Capella University Reviews of Bachelor's in Psychology

"I liked the FlexPath format and how I was able to move along. My academic counselor was always helpful but like any other school, there are areas of improvement. It is a good school to attend. The curriculum offered is current and not outdated. If you go through the FlexPath format, be prepared to right and work for it. This degree helped me obtain a promotion in my job."

"I had an amazing experience with Capella! I completed the flexpath general psychology bachelors program. I transferred in with an associates degree. I was able to complete my degree in 3 months! I am so grateful for Capella. I really enjoyed my classes and all of my professors were amazing! The assignments were mainly all essays, but the professors provided rubrics! It’s crazy to think that I was able to accomplish a goal that I’ve been struggling with. The competency based model is perfect for anyone who wants to accelerate. I struggled in colleges that were not competency based, but I excelled at Capella."

"For starters, the financial aid department, any customer service and professors are extremely difficult to get ahold of. Then, when trying to transfer, they pulled my financial aid and left me with over $1,000 to pay out of pocket before they would release my transcript. So now, I can’t enroll in another school until that debt is paid even though the entirety of my education there has been on loans. The professors are not helpful or communicative. This school is truly a joke."

"Capella keep advertising itself on Facebook saying that it's a good school. It is a god school however there are some things you need to know before you attend. First they do not grade on the weekends. So if you finish a class on Thursday or Friday you have to wait until Monday to get your grade. If you have a question that you need to ask the teacher in order to finish your assessments you have to wait 48 hours for them to return the email. All teachers have 2 business days to grade your paper. A few get it graded in a day but most take 2. Financial aide is a hassle and they will continue to ask you for the same information over and over. Once you get accepted you will no longer hear from your recruiter, as a matter of fact the recruiter (mine was Katie) will send you an email basically telling you to no longer contact her and if you need any more help you must contact you tutor. Sometimes it takes your tutor days to get back to you and often times you have to schedule an appointment. Some of the assessment are very confusing with verbose instructions that don't really have anything to do with what you are learning. The library sometimes does not have articles that you are looking for and you get no results. Some classes let you use google but one particular class wanted to you use only articles within the last 5 years that had to be scholarly and peer-reviewed. The lowered the results that you would get. If you don't at least get a basic on all of the criteria you can not move to the next class. In the event that instructor does return a paper to you, you have 2 more attempts to get a higher grade. Once again it will take them about 48 hours to grade that paper. Do not come here thinking you can just freely move through the program. Some classes have prerequisites so you can not move to the next class until you finish the class that came before it. Sometimes when you call in you will be on hold for about 30 minutes and they will tell you that your academic advisor is not available and for you to press 2 to speak to someone else. The second person is as helpful as they can possible be but most of the time they will refer you to someone else or take a message. You will be asked to complete assignments that can not be found through simple research. Sometimes you will have to watch YouTube to fully understand what is being asked of you. The instructions to complete assignments are vague and unclear. You will have to read it numerous times just to figure out what is being asked of you. Their system will mess up and you will have to call in to get assistance. The automatic chat option that they have can not recognize simple words that you ask it. This school is strategically designed to keep you in classes as long as possible. You will have to buy programs for particular classes and register for some websites just to get some data to complete your work. You will have to pay 10 dollars for a statistics program to complete one of your classes. If you can go to another school."

"I was in a lost place of my life when I came to a realization that if I wanted better, I needed to bite the bullet and go to college. So here I am now 26 years old and in my third year of Capella about to graduate. I love this school and would recommend it to EVERYONE! Yes, there are certain things that people would rate poorly but overall I never had a major concern or situation that contacting the school could not fix. I am a proud Capella Student."

