Ashford University Raises Tuition Rate AGAIN....

I just received an e-mail from Ashford University saying my tutition went up again. This is the third time in 12 months that the tuition has gone up. Do you think Non-profit Universities are increasing at the same rate?

Congratulations on choosing Ashford University for your studies. I hope you are progressing towards meeting your academic and career goals. Please be advised that Ashford University’s Center for External Studies is instituting a tuition increase for undergraduate and graduate programs. This change will be applied to all courses that begin on or after April 1, 2009. Ashford University is committed to providing an affordable, quality education to all of its students. With this in mind, the University has kept this necessary increase to a minimum.
Effective April 1, 2009, the following changes in tuition will take effect. All fees will remain the same.
Undergraduate Tuition (per credit)Prior to April 1, 2009 Effective April 1, 2009
Tuition 100 level courses$262 $354
Tuition 200 level and above courses$337 $354

Graduate Tuition (per credit)Prior to April 1, 2009 Effective April 1, 2009
Master of Arts in Teaching & Learning with Technology$441 $463
All other Master’s Programs$490 $515

Note: Ashford University's Military Tuition Grant and Military Veterans' Tuition Grant will increase to $104 per credit for all undergraduate courses beginning on or after April 1, 2009 as a result of the changes above.
If you should have any questions regarding these changes, please feel free to call your Financial

 

Bummer, that means you need to get done as soon as possible.

 

Three tuition increases in one year? Sorry, that would be a deal-breaker for me.

 

How large were the tuition increases?

 

I think it's been about a $20 increase per credit everytime. However, that $60 dollars a course and they do it 2-3 times a year...

 

$20 an hour increase three times a year. That's a $60/hour increase per year. What's that in terms of a percentage increase per year. Academic inflation tends to run about 6% per year.

 

Right, in fact in Texas the cost of tuition has so outpaced inflation that they are trying to decide whether or not to mandate a 3 year tuition freeze and from that point forward a cap on how much tuition can go up.

Ashford ain't exactly cheap, but they aren't exactly the most expensive on the block by a large margin. Honestly I don't think profit status has much if anything to do with it. I spoke to Dr. Clugston, one of the founders of the school and basically came to understand that their online programs are exploding in demand. I know some schools (perhaps not Ashford) try to keep pace by slowing demand while increasing capacity through tuition increases, etc. Still, they raised prices on me once while I was in there so I went ahead and prepaid all the tuition before it took affect.

They are still one of the less expensive MBAs. They're in line with Ft. Hays and Southwestern College, although just a tad more expensive. Certainly not priced anywhere near the bigger for profits like Devry, Kaplan, UofP or Colorado Tech.

 

Check out Saint Leo

You should check out Saint Leo. I really enjoyed my online learning experience and it was on the less expensive side when I was reeraching all of the online schools before I started. I recently graduated with an online degree in business administration from Saint Leo University. I had a great experience there and I really was able to learn and be focused while working and going to class from home. I would highly recommend online learning and Saint Leo University http://www.saintleo.com

 

The OP was not requesting a recommendation for a new schools for transfer. You just happen to register to post this. Sound like you shilling the place to me. Anyway welcome to the board!

 

Ashford University,

is a great college. Almost all Universities nationwide are greatly raising their tuitin rates which as a rule are either already higher than Ashford's or are being increased by a greater amount. AU is a great value for the money and they accept financial aid which has just been raised by 2,000 dolars which more than covers the new higher costs. The education offered at AU is equal to a top state or even ivy league education at a far lower average cost.

 

Do you have any evidence to support this?

Yes, I am a bit skeptical of the veracity of this claim.

 

Several Ways To Move Forward:

Well, as someone who has experience with brand name colleges and earning top grades I can attest to this, however, you doubt my claim, so you doubt me. We could compare the writing, reading and critical thinking standards of AU and other Universities head to head in this thread. Ivy League is actually in general just an overpriced education. There are numerous sources we could look at together to corroborate this claim. Different colleges have unique strengths and weaknesses, and AU or Harvard are no different. Having taken classes through both AU and Harvard Extension I can deatail for you the advantages and disadvantages of each. I also did well in Standford on their actual campus, but again you doubt my actual claim. Well, there are many different rating systems and claims made online by various agencies and indivduals. I will put it to you this way, I can debate or discuss an enormous variety of academic topics in depth with anyone whether from AU or Harvard University/Business, or in Biology or Economics whether from Standford or Devry. Community college and AU have more than prepared me and in reality schools like these are all one needs. The science for the first two years in Harvard University is in no way superior to Nassau Community College,nor is the Literature class in some established brick and mortar school superior to AU online either. We could discuss Organic Chemistry, SN1 versus SN2 reactions (important for biochemical reactions) or global climate systems. Education is what you make of it. In NCC we used the same Harvard based methods for mathematics and were taught chemistry by experienced Phyiscal Chemists and in AU our professors are top notch, with several degrees and certifications. It all depends on what you are majoring in. I do not recommend Biochemistry or an Engineering major if you go to AU,but Yale or Princeton is not a better education than AU overall, especially in Psychology/Social and Criminal Justice or general education/competency requirements.

 

Aborting after V1? IFR Versus VFR

Any thoughts? What is wind shear, what causes it? What is yaw, adverse yaw, causes? When one is first being trained to fly, what is more important to emphasize, flying IFR or VFR? When does the emphasis change? Why? Besides the front horzion how else can one keep the aircraft level? Under what conditions should abort after V1 and in what aircraft. (your type rating will shape this answer, if you have one besides flying figher jets) How is lift generated? 1/2 RHOV^2 is the equation for what and how does it apply to velocity and fuel consumption/engine efficiency? I have my doubts as to your claim you have said qualifications in the Air Force. Describe and exaplain engine out procedures. What is the glide slope?

 

You do realize that most people in the Air Force aren't pilots, right?

Again, do you have any evidence to support your claim?

 

Do you mean STANFORD? Your claims are much better received if supported by empirical citations rather than anecdotal renderings.


Ashford university is listed a s a 4th tier school and unranked in the bachelors category:

US NEWS 2008

I would also suspect that since it is a private school tuition will increase regularly.

 

Updated And Edited For Typographical Errors

Well, as someone who has experience with brand name colleges and earning top grades I can attest to this, however, you doubt my claim, so you doubt me. We could compare the writing, reading and critical thinking standards of AU and other Universities head to head in this thread. Ivy League is actually in general just an overpriced education. There are numerous sources we could look at together to corroborate this claim. Different colleges have unique strengths and weaknesses, and AU or Harvard are no different. Having taken classes through both AU and Harvard Extension I can detail for you the advantages and disadvantages of each. I also did well in Stanford on their actual campus, but again you doubt my actual claim. Well, there are many different rating systems and claims made online by various agencies and indivduals. I will put it to you this way, I can debate or discuss an enormous variety of academic topics in depth with anyone whether from AU or Harvard University/Business, or in Biology or Economics whether from Stanford or Devry. Community college and AU have more than prepared me and in reality schools like these are all one needs. The science for the first two years in Harvard University is in no way superior to Nassau Community College,nor is the Literature class in some established brick and mortar school superior to AU online either. We could discuss Organic Chemistry, SN1 versus SN2 reactions (important for biochemical reactions) or global climate systems. Education is what you make of it. In NCC we used the same Harvard based methods for mathematics and were taught chemistry by experienced Physical Chemists and in AU our professors are top notch, with several degrees and certifications. It all depends on what you are majoring in. I do not recommend Biochemistry or an Engineering major if you go to AU, but Yale or Princeton are not better educational institutions than AU overall, especially in Psychology/Social and Criminal Justice or general education/competency requirements. Purchase College, a school know for drama students and its Psychology actually has a world class physical and biological sciences program, but few people are aware of this. AU is ranked fourth tier and yet the academic standards set by most of the professors in addition to the challenging research papers assigned matches what you see in top four year state universities. I personally tutor people who attend the following institutions, enrolled in both honors and non honors classes, most top notch students: UCLA, UC Davis, Stanford, Gavilan College, and AU. Before this when I lived in NY I assisted people in getting into graduate programs and I tutored students from: Hofstra University, NCC, Queens College, NYU, Cornell, Old Westbury, and those in several graduare schools thereof, where applicable. I would not be attending AU just for affordability if the academics were not up to par. There are several cheaper online Universities, and certainly brick and mortar state Universities. I admit I could not afford to attend certain colleges I did well in and had a taste of, however, AU has turned into a dream come true. Well, you may be asking yourself, if you are so smart and tutored so many people why are you not getting more scholarship funds? Well, I do receive a few scholarships in addition to subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I support myself through substitute teaching, copy editing and tutoring, but things are slow in this economy right now, especially in California. I also admit when I take a class I read the entire textbook assigned for the course, I keep the class notes permanently and study them all the time, I live on Google Scholar, own thousands of books I either purchased from Payhalf.com, school, or received cheap or for free from the public library, and I am a motivated student/self learner. On average Harvard has more selective admission standards than many other places of higher learning, and AU is no exception. (I am referring to Harvard campus offerings, getting away from the Distance Education discussion) The average reading and writing ability of a typical Harvard student is higher than a typical AU student, discounting certain legacies and people who snuck through the cracks to get in. I can tell you though that in the upper division courses at AU and the honors courses at NCC contained brilliant students who go on to NYU, Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth, etc... Others are bright, but indigent or lower middle class, with some scholarships, so they go on to Old Westbury, CW Post, AU online, etc... The education at AU is truly a million dollar one, and though AU is affordable, it is not a cheap degree mill by any means. We earn our credits and resulting degrees and the professors are just as educated as professors who teach in those fancy schools. Fourth tier according to US News, well, that claim is dubious. Tiers and what makes a college better than others can be pretty subjective and not well evidenced in many cases. AU is a top notch University plain and simple. You guys to claim AU is not a good college also offer no concrete evidence to support your claims at all.

 

US News Not Too Credible On This

They also keep lowering MIT's ranking and have several world renowned colleges as being lower tier, or down from the upper 50% of schools based upon how much money graduates earn. There are many top professions that requres PhD's or a medical degree that do not pay as much as other professions might requiring a different level of education or different form of training. Some people pass the Series 7 exam and come from limited educational backgrounds, but make millions of dollars. Harvard is not the number one school in the US, let alone the world, though it is a very very good educational institution overall. The scales and standards US News use are not very clear, evidence based or testable. You need to do better than that.

 

I don't think anyone has made this claim but rather you made the following claim:

Despite your postings I still don't know how you arrived at this position. But if supported as accurate, then the tuition at Ashford might be a deal despite the increases. However, the link I posted above seems to refute your claim.

 

Air Force

Yes there are many non pilots in the Air Force, but these are basic questions. How about you tell me what you do in the Air Force and we can see how credible you are. Show me the evidence!

 

My posts

My range of knowledge and ability to articulate speaks for me and AU. The link is not credible. Also when you make the claim that AU is a fourth tier college and post the link you are claiming AU is not a good college. Ivy League is not better in education, simple point. I arrived at this position by attending Ivy League schools and elsewhere and through my own comparisons and cross analysis of many college rating sites.