American Public University System

Having done an undergraduate degree with AMU, I was excited to see they had created a PhD program in Strategic Intelligence and I applied in mid-2018. I paid the application fee, submitted everything required, and sent my requests for three recommendation letters and that's where I ran into issues. I sent the requests and they were all completed within one week and submitted. The program was supposed to begin in October 2018 so I have plenty of time and waited for the program to open so I could begin... Read More (having already arranged VA funding and prepared to pay the rest of the tens-of-thousands of dollars of tuition. After a month or so of not hearing back, I wrote and asked what was happening and learned that AMU had not received the letters. Surprised as I was told they had all been submitted, I reached back out to my recommenders and was informed they had all indeed been submitted. I wrote back to AMU and asked and finally got told they would have to be submitted again. Somewhat embarrassed and already questioning the amount of money I would spend on this place, I nonetheless asked for them to be done again and asked for three more letters to be submitted. Two of these new letters I actually watched be submitted as they were from PhD-holding coworkers who discussed the process with me. After another month, having now missed the program start and being told to wait until the next course in January 2019, I asked again the status of the letters. No response. Some time later, having presumed the course was not going to work and now confident the program was a sham, I got an email telling me the March 2019 course would be closed if the letters weren't submitted soon. I wrote back and told them with gusto that these had been submitted multiple times and there must be an issue with the system. I also explained I was becoming suspicious of the university for not having an ability to fix their portal and openly wondered about the process of doing a multiple-year program with them if such a simple task was so difficult. And they immediately helped me out and it was fixed! (just kidding). I got told in essentially a form letter that all my emails came in, that I could archive my application and just lose the application money or ask for the letters again. There was no way that I would ask again as the recommenders are pretty important people with busy schedules and they don't have time to continually submit letters for me, so I explained that in a nice way, noted I was going to end up withdrawing my application (losing $150 or so) and complete some reviews of the school to protect others from this and, I guess not surprisingly, they didn't care at all. They just replied and said "okay, we've archived your application." So, if you're still interested in their graduate programs, I'd highly recommend you look at schools like UMUC as I've already wasted six months and lost enough money to realize AMU is making more than enough from other Soldiers and civilians to really care too much about you.

I have read a lot of bad reviews and and think that they are just complaining because students now expect their hands to be held. If you cannot manage your time and do ALL the required reading materials on your own, then go to a community college or an actual classroom. The professors are there to guide you through the course not to give you the answers. What purpose would an education be if not taught how to do one's own research. Honestly, everything you need to learn is in the text book and the... Read More course resources and lessons. APUS library also has a vast amount of research articles and options. They even provide Lexus Nexus for free which I used while I worked for the City Attorney's Office. APUS and online school teaches you to be independent and to do your own research rather than relying on a professional's word of mouth. I am now working for the State in the financial field working on my second master's degree from APUS: my MBA in Accounting.

Bottom Line Up Front: I finished my MA with AMU in 2015 and had no problem getting into a doctoral program. Yes, I had to take a GRE before being accepted into the doctoral program, but the degree itself counted saving me the pain of an additional 36 hours of course work. While I will not name drop, the school I am currently attending is a Public, Non-Profit University. I know while attending AMU I had concerns about how the degree would be viewed by other universities, to my relief, everything turned... Read More out just fine.

Hello, I havnt actually graduated from this school but Id like to write a review on my experience trying to attend this school online in 2017. I applied to this school because my other online school didnt offer my major. I went through the most rigorous and frustrating application process ever. The communication was so poorly executed that I spent two months constantly talking to the financial team and getting my questions answered only to find out that I missed the deadline on one single document... Read More that I sent in but it wasnt reviewed because it got lost in the system. Then my mother was told on the phone we needed an additional document that wasnt mentioned beforehand but then when we called back again we didnt need that mysterious document anymore? I explained my frustration and how I worked very hard to get this done because I take my education seriously and I was met with a grouchy women on the phone who basically told me tough luck. Now Im stuck paying this school a grand for a class I couldnt even take?!?!? For a young student who works full time, pays all of my bills and pays for school myself I found this so wrong! The education system needs to be made more accessible to young students trying to access their career paths! If you want to go to school online check out University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Super easy application process no complications, really awesome and intelligent teachers, and really great list of majors and classes to choose from!

School had great reviews so i wanted in. My experience with the instructors thus far has been great but the financial aid department needs new staff or a good tuning up because they are by far the worst i've ever dealt with. Their miscommunication and missed correspondences could ruin a person. I received an email that was referencing a previous email that they never sent! I checked my spam, deleted, inbox and there wasnt an email sent from financial aid so when i asked them, to resend the original... Read More email (forward it showing it had been sent) they couldn't produce it. As i told the representative in their department, if i were a beginner student, that alone would have discouraged me from pursuing my degree because most students rely on financial aid. Check other schools before signing on to APUS especially if your relying on financial aid to pay for school.

Unlike a traditional university, an online university is very much a double-edged sword. APUS fits well into this mold. The issue that most people have with online education is that they often feel that they don't get as much out of their education as they would with a traditional school, and for a lot of people, that is very much the case. However, for APUS, you get what you put into it. Nobody is going to goad you into doing your work. It is all up to you to learn. Of course, typical listening... Read More lectures are missing, however, having lectures being given in either a video format or reading a lecture makes it much easier for people who are already in a career to balance work, home, and school. In my opinion, APUS does a fairly good job at what it is supposed to do for a reasonable price. For the self motivated, especially those who are seeking a degree to further their career, as opposed to those obtaining their first degree, APUS can be an excellent option and I am glad I attended and graduated.

