University of Atlanta Questions... Alternatives

Hello,
I am considering enrolling with the University of Atlanta, however, I am not sure about how good they are? I have searched on-line and came up with very few reviews about them.

I am mostly interested because of their prices, however, it seems that all their classes are just book work.
Read the book, answer the questions and that's it. No real interactivity at all.

I would love to find an on-line Uni that offers video/audio lectures like the ones you can find on Academic Earth | Online Courses | Academic Video Lectures that is reasonably prices. I looked at University of Phoenix and their prices are 4 or 5 times that of UofA.

I have never taken any classes on-line so I have no real idea what to expect. UoA doesn't give a whole lot of information either, who are the professors, are they any good? How is the course work? How is the school? I have so many questions about UofA and distance learning in general.

If anyone has any information about UofA or other schools that have a good a pricing plan that would be amazing.

Thanks a lot!


- The greatest achievement of humanity is not its works of art, science, or technology, but the recondition of its own dysfunction, its own madness. -

 

Well, you need to specify your criterias. For example, level of degree, price range, accreditation, and professional accreditation. For example, University of Atlanta comes from along degree mill university and eventually changed to University of Atlanta and now is accredited by DETC. DETC is a nationally accredited body under CHEA and the Department of Education. A degree from DETC accredited institute is legit; there is limitation for using it.

Video and interaction; there are numberous of schools offer this. For example, Aspen University is also DETC accredited, but they have some forum discussion with classmates and instructors. Most of video stream institution costs more expensive, for example Southern Methodist University, University of Colorado, Columbia University, George Washington University, University of Southern California, and etc.

 

I would strongly recommend getting far, far away from the University of Atlanta. Although it is now accredited by DETC, it has a rather dubious past. There are so many better options out there....so why even bother with U of A.

My recommendation is to go with one of the three assessment schools, which have regional accreditation...

Excelsior College
Charter Oak State College
Thomas Edison State College

 

This has been my experience with the three DL courses that I've taken from two regionally accredited institutions (but that suits me for most academic areas).

I do agree with the other responses that there are better options than U of A.

 

I had a bad time there....We figured at the rate they move when it comes to grades , it would take me 6 years to complete my degree program. You are not allowed to speak to instructors and most of the staff have degrees from Barrington (my mentor and enrollment advisor). All the paper work I got from them had Barrington on it as well as the payment book and receipts. Their syllabus was one of the worst things I have ever read. Not only was it confusing, it appears to have been written by someone with no grasp of the English language. There is nothing "truly online" about the school, its all done through email and by phone. They told me they have a forum, where you can talk to the instructors /graders and get help from tutors. There is no such forum, they were talking about face book...lol (no joke) One day I got some work sent back to me so I was forced to get with a so called "tutor" I asked the tutor where she went to school and they would not say, she flat out refused to answer me. I pushed the issue with my student mentor and was told it was Barrington where she earned her bachelors and masters degrees. At that point I knew I had to go. It's all about money, I took one of their in house clep exams, I passed it but was then told even though I passed the grader felt I did not have a full working knowledge of the material. They would not give me the credit for the class so I got charged the 50 bones for the test and still had to take the class.

On a side note, and forgive me if I offend anyone on this forum…It felt like a requirement to work there was to speak Ebonics or with a middle eastern accent so thick it would be unlikely an native English speaker could understand you.

 

AV8R: it has a rather dubious past.

John: Understatement of the year.

b4cz28: "...bad time there..."

John: Thanks for the report. I've heard others like it. It's bad enough that DETC ignored their really shady past, but their present seems to be not so hot either. Here is just one of many newspaper articles regarding their nonwonderful past:
Alabama threatens to pull university license - South Florida Business Journal:

 

Wow.

And people wonder why DETC continues to have problems getting recognition from the regionals.

[rhetorical] Why is it that you simply don't hear of these sorts of problems with RA schools? [/rhetorical]

 

I am confused - the article is about Barrington which is not accredited by DETC. Did I miss something?

 

The University of Atlanta is apparently trying to establish a "School of Civil Engineering". The school would offer four MSCE degree programs, in Environmental Engineering, Hydraulics & Oil-Gas Resource Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, and Structural Engineering. U of A first needs to obtain approval from both DETC and from the Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission of the State of Georgia.

In theory, the programs would be eligible for accreditation by ABET, which is the usual professional accreditation agency for engineering programs in the US. Historically, ABET focused on accrediting BS programs, but they have always been willing to accredit MS programs at schools that offer engineering degrees at the graduate level only. In practice, however, the odds of U of A achieving ABET accreditation seem very slim, and there is no indication that U of A has any interest in pursuing it.

At present, the only civil-related program offered by any DETC institution is the "Civil Engineering Technology" AS program at Penn Foster, which is really for technicians. So if DETC were to start accrediting specialized, graduate-level civil engineering programs, it would represent a completely new direction for them.

Under current Georgia regulations, an MS degree from a non-ABET program, such as those proposed by U of A, would have zero value for Professional Engineering licensure. This is likely true in all other US states as well.

It may well be that the proposed School of Civil Engineering is intended to appeal primarily to international students, rather than to Americans. Civil engineering tends to be a very popular course of study in developing nations. A low-priced distance-learning graduate degree in civil engineering from a genuine, accredited US university might be highly marketable overseas. In the US engineering community, the difference between ABET and DETC accreditation would be vast, but in other countries it might not matter -- after all, ABET and DETC are both perfectly legitimate US accreditation agencies, right?

 

Thanks - I missed that.

 

MC: "Barrington = University of Atlanta"

JB: Amusingly, they were calling themselves "University of Atlanta" when they were still operating from a secretarial service address in Mobile, Alabama. (I'd be interested in knowing where the DETC site visit took place.)

 

There is another b&m school called U of A.

University of Atlanta

 

I wonder how the name thing will work out it appears the latter has been using it longer...hmmm?