University of Maryland Global Campus Reviews

"Great university. Professors are knowledgeable and very helpful. The cohorts are great to help you get through the program and establish lasting professional relationships! The Dean is engaged and very personable! The residency requirement is well defined and a good resource to build a relationship with the faculty, staff, and the university as a whole!"

"I can say UMUC Graduate program I successfully completed was challenging and very demanding. Be prepared to write and use your critical thinking skills. The key is to log on every evening including weekends to stand above your peers. Take no more than 2 classes at a time. The professors are tough and demanding. On the other hand, the effort you put into the program will pay off. Stay focused and participate beyond the minimum during collaboration time with your colleagues. Like any graduate program, it requires discipline, lots of research, and above average writing skills."

"In reading many of these reviews it appears that the positives are spot on and the negatives seem like sour grapes, to me anyway. I have nothing but praise for this school. I took both on-line and in-person classes and they were pretty fair and consistent. The support answer all questions in a timely manner and I never had any real delay with them getting back to me. The professors like any other school can be hit or miss but, all were professional. I actually enjoyed many of them as they appeared very personable and easy to contact. As for the work, I do believe that they have a pretty balanced curriculum. Some classes were tough while others were a breeze. I believe that school is what YOU make it ad if you are constantly displeased and this gives you an attitude towards the school, you're only going to make matters worse. I could deduce from most of the one star reviews that while the school may have had issues, the students probably made the resolution of those issues much more difficult. I really like UMUC and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an advanced education."

"Overall, I will have to say that my experience at UMUC has been great. There have been a couple of snags with the financial aid offices, but any problems have been laid out and resolved very quickly. When it comes to financial aid, always be sure that you keep track of it, if anything changes with your GPA or status it can change drastically. The most impressive part of my experience thus far has been the quality of material and instruction. The courses are very interactive and require a lot of your time, YOU WILL HAVE TO EARN THIS DEGREE. Many students come into an online program expecting to breeze through the program, this will not be that case. Many professors are adjunct with other schools and their teaching styles prove it, many coming from UMD or Penn State. If you are willing to learn and work, you will gain a great degree, with a great deal of knowledge."

"The admissions, administration, financial aid, and disability departments are terrible. They make no accommodations for disabled people at all. The staff is ignorant of the law. (-Asked for medical records which is illegal.) Both Webtycho and LEO are awful. I have had teachers who cannot even use the system. I have also had great professors. I am not sure the professors are enough to endure the rest."

"The Information Systems Management program at UM is very good, it provides a very thorough look at the mid to high level picture of IT. One weak spot is that it doesn't provide much knowledge for the lower level IT functions. Since most new to the workforce employee will be starting out in help desk, this is a potential weakness in the program, but overall it was a great program and was well work the money and effort."

"The negative reviews posted seem to be heavily weighted towards the financial aid and customer service aspects of UMUC. While I have never had an issue with the staff's professionalism or helpfulness, if the customer service at UMUC is an issue, it's probably unfair to drag the reputation of the entire university through the mud to vent your frustration with the administration office's personnel and your financial aid issues. Over the last seven years that I have been (slowly) working towards my degree, I have found that 90% of my professors were quality educators that are very dedicated to teaching. Some of them have been downright outstanding and carry some big time credentials in their field. In my experience, you better come prepared to learn and contribute to the classes. Yes, you have to contribute in the discussion forums. Getting As and Bs shouldn't be enough to pass, as learning in an online environment is very different than a traditional setting. Discussion forums are an important element to online learning. Some may not like this fact, but you know what you are getting into when you choose an online program and I personally feel good knowing that an academic standard is being upheld. The reviewers that commented on how they are in the military and now owe the school money; that is their fault. This means that they signed up for classes through the university instead of their respective service's education portal. That is the only way that the university would come after you directly for payment if you are in the military. And you are specifically told not to sign up for classes this way by both UMUC and your service's education advisors. Follow directions next time."

"I've been attending UMUC for several years now. The only reason being is that not many colleges around the DMV area provide Homeland Security classes. Everything about this school is horrible. The online LEO/WebTycho never worked well , the tech support was scrappy and god forbid you try to talk with an advisor. I never was assigned a counselor or advisor. I had to email them to even know I was accepted into the school. I also didn't know my graduation status until they sent me an invite to my own graduation! the professors are hit and miss. I had one great professor this semester and one that was terrible. He was very rude to the class and gave out ridiculously high demands. I have to take the class over (which will be difficult because I graduate in May) because I missed three discussions. The fact that my grades are so dependant on discussions is ridiculous. I got As and Bs on most projects only to fail or get a C because the discussion requirements weren't met. Save yourself the time, money and stress level; go to a different school. Another note, talking to anyone on the help lines is pointless. It's a constant circle and financial aid is like talking to a wall. I had a refund to my account and instead of informing me that I had to call another financial organization, they said it was refunded. no, no it was not. three months later!!!! It was refunded and only then did they tell me -I- had to call the other company to get the refund. infuriating."

