannot afford as I explained to them but unfortunately that did not matter and so I am stuck with huge debt and a Awesome GPA in which I could have very well graded myself. I don't feel it was necessary to pay someone to tell me I am capable of getting a high GPAl but moreso I'd be ripped out. I feel that all the money that they have ripped off from people, they should be forced to pay those debts back to the government and shut down.
How was I ripped off by APISS/AMU? Let me count the ways...
1. I was half way through the program...and they dropped the program! This demonstrates how bureaucratic whimsy is more important to them than their students. I could either quit and lose all the work I had done, or finish the program by taking a bunch of classes that had nothing to do with my major. I chose the latter, which was a mistake.
2. In one class I answered the "short answer" section on the final with a short but comprehensive and correct answer. I was marked down because my answer was too short! The only class in which I didn't receive an "A" grade.
3. Most courses have contradictory syllabi and incomprehsible assignments. Nobody in the faculty or admin cares enough about the courses or the students to bother writing literate, intelligible syllabi or assignments.
4. My last class was taught by some affirmative action type who was ILLITERATE. The course syllabus was written by someone who was ILLITERATE--it turned out to be the Department Head! The Department Head was promoted to a Vice President--of a non-existent degree program!
5. In that class one assignment was to comment on a ridiculous, racist video. Because I commented negatively about the racist video, the affirmative action type prof began STALKING me in the discussions, making illiterate and irrelevant posts after my posts. Complaining to the admin did no good whatsoever, and they actually joined in the attack. I had to drop the class, and successfully repeated it with a normal teacher.
6. At the time they were accredited by DETC so I complained to DETC. So rather than conform to the high standards of DETC, APUS/AMU dropped their DETC accreditation!
7. AFTER I was approved by the finance office to graduate, AFTER I graduated, and AFTER I received my diploma they decided I hadn't paid enough and have begun withholding my transcripts.
If you are considering APUS/AMU you should reconsider. This place is a giant ripoff, and you may be the next victim. You may be half way through your program when they decide to drop it arbitrarily. If you don't have the politically correct race or ethnicity you may be stalked and harassed by affirmative action faculty and admininstrators. AVOID this place at all costs. There are lots of better alternatives out there, so don't risk finding that out the hard way.
Thanks AMU for setting people up for failure. I have been with them since I was in Afghanistan in 2011. 40 credits away from a Legal Studies Degree. One of my instructors is a legal drunk who does not respond to posts.
It doesn't matter that he has no teaching experience. It just matters that he grades you like you are in High School. AMU treats their students like they are trash.
Just because you too Liberal Arts and everything was fine, doesn't mean the other students who are taking more intense studies are experiencing intense bull%^&*#. It depends on the instructor and the fact that they already are willing to work with your hectic schedule in the military.
Now, the school has changed the classroom program, Sakai where it marks you late and then may forbid you to turn something in late. Oh, I see some people are saying well you should be turning things in on time like I am. Maybe you don't have a life and sit on the computer all day while mommy and daddy wipe your butt for you and of course you can get things done on time if you have nothing else to do.
Or maybe you are so high above everyone else and somehow you sit behind a computer all day anyway and can jump back and forth between what your job pays you for and the classroom work.
You try to get help through the academics department and the admissions person on the phone says, you need to send an email. You send several emails and get an automated response; you know, the same sentence back to you which means no one is really looking right now.
Once I got nasty and waited for a response, two weeks later I got an attitude on the email response from a Brannon? Oh, when are you going to call me Brannon? You said you would but I know you didn't like my last email and you are so much better than me so how dare I tell you off. I am just a student and you think you are a god of education or something.
Yeah, I got your name. Your Chancellor/Dean stays in the shadows and doesn't talk to the students at all and you are not allowed to get through to him at all. Oh, Chancellor, I met a friend of yours through military channels and he says you have lost touch and basically are greedy and he has been trying to tell you this.
The electronic e-books are sometimes downloaded by chapter. You have to go to a web link and download your whole book chapter by chapter and get this, they buy the book once and mass produce it to the students and you still pay the hard cover paged price for it.
Then they want you to join the first online fraternity. Pay them $150 to belong to the cool kids club. Will they help me find a job after that if I get connected to the cool people? It's not who you know, it's who you blow...We all now that in this world, right? I was a straight A for the past 2 years until I got this instructor. He hardly logs on and if you do get to talk to him and ask him to fix something or help you, he says he will then you don't hear from him or he says read the directions on the classroom site. The last time I actually talked to him was in the evening a few weeks ago and he sounded like he was slurring his words. If you are going to get drunk and talk to your students, you might as well grade them better but I forgot anybody who is in an educational institution these days or the government or lawyers for that matter sometimes think that they are so high up that you are wrong for trying to reach them and how dare you if you are an average Joe trying to get through your classes and understand what you are learning and you call them out on their bullshit.
