Hello all, Does anyone know anything about Ashworth College? I have expressed interest in one of their degrees but have had no replies to e-mails I sent them (except for an automated one). A friend of mine has had the same experience. Ashworth College appears to be above board to me; does anyone know anything interesting about them? Is it worth waiting for them to reply? Cheers.....
knackers, Ashworth College is DETC accredited and has been discussed a few times. You can use the search feature at the top of the page. Just type in "Ashworth College" and you will see several threads regarding Ashworth College. Also search for discussions regarding DETC. My one experience with Ashworth College was very positive. Last year, after being enrolled in classes for over a month, one of my Sailors decided to withdraw from Ashworth, for personal reasons which were totally unrelated to Ashworth. Without any questions, Ashworth immediately refunded 100% of his tuition.
A guy I work with will be finishing up his AS in a few months from there. I'll ask him about his experience. FWIW, I do not think any of his exams have been proctored (I watched him take one, a simple 20 question criminal justice exam).
Thankyou both for your input. Only new here and must say that I hadn't used the search feature before...... Cheers.
A guy in my parish is working toward the AS in criminal justice via Ashworth, and all his exams MUST be proctored. Currently, I am serving as his proctor. The exams I have seen thus far have been several pages in length, and according to this guy have not been easy. The process: 1) Ashworth mails each exam directly to the proctor. 2) The exam is administered to the student within a specified time period. 3) A form is signed which states the exam was properly proctored. 4) The proctor mails the exam back to Ashworth.
I don't think this was the same thing then. The guy I work with took it online and it was more like a quiz. I believe he has taken several of them this way. Maybe some sort of quizes are offered this way? Either way, none of the four points you listed describes what I saw and I am certainly encouraged to hear it.
Actually, both answers are correct. There is one proctored exam at the end of each semester (Multiple choice I believe), and open book mail in / online quizzes at the end of each chapter. Unfortunately, “some” of their programs may have limited utility. For example, the paralegal program no longer meets California’s minimum requirements for paralegal education. Thompson Direct ran in to the same problem and was releasing paralegal students from their contracts and providing full refunds earlier this year. If your chosen profession includes legislated minimum education requirements, be sure these programs meet your state's standards.
I am also an Ashworth College student, studying for my A.S. in Psychology. It is a brand new A.S. degree that they have added, and looks very promising. I am in my second semester out of four. There is a proctored exam at the end of each semester, and you can submit your unit exams online, which in return, the results are e-mailed back to you within 24 hours, sometimes the same day. The program is great, and hopefully will gain more recognition in the years to come. PCDI just needs to improve their marketability and customer service. The curriculum is great, but when you have a question, calls and/or emails are returned in an unreasonable amount of time, or not at all. Overall, I give Ashworth (PCDI) 8 out of 10. I also took two Diploma courses through PCDI, and they were great. Cheap, in depth, and very useful to me. Of course, everyone has different educational wants/needs. When I attended my local community college for a semester, I had the same troubles with them, if not worse. No callbacks, missing files, congested classes, and less-than-satisfactory teaching methods. So, its not just distance learning programs that have difficulties. So far, the pros have outweighed the cons.
