Colorado State University Global Reviews of Bachelor's in Accounting

"If you want to simply fork over some money, do some stupid mindless busy work and get a degree, knock yourself out. If you actually want to learn, avoid like the plague. None of the courses are taught by actual academic specialists, nor do they seem to be taught by private-sector experts in the field. Instead they are taught by people apparently chosen off the street; I don't think either of the accounting courses I took were taught by people that knew anything about accounting. The courses are basically eight weeks of watching youtube videos, answering stupid questions in the weekly discussion board - seriously, you'd think that if 30+ people need to answer a question, it'd be a hard / tricky / dual-sided question that could generate debate. Nope - instead you'll have one obvious answer that everyone basically repeats using slightly different words. Then you have to respond to two people, so get used to 'yes, I really agree with you you answered that question in the only way it could be answered'. Quizzes are stupid and have little to do with the content. Homework assignments are busy work that are freely available online; many students were boasting of just copying / pasting the homework from online sources. The churn rate among the advisors is ridiculous, I spoke to at least six people in three months 'sorry that person doesn't work here any more' was a common refrain... Unbelievable waste of time. If getting a degree is just a box-checking exercise and you don't care who you give your money to, don't care about actually learning anything and don't mind mindless, annoyingly stupid busy-work homework assignments, this is for you. If you want to actually *learn* something, go somewhere else. For $1800 a class, you can literally attend Harvard, and you'll be miles better off than spending $1050 for one of the CSU courses. Avoid this craptastic place like the plague."

"Courses at CSU Global share the same structure: Eight-week courses. Write a robust post each week on a discussion topic by Thursday, make a reasonably thorough response to two classmates by Sunday, submit a paper / project / worksheet by Sunday based on that week's topic or module. No assignment in week 7 (other than the discussion posts) because week eight is your final 'portfolio project' that is supposed to be fairly substantial, and will account for 30-40% of your grade. In theory, this should be a great setup. In practice, it's shambolic. A colossal waste of time and money. Instructors do literally nothing other than make one post a week about how 'you're all doing great!'. Modules are basically collections of Youtube playlists from random contributors - that's right, you're paying $1000 a course to watch free Youtube videos! Discussion topics are awful - rather than pick an interesting topic or question that could generate at least stimulating debate, the topic will be some generic question with only one obvious right answer, so be one of the first ones to post if you don't want to waste time trying to figure out how to say the obvious answer without copy/paste. Good luck trying to make a meaningful response to two posters that goes beyond 'great post, I really agree with the only obvious right answer you posted that was exactly the same as every other post this week'. If the assignments or quizzes were at least challenging it would at least be a saving grace, but alas - since many classes do not have text books, and it's hard to create exercises from Youtube videos, the assignments are recycled exercises from some old text book or test bank. All assignments are freely available online, copy/paste, upload, done. Complete waste of time. I have literally had far more rigorous courses on Coursera / edX. So my recommendation: a) If you *really* want to learn and don't care about credits, there are any number of excellent courses on Coursera, edX, Udemy. Many universities offer non-credit and for-credit courses that will be properly rigorous. Go do those. b) If you just need credits to get a degree, any degree (such as for exam qualifications etc) and don't need to 'learn', CSU will be a low-stress option, but seriously - it's over-priced for the joke of the 'education' they offer. There are cheaper options. c) If you want to pursue a degree and want to learn, why drop $15K for 15 classes at CSU when for $30K you can take 15 classes at Harvard Extension and come away from a degree from Harvard?"

"I dropped out from individual online classes here. Where to start with how disappointing? Lack of adequate course materials, assignments with no info given in course materials, quizzes that correspond to future weeks reading, quizzes that are just taken off quizlet.com, journal articles assigned for required reading that have nothing to do with the assignments, no help from instructors when asked, no refund when asked, rude customer service. Ive taken many online classes over the years and this ranks as joint worst experience all around."

"I've been very pleased with CSU Global. All of the administrative staff I have interacted with have been upbeat, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and quick to respond. I even won one of thier internal scholarships so regular people do win those. I majored in accounting for my BS. I feel the coursework was very in depth and comprehensive. My issue with accounting was that I had no background in it and stuggled to find relevance to my daily work life. By the time I realized I had no interest in accounting I was so far in I didn't want to change majors. I am currently attending for my MS in healthcare administration. I work in medical billing and my classes now are so relevant to my work it's amazing the difference. The reading materials and paper topics are exactly what upper leadership at my hospital discusses and I feel so in tune. This is a heavy reading and writing program but that's to be expected since it's online. My writing has improved. Some teachers give excellent feedback, others more meh. I have had no negative teacher experiences. If you're outside Colorado I can see people thinking this is just another random online school. If you're in Colorado though this school is well known and respected. I work for the largest healthcare provider in the state. I know several people attending this school and all are competent mid level staff and managers. Nobody has ever discounted my degree or CSU Global to my face. I won a scholarship at work and they knew I was attending here. If you're established in your career or industry this degree will enhance your resume. Nobody pretends it's a Harvard MBA but it doesn't need to be. Adults with full time jobs can really improve themselves at this school. I'm excited because my in-progress MHA has already made me a good candidate for promotions. Tuition is very affordable and there is so little red tape regarding admissions and financial aid."

"I took a few accounting classes as a requirement for work and got my As. The online environment provided to the student deserves 5 stars. The instructors, though, deserve not more than 2 stars, most claim to have PhDs and one of them 3 Masters (?). Respectfully I believe they were just mere moderators, cheerleaders at the most but I do not know what they learned in their PhD programs. Every time that I asked a question for clarification on a subject I received a copied-and-pasted text from some source, may be from the instructor's manual, the internet, who knows, but never his(her) own. Not added value there. In addition often misinterpreted my question, e.g. Inflation vs Taxation, when asked for a 2nd time and advised to read my question carefully, wow one instructor went ballistic, took offense and told me to wait till I took a more advanced class. So basically this instructor was telling me that I would not be smart enough to understand the explanation if provided. NONE of them prepared their classes, clarified concepts with exercises, often they directed me to You Tube! But aren't I paying CSU Global for my edu? CSU Global can do better."