The school only helps you if you become a pain in the ass but then they have an attitude after they actually had to do something for you. By the time you get the problem resolved you've wasted a couple of weeks getting an answer and then you are late turning something in because of it.
From the voices on the phone they also changed their staff from grownups to 19 or 20 somethings that have high annoying squeaky voices and are probably rolling their eyes whenever you, the student have a complaint that they need to handle. "Oh, my god, look at her butt....." they sound like that girl on that song "I like big butts...." (eyes rolling now)....lol. Sorry, since AMU can't seem to figure out how to be professional, why should I act like one here?...lol.
Please be advised. If you are a student who is considering applying or enrolling at the American Public University I would re-think my decision. and look for another school.
In my case, I have moved to an area of Florida where there are no affordable graduate schools within a campus-based attendance radius. There are some universities near here but the program(s) I need are not offered or are not affordable. I was previously attending another graduate program which was outside of my home state, and had a low-residency requirement. I was unable to fulfill that requirement. Due to financial and family obligations, I found out that I would be unable to attend a required, low-residency, out-of-state semester. So I dropped out of that graduate program and applied to APUS in October/November 2013.
Initially I had some reservations about two different graduate program choices. The first being an M.A. in Public History program and the second being a M.A. in Humanities program. At APUS both of these masters programs have a great deal of history classes built in to their program requirements for completion. I initially wanted to enroll in the M.A. in Humanities program and I still feel that this would have been the correct program for my educational interests.
When I first contacted APUS I was in touch with an admissions representative named Cecelia McKevitt. Upon speaking with her, she guided me toward the M.A. in History program, primarily because of my background in Archaeology, Paleontology and museum related endeavors as an undergraduate. She informed me verbally that if for any reason I began classes and found that I needed to change my program that APUS allowed that, and it was a very easy process with credits transferring straight across.
When I applied at APUS I transferred in six credit hours from my previous program in Education (M.A.Ed.). APUS transferred those credits in and I paid a $50.00 TCE fee (Transfer Credit Evaluation). I was awarded the transfer credit, everything went through, and I was allowed to begin my classes. About 2 or 3 weeks before enrolling at APUS, I began a TESOL program online to get my Teaching English as a Second Language Certification through the Global Leadership College. It is a 150hour teachers cert program and is not a university affiliated program, but is something of special interest to me, as an aspiring educator and someone who has made a commitment to life-long education.
Initially I was enrolled at APUS for nine graduate credit hours...which is three more than the six credit-hour fulltime requirement at APUS. My plan was to try to finish my masters degree in 3 semesters. Within the first 3 or 4 weeks of class I began working a few more hours at my job and realized that I would not be able to effectively learn and attend the three classes at APUS and I made a decision to drop one of my classes. However, at this point I was still a fulltime student at APUS. In addition, at about this point I came to the conclusion that the program I was currently enrolled in (The M.A. in History program) was in fact not the correct program for me. I greatly enjoy history, but I found that I had little interest in most of the coursework which was historic preservation and museum related courses. Having worked at museums in the past I already knew that this type of work was hard to find, hard to get paid for and to me quite boring. I know myself well enough to know that I did not enjoy museum work when I did it before, However, in my field(s) a masters degree is a prerequisite to finding a decent paying job. In most cases an applicant will not be considered based on having a Bachelors Degree only. Hence my desire to earn a Masters degree.
Another week or so went by and I was asked to take a leadership role at my job, which was going to require more of my time at work. I chose to drop another class and was growing more and more unhappy with my program each day. So, I tried to change it online through the student portal. I was not allowed to do this. I then called in and spoke to someone in admissions and was forwarded to someone in student services. They told me that in fact I could not change my program and that if I did, I was only allowed to change it during the last 2 weeks of the current semester. So I waited until then to change it and I was then told that I would lose my transferred credit and any other earned credit while at APUS and I would be subject to a new credit evaluation, if I did choose to change my program.
I was very upset to find this out, because Cecelia, my admissions rep had either lied to me or didn't know the rules. This became the beginning of my nightmare. In late December I dropped my third class of the M.A. in History program and I re-enrolled in an 8-week class under the M.A. in Humaities program. I did this because of advice from another advisor in studentservices. I was told that I had to maintain and earn at least 3 credit-hours within the current semester or my status as a graduate student and my financial aid would be greatly affected.
