Grand Canyon University

Their RN to BSN is not designed for full time working nurses. Extremely difficult, and you always have a research paper on Sundays. Aside from, writing 3 assignments per week and at least 4 “peer interactions”. The professor was not understanding, in the very least. Played favorites, was not helpful and when you had a question, she would tell you to check syllabus. Very confusing program since it’s was my first online class. Professor had little patience and just docks points on assignments instead... Read More of HELPING. Paid them And dropped the program. NEVER AGAIN!

GCU has excellent instructors and curriculum. However, the student counseling paycheck comes out of the tuition costs. Therefore, the counselors are basically working for the learner. However, the counselors job description is so overbearing that they do have not time or regard for registered students in their workload and tend to judge students as if they are God. Students have to put up with them multi-tasking on counseling calls which means that the students under their advisement do not have... Read More their full attention. The counselors forget that they are not doing the best for the already registered student population under their counsellorship because their work load is impossible: the bringing in of new students quota. Therefore, the approximately $300 a semester that enrolled students are required to pay for the student counselor is a waste. Additionally, GCU, while advertising themselves as a Christian university, did not make adjustments for doctorate learners who were advised by these counselors that GCU did not want doctoral students coming to required residency when Covid first outbroke, and GCU is not making concessions to doctoral learners to extend this time of dissertation completion even though doctoral learners lost approximately a year of the seven year deadline for dissertation completion due to GCU not accepting residency students during the first Covid outbreak for approximately a year. Unlike Christian values, GCU is greedily enforcing the time limit for on campus residency even though this is dangerous travel along with the in class time during this horrible Covid epidemic. GCU has shown colors of greed in not allowing an extension to doctoral students to complete their degree when Covid issues decrease. Because the student counseling is a terribly stressful quota position, the university will not tolerate a negative report against their actions and always side with the counselor no matter what the circumstances. There are counselors who will outright analyze your words and criticize students even though there is nothing to criticize other than a need for answers to questions. They act like God. And they are bad about not returning a request for an answer to a question if they perceive something in the student's voice that they don't like, even though the student is being professional and is just asking a question of wanting to clear up an opinion that the counselor judged as a harsh question. You can speak in a normal voice to some of the counselors, yet they put their perception into the students words and then write their opinion in the students folder. I spent $100,000 with GCU and called a counselor to get help enrolling into a different area and the counselor would not help although she had known me all the years I attended GCU. She said that I sounded harsh. I was on a recorded call so if an administer would actually listen to the unprofessional way some counselors speak with students, they will see that I had no harshness in my voice. I simply called to find about about another program of study so as to temporarily avoid flight travel and then in person classroom residency until Covid is not such a life and death matter for the unvaccinated . I am so glad to be rid of these counselors who are protected by their supervisors no matter what they do because their job is impossible, the constant recruitment quota which they mistreat and judge the students already enrolled and who are in their care for approximately $300 per semester out of student pocket.

Great program at a great price. The student services and support were lacking, but if you’re getting an MBA you are probably the type of person who doesn’t need a lot of guidance on classes and scheduling. If you are not a good academic writer and researcher, struggle with grammar, and generally struggle to put solid ideas into writing, you will struggle. As a working professional managing a nursing home during a pandemic, it took a lot of work to finish but finishing was definitely possible. The... Read More flexibility for working professionals is great. The Colangelo School of Business, in my opinion, will rise in prestige and reputation. It gave me a lot of the tools to take my career to the next level. The biggest takeaways for me were the financial projections, budgeting, and accounting practices. It was also heavy on leadership theory and provided a lot of good content. I was accepted to ASU and U of A as well, and I do not regret for a moment going with GCU. I’d choose it all over again.

I will be honest and straightforward, getting a doctorate degree here is not a walk in the park. I have talked to other colleagues that had doctorate degrees from other schools and have experienced the same hard rigor. You can finish the doctorate degree in 3.5 years because I have (3.25) but the truth is it is based on one's own work ethic. So if you are not ready for the rigor then do not apply. You will be stuck in the program for 7 to 10 years disgruntled individual that thinks they deserved... Read More to go to the next phase. They do not owe you a thing and they want your dissertation to be publication-ready and committee's names are being signed on the dissertation. They do not want to make their names look bad by "just passing" mediocre work. They will not hold your hand during the process because you are an adult and can read the templates they provide but if you leave something out they will let you know. You have to go in very humbled and ready to learn and be coached. First-class, you should start working on dissertation material to be ahead of the game and graduate as fast as you can. Honestly, my committee and teachers throughout have been amazing. I did not have an issue with any professors, though some grade harder than others but that is normal. Most complaints I hear are people blaming others, the school, etc. For instance, I have seen complaints about posting a few minutes late and getting a grade deducted, complaining about the teachers. They do not hold themselves accountable for posting or submitting late instead point the finger at the program. Again, most of the complaints I have noticed were due to students not holding themselves accountable and were not ready for the rigor of the programs. If you are not ready for rigor and want to go at a slow pace, expect to graduate in 5-10 years. If you have a strong work ethic and are coachable, you can be done within 3.5-4.5 years. Hope this review helps.

