National University Reviews of Master's in Special Education

Do not be fooled by this college’s incessant calls prior to registration. Once they have you, it will be nearly impossible to make contact with anyone who can do anything for you. Pros: The classes are organized well. Classes are relatively easy which is great when you are a single parent working full time. Not a lot of textbook fees. Cons: You can never get in touch with anyone ever. My advisor never enrolled me in my second class and when I realized this, I sent her multiple emails and calls and... Read More it wasn’t until weeks later that I was added to the class a week in (25% of the way through). I had emailed her several times about my financial aid and never got a response for months. It wasn’t until I made contact with a person who used to be a part of the fin aid Dept (who gave me a direct #- bless her!) that I got any answers and she verified that my advisor hadn’t even looked at the email I had sent weeks prior. One person to rule them all… there are no departments like a normal school. Your financial aid and your enrollment are managed by the SAME PERSON. So if you have someone who is terrible at responding to messages, good luck with getting any answers to questions. Financial aid- I completed everything I needed to complete before I was even enrolled. It wasn’t until halfway through my second class that any of my financial aid paperwork was processed. I never received an award letter telling me how much I was set to receive or how it was going to be distributed. I also never received anything in regards to how much of what I was eligible for in loans I wanted. So I was eligible for X amount, but didn’t receive the full amount because someone, somewhere, indicated that I only wanted enough FA to cover my class. So the FA lady I spoke with before adjusted everything and said it should take a week before the funds dispersed. Almost 3 weeks later I still have no answers. I spoke with her at week 2 and she said that she doesn’t know why it didn’t get processed but she was going to flag it so it would. I am still waiting. I was randomly dropped from my class for no apparent reason. I had been actively participating and had an A in the class, but without and warning it was going to happen and no email with an explanation, I have been dropped from the course. If there was some kind of glitch that could be easily reversed, I would still be anxious because of how long it takes for anyone to respond. They also just changed the recording on the phone line that if no one answers you must have the party’s extension in order to leave them a voicemail… where is the ext? It doesn’t exist. Bottom line: If you have another option, TAKE IT! I will likely be filing a formal complaint with the state about this school and if you’ve had a bad experience that hasn’t reached a resolution, I would recommend you do as well as none of these issues will ever be corrected unless they are held accountable. Every single low review has valuable insight for you!

RUN AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL. DO NOT IGNORE THE REVEIWS. I have been here for a month and can't get any calls returned. The school advertises false promises. You get a lot of calls and motivated returned calls from enrollment specialist in the beginning. I think they like are on commision. Once you enroll and attend (gotcha) it is a whole new ball game. I am trying to stay positive and hope this nightmare turns around. I am not one to write reviews nor am I a complainer. This school is worth warning... Read More about. I am hoping to get a refund as my first class bill was for almost 2,000 and I cant even get a phone call returned or an email responded too. Well one lady was caring. I suppose you gotta find your way and be strong as this school is all about them Benjamins. I pray to God that this experience ends better than it started as I am trying to hang in there. The Instructor has a one size fit all motto and talk to you crazy like "look at the instructions" then gives you a low grade without explanation. Gosh, I work and go to school. During the one hour class there isn't any teaching just going over the assignment. Please God help me manuever this thing so it turns for the good. This school has a lot of staff that does absolutely nothing to support your goals other than point you in a direction.

If you are looking for an expensive way to pay for your degree, this is it. If you are looking for an engaging, interesting, and professional university experience, it is not. I am no stranger to online education; I completed the last year of my undergrad in an online format (pre-pandemic) and loved it just as much as in-person. It was the exact same quality of education, just made more flexible. Now, I am in the freshly “revamped” Masters Education/Credential program, and unlike the other poster,... Read More I am not impressed. The assignments are beginning level and lack depth. If you are already familiar with the concepts, there is nothing to gain from the NuNav feature. Similarly, the supplementary links provided are seldom credible; there are no professional case studies or reports to be found here. At the administrative level, I will echo the same complaints as other commenters. Transcripts and financial aid take weeks to be processed. The advisors are hit or miss, but they handle everything, so you are forced to wait and rely on them. There is no independence in this system- you can’t even set your own email password. The ‘secure’ system is a nightmare. If you attended a traditional four-year university, I would not recommend coming here to continue your education. I was looking forward to engaging in thought-provoking, higher level courses, but now I dread regurgitating the same basic information for each assignment. I have been trying to push through since it is a quick and easy program, but it is so frustrating paying so much money for such mediocre quality.

Stay away!!! I am so disappointed with the teaching credential program. I graduated from a four year university with my undergrad and decided to try out National for my masters and teaching credential...worst idea ever! Not only are they not helpful, the classes are not worth the 1,935 dollar. You can go to a different school and probably learn way more. I seriously think they only care about money since they did not help me with anything. They also delayed my whole program by a month because they... Read More didnt get the forms inputted in time. That is not my fault yet I was penalized for it. Find a different school and DO NOT WAIST YOUR TIME!