Let me just say that I dis not want to take this class. It was an 8-week class in Hinduism and while I respect all religions. I did not wish to study Hinduism. However, during that 8-week block there were only 2 classes available at APUS. One was Hinduism and one was Bhuddism. I only took the class because I was told I had to earn at least 3 credit hours for the semester. After enrolling in that class and finding out that I would lose all transfer and earned credit if I changed my degree program I made a bad decision to stay in my History program, regardless of what I really wanted to do educationally. I was beside myself with regret for ever going down this road.
APUS had charged me for all of these classes. However, they did refund me some money for dropped classes but the last class...the Hindusim class they refused to refund the money and held it for over 2 months citing a RT24 Hold. For those of you who don't know what this means it is a Return to TitleIV financial aid hold, which is basically a penalization to acess, if any financial aid money is to be returned to a students lender or to the federal government. However, this does not apply to graduate students who are only awarded loan money...without grant or scholarships available. I was told this fact by a person at APUS in Financial Aid after 2 months of trying to get the hold removed, so that I begin classes again at the beginning of the new semester on March 3, 2014. So from the end of December to the beginning of March...about three to three and a half months to get a hold lifted that should have never been placed on my account to begin with.
During this time I was unable to register, I was unable to change any of my classes, I was unable to gain any funding. I began calling graduate academic advising trying to get it sorted out and I found a wonderful and very helpful advisor named Greg Doyle, and felt that I had finally found an honest person within the university who understood my problems. He helped me to get in contact with someone in financial aid and someone who could better expedite my issues regarding the upcoming semester which was quickly approaching. He also told me that the some of the admissions people were less than knowledgable about rules and regulations and there job was simply to get student to apply, but they are NOT qualified to offer academic advice.
This is not to say that I have anything worked out with the university today (4-9-2014). I have been told repeatedly that my financial aid hold has been lifted, which I knew about back on February 18, 2014...but which did not reflect on my account until after the beginnig of the new semester. In addition, I am yet to be awarded my financial aid and as of today's date do not even know if I am getting funding for the current semster.
Because of the R2T4 Hold I had to take a late registration into a class and began it a week late and I was forbidden from changing one of my classes which actually had a suggested prerequiste, which I needed to take first...but was not allowed to enroll for. Again, all because of the R2T4 Hold that should have never been placed on my account to begin with.
I have been lied to or misled, parts of my school money have been used up for classes in a degree program I do not even want to be in, I have no idea if I am even getting funding or how much funding... or if I am going to have to pay the university out of my pocket for this current semester, I am now in jeapordy in the class that I had to take a late registration in, because I need a new computer to complete it, that I can not afford without my financial aid...and this professor has threatened me with a 10% grade reduction for any more late assignments.
I am usually an A student having graduated from my Bachelors program with honors and at APUS I am carrying a\ C's and am always fighting the administration. Not to mention my student loan account is $8,000.00 higher and I have earned -0- credit hours thus far.
I am leaving APUS after this semster regardless of my grades or earned credit hours. I will never attend another university on-line, and it is doubtful that I will attend any other university for a while. I am forced to work full-time hours and attend graduate school full-time right now because of the lack of funding and the lack of credible information from the administration at APUS. In essence, I am in educational limbo, with no end in sight. I was told 14 days ago in an email from Tammy in financial aid that my aid would credit to my account in within 15 days and today...day 14 of that 15 day time-span, I received another email from Stepanie in financial aid saying that it would be 14 more days before my account would be credited. We are now in the 6th week of school and I will not know about funding until half-way through the semester. Meaning that I may be liable to this university for several thousand dollars, out a couple hundred for books and 2 months worth or graduate work, where I could have been doing something else with my time.
My advise to anyone who is thinking of attending APUS is quite simply DON'T DO IT. But if you do,,,know EXACTLY what you want to do as far as educational endeavors go, DO-NOT under any circumstances listen to any advise from anyone within the university, make copies and get all communications through email, make sure you take screen-shots of your account with dates in the student portal, make sure to check your account often as they are in control of the database and will wipe things out as if they never existed. Luckily I did these things, so I would have a record in case this whole fiasco came to a head as it has.
I am currently working with an attorney who specializes in cases and class-action lawsuits against fly by night for-profit schools who exploit TitleIV funding, misrepresent themselves, and exist only to do harm to unsuspecting students. This is becoming a larger problem in the United States with every passing day. Send me a reply and I will gladly give you their number. There are so many complaints about APUS online, I thought that a class action lawsuit may be the best way to address these inequities for everone. In addition, you might open a grievance with the U.S. Department of Education, which may or may not go anywhere. And if you have a problem you can speak to the West Virgina Attorney Generals Office to open a Consumer Complaint. But my advise is simply to steer-clear of APUS all together. Find an inexpensive bricks and mortar college and go there, even if you have to move there for a while. It will benefit you in the end and give you a better all-around college experience. If you attend school online, you will basically be paying money to teach yourself. Save yourself this hassle.