"I have been a FlexPath student pursuing a General Psychology Bachelor's Degree since June 2017. I have encountered several problems with the Capella online learning format over the last two years. First, the online bookstore has always failed to release the books that were pre-loaded into my shopping cart. There is a small window to check out and/or purchase your books, however, the system has never given me the capability to actually check out/purchase books. During the two years that I have attended Capella, I did not once use their course material. Thank you, Google. Second, the instructors vary in grading so severely that while one instructor gives the best possible score, another instructor may be citing plagiarism on every assignment, refusing to grade the paper. I have experienced both types of instructors with Capella, even though I have never, in my life, plagiarized anything on a professional level. Third, the FlexPath program is not designed to set students up for success. The billing period runs for 12 weeks and they release one class at a time, with each class requiring from 5-9 written assignments. For what you pay in a flat-rate billing period and how many assignments you can reasonably achieve, it makes more financial sense to take the GuidedPath program. However, if you try to change from the FlexPath program to the GuidedPath program, you may experience difficulties, like I have. I have attempted changing 3 times, only to find out each time that my financial aid year for FlexPath does not align with the financial aid year for GuidedPath. I can, for instance, complete a couple credits using financial aid, but will have to pay for the remaining credits out of pocket until the next financial aid year. For the 2018-2019 financial aid year, I have hardly used any financial aid, but if I were to change to the GuidedPath program right now, I would not be able to use financial aid until March 2020. I only have 6 classes left to complete to earn my Bachelor's degree, along with $38,000+ of student loan debt. I am at the point of considering a transfer to another college, even if it means I will need to take more classes to complete their degree, because my experience with Capella has been so unpleasant."

"This college screwed me big time. I've been working on getting my financial aid awarded for over 5 Months and so far all they do is ask for the exact same information in a different format. It is absolutely ridiculous. I finally asked for a manager as I was about to be dropped from spring semester and they said everything was taken care of and my award would be there soon and instead they asked for more info and dropped me anyway. I will not be finishing my degree with this school and I recommend no one ever attend."

"I was taking the flexpath online. My very first "instructor" graded my second paper informing me it did not meet the paper criteria and needed to be redone. I rewrote my paper, only leaving my introduction the same. My paper went from a 4 page paper to an 8 page paper. My instructor evaluated my paper and gave me feedback with another students name stating there were no changes to my paper so she would not change my grade. I reached out to my adviser to ask for assistance with this matter and they referred me back to my instructor and had me email her, which I did. She promptly changed the name and left the rest the same. My final paper was a debate; my instructor evaluated it stating I did not show both sides of the debate, rather I chose one. I rewrote this paper and highlighted both sides of the debate. She evaluated my second attempt and stated I did not do what was asked as I needed to choose one side of the debate. I reached out to the dean of students as I already knew the response of my adviser would be email your instructor. The dean said there was nothing that could be done and I needed to contact the instructors superior, so I did. I promptly received an email from the instructor stating she heard I had questions about her grading system. This school is a joke. The instructors have free reign to play games with you and you have no say over your future. I have received threatening letters that if I do not pay my balance they will send it to collections, however, I didn't receive the service I am being charged for, so why would I pay? This "university" is all about the money and does not care about the student. Do your research and go elsewhere. My instructor did not follow through with evaluating my papers and giving me the feedback she was supposed to, I lost an entire summer due to her lack of commitment to her job, and now I have to find another University to face track this degree so I don't lose my job."

"I was a transfer student from a New York State university and most of my credits were transferable. I chose the FlexPath Program which would allow me to complete my degree program faster. I completed the program in 20 months and then went on to pursue my Master of Science Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. The Capella FlexPath program allows me to take as many courses as I can complete in a 12 week billing session. It did take some getting used to as all of my previous on-line courses required classroom discussions, completion of only one module at at time and I had to wait until the next semester to take other courses. FlexPath allowed me to complete the courses as my own pace and some courses were completed in only 6-8 weeks as I did not need all 12 weeks. As soon as a course was completed, I just clicked a button indicating the course was completed and within just a few short hours, my next course was ready to go. Capella offers all the tools necessary for one to succeed in their academic journey as they provide a FlexPath coach, tutor for each course, and a knowledgeable faculty. The faculty gave very useful feedback on each assessment which helped me better understand the competencies for each course. I'm an older student who decided to go back to college many years after high school graduation and I must say, with my degree, I was able to get a state government job within weeks of completing my Bachelor of Science in General Psychology through the Capella FlexPath program. I highly recommend Capella University's FlexPath program to anyone wanting to complete their degree by actually understanding what they are learning and given the opportunity to apply that knowledge in their day-to-day lives as well as employment."