I completed a Master's Degree program in History at GCU online. I was told that I was not eligible for graduation as my GPA was 2.99 and it had to be 3.0. They want me to take one class over that I got a C in because the professor would not accept my last paper for trivial technical issues. The class would have to be out of pocket for $2500 so I can get .01% of a grade increase. I can't afford this and don't know how I can even get my degree now without doing this. I highly recommend anyone thinking... Read More about taking courses here to not do it. There are better schools out there with lower tuition and much better programs that would be preferable to going here.

GCU's Masters Degree programs do not instill learning but rather instill arduous, meaningless busy work to try and change your learning style to match theirs. Every single class structure is the same... (2 discussion board posts with 3 replies to each discussion board that MUST be posted at least one day apart as well as one paper a week.... EVERY week) It reminds me of past elementary schools that educated students to become factory workers with their one way or the highway approach. The courses... Read More do not allow for creativity or divergent thoughts, just turning in work on time. For example, in one class, I submitted the entirely wrong assignment for the week and realized it a day later. Panicking, because it was worth 100 pts, I attempted to resubmit. After logging in I realized that my professor had not only graded it, but I received a 100, for a paper from an entirely different class, one year prior. It was then that I realized that GCU is not about furthering your knowledge and allowing for diverse thought, but rather providing their students with boring, regurgitated assignments that will only lead to imposed deadline syndrome. Enjoy.

Worst decision ever. the instructors don’t even “instruct” they provide you with various links of articles to read or videos to watch instead of teaching you themselves. Then, there’s multiple assignments due every week. I fell behind and was given no mercy, but my instructor takes WEEKS to even submit grades for discussion questions. Communication is horrible. I was told by the financial advisor that my scholarships and financial aid covered all my costs but I got a letter in the mail saying I owed... Read More over $1,000 to the school and I’m literally only on my 3rd course. Instructors are rude and horrible with communication. I was lied to about what I would be making once I graduated with my degree. I was told we would have instruction through something like zoom, but all my “learning” comes from the links they provide to different articles and videos. They don’t even teach us themselves. The learning platform is so annoying to navigate, especially for discussion questions. Just would not recommend this school to anyone at all, ever. This is the worst decision I have ever made in my entire life. I’m looking to try to transfer schools because I am so disappointed in this. I was so excited to start classes then quickly realized all the lies that were shoved down my throat by recruiters.

I was initially very excited about the program. I did think it was odd that a DBA program was requiring a dissertation. Little did I know, the program was a PhD program just marketed as a DBA program. Out of the gate I was enrolled in a class, started the class, submitted assignments to then be told they enrolled me in the wrong class. I had no choice to stay in the class, which resulted in playing catch up in the new class. Additionally, the program (entire doctoral program) lacks enrollment numbers... Read More to establish a set schedule of courses. Therefore, the school is constantly changing your schedule - without letting your know- and your graduation date due to gaps from one class to the next. There were instances where I had a month gap from one class to the next. They also want you to start working on your dissertation at the start of your enrollment, which is great; however, as you progress through, depending on your professor, they mark points off your responses and work if they do not agree with what another professor deemed as competent. You do not have your first residency - in-person meet with your chair and dissertation team - until you are a year into the program. What results is a time to be told that everything you have done thus far is not appropriate and much rework is required. Please note, when you attend the week long residency, you are enrolled in an online class prior to the onsite residency and you are still required to keep up with the current course that you are enrolled - thus during this time, you have three courses, plus the need to be out of work for an entire week. Furthermore, you come across some professors who publicly blast you in front of the class and will publically show favoritism to fellow students making comments such as, "There need to be more people like you in the world." The professor does not provide any useful or positive feedback to any other student in the class. Moreover, you will have professors that will dock you points from a post or an assignment stating they were expecting x,y, and z; however, the expectations were not identified as the requirements within the course assignment or rubric. In addition, the school grading system is not favorable to the student. When a student has a 96% in the course, their grade is an A- that results in a 3.7 gpa for the course. Lastly, their learning platform is not great. It is circa 2005 where, if you do not watch, your discussion posts will not stay within the thread. If anyone is reading this, I would highly recommend that you draft your responses in Word, copy and paste into the discussion thread, submit the discussion, then check to ensure it is still present the next day. It is too bad that this did not work out, but I was able to transfer to another University and will complete my DBA 1/2 year sooner than with GCU.

I have attended both in-person classes and online classes at GCU. In-person classes were considerably better. Online instructors seem preoccupied with day jobs and do not seem invested in the success of their students. After graduating the masters program, I found out that GCU does not give honors or class rankings to graduate students. This would have been a deciding factor in choosing a school, so I am not very happy to learn this after the fact. I worked hard and very likely would have been top... Read More of my class. Honors are valuable on resumés, so this is pretty upsetting. Overall, I learned a lot and the school is good for people who are working. But personally, I wish I had gone to another university.