American Public University often cites federal rules and regulations when students have questions about the delayed processing of financial aid. The school consistently neglects, however, to let student-borrowers know that it is entirely within their prerogative (the school's, not the student-borrower's) to release funds prior to the beginning of the semester... a practice common in public institutions of higher education.
Instead of facilitating student enjoyment of the educational process and affording borrower-students the opportunity to use financial aid resources to purchase textbooks and other necessary supplies - as is customary in public institutions, APUS, APU, and AMU refuse to request funding from the lending source until after the first week of classes... typically somewhere around day ten or eleven. It then takes the school's system two or three days to recognize that the funding has been sent by the lending institution... you can see their recognition of the delayed process (30+ days after the start of the semester) on their website.
When the school finally catches up, they let the money sit a week or so before they actually give it to the students... but we have to wait five (or more) days after the school decides to disburse the extra financial aid because they (still) do not have direct deposit. When the school was consulted regarding issues that this process causes with regard to purchasing textbooks for graduate courses (a great many of which are only 8 weeks long...) this author was told ""you could just buy them with your own money, and pay yourself back when you get your disbursement.""
First, my dear APU - the financial aid disbursement is my money... Secondly, it isn't ""paying myself back..."" it's a matter of not having the money in the first place. If I were to attend graduate school school full-time (which I do, because I want to get my degree and get as far away from the school as is possible, as soon as is possible) I do not have the opportunity to work full-time, as well. There is, quite simply put, no money to take from one function to purchase books and later replenish.
My fellow student-victims, I urge you to consider attending an institution other than APUS. The programs are open admission, which means a monkey with half a brain could get in, but they are entirely theoretically oriented and practice is limited. In my graduate program (having completed 36 of the 48 required hours) I have written more papers than I could recall, received inadequate-at-best feedback, and have been robbed - not only of an opportunity to grow as a professional (now that I will graduate - entirely unprepared for certification), but of thousands and thousands of dollars I could have used elsewhere to get a degree that would have provided me with practical opportunities in addition to the theoretical foundations.
American Public University often cites federal rules and regulations when students have questions about the delayed processing of financial aid. The school consistently neglects, however, to let student-borrowers know that it is entirely within their prerogative (the school's, not the student-borrower's) to release funds prior to the beginning of the semester... a practice common in public institutions of higher education.
Instead of facilitating student enjoyment of the educational process and affording borrower-students the opportunity to use financial aid resources to purchase textbooks and other necessary supplies - as is customary in public institutions, APUS, APU, and AMU refuse to request funding from the lending source until after the first week of classes... typically somewhere around day ten or eleven. It then takes the school's system two or three days to recognize that the funding has been sent by the lending institution... you can see their recognition of the delayed process (30+ days after the start of the semester) on their website.
When the school finally catches up, they let the money sit a week or so before they actually give it to the students... but we have to wait five (or more) days after the school decides to disburse the extra financial aid because they (still) do not have direct deposit. When the school was consulted regarding issues that this process causes with regard to purchasing textbooks for graduate courses (a great many of which are only 8 weeks long...) this author was told ""you could just buy them with your own money, and pay yourself back when you get your disbursement.""
First, my dear APU - the financial aid disbursement is my money... Secondly, it isn't ""paying myself back..."" it's a matter of not having the money in the first place. If I were to attend graduate school school full-time (which I do, because I want to get my degree and get as far away from the school as is possible, as soon as is possible) I do not have the opportunity to work full-time, as well. There is, quite simply put, no money to take from one function to purchase books and later replenish.
American Public University System Reviews
American "Military" University is a cruel fraud perpatrated on the less educated and younger service people. I learned about this terrible little organization from a friend who was unfortunate enough to attend and enrolled myself because I thought getting a degree would help me. What a mistake!
AMU is NOT a real school in the same way Kansas State or Embry Riddle is a school. AMU is a diploma mill that is using the federal government to siphon money from unsuspecting soldiers without enough sense to question why a for profit school put the word "military" in its name. I would post the class discussions but they are so embarrising, riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, ignorant, and off topic that I don't want to come off as if I'm mocking the students OR THE INSTRUCTOR!
Imagine, the instructors who are supposed to be able to spell but can't, instructors are required to have a master's degree can't spell. shameful! There's a reason all the instructors are rated so high at ratemyprofessor. they'll pass your dead grandmother so long as you give them government money. they'll give her an associates or a bachelor degree too! no need to do any real work. Believe me, getting an associates for points is great but and so long as its accepted I'll go along with it but WHAT A RIPOFF!