"Now that I have my transcripts and my diploma has been mailed out my honest review of Capella University is going to be 2.5 stars out of 5. The reason for this being that they failed to take great care in explaining the differences between class formats as well as the academic and financial impacts of both. I was kicked out of classes multiple times due to their failure to explain billing sessions is fine detail. This process was explained in general terms and rushed. In addition, the school fails to provide a host of learning modalities such as video, interactive, group, java etc for those who are visual/audio learners as opposed to just reading/writing text which is largely the basis since it is a research based design. Knowing that a new subject is not imbedded into the mind until it has been seen, heard, written and recited it is curious then as to why these methodologies werent utilized to their full extent especially for online learners to ensure the content is grasped. Many times I felt that the redundancy of the curriculum caused me bordem and that flexpath could use some definite improvements in the syllabus. Perhaps their regular online format is much different but this pertains to flexpath learning. These factors caused me to be removed from eligibility to graduate with honors including summa cum laude, the highest honor, which I recently found out is awarded to all eligible students OTHER THAN flexpath format students. In the long run it may not determine desirability in professional aspects however it was a goal I kept in mind and I wanted badly. I feel I have been cheated out of that honor even though I meet all requirements other than my chosen class format and finished with a 3.93 GPA. I should be recognised for that accomplishment despite format. I had some great and challenging teachers who pushed me more than I ever thought possible but because of this failure in communication and the negative repercussions on my goals, I will not be attending the school again."

"I am currently enrolled with this school and have been attending since January 2017. Since starting at Capella I have many stumbling blocks that have caused me to drop or fail a few classes. Each and every time I have stumbled, Capella has picked me up, dusted me off and sent me right back down the right path. As a working nurse with 40+ hours spent at my office weekly, I would not have been able to attend a local school. Capella make it so easy to continue working and spending time with my family, while still being able to attend classes to further my degree. This is a wonderful school with amazing academic counselors, knowledgeable instructors, a user friendly online format and many choices of academic programs. Thanks Capella for making my career goals achievable!"

"Very good online program and Capella University is a highly acclaimed accredited university. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there; I completed my BS degree there after being absent from any type of school for 30 years. Their staff and online application made it extremely easy for me to succeed. I earned my BS degree with a 4.0"

"The thought put behind FlexPath is great. The instructors they have are the worst of any school online. They have no oversight of the instructors and the instructors do not follow the proceedures set forth by the university. There is no way for students to have a voice or appeal grades by the instructors. The instructors have a grade sheet to go by and they choose not to follow it and make you do three times the work for no reason other than they need to feel superior. Most of the instructors tend to get offended if you call them out on their mistakes. The Program is set up great. It is an amazing and outstanding program. The issues are related to the oversight of off sight instructors. It is a thin line of the program being worth it and dealing with the instructors. There is no way to choose or change instructors. There doesn't seem to be anyone in the middle. The instructors are either really bad or really good. I have had some of the best I have ever had but the bad ones have made the whole experience not worth it. I am switching out of FlexPath soon to have more control. I am military and will be writing a review and complaint to the tuition assistance and VA. Both of which take concerns more seriously than Capella. They will pressure and review school policies and keep members informed of the steps. Capella cannot even get their instructors to follow their program. I have actually had instructors where I turned the same exact paper in a week later and received a perfect grade and the week before received an "F". Shows they are just getting a paycheck not doing anything to help students. I will be trying to find a way to rate instructors and post for the horrible ones and the best ones."