I'm currently attending GCU as a student enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Health Science program. So far, my experience has been amazing! My university counselor was extremely helpful when I was applying for GCU. He walked me through the process step-by-step and answered all of my questions quickly and efficiently. My academic advisor is also amazing! She handles all of my financial documents, and ensures that I am on track for my upcoming courses. The online program itself is great.... Read More It gives me the ability to work on school whenever and wherever I want because it's online. In addition to this, the workload is the perfect amount! It's challenging and definitely requires time, but I still have plenty of time for my job, hobbies, and social life. Finally, I am actually learning a lot. The program curriculum is very detailed and GCU provides so many different student resources to help you learn including the Student Success Center and the library. I hope you look past all these negative reviews (most of them are really old or have to do with money issues) and choose GCU! I'm seriously so proud and excited to be a student here! Go Lopes!

Run as fast as you can from this school. Horrible, worst decision I made. I chose a Christian school to get the best education and its been nothing but anxiety, frustration, anger, etc. The head of the nursing doctorate program is a foul-mouthed bully, they have instructors who have no idea what they are doing, one tells you one thing and the others say nope change it all. You can get to the end of your two year program and be told nope on your thesis when you have been submitting it for approval... Read More in almost each class. You can have your last day of your program, but oh no, you're not done yet. It can take an additional 1-2 months for them to approve your project as they send it back for correction and then have pretty much a week and a half to get it back to you. Out of 60 in our cohort only 3 would recommend this program if that does not summarize the experience at this school. Pay the extra money and go to Chamberlain or Walden as students I know who have attended have had amazing experiences that this should be. Mine was ruined.

I am unsure why there are so many negative reviews here. I work full time rotating shifts on an ICU and this program is completely doable with that. In fact, it's actually enjoyable. The professors are highly accessible and really engage with the students. You can also tell the other students actually care about the program making group projects easy and I have never had an issue before. The content is interesting too. I think those that are complaining just don't want to put the work in because... Read More I can't recommend this program enough. Also, my counselors are amazing and respond to be almost immediately via e-mail. They have been so helpful and I feel like this program will truly prepare me for success. Go here! It's worth it and the cost is amazing!

I honestly have no complaints. You get what you put into the program . I’m currently working full time at my local health department and I have manage to complete two courses at a time . Time management is crucial to your success in the program. This program has gone into depth about concepts that my undergrad school briefly went over . It definitely is a substitution for a credentials program and at the end you will have earned a masters . I started the program August 2020 and will begin student... Read More teaching in the fall. Like I mentioned you get what you put into the program .

So, I'm 18 credits into my Master's, which is a 44 credit degree, and I have to say it has already benefitted my career quite a bit. The Special Education Law classes were particularly helpful. From reading other reviews, I think it helps that I was already working in Special Education when I started. I am an Alternative Routes to Licensure (ARL) candidate in Utah. Recently, ARL program candidates where changed from being considered a fully professional license to an associate educator license, which... Read More is a downgrade. I was concerned about that happening, so I enrolled in the GCU Master's program this last April. The first course was helpful because I haven't been in college for 18 years, and I didn't know what APA style was. We used something else when I went, and I didn't remember how to do it anyway. My enrollment advisor tipped me off to citation generators, which was also new. They reviewed educator ethics, which I think is always helpful. People act like they don't need this class, but if you don't think you need to pay conscious attention to your ethics, then you probably aren't very self-aware. A reminder about why we're here and what we're trying to do is always relevant. Then next class surveyed the disabilities and the SpEd categories, information I have used frequently in my job. Then, the Law classes hit. I worked very hard at them and earned an A and a B+ (89.8%. Sheesh). Halfway through the first law class, I took my PRAXIS test for Special Education Mild to Moderate. The few classes I'd taken made all the difference in the world to passing that test. I fully expected to need to take it more than once, as I had heard of educators failing the first time though they had more experience than I. I passed it the first time! My principal was impressed, and it gave me a legitimacy at my work that I had not had before. It asked specifically about content that was exactly what was covered in my GCU courses. Without those classes, I would have failed, I'm sure. I use information I learned at GCU for every IEP I write and hold meetings for. Yes, it is largely self driven. If you want someone to hold your hand, you'd better not take an online course. It was a shock when I saw how much I had to figure out for myself, but, I wouldn't know what to research or write about without the course curriculum. The teachers I've had so far have been responsive to my e-mails and questions. Right now, I have a 3.8 GPA, which hasn't been easy. People complain about the writing, but that's the only way to do an online course. You can cheat at a traditionally-styled test if you take it at home, online. You can't cheat at a benchmark that requires you to make tables and write 750 word reflections, etc, at least not without a much greater risk of getting caught. I'm pretty happy with what I've learned. It doesn't teach you everything, but Professional Development is a lifelong process. I plan on locking down my Master's degree and then supplementing it with additional classes every year. It is an investment, but if you're wanting to be rich, don't be a teacher. I'm a single Mom, paying my own way, and this is just how it is, no matter what college you go to. College is expensive in the U.S. But, for people like me, who can't get to a brick-and-mortar classroom, GCU gets the job done. I didn't want to be a banker, or an admin assistant, or a public relations manager, all of which I'm qualified to be. I wanted to be a teacher, and this is the cost of being a teacher. It's my favorite job ever, though it is definitely not an easy job. Sorry to people who had a bad experience. I've already had a very beneficial one, and I'm not even halfway through.