Concordia University - Portland

There are some many gems in journeying through Concordia Portlands online M.Ed in Educational Leadership Program, but in a few words, the program is nothing short of amazing. I had the privilege of graduating from the program in 2017, and have found that it has directly advanced my pedagogy within the classroom, as well as my now effectiveness as an educational leader in my current role. My attention to the coursework offered throughout the program allowed me to utilize the new information directly... Read More into my classroom, which created a more meaningful understanding of who I was as an educator. I am forever grateful for the value and quality of the program!

I began the Ed.D. program January 2018. Prior to beginning the process and being accepted, I received nothing but the utmost support and attention. The work is challenging yet manageable. Expectations of the program and from the professors has been explicit and known since the beginning. Anytime that I need to contact the school regarding financial aid, changing of specialization, dropping a course, etc. I have been met with prompt assistance and support. I look forward to continuing in the program... Read More and have referred several colleagues and friends.

I have been impressed with Concordia's online M.Ed. program from the time I began the application process to now that I am a two classes shy from graduation. I always receive prompt response to any question, regardless if I'm asking Admissions, Finance, the Registrar, or one of my professors. The classes have been demanding, yet with good time management, they are doable. I work about 30 hours a week at my job and have plenty of time for my studies. My professors have been knowledgeable and supportive,... Read More and they respond to any inquiry within a few hours. Grades are also posted within a day or two after submitting. Yes, to be an online student, you have a lot of independence and need to take initiative to research and study. However, I've always felt supported by my classmates and by Concordia's staff. Best of all, I have learned so much that has already helped me to become a better teacher.

Concordia surfaced in my world at a time that it was so needed. My life and education career was so chaotic and I had no idea what direction to head in due to frustration. After chatting with Cavalier representatives and advisors I decided that a graduate degree might be a worthy asset in future decisions. I completed the program with a very high GPA after lots of hard work and mega help from the wonderful instructors (some easy-peazy and some difficult ones). It was a great decision! My Cavalier... Read More masters was a plus in my princpals decision to hire me over other candidates for the Life Skills teacher position I now hold. I am a Cavalier for life!!!

I was so excited when I was accepted into the Educational Doctoral Program at Concordia University Portland Oregon. I completed over 10 courses within the Ed.D program. I spent late nights and early mornings completing the course work, and maintained an 3.8 average. I experienced issues during my second transition phase within the doctoral program. Please, don't waste your time with this program Many of my colleagues were subject to bias maneuvers on what candidate will move forward within the doctoral... Read More program. I dedicated two years of my life to Concordia, Ed.D program, only to be disappointed.

The EdD program is promoted to convince you that you will be fully supported through the whole degree process. As a transfer student I had an expectation of an orientation of the school, website and their Learning Management System. I had to nearly force an employee to provide me a quick campus orientation. They did provide a list of courses. There currently is no website/Learning Management System orientation for this specific Doctoral program. The Doctoral program is promoted as flexible and great... Read More for people with full time jobs but once you are in the program you are on your own. Just after starting course study, a series of administrative errors lead to probation and sudden suspension. It took 5 visits to school finance and student services offices to attempt have them correct the errors. They required me write to their board. Although difficult to locate I eventually had to speak with the Dean. In the mean time I've been forced into on-line courses that provide no connectivity with the instructor or other students other than an email and through directories in the Learning Management System. Their overall graduation rate is only about 45% where as University of Portland is at 74% at the time of this printing. Oddly the costs are similar between these schools but U of P is currently rated as 2nd in the area whereas CU is 15th, near the bottom.

If you are looking for a doctoral program that is relevant, grueling, and organized this is not the place. First let me say that the students are not supported. The moment you have a concern or an issue and ask for assistance you are given several reasons why your request cannot be completed. I had a dissertation chair that continuously missed meetings, didn't provide feedback, and was never accessible. I asked repeatedly for a change in chair and wasted 2 maybe even 3 sessions before I was able... Read More to get switched. I never caught up. I've repeated the course rotation to write my proposal/defend it 5-6 times and have made no progress. Cohort mates of mine were moved on only to be pulled back and have their proposal denied. We were scheduled to graduated 10/2017 and my entire cohort is at least a year behind. I found a program to transfer too ABD and that's exactly what I did. CU-Portland is over prices, poor quality, and a waste of your money and time. Look elsewhere.