Put your wallet in your hat and hold your head, people!
I attended APUS and had a very high GPA and was offered to be in the honor society. After receiving my loans I was told that I did not meet my SAP because I dropped a class and was told that the only way that I would be able to keep attending was to fill out a SAP appeal in which I did due to my children who were sick and were out of school for over a week.They approved for me to go back only until the next semester they started saying the exact same thing again. Although I was taking the classes and doing what was needed. they told me that I needed to submit an appeal and I did with the documentation from the first time because I had been taking all the classes and didn't see what the problem was. However, when I sent uploaded they documents twice they kept telling me they did not get them and could not see them. So I fax them twice and receive the same excuse they did not get them then they could not read them. So I was told the only way I could attend is if I could out of pocket in which I cannot afford as I explained to them but unfortunately that did not matter and so I am stuck with huge debt and a Awesome GPA in which I could have very well graded myself. I don't feel it was necessary to pay someone to tell me I am capable of getting a high GPAl but moreso I'd be ripped out. I feel that all the money that they have ripped off from people, they should be forced to pay those debts back to the government and shut down.
How was I ripped off by APISS/AMU? Let me count the ways...
1. I was half way through the program...and they dropped the program! This demonstrates how bureaucratic whimsy is more important to them than their students. I could either quit and lose all the work I had done, or finish the program by taking a bunch of classes that had nothing to do with my major. I chose the latter, which was a mistake.
2. In one class I answered the "short answer" section on the final with a short but comprehensive and correct answer. I was marked down because my answer was too short! The only class in which I didn't receive an "A" grade.
3. Most courses have contradictory syllabi and incomprehsible assignments. Nobody in the faculty or admin cares enough about the courses or the students to bother writing literate, intelligible syllabi or assignments.
4. My last class was taught by some affirmative action type who was ILLITERATE. The course syllabus was written by someone who was ILLITERATE--it turned out to be the Department Head! The Department Head was promoted to a Vice President--of a non-existent degree program!
5. In that class one assignment was to comment on a ridiculous, racist video. Because I commented negatively about the racist video, the affirmative action type prof began STALKING me in the discussions, making illiterate and irrelevant posts after my posts. Complaining to the admin did no good whatsoever, and they actually joined in the attack. I had to drop the class, and successfully repeated it with a normal teacher.
6. At the time they were accredited by DETC so I complained to DETC. So rather than conform to the high standards of DETC, APUS/AMU dropped their DETC accreditation!
7. AFTER I was approved by the finance office to graduate, AFTER I graduated, and AFTER I received my diploma they decided I hadn't paid enough and have begun withholding my transcripts.
If you are considering APUS/AMU you should reconsider. This place is a giant ripoff, and you may be the next victim. You may be half way through your program when they decide to drop it arbitrarily. If you don't have the politically correct race or ethnicity you may be stalked and harassed by affirmative action faculty and admininstrators. AVOID this place at all costs. There are lots of better alternatives out there, so don't risk finding that out the hard way.
Thanks AMU for setting people up for failure. I have been with them since I was in Afghanistan in 2011. 40 credits away from a Legal Studies Degree. One of my instructors is a legal drunk who does not respond to posts.
It doesn't matter that he has no teaching experience. It just matters that he grades you like you are in High School. AMU treats their students like they are trash.
Just because you too Liberal Arts and everything was fine, doesn't mean the other students who are taking more intense studies are experiencing intense bull%^&*#. It depends on the instructor and the fact that they already are willing to work with your hectic schedule in the military.
Now, the school has changed the classroom program, Sakai where it marks you late and then may forbid you to turn something in late. Oh, I see some people are saying well you should be turning things in on time like I am. Maybe you don't have a life and sit on the computer all day while mommy and daddy wipe your butt for you and of course you can get things done on time if you have nothing else to do.
Or maybe you are so high above everyone else and somehow you sit behind a computer all day anyway and can jump back and forth between what your job pays you for and the classroom work.
You try to get help through the academics department and the admissions person on the phone says, you need to send an email. You send several emails and get an automated response; you know, the same sentence back to you which means no one is really looking right now.
Once I got nasty and waited for a response, two weeks later I got an attitude on the email response from a Brannon? Oh, when are you going to call me Brannon? You said you would but I know you didn't like my last email and you are so much better than me so how dare I tell you off. I am just a student and you think you are a god of education or something.
Yeah, I got your name. Your Chancellor/Dean stays in the shadows and doesn't talk to the students at all and you are not allowed to get through to him at all. Oh, Chancellor, I met a friend of yours through military channels and he says you have lost touch and basically are greedy and he has been trying to tell you this.
