Grand Canyon University

I choose GCU online because I wanted to be able to work more at my company and I thought it would allow the flexibility of me taking the classes and doing the course work when I had the time(weather that be at 6am before I went into the office or at 9pm at night) Boy was I wrong, the first class I took the teacher wanted us on during certain hours of the day, not only was I on the other side of the map and 4 hours a head of their time so that already complicated things with talking with the advisers... Read More and counselors when they were not busy, but the teacher took away participation points because I was not online during those times. I'm sorry this is the exact reason why I choose online, to do the coursework on my time , not during a set time, I would have choose a traditional class?? I talked with my counselor about this but they were no help. Then after about sticking it out a year with them which I should have left sooner I transferred to a different school and went back to traditional college classes, I still have reps from GCU calling my phone and texting me, Im sorry but texting a student is not professional in any matter, they were constantly blowing up my phone asking when I was returning for classes. I told them a thousand times to not bother me nor text me nor call me. I would highly highly not recommend anyone to this school.

GCU looks good on the surface as a private, Christian university. However, in my experience, that is just a front. Their main motivation is money, which a school does need, but they charge way over the national (14% more) and state (9% more) averages. Their tuition rates are so high that a freeze has been placed upon them to prevent them from raising it further for now. If you need to talk to your student services advisor, which is who you go through to register for future classes, be prepared to... Read More possibly be on hold for a half hour or more, and that's if they aren't "attending a special event" for five hours. Their intercommunication between departments is deplorable to say the least and you cannot directly contact other departments. You have to go through your student services advisor to talk to, for example, the financial department. Overall, my conclusion from my time at this school is that it wants to hide behind a veil of Christianity while it sucks money out of all of its students. Even with scholarships it was difficult to make payments because of how high their tuition is. They make it unnecessarily hard to figure out issues involving other departments by forcing you to go through your student services advisor who may not even be in the office when you need them. If one of your big motivations for applying to GCU is because it is a Christian university, my advice is look around for other options, because GCU is nothing more than a corporation with a Christian front whose main motivation is money and, from my experience, not education, as is evident by the reasons why their nursing program lost its accreditation and further evident by them not telling the students who were about to go into the nursing program about that loss of accreditation.

I would like to say that my experience so far has been great. This is my second year and as promised the professors have been knowledgeable, the courses are also what I expected. The only thing that I did not like was my past counselor, she didn't help me the way she should of, other than that my ride has been wonderful. I highly recommend this university to anyone. Some people may complain per their experience and it is understandable, but the university has a good reputation. Do your research before... Read More committing!!!

Grand Canyon University has been very good for me. I didn't expect to agree with everything, but most of it has been a good learning experience for me. The teachers have mostly been great too. I never had a problem with feedback from any of them. I believe that if you do the work, it does turn out better in the long run. It's like any other school you would attend. The further you go the work gets a little more complicated. It is supposed to be a sacrifice, not a vacation. The sacrifice is what helps... Read More you make it to the next level in your life, career or calling. It doesn't just benefit the individual, but all you may encounter in the future. It may get harder somewhat, but I trust that God will see me through. I have not had a problem with any classroom work as far as the materials I need to do my work. I had to do the work of researching for the answers I needed. GCU's library provided that information as well as acceptable websites and the textbooks. I encourage anyone to stay the course as much as possible. Life happens and prohibits some things from happening, but if you can work through it, stay the course. It will pay off in the long run. Thank you GCU for making this possible for me as a working adult and ministry leader. GCU and life with an awesome God has made me stronger, wiser and better than I could have ever imagined. I'm glad to be a part of the Lopes Family. They are helping to equip me for my future commitment to the call of God on my life. GCU appeared at just the right time in the course of my life.

I would highly discourage anyone looking to get a degree online from attending this school. It wasn't so bad at first, but as the classes get harder the books become more useless. I had an extremely difficult time learning the material for my last 6-8 courses because the books were always extremely vague in explanation and the homework questions (and the amount of homework) was outrageous. My student advisor was always hard to get in touch with and the teachers always took 4-5 days to reply to any... Read More of the questions I had. If I wasn't so close to graduating I would have left this school a long time ago. The only way I was able to pass my classes was through paying for my own tutor to actually teach me; something the teachers and books at this school did NOT do. Taking classes at this school was like taking a class without a book, basically.

