Colorado Technical University - Online Reviews of Bachelor's in Software Engineering

All, thank you for the time in reading my review, i'll be honest with you about achieving my BSIT in Software Engineering. As an active duty military student I enrolled into the CTU online courses. My troubles didn't immediately start until I decided to utilize my G.I BIll benefits. Apparently once they had that information they began charging all of my expenses to my G.I Bill even after i repeatedly told them not to and that I had other means of paying. This continued all the way up until i graduated... Read More were I would repeated have to call the Veterans Affairs (VA) so that the could remove the charges that CTU was making against my benefits. Overall I loved the instructors and they were very knowledgable about the subjects and I overall enjoyed the classes and experience (even though class participation was lacking, which is the core of online classes). It wasn't until after I graduated with my Software Engineering degree that I realized how worthless it really was. The degree itself wasn't worthless, it was the all the courses I took and the knowledge I received. Here a quick snapshot of being a Software Engineer. It is focused heavily on programming. Every interview that I did involved a technical programming portion to gauge my knowledge and expertise. Do you want to know how many programming classes I took out of almost 4 years of school..... 3, yes that's correct 3 programming classes ( those couldn't go over the bulk of the coding/programming knowledge I needed because the classes were only 5 weeks). The rest of the classes were electives and project management (PM) classes. I was shocked, CTU did not prepare me for getting into the workforce and I didn't realize this until i began to look for work. I now have to go to a post college classes to get the programming knowledge that CTU didn't give me to even compete with other applicants vying for the same software job.

This school may say they are willing to help you succeed, but instead they treat you as if your worth nothing but a paycheck to them. If you ever send a email out asking questions regarding your class, they go ignored. You have a problem with their "Intellipath" system, the technical staff shoots down your questions, and treats it as if your the moron for their failings. The main way to learn is to read the textbook, and look up tutorials, which is hard to find due to some being hard to understand.... Read More On top of that, they might slap more money out of you to "keep up with" their system, which I didn't see. Overall, I don't recommend it.

I was groomed at CTU to believe if one would study and understand the materials used here at CTU for a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with a Software Systems Engineering Specialization; that I could get a very promising position anywhere upon graduating. The reality is that once I graduated (with a 3.96/4.0 GPA), I was told the materials taught at (CTU) was substandard, and that I had no clue what was going on in the real world. Do with this information what you may, I hope you take... Read More it in stride, but now I am in trouble and trying to pay back those student loans while still not working in this field. I (now) do have an understanding of the development of software, but nowhere near, what is required to enter the field, having no prior experience. I think the graduates having prior experience or trying to progress through more college training are the ones profiting from this college.

Let me begin with a statement. As with all things, you get out what you put in. So for all the individuals reviewing this school stating that they did not know about fees/ finances, or the classes were less than adequate, or even they couldn't get a decent job/ continue their education after this school; you're either extremely stupid or did not do enough research. For starters, all fees (which there is only one I can think of, Graduation fee) are plainly stated on the schools site. There is no hidden... Read More agenda or hidden fees from this school. In addition, if you do have any questions you can contact the finance department who will stay on the phone with you even when you're yelling from misinformation (happened to me a few times). As long as you stay on top of your finances and do not think other people are going to do that for you, you will be fine. For those stating that the classes are less than adequate or they learned nothing, there are two sides to every story. I am sure if you contacted their professors they would inform you that as students, they were less than average providing little to no substantial projects and posts. Again, you get out what you put in. As with ALL schools, there will be professors you think are garbage and ones you think are amazing. This is not a direct indication of the school but of the person teaching the course. Also, you can always change your professor if you think you are not learning anything or do not like their teaching styles. I have done this once during my time at CTU. Finally, getting a decent job or transferring credits. For the ones stating that you cannot obtain a job in your field, have you ever stopped to think that it is you and not your school. I am tired of people blaming others for their shortcomings. It is an epidemic in America now that we are no longer the land of the brave, instead we are the land of "you hurt my feelings". Man up and make a decision to change your life for the better and get a job based on what you learned in school. If you learned nothing, than thats your fault for wasting your time. Not the schools fault for providing you with the recipe for success. I worked my ass of to get in to the Software Engineering field, taking a low paying job in a great company just to get my foot in the door. I want to be very clear, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DEGREE DOES NOT MEAN THAT A COMPANY WILL HIRE YOU. If you suck as a person, guess what, you're not getting hired. If you complain (like many of the posts I see on here) than I would not hire you either. For the gentleman that said his degree is useless in Florida, I moved from Colorado Springs to Florida and guess what, I have been accepted in the Masters program of 5 Florida Universities (UF, Nova, Florida Institute of Technology, FIU, and FAU). Trust me when I say it is not the school, its your weak GPA that the Florida schools do not want. If you are genuinely serious about higher education, especially in the IT field where CTU is ranked in the top 5 for their online program, chose CTU.