The electronic e-books are sometimes downloaded by chapter. You have to go to a web link and download your whole book chapter by chapter and get this, they buy the book once and mass produce it to the students and you still pay the hard cover paged price for it.
Then they want you to join the first online fraternity. Pay them $150 to belong to the cool kids club. Will they help me find a job after that if I get connected to the cool people? It's not who you know, it's who you blow...We all now that in this world, right? I was a straight A for the past 2 years until I got this instructor. He hardly logs on and if you do get to talk to him and ask him to fix something or help you, he says he will then you don't hear from him or he says read the directions on the classroom site. The last time I actually talked to him was in the evening a few weeks ago and he sounded like he was slurring his words. If you are going to get drunk and talk to your students, you might as well grade them better but I forgot anybody who is in an educational institution these days or the government or lawyers for that matter sometimes think that they are so high up that you are wrong for trying to reach them and how dare you if you are an average Joe trying to get through your classes and understand what you are learning and you call them out on their bullshit.
The school only helps you if you become a pain in the ass but then they have an attitude after they actually had to do something for you. By the time you get the problem resolved you've wasted a couple of weeks getting an answer and then you are late turning something in because of it.
From the voices on the phone they also changed their staff from grownups to 19 or 20 somethings that have high annoying squeaky voices and are probably rolling their eyes whenever you, the student have a complaint that they need to handle. "Oh, my god, look at her butt....." they sound like that girl on that song "I like big butts...." (eyes rolling now)....lol. Sorry, since AMU can't seem to figure out how to be professional, why should I act like one here?...lol.
Please be advised. If you are a student who is considering applying or enrolling at the American Public University I would re-think my decision. and look for another school.
In my case, I have moved to an area of Florida where there are no affordable graduate schools within a campus-based attendance radius. There are some universities near here but the program(s) I need are not offered or are not affordable. I was previously attending another graduate program which was outside of my home state, and had a low-residency requirement. I was unable to fulfill that requirement. Due to financial and family obligations, I found out that I would be unable to attend a required, low-residency, out-of-state semester. So I dropped out of that graduate program and applied to APUS in October/November 2013.
Initially I had some reservations about two different graduate program choices. The first being an M.A. in Public History program and the second being a M.A. in Humanities program. At APUS both of these masters programs have a great deal of history classes built in to their program requirements for completion. I initially wanted to enroll in the M.A. in Humanities program and I still feel that this would have been the correct program for my educational interests.
When I first contacted APUS I was in touch with an admissions representative named Cecelia McKevitt. Upon speaking with her, she guided me toward the M.A. in History program, primarily because of my background in Archaeology, Paleontology and museum related endeavors as an undergraduate. She informed me verbally that if for any reason I began classes and found that I needed to change my program that APUS allowed that, and it was a very easy process with credits transferring straight across.
When I applied at APUS I transferred in six credit hours from my previous program in Education (M.A.Ed.). APUS transferred those credits in and I paid a $50.00 TCE fee (Transfer Credit Evaluation). I was awarded the transfer credit, everything went through, and I was allowed to begin my classes. About 2 or 3 weeks before enrolling at APUS, I began a TESOL program online to get my Teaching English as a Second Language Certification through the Global Leadership College. It is a 150hour teachers cert program and is not a university affiliated program, but is something of special interest to me, as an aspiring educator and someone who has made a commitment to life-long education.
Initially I was enrolled at APUS for nine graduate credit hours...which is three more than the six credit-hour fulltime requirement at APUS. My plan was to try to finish my masters degree in 3 semesters. Within the first 3 or 4 weeks of class I began working a few more hours at my job and realized that I would not be able to effectively learn and attend the three classes at APUS and I made a decision to drop one of my classes. However, at this point I was still a fulltime student at APUS. In addition, at about this point I came to the conclusion that the program I was currently enrolled in (The M.A. in History program) was in fact not the correct program for me. I greatly enjoy history, but I found that I had little interest in most of the coursework which was historic preservation and museum related courses. Having worked at museums in the past I already knew that this type of work was hard to find, hard to get paid for and to me quite boring. I know myself well enough to know that I did not enjoy museum work when I did it before, However, in my field(s) a masters degree is a prerequisite to finding a decent paying job. In most cases an applicant will not be considered based on having a Bachelors Degree only. Hence my desire to earn a Masters degree.