I attended GCU online, one class at a time, for three years straight. I wanted a total online program after I finished my Bachelor's Degree at my local community college. I am not a great test-taker, so I was extremely happy to write a paper each week in lieu of a weekly test. However, this required a lot of work and dedication, as I gave up pretty much every Sunday for three years. Posting discussion questions/responses several times per week was also a commitment. With that said, this program worked... Read More for me. I found just about all of the teachers knowledgeable and fair. There is always one teacher you can do without, online or in a classroom. Sometimes the assignments didn't make sense, and it was a bit difficult to communicate with the professor about it, but it all worked out. I have no horror stories about financial aid, and always managed to reach a counselor. There does seem to be a high turnover of staff, but again, nothing that affected me much. I had a very positive attitude, and was thrilled to do all my schoolwork from the comfort of my home. I got a job as soon as I graduated. My schooling has helped me in the classroom, and overall, I enjoyed my journey at GCU. I would recommend them.

I chose GCU because they offer an accounting degree 100% online, have a good reputation (at least that I am aware of), and because they have an accelerated program. I liked that I could take one class at a time for 8 weeks each, I felt that it was easier to focus on one at a time because I am a working mom with two young children. I find the curriculum to be challenging, which to me is a good thing. I tried another university before GCU online and their curriculum was way too easy, the assignments... Read More gave you the answers. I didn't feel like I was learning anything. At GCU I feel like I have to actually learn the material to succeed. I feel like the education I have received at GCU has helped me at my job in an accounting firm tremendously. Also the counselors I have had (2) have been excellent at answering any questions and relaying information to me. They are kind and courteous to me. That said, though there are some good online teachers, many of them are not good. They do not always provide useful feedback on assignments, answer questions (I have had two teachers tell me they cannot just give out answers, when I did not ask for answers, I asked for instructions on how to complete problems - or where to look for said instructions). I have had teachers who give out random grades on essays with no reason (of which I had to challenge to get a better grade). I've had teachers basically completely ignore issues that I had in the courses... This is something that GCU NEEDS to fix. I'm not sure if these are all adjunct faculty but I would guess they were. I like that GCU has you rate the professor and course each time, but I'm not sure they actually pay attention to the feedback or do anything about it. I would recommend GCU to people who are independent and able to learn from reading their books alone, without much guidance from a teacher. If you have to have a teacher's input then I don't recommend this school. Of course, this is my experience only as an online student. I am not sure if traditional students face the same kinds of issues.

I have had a very excellent experience with this institution. I am a single parent of older teen/young adults and we have particular needs in the family. My instructors have been knowledgeable, available, and supportive all the way through my classes. My counselors have been very good to me and offer me full support and advice. The staff has been more than just doing a day's work. They actually care and offer support and advice. I love that they would pray for me. Previously, I attended a course... Read More at a different famous college online (in CA) and I will never go back to that California school; the administrative part at the California college was so hard to navigate that you were pretty much on your own. I was sent from one person to another to another until I found out at the END of my class that the California college decided not to accept my financial aid so I will owe a bucket of money for an evening class that, if you don't want it for a grade, was free and open to the public to come and attend in the evenings. Not so with GCU! My financial counselor from GCU calls me at the end of each course to make sure everything is updated and that I understand where I am in terms of finances and courses. The classes themselves are well structured to be able to break the work into pieces so that a degree is attainable even for full time workers with families. I attended college twice before (not counting the California online class) and this has definitely been the best experience so far!

I do not understand those who criticize GCU. Trolls maybe. My experience is highly positive. Although I am not Christian myself, I never felt discrimination. Instructors are more than active, and they keep the interactive communication alive. Participation in discussions is a must, and assignments should be submitted timely. The learning platform is high-quality, and the tools that help students are highly useful. To my knowledge, the counseling MSC program of the school is accepted by the State.... Read More In nursing, they have a good rate of success. I do not believe students are not communicated by instructors; it is fully the opposite in my case. All I can say is that I highly recommend this university.