"Capella provided an amazing online experience where the instructors were helpful and willing to answer any questions I had throughout the duration of my degree. I was able to graduate with honors in 2016 and currently work in the field of substance abuse counseling. I have used many of the skills I learned at Capella in the work force such as time management, critical thinking and writing. I love to write and I was able to hone this skills through the various tutoring opportunities that Capella provides such as smart thinking and turnitin. I would say that two areas that Capella can improve are the book allowance and continuity in regards to due dates across classes. I would recommend giving students the opportunity to opt in or out of the standard fee at the beginning of each semester if they are able to obtain their books and materials for cheaper than $150.00. The due dates often go back and forth depending on the teacher and I always had a sigh of relief when the due date was Thursday of every week rather than Wednesday. I think a standard due date across the board would benefit and allow the student to know what to expect from semester to semester. I have always been a huge fan of Capella University and have personally helped at least three people begin their journey at Capella and my fianc is currently still enrolled and well on her way to obtaining her BA in Business."

"I have a high gpa because I worked very hard and put in way too much time. The classes here were comparatively much harder than going to a regular college. You are penalized for the online convenience. There is virtually no teaching. You are on your own. Be warned if you want to be a student. If you want to "teach" and need a job with little to no work, this is the place for you."

"I started at Capella in 2009 to work toward my BS in Psychology. I took several semesters off as I was working full-time and raising a toddler and newborn. However, I never gave up and continued on because I wanted to complete my degree to move on to a Masters program. I can say my experience at Capella was great!! At one point I applied to St. Johns and transferred. After a few weeks at St. Johns I was so dissatisfied with their on line program I transferred back to Capella. The work was overwhelming at times but I feel that made me want it more and felt very accomplished upon completing each quarter. 99% of my professors were amazing. Sure I had a hand full I didnt care for, but you find that anywhere. Fast forward several years, after a semester break, I was told about the new Flex Path program and how it would save me money and time. While it may have saved me money or time, I just learned after completing my Capstone that there is no honor recognition either at commencement or on your diploma. I am very upset about this as I busted my butt to get a high GPA. I contacted Capella and was basically told Im not the first person to feel this way, however, it is what it is. Had I known this or been told by the individual I dealt with that this was the case I would have continued in the guided program as I only had 6 or 7 classes to go at the time. For this reason only I would stay away from the Flex Path program. I am bewildered by this. Why cant they recognize a students achievement? To make matter worse the official transcript doesnt show letter grades but rather shows distinguished in the competencies. I mean really if you can provide the student with a letter grade on a billing invoice it should be on the transcript as well."

"My educational experiences began in a classroom setting, however, I found a profound dislike for the environment due to students talking out of turn, snoring during class, or the instructor talking or teaching at a high pace. I entered Capella University at a short stint with another on-line university. I have been at this educational institution for a few years and I am so please with the structure of the university. The staff is excellent and well trained, the course work is always in alignment with the syllabus and additionally, there are visual educational tools available for the students. Capella provide tutoring services, assistance with employment, and many other resources to assist their students in becoming productive and contributing members of society. I always recommend Capella University to friends and family who are interested in furthering their education. I have continue on into the Master program and I am pleased. After this journey, I will continue to pursue my education at this institution."

"I started Capella in the spring of 2016, working on a Bachelor's degree in Psychology (general) I want to work in substance abuse counseling so I may end up going for a masters. I enjoy the online classes and in my classes have mostly been mostly positive."

"HORRIBLE SCHOOL. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY THE WORST SCHOOL I HAVE EVER ATTENDED! DO NOT WAIST YOUR TIME! ADVISING IS A JOKE. Some of the instructors, literally one instructor was worth the time. The rest are horrible. Seriously do not waist your money or your time!"

"Capella University is a top notch Online university that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees that are affordable and highly respected. My Bachelor of Science in Psychology has given me a higher earning potential and because of the acredidation of the school my degree has never been questioned. Since graduating I have enrolled again at Capella and am working on my Masters in Mental Health Counseling. The graduate experience is one that I highly encourage everyone to consider, especially at Capella University, because the faculty, staff, and academic advisors are friendly, willing to go the extra mile, and provide any supports necessary to ensure that you are successful. I'm very satisfied with my choice of Capella University."