I was recently accepted into NCU( Northcentral University) I am a little concern as to how the whole course work is handled and if it will be to much. In addition, they don't offer any type of student loans except sallie mae. By the way I was accepted into the psy program. If anyone is going through or have completed the program can you please provide with the "real deal" of how it would be if I enroll. Alpha
____________________________________________________ I was recently accepted into NCU( Northcentral University) I am a little concern as to how the whole course work is handled and if it will be to much. In addition, they don't offer any type of student loans except sallie mae. By the way I was accepted into the psy program. If anyone is going through or have completed the program can you please provide with the "real deal" of how it would be if I enroll. Alpha ___________________________________________________ Alpha - I too looked at Northcentral Unviersity as one of the schools when I was trying to figure out where to do my MBA from (because of the cost factor). I have not started my MBA yet and am still exploring different schools. However, I wanted to let you know that NCU is not currently regoinally accredited. That is the reason I decided not to go ahead with them. They do say however, that they will know about the accredition in March 2003. You might want to think about that before you begin. Jarin
Hey jarin, I looked at the school and understand it is currently not accrediated. However, I like the set up of it's courses. For me they accepted the max of credits and I would only have to do 56credits. You are right to say that NCU will know if they will be RA in March of 2003. I am concern about how the courses are really done on line. Most important is the cost factor and how to pay for it since they don't offer any financial aid. Right now I would have to pay 2000 for two courses. What is it reallylike attending this school? thanks Alpha
alpha - In that case look up their website and they should explain how they conduct online courses. If it is still not clear, I suggest you call them and talk to them or ask them if you can talk to any student who is doing similar courses such as yours (if you have not already done so). Hope this helps. Jarin
Alpha, Do the paperwork, get accepted and get NCU to guarantee to freeze the tuition. Then, don't actually start taking courses until they become R/A when you can get Federal Loans. If this will not work take only one course. You should be able to drag that out until March. If they get R/A go full speed, if they don't, drop out. But get the tuition GUARANTEE in writing --- when they become R/A it will go up --- bet the farm on that!!!!!!!
Good advice Howard, I haven't investigated NCU much, but one possible problem is that NCU, because of their distance learning only model , may not even be able to offer fed financial aid when they receive initial accreditation. Tony
Hi Tony, I think Capella (then The Graduate School of America) started offering financial aid the day they received accreditation, I know they did shortly thereafter because I ran a couple of thousand short during my tenure there and borrowed, and the rates are better now than they were then.........so I don't see the DL model as being a problem.
I couldn't agree with you more, Howard. However, when I was considering different DL schools for my PhD program, I spoke to an NCU admissions officer about this. I asked if my tuition might go up when NCU became fully RA. (As I'm sure it will.) She told me that tuition could go up at any time for any reason -- just as it could at any school. She said that the only way I could avoid this is if I was willing to pay the entire tuition, for the whole degree program, up front. Needless to say, that's not an option.
When NCU raised tuition rates after getting candidacy for RA, didn't they offer guaranteed tuition at the old rates (until completion) for anyone who enrolled before a certain date? Maybe they'll do something similar when they hike their rates again after gaining full RA status.
Concerning tuition fees at NCU, I will share with you an e-mail exchange I had. Please note this was an NCU offer to freeze tuition provided you enrolled before the 1st Oct '02. If you don't ask you don't get, I suppose. >>>> Good morning Michael, Yes, the tuition will remain at $230 regardless of which payment plan you select. Your acceptance packet will be ready today and payment instructions will be available on your enrollment agreement. If you need further assistance, please notify me. Have a wonderful day! Sabrina Ricks Director of Admissions Support Northcentral University 505 Whipple Prescott AZ 86301 888-327-2877 Ext 8067 928-541-7817 Fax -----Original Message----- From: garton michael [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 8:41 PM To: Dr. Don Hecht, President of Northcentral University Subject: RE: Save up to $2,000 on your NCU tuition. Dear Dr Hecht, Please clarify the following for me. 1. Does the offer to freeze tuition at $ 230 per unit apply to all three payment options (payment in full, payment per semester & payments during program) or does it only apply to payment in full? If I do decide to enrol with NCU, I will most likely go for the payment per semester option. 2. ....... Thank you in advance for your help. regards Michael Garton >>>>>
What about Excelsior, Fort Hays, etc., as options, Alpha? These would offer you full accreditation and probably better prices than Northcentral.
Those schools don't offer a DL PhD, which is what alpha seems to be after. Really, $250/sh (plus a $1200 dissertation fee) is not expensive at all compared to the other doctoral options I've seen, and there are no required residencies (and thus no travel expenses) with NCU. There is always the risk that NCU won't end up being RA after all, but that doesn't sound likely. I'd say that $15k + books for an RA PhD is really a pretty good deal. If you're looking for a cheap RA (or equivalent) doctorate that can be completed entirely from home, there really aren't a lot of options. On the other hand, I have no idea what sort of academic utility such a degree might have.