"The Staff need to take their own Effective Communication course! I am a new student and I have been trying to enroll since Dec but missed Spring enrollment because of poor communications. I kept sending my requirements but no one is updating my file. And yet, the staff kept on sending me standard generated emails instead, asking for documents that are not applicable...i.e. Tuition Assistance (I have an approved Post GI Bill?), Re-enlistment (I sent a DD 214 for my retirement already?), residency status (I am in the military?)..."

"I started the Bachelors program in Investigative Forensics at UMUC in the fall of 2014. I found that the classes were just as informative and difficult as the classes that i attended for my Associates Degree. I was concerned about the online learning experience but found that since I had to read the material myself and not rely on a teachers study guide, I feel that I actually learned more. The education here is great. I can understand some concerns that others have expressed about the administration. They can be difficult to get hold of,but no more so than any other college. The financial aid department could be more helpful. They present you with the information needed, but really do not assist at all. I have found that the best thing to do is align yourself with a great student advisor. Overall, I would recommend this school to anyone that cannot attend traditional classes."

"I graduated with an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology in December 2013. I thoroughly enjoyed my degree program and will recommend it to any educator. However, I am growing very concerned with UMUC's direction and its quest to attract qualified students at the graduate level. I believe that each graduate program should require that students submit standardized scores or a writing essay for admission into the program. Having graduated from an institution that is regarded in high esteem, it saddens me that UMUC's graduate admissions requirements are not more stringent. UMUC needs to focus on being a state school, appeal to overseas students and military/veterans. In a move to enroll just anybody will certainly be the death of its reputation."

"Worst school for Veterans I went in 2009 for one semester and they keep sending me to collections for money that no one seems to now why I owe it. Got transfered 6 times and after an hour was told that a superviser would call me back... Still waiting"

"Attending UMUC really prepared me for the rigorous Master's Program in Law at Champlain College Online. I graduated in May, 2005, and I was highly engaged as a student and challenged by every professor that I encountered in course work. The professors were highly qualified & experienced judges, and lawyers who were very demanding with instructions and perfection. I did my best to give them exactly what was required. Learn the rules and follow your syllabus carefully by READING & PRINTING IT because this is your road map for SUCCESS. As with anything in life, it is your responsibility as an individual to do the best that you can by always preparing yourself to go beyond what is required, by only doing the minimum just to get by. Anyone can be an average student but a great student knows he or she will have to go well beyond exceptions to stand out and above your peers. Do not wait until an assignment is due at midnight to begin working on it at midnight or waiting until the night before the assignment is due to turn in a ten (10) page paper full of spelling errors, improper reference citations, and plagiarism. Trust me, most experienced professors can tell by the first sentence if it's your own words in writing. Always remember, on your first day of class online at UMUC when a professor ask you to submit an introduction of yourself is mainly to identify who you are but more importantly, establishing your writing style so they can recognize when you submit a paper that is not being written by YOU. From reading the reviews, it sounds like the financial aid department is much worse. I personally learned from the beginning to advocate for myself by reporting serious mishaps of students who failed to handle my paperwork correctly to the Vice President of Financial Aid and then the Director of Financial Aid always made sure my paperwork was handled correctly by doing itself. Just a suggestion that have always worked to my advantage. Get to learn some of the staff working in the financial aid office by becoming friendlier instead of becoming an enemy & you will begin to see a difference in how your paperwork is being processed. You can always catch many BEES with honey than with Vinegar. God Bless"

"I received both a bachelor's degree and master's degree from University of Maryland University College. The education was wonderful. The undergraduate program took about 6 years going part time, but I got credit for 30 credits of prior learning through their EXCL program. Faculty had a lot of academic and real world experience. My major was communications. The graduate program was a Masters in Distance Education and e-Learning. This program, obviously, was entirely online, with instructors based all over the world. This program prepared me to teach online in my undergraduate major of communications (business writing)."

"Attended UMUC European Division. Great classroom experiences, professors were knowledgeable, expert in their subject areas, and provided invaluable mentorship. Comps and thesis were tough!"

"I enrolled here based on a recommendation from a friend and fellow UMUC MBA graduate. In hindsight, I wish I had taken my time to choose more carefully. This program pushes paper out the door efficiently as long as you pay, so if you're self motivated, you can learn and earn your degree, but so will a handful of other ignorant slackers that barely put forth any effort. This was quite frustrating and disappointing so you'll have try your best to stay focused and select to work with the right group of people. The networking opportunities are not great at all. You get your degree and that's it for the most part...$20K+ and nothing but echoes afterwards. Their career center is a complete joke, lacking any serious support or interest from any angle. I went to back school as a result of the financial crisis, while taking some time off, I decided to apply for a job while working on my MBA at UMUC and work somewhere within the academic environment to keep busy and be involved. I interviewed for a position I was well overqualified for, and the very young team of employees interviewing my actually asked me if I would "feel uncomfortable working with younger people and reporting to a younger manager considering my age" (I was just 39 at the time). I laughed at yet another UMUC debacle and left and decided to take the rest of the year off while I finished my MBA and wait for the economy to rebound. I should have scared the crap out of those young fools with a little EEOC lesson. In the end