University of Arkansas Grantham Reviews of MBA Programs

"I am very pleased with my experience with Grantham. The student advisor was always prompt in responding to me and was always touching base to see if I needed anything. This was very helpful considering it had been over 30 years since graduating undergraduate school. The courses were challenging but also achievable with a super busy work and personal life. I highly recommend to anyone who is thinking about finally finishing that last hurdle to a Master's."

"Online college is what you make of it. You will never get the personal touch that you would at a brick and mortar campus. It is on you to do the reading and teach yourself. Time management is also on you. If you expect anything else, online school is not for you, no matter if it is Grantham or any other institution. I graduated in two years with an MBA taking one course at a time, using either TA or paying out of pocket. The fact that Grantham prices courses at $250/hr for military is nice. There's also a scholarship for active military that you can get once per calendar year that takes care of another course. The professors were hit or miss. Like every online school, these are "collateral duty" professors that are doing it as a side gig. Some were very involved with discussions, feedback, etc and others weren't. As noted above though, friends at other schools had similar experiences. Like some others have mentioned, I went through a number of student advisors; I think I was on number 5 by the time I graduated. Nothing was ever lost in a transition though, and I only really used them to answer a logistical question here or there or process my TA forms. In all, I learned some good information and got an MBA for a very affordable cost. Lastly, Grantham is nationally, not regionally accredited, meaning if you aren't sure you want to take it to the end, I would not go here because credits won't transfer. However, this information is readily available and advertised; if you are surprised by this when you go to transfer, it is your fault for not researching your school."

"Online college is what you make of it. If you have trouble self-motivating or managing time, online school is not for you. Either way, you won't get the same experience you would at a live campus. Many of the downsides noted in other reviews are not unique to Grantham - my colleagues going to other military-heavy online schools have similar qualms with their programs. The professors are hit or miss. If you read their biographies, they are all doing this as a side gig, and unfortunately, they work with the material they're given. I had everything from professors who were very interactive in discussions and weekly announcements, and gave personalized feedback, to those who you never heard from except for generic feedback to coursework. Some had differing interpretations of APA requirements and their own preferences for coursework, which meant I had to "adapt" my submissions to each professor (annoying, but not like it caused me to fail). There were several tests that required the use of ProctorU, which is the world's sketchiest proctor service and brings a host of cyber-security risks with it. I have never felt more vulnerable than when I had to work with them and their add-ons and give a stranger remote access to my system. I removed all their software immediately and ran power-eraser scans on my antivirus after each use. I just wish there was a better way. The turnover of student advisers that others note was true for me as well. I was on my fifth adviser by the time I graduated, but I never had issues with stuff being lost in transitions and I didn't require any assistance from them beyond processing TA requests and answering a random question here or there. They always responded quickly to help. The fact that Grantham prices courses at the TA rate is not a bad thing; they are simply battling for business, and this is a tactic. There's also a scholarship that is open to the military to fund a fourth course each year. I finished my MBA in 2 years and only paid out of pocket for three courses, learned a fair amount to help me in my current (and future) job and got a degree to be more competitive. In all, it was a good experience. I never dealt with the financial aid office, so I cannot speak to some of the frustrations others have noted."

"I do not like the direction this school is going. The fact is that Grantham has increased costs for students while not improving the courses; if anything the courses have become worse. I used to be able to shop around and get better prices on textbooks. Guess what? Grantham included textbooks for courses in their course fee increase BUT the increase was a lot more than what I used to pay for my books. Grantham has also started using online portals to Cengage and other course content providers. The professors no longer teach the courses - it is to whomever they outsourced the course to. This is NOT a good thing. It means that Grantham no longer charges students for their professors to teach us; it is the contractor that teaches us. If we wanted that contractor to teach us, we would have gone to them instead of Grantham!"

"I am a UC Berkeley graduate (2015) who returned to school at 40. I needed to move forward, and there was zero chance I was going to spend $50K - $100K+ for an MBA. I did a lot of researching and ultimately chose Grantham University. I received a ton of support, I was called all the time by my advisor to make sure I was OK, my emails and issues were resolved quickly, and I never had an real problem. I was able to do a compressed MBA in 1 year, and it was perfect for my needs and scope. People who do this kind of online degree program have to be mature, disciplined, self-starting, and organized. The bad reviews come from students who are not mature or academically ready to ensure their own academic success, and are blaming the University for their own failures. I highly recommend Grantham- BUT, you have to drive yourself, make yourself study, read the books, and get your value out of your educational process. No place for kids or whiners."