I attended Concordia to get a BBA - though the degree program was less useful than half a year of real world work. The degree related classes were mostly useless, teaching me things like "how to write a questionnaire" rather than more useful things like social media marketing. The teachers are mostly older and seem to have stopped caring or paying attention to shifts in the market. At best, the classes were useless. Except for the accounting courses, those were all top notch and the only classes... Read More where I felt I left with increased knowledge. The tuition is really high for the quality of education, but worse, their Student Accounts Department is simply the worst. I encountered an error with my billing and they simply refused to help me. It took months to resolve it on my own, but would have been fairly easy if they would have been willing to do their job. There are several good colleges located in the Portland area. Do not waste your time and money on this one.

After completion of this degree, I was under the impression I could just continue to try and get my certification in teaching. However, upon trying to do this, I was told by the university they would refuse to sign a paper helping me to try to continue my completion. Upon further research, I found I completed a program I should have never been able to be accepted into because I am not a teacher and the program requires you to have a Bachelors in Teaching. This goes to show that this school does not... Read More check and help their students to succeed. I can not use this degree for anything related to teaching because I still have to do more school to get my certificate. All this degree did was cost me more money and debt. Do not fall prey to this institution. They will definitely deceive you.

I was excited to find an Ed.D program that fit in with the career I was pursuing, only to be disappointed in the lack of support and professionalism of the professors. It is disheartening when you reach out to a professor for advice or help only to never get a response. The coursework is a joke. I repeat the same words week after week in the assignments with no true learning. If I did this in the classroom, I would be laughed out of education. It is also frustrating when the professors demand work... Read More be submitted by a deadline, but you wait 3 days, a week, two weeks before you see any grades or feedback on that assignment. Did I mention I am doing the same assignment over and over again? They just change the name of the assignment each week, and reword the instructions just a little. And this is why I am looking into transferring.

The EdD program is horrible. I feel embarrassed to say that I went to this school-- yes, it is that bad! I too was subjected to numerous degree plan changes, changes in degree specialization, vacillation in what is required during different stages of the dissertation, change of dissertation chairs for inadequacy, retaking courses because proper guidance was not specified by instructors or within the syllabi, erroneous accusations by faculty, cancelation of significant defense dates, key leaders demonstrate... Read More that they do not clearly understand doctoral program guidelines that THEY established. Horrible program, please do not do it! The entire group that I started with has quit the program and went elsewhere. Don't waste your time or money. This program will cause nothing more than an emotional rollercoaster.

I recently completed the 1 year master's degree program at Concordia. Overall, I was pleased with my experience. The professors were very helpful, graded assignments quickly, gave feedback and seemed to care about my success. It was a little hard to get help outside of the classroom. Sometimes questions were not answered by the student rep that was assigned to me for each class. However, I did get answers by sending multiple e-mails and to different departments/people. The best part of the program... Read More was that it is 1 year program!

I am a current student in the EdD program and am so disheartened by the lack on student concern at this faith based organization. The teachers are good, but I believe they are all adjunct, so the job is second priority to their full time job. The full time staff (advisors, financial aid, even student services) are unfriendly and not helpful. I have sent emails asking for help and when I do receive responses they are curt and abrasive. It is so discouraging with all of the personal obstacles I have... Read More had to overcome while pursuing a doctorate degree and have received no care or compassion from the staff. Now I'm stuck with the decision... finish the impossible grueling and disconnected course of study for the next 2 plus years, or start paying my $30,000 bill I've accumulated after just 1 year. :(

This online experience was excellent. The classes were challenging and on point with what I needed to learn. The professors that I encountered were professional and responsive. I felt that the online component was very manageable and user friendly. It required a significant commitment of time each week and the classes were both interactive and collaborative with other students, who were of high caliber. I would recommend this university and this program to anyone who is independent and self-motivated... Read More and who can handle approximately 15 hours of reading and writing each week.