So far I am very unhappy with the Professors that Grand Canyon has hired to do their nursing program. In the online program you feel like you are on an island by yourself. The Professor is missing in action and does not care about you or your needs. It has been an awful experience. The face that it is very expensive makes it even worse. I wish I had read the reviews of this school before I signed up. I definitely would not recommend it at this point. The Professor I have right now is an absolute... Read More joke. She is just a joke. They say it is doable when you work but so far this lady that teaches has made it to where I am spending hours and hours trying to keep up. It is just ridiculous. Don't waste your money.

I do highly recommend this school- it's supposedly one of the best online programs and for me, this was the only way I could obtain a Master's Degree. However, I am not huge fan of all of the teachers- they often take a long time to respond to questions and give feedback, which is very frustrating and stressful. I also highly do not appreciate the fact that online students only get a winter break. As an online student it's kind of offensive- as if we don't work as hard or don't "deserve" a break.... Read More I am extremely anxious to see how this program is viewed when it comes to being interviewed for teaching positions.

First, I am a dependent in the military. I graduated from a high school they I found out later was not accredited. I was unable to get any scholarships only loans..so I opted out for online college to work a couple jobs to pay the loan.. I saw reviews for this college before and was skeptical until I noticed it was happening to me. I spoke to a woman who swore she could give discounts for transferring, and other flashy discounts.. to find out through my financial advisor it meant squat diddly.. my... Read More financial advisor does nothing but remind me of my loan. She has even failed to tell me the start date changed for one ofy classes and i ended up being pulled out and still charged for the class.. i was a transfer from Liberty and none of my credits got transferred..i had nearly 40.. I could've had my BA by now but continue reading. College has been almost impossible well impossible now. Lol. Last semester my financial advisor dropped me out two days before the class ended. So I missed turning in a major paper. My gpa dropped two letters. It was a B+. Im in a new class, this is my last week. I was given a group assignment. I cannot get any points for the assignment if the paper isn't filled out all the way...my classmates waited last minute, and some didn't reply, i am unable to turn it in. Theres no way i can raise my grade in a week. The policy states if im under a C I can no longer attend GCU for a year... So pretty much I flunked out. Kind of bummed..all this money is being wasted..and a $6,000 loan i have to pay off for nothing.

I completed two graduate degrees at GCU, a Masters in Education and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Not only were the professors knowledgeable, but they were also caring. All questions were answered and there were supports throughout the process. Anytime an issue occurred, GCU stepped in and made things right. It does take a great deal of discipline to complete a degree online, and many people seem to expect to put in very little effort, yet expect excellent results. University policies are... Read More clearly outlined and as long as you follow them, the school is fair and helpful.

Of the common complaints on here, I can attest to their partial validity. I was automatically enrolled in my next course based on my declared degree path. So yes automatic enroll does exist in order to support you! In fact I did change my degree path after I started. The process is as simple as filling out a form and signing it. A few days later the degree path was corrected. Automatic billing does exist, based on the degree path I chose. However, I always paid for the courses in accordance with... Read More the written agreement I signed upon enrollment. The staff never called me out on timely payments. In fact, I was automatically enrolled in my next class after I told my SSA that I would take a short break for the birth of my son. The SSA corrected my schedule and I was not billed for those classes I did not take. Course instructors do seem a little jaded, but I have noticed that the university as a whole is turning that around. There are mandatory requirements for the instructors to pay a certain amount of time and attention to the class. I never confronted them directly on late grading or low response but left the feedback in the course survey. I know a few instructors who were not asked back. This certainly isn't because of one unruly loud mouth student. I was assigned a capstone course and have completed that course. There was one course after the capstone that I needed to complete in accordance with my original degree path. The reason this course was taken after the capstone was student availability. The university offers a wide range of degrees that funnel into a few common capstones. This meant that of the students that shared my degree path, There was too few with the pre-requisites to make up a class. This was a constant problem through out my degree path. But the automatic enrollment meant that the computer found another class for me to take and kept kicking FIN-486 down the road until enough students were available to take the course. Bottom line, the common complaints do exist, and I experienced them. With a little understanding and forcefulness I was able to obtain a degree from GCU. Every institution has problems, it is on you to correct them. A degree should not be handed to you. You must work for it. Knowledge isn't the only key to life, sometimes there is a little paperwork involved. GCU prepared me for life.