South University Online Reviews of Bachelor's in Criminal Justice

South University prepared me for success. The classes were challenging and relevant to my career. The policies are strict and they prepare you for the policies within the field. The instructors were people who had practical experience as well as degrees so they knew what they were talking about. My degree allowed me to move up significantly in my profession and the investment was well worth it. I see some negative reviews here and many of them are written so poorly that it should come as no surprise... Read More they had difficulties with academics. Like everything in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you want to excel and succeed, everything you need is at South University.

I dropped out from this college my first year, why? Because I am a first generation college student and didn't know a thing about how college works, I expressed this greatly to my financial counselor "Beth" and she would always ignore it. They would have me apply for loan after loan with no explanation as to why I needed to apply for so many. I was told "you don't need to pay until you graduate" grate right? Boy was I lied to, about 4 months in I got a letter, I had 30 days to pay 2,000 or I would... Read More be kicked out of college, i was horrified, I wasn't making enough to cover that bill and my rent,water, gass ect. So naturally I called Beth in tears, she tried to tell me she told me this, now mind you most our conversation would happen threw email, (this way I had a record of everything said) so I had pulled up the exact email who she expressed that I didn't have to pay until I graduated, she then tired to explain that because I was taking more than once class a term, (at the time I was taking 5) that policy had changed, without me knowing. Now you're probably thinking, what about the classes? They were horrible, it felt like a cheap YouTube video, the "reading material" was laughable, I learned more from crash course than I ever did in one of the classes held by south university, if I ever emailed a question to my teachers for help I was told to use the "resources" which were websites leading to OTHER college pages and once again cheap YouTube lectures, you take 1 class (if you don't ask for more) for 4 weeks and in all honesty the class is a joke, not challenging at all.

I graduated with a 4 year degree from this school. Graduating meant everything to me as I was a high school drop out with only a 9th grade education. I busted my butt for 4 years to do the best I could to succeed. I did end up graduating and for that I am thankful. Throughout my schooling I was contacted by my academic advisor and financial advisor regularly- which was awesome as it helped to keep me on track. However, once I graduated- all contact stopped. I began receiving harassing calls from... Read More a debt collector called Access Receivables and was notified through them that I owed the school over 9K- due to the fact that for some reason my fafsa never disbursed. Therefore I reached out to my financial aid advisor to inquire about this as I do not want my credit score to be affected with my account apparently being in collections. Mind you, this money owed to the school is on top of my student loans which are deferred until January 2019,which is over 48K. Anyways- apparently once you graduate, financial aid does not believe in advising and helping those who graduate understand what is going on and help with a resolution. I ended up reaching out to supervisor- who advised he would have my account removed from collections. I am beyond stressed at this point- I am still receiving harassing calls from the debt collector. I was advised by supervisor that he would have my account removed from collections and that he could put me in touch with those who could help me work out a payment plan for what I owe to the school- outside of my loans. I am completely distressed over this matter as I have been working so hard on my credit and now I can see all that hard work going down the drain when all I want to do is get this issue resolved and work out a payment plan so my credit wont be negatively impacted. What I thought was a great opportunity for me- to get a degree- is turning into a nightmare that could affect me for years. I have never felt so neglected and so alone when it comes to something like this. it is truly like one does not matter once one graduates. I will never forget this experience.

SU Columbia campus has an exceptional criminal justice program. The majority of CJ professors have decades of law enforcement and military experience which had a significant impact on the quality of the education. Just like any college, some classes are challenging while other are not. Most of the instructors for the general education courses were helpful. The school is expensive, but the program allows schedule flexibility for working adults. The Columbia campus has a large veteran presence which... Read More made it more comfortable for me since I am prior service Army. The amount of pessimism directed at this school is due to unrealistic expectations by new students. I can only speak of my time at the Columbia campus and online program. (Hybrid program). I graduated from SU with a 3.9 GPA which allowed me to enter into a top national university in the D.C. area for grad school without having to take the GRE. The Columbia campus English department was instrumental in preparing me for writing at the graduate level. Hope this helps.