I ABSOLUTELY do not recommend National University Fresno. I have had my advisement report "recreated" 3 different times now. My credential specialist will not return my calls or emails. I have to drive 2 hours to the University to contact her. She has pushed my credential back 5 months, forcing me into more classes, that were not initially agreed upon. Every time I speak with her she assures me after this class I am FINISHED. Then the next month tells me there is one more to take. She is inconsistent... Read More and unprofessional. When I ask her what is the problem, she is rude and talks down to me. This is the most horrible University experience I have ever had. Please STAY AWAY!!!

They are a RIP OFF. They LIE to lure you in, then hit you up with nickel and dime new monthly charges. They hit you up a month or two into your program to charge you for "Materials" each month even though there are none. They tell you weeks into your program that they will charge you monthly for books that you can not keep. They LIE about the amount of work that will be assigned and time needed to complete in order to get you to enroll. They LIE and add on frivolous charges AFTER you enroll and pay... Read More your $21K. i wish there was a place for all current and past students to communicate and connect to explore a class action suit against them. I recommend you DON'T CHOSE THIS so called UNIVERSITY I recommend you DON'T WASTE YOUR $$$$$

I decided to choose NU for my second post-grad credential. It was a mistake, and I'm nearly finished, but after spending a lot of money, going through Professors that don't know the content or procedures of the class, speaking with advisors and staff that don't seem to have managers or know what is going on, a huge financial aide fiasco this year "because they switched systems," but can't correct it, I would rate my experience with them as a nightmare. My under-grad and first post-grad certificate... Read More was a much better experience at the Cal State, and my advice is to steer clear of NU.

I was excited about going back to school. I spoke with my advisor/recruiter at length about what I was looking for and was reassured that NCU would be the perfect fit. I have been teaching for 17 years in a public school and wanted to obtain a degree in Special Education but specified I had no intention of ever taking an administrative position. EVERY class I took was geared to being a Director of Special Education. I spoke to my advisor about this numerous times and she reassured me that this would... Read More not be a problem. I discussed the matter thru email with the "mentors" and for the most part they could not care less. The assignments were vague and of no value at all. Each mentor graded differently. There were some who were the APA Hitlers and some who were interested in the "meat" of the paper instead. One mentor even told me when I called her about an assignment that she too, felt the assignment was rather pointless and vague. The last mentor was extremely demeaning in her comments and she became the last straw. I finished my last course on March 29th and couldn't be happier (eventhough I have to pay a fee for ending early) I couldn't be happier! I am taking a break and will resume my studies at Grand Canyon University.

I have attended National University for eight courses and have received A's in all of my courses. I am leaving at the end of the month to finish my graduate education elsewhere due to a change in goals. Even if I were not changing my objectives, I would still be leaving National. I feel that National has been one of the most expensive mistakes of my life. Yes, they are accredited and can get you your degree and teaching credential. Even so, the quality of instruction is not stellar. After all, how... Read More deep can you really dive into a subject in 4 weeks? There simply is not enough time to really get into a subject. Most of the assignments are a joke, and while you do have professors and live web chats, you will be teaching yourself. With a few exceptions, questions have been answered with vague responses or outright false information; this is especially in regards to assignment formatting. In regards to the "rigorous" nature of the courses, they are not. I was able to receive all of those A grades with little to no reading. Most of the papers were relatively short. The "signature assignment" in one course was a paltry 1500 words. For a graduate course??? I've also had some courses that employed texts which were woefully biased or utilized information that was outdated, particularly with the advent of Common Core Standards. Oh, and while every professor says that APA is required, almost every professor sees APA a bit different than what National considers as standard. I also loved the one professor who spent 10 minutes in a lecture explaining how important it was to use "Doctor" when addressing him - yes that sort of degree takes a lot of hard work, but when your PhD is from a second-rate school and your lessons are often unclear or even non-existent, you just sound as if you are a bit full of yourself. Financial Aid is a joke. Yes, you will get it, but you MUST stay on top of them or it will be delayed or messed up. If you can go to a brick and mortar school, please do; I though understand that is not always possible. Yes, National will get you your accredited degree and teaching credential, but don't expect amazing things.

National University has been one of the worst experiences in my life. The professors are o.k. but everything else about the way it is run and it's efficiency is absolutely terrible. It has already taken me 6 months longer than they told me the program was. I have never failed a class and have been enrolled full time the entire time.

They are constantly messing up scheduling. They has accidentally changed my program twice and had to fix it which set me back and had me take unnecessary classes which... Read More cost me money.

Their student teaching/internship program is absurd and there is a 80 year old woman doing my observations. Her feedback is incoherent. It takes several weeks for anyone to get back to you when you have a question or need something taken care of. If you are considering National, I would strongly recommend running away while you still can. Enroll in a program at ANY other school if you can.