This school is frustrating! Yes, you get what you put into it but I could learn just as much teaching myself through open resources on the web. I've attempted several courses but the lack of help from every department is outstanding. They didn't accept but three of my transfer credits. I had 50 credits! This school seems focused only on the money. When I deployed, I couldnt extend the course and was too late to withdraw so now I owe money to my ed center. Way to go AMU! I would NOT recommend this... Read More school even to my worst enemy.

I wasn't sure how much this degree would be worth coming from an online-only school. Well, thankfully almost every school, even Ivy League, has online programs these days, so credibility didn't end up being an issue. My BBA got me hired by a Fortune 100 financial services corporation and admittance to LSU's AACSB accredited MBA program. If you are disciplined and focused, you will enjoy great utility from this degree. NOTE: their financial aid department is TERRIBLE and got my financing wrong seven... Read More of my semesters.

I only took three general education classes while here, I never got around to taking core classes. The classes weren't bad, but as with ALL online college classes, YOU have to teach yourself, as sometimes you aren't even in the same timezones or region of the world as your professor. Again, don't expect to be taught by the professors, except on forums and paper feedback; expect to self-educate, as with all online schools. If you can't self-teach and regulate your own study schedule, online college... Read More will be too difficult for you, and you should seek the easier route of traditional brick and mortar courses. APUS is EXTREMELY conservative with their transfer credit evaluation! I left APUS after completing three courses, because a different college offered me significantly more transfer credits than APUS gave me. My new school put me 2-years closer to graduation than I was at APUS, in a comparable degree program. If it had not been for finding a better transfer offer at the other college, I would have stayed with APUS. My point here is to apply your prior learning and transfer credits at multiple schools before settling; it could make a drastic difference in your graduation timeline. For the sake of example, you could apply at APUS, Excelsior College, and Thomas Edison State University, to see which will award you the most credit toward your preferred degree program. After transferring to my new school I realized how good of a website APUS really had. My new school's website is atrociously confusing and disorganized. I really miss that with APUS' design. Don't underestimate the website, because in those times when you are running low on patience, you don't want the additional frustration of a poorly navigable website. APUS has a large number of student organizations and honor societies. It feels good to strive for academic excellence and get an invite to join one of their high-GPA/degree specific honor societies. APUS also had a Dean's/President's List they update periodically. I am a big fan of the APUS diploma design. My new school's diploma looks like garbage, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter what it looks like, I'll still be graduating 2-years sooner. I tried to cover different topics with my review, aside from the typical categories. Hopefully, you find this a bit more useful. Great school, poor transfer credit evaluation.

I had a pretty good experience at APU. While other students are correct the answers to the tests are a click away that is not true when it comes to Finance course quizzes and homework. It was very challenging and no two students are given the same set of problems and the quizzes are timed. The papers you turn in are required to go through turnitin and are checked for plagiarism so you can not just copy someone's paper. As a working mom this program was perfect for me. I went a division 1 school for... Read More my undergrad and I can tell you almost all schools are in place to make a profit whether they are for profit or not. I paid for my degree out of pocket so cannot comment on the financial aid. All and all this was a good experience and I felt on a master's level the school was very accommodating.

I'll get the bad out of the way first. The financial aid department is an absolute dumpster fire. Out of all the professors I had, three of them were not up to my standards. All three of them were terrible communicators, did not appear to have much knowledge in their respective fields and didn't seem personable. Now the good. Most of my professors were awesome. After finishing the general education requirements I was pleased to see they EVERY one of my professors in my degree related courses had... Read More Comp TIA certs. This was a big deal to me, because it allowed for me to pick their brains and gave the courses credibility. I had professors that could actually explain to me routing tables, subnetting, and how to mitigate brute Force attacks, DDOS attacks etc. I would recommend this school if you want to work on technology fields. My degree has landed me a promotion at work, and recruiters blowing up my phone and LinkedIn.

This is a diploma mill, and as such, it will always have that stigma with the degree attained. I have taken many courses from here, but I will not graduate with a degree from here. I am transferring the credits from here (mostly general studies) to a non for profit school. The classes were very basic and simple. Most of the answers to any test or quiz are online. The quizzes or tests are not proctored and most are multiple choice. You basically teach yourself. Half of the classes, the "professor's"... Read More give basic cookie cutter feedback if anything at all. If you are looking for an easy degree that does not require a lot of effort, that may bump up your chances at getting a raise or better job, I would go here. If you want to earn a degree and not worry about whether future employers and company recruiters will pass on you because of a for profit degree, then I would pass on this. The classes are good to take and transfer them to a real school like a public university.

Great online program! Very user friendly, the best program I've used by far! I would highly recommend American Public University System to anyone looking to take online only classes. I've tried other virtual classrooms through different colleges and their format were clunky and difficult to use. Not APUS. Easy to use, easy to submit assignments, easy to interact with instructor and classmates. Classroom interaction was required weekly so I did not feel alone. I felt part of a class where my ideas... Read More were encouraged and respected. Highly recommended.