Another week or so went by and I was asked to take a leadership role at my job, which was going to require more of my time at work. I chose to drop another class and was growing more and more unhappy with my program each day. So, I tried to change it online through the student portal. I was not allowed to do this. I then called in and spoke to someone in admissions and was forwarded to someone in student services. They told me that in fact I could not change my program and that if I did, I was only allowed to change it during the last 2 weeks of the current semester. So I waited until then to change it and I was then told that I would lose my transferred credit and any other earned credit while at APUS and I would be subject to a new credit evaluation, if I did choose to change my program.
I was very upset to find this out, because Cecelia, my admissions rep had either lied to me or didn't know the rules. This became the beginning of my nightmare. In late December I dropped my third class of the M.A. in History program and I re-enrolled in an 8-week class under the M.A. in Humaities program. I did this because of advice from another advisor in studentservices. I was told that I had to maintain and earn at least 3 credit-hours within the current semester or my status as a graduate student and my financial aid would be greatly affected.
Let me just say that I dis not want to take this class. It was an 8-week class in Hinduism and while I respect all religions. I did not wish to study Hinduism. However, during that 8-week block there were only 2 classes available at APUS. One was Hinduism and one was Bhuddism. I only took the class because I was told I had to earn at least 3 credit hours for the semester. After enrolling in that class and finding out that I would lose all transfer and earned credit if I changed my degree program I made a bad decision to stay in my History program, regardless of what I really wanted to do educationally. I was beside myself with regret for ever going down this road.
APUS had charged me for all of these classes. However, they did refund me some money for dropped classes but the last class...the Hindusim class they refused to refund the money and held it for over 2 months citing a RT24 Hold. For those of you who don't know what this means it is a Return to TitleIV financial aid hold, which is basically a penalization to acess, if any financial aid money is to be returned to a students lender or to the federal government. However, this does not apply to graduate students who are only awarded loan money...without grant or scholarships available. I was told this fact by a person at APUS in Financial Aid after 2 months of trying to get the hold removed, so that I begin classes again at the beginning of the new semester on March 3, 2014. So from the end of December to the beginning of March...about three to three and a half months to get a hold lifted that should have never been placed on my account to begin with.
During this time I was unable to register, I was unable to change any of my classes, I was unable to gain any funding. I began calling graduate academic advising trying to get it sorted out and I found a wonderful and very helpful advisor named Greg Doyle, and felt that I had finally found an honest person within the university who understood my problems. He helped me to get in contact with someone in financial aid and someone who could better expedite my issues regarding the upcoming semester which was quickly approaching. He also told me that the some of the admissions people were less than knowledgable about rules and regulations and there job was simply to get student to apply, but they are NOT qualified to offer academic advice.
This is not to say that I have anything worked out with the university today (4-9-2014). I have been told repeatedly that my financial aid hold has been lifted, which I knew about back on February 18, 2014...but which did not reflect on my account until after the beginnig of the new semester. In addition, I am yet to be awarded my financial aid and as of today's date do not even know if I am getting funding for the current semster.
Because of the R2T4 Hold I had to take a late registration into a class and began it a week late and I was forbidden from changing one of my classes which actually had a suggested prerequiste, which I needed to take first...but was not allowed to enroll for. Again, all because of the R2T4 Hold that should have never been placed on my account to begin with.
I have been lied to or misled, parts of my school money have been used up for classes in a degree program I do not even want to be in, I have no idea if I am even getting funding or how much funding... or if I am going to have to pay the university out of my pocket for this current semester, I am now in jeapordy in the class that I had to take a late registration in, because I need a new computer to complete it, that I can not afford without my financial aid...and this professor has threatened me with a 10% grade reduction for any more late assignments.
I am usually an A student having graduated from my Bachelors program with honors and at APUS I am carrying a\ C's and am always fighting the administration. Not to mention my student loan account is $8,000.00 higher and I have earned -0- credit hours thus far.
I am leaving APUS after this semster regardless of my grades or earned credit hours. I will never attend another university on-line, and it is doubtful that I will attend any other university for a while. I am forced to work full-time hours and attend graduate school full-time right now because of the lack of funding and the lack of credible information from the administration at APUS. In essence, I am in educational limbo, with no end in sight. I was told 14 days ago in an email from Tammy in financial aid that my aid would credit to my account in within 15 days and today...day 14 of that 15 day time-span, I received another email from Stepanie in financial aid saying that it would be 14 more days before my account would be credited. We are now in the 6th week of school and I will not know about funding until half-way through the semester. Meaning that I may be liable to this university for several thousand dollars, out a couple hundred for books and 2 months worth or graduate work, where I could have been doing something else with my time.
My advise to anyone who is thinking of attending APUS is quite simply DON'T DO IT. But if you do,,,know EXACTLY what you want to do as far as educational endeavors go, DO-NOT under any circumstances listen to any advise from anyone within the university, make copies and get all communications through email, make sure you take screen-shots of your account with dates in the student portal, make sure to check your account often as they are in control of the database and will wipe things out as if they never existed. Luckily I did these things, so I would have a record in case this whole fiasco came to a head as it has.
I am currently working with an attorney who specializes in cases and class-action lawsuits against fly by night for-profit schools who exploit TitleIV funding, misrepresent themselves, and exist only to do harm to unsuspecting students. This is becoming a larger problem in the United States with every passing day. Send me a reply and I will gladly give you their number. There are so many complaints about APUS online, I thought that a class action lawsuit may be the best way to address these inequities for everone. In addition, you might open a grievance with the U.S. Department of Education, which may or may not go anywhere. And if you have a problem you can speak to the West Virgina Attorney Generals Office to open a Consumer Complaint. But my advise is simply to steer-clear of APUS all together. Find an inexpensive bricks and mortar college and go there, even if you have to move there for a while. It will benefit you in the end and give you a better all-around college experience. If you attend school online, you will basically be paying money to teach yourself. Save yourself this hassle.
American Public University often cites federal rules and regulations when students have questions about the delayed processing of financial aid. The school consistently neglects, however, to let student-borrowers know that it is entirely within their prerogative (the school's, not the student-borrower's) to release funds prior to the beginning of the semester... a practice common in public institutions of higher education.
Instead of facilitating student enjoyment of the educational process and affording borrower-students the opportunity to use financial aid resources to purchase textbooks and other necessary supplies - as is customary in public institutions, APUS, APU, and AMU refuse to request funding from the lending source until after the first week of classes... typically somewhere around day ten or eleven. It then takes the school's system two or three days to recognize that the funding has been sent by the lending institution... you can see their recognition of the delayed process (30+ days after the start of the semester) on their website.
When the school finally catches up, they let the money sit a week or so before they actually give it to the students... but we have to wait five (or more) days after the school decides to disburse the extra financial aid because they (still) do not have direct deposit. When the school was consulted regarding issues that this process causes with regard to purchasing textbooks for graduate courses (a great many of which are only 8 weeks long...) this author was told ""you could just buy them with your own money, and pay yourself back when you get your disbursement.""
First, my dear APU - the financial aid disbursement is my money... Secondly, it isn't ""paying myself back..."" it's a matter of not having the money in the first place. If I were to attend graduate school school full-time (which I do, because I want to get my degree and get as far away from the school as is possible, as soon as is possible) I do not have the opportunity to work full-time, as well. There is, quite simply put, no money to take from one function to purchase books and later replenish.
My fellow student-victims, I urge you to consider attending an institution other than APUS. The programs are open admission, which means a monkey with half a brain could get in, but they are entirely theoretically oriented and practice is limited. In my graduate program (having completed 36 of the 48 required hours) I have written more papers than I could recall, received inadequate-at-best feedback, and have been robbed - not only of an opportunity to grow as a professional (now that I will graduate - entirely unprepared for certification), but of thousands and thousands of dollars I could have used elsewhere to get a degree that would have provided me with practical opportunities in addition to the theoretical foundations.
Run. Run and don't look back.
Best Wishes!
American Public University often cites federal rules and regulations when students have questions about the delayed processing of financial aid. The school consistently neglects, however, to let student-borrowers know that it is entirely within their prerogative (the school's, not the student-borrower's) to release funds prior to the beginning of the semester... a practice common in public institutions of higher education.
Instead of facilitating student enjoyment of the educational process and affording borrower-students the opportunity to use financial aid resources to purchase textbooks and other necessary supplies - as is customary in public institutions, APUS, APU, and AMU refuse to request funding from the lending source until after the first week of classes... typically somewhere around day ten or eleven. It then takes the school's system two or three days to recognize that the funding has been sent by the lending institution... you can see their recognition of the delayed process (30+ days after the start of the semester) on their website.
When the school finally catches up, they let the money sit a week or so before they actually give it to the students... but we have to wait five (or more) days after the school decides to disburse the extra financial aid because they (still) do not have direct deposit. When the school was consulted regarding issues that this process causes with regard to purchasing textbooks for graduate courses (a great many of which are only 8 weeks long...) this author was told ""you could just buy them with your own money, and pay yourself back when you get your disbursement.""
First, my dear APU - the financial aid disbursement is my money... Secondly, it isn't ""paying myself back..."" it's a matter of not having the money in the first place. If I were to attend graduate school school full-time (which I do, because I want to get my degree and get as far away from the school as is possible, as soon as is possible) I do not have the opportunity to work full-time, as well. There is, quite simply put, no money to take from one function to purchase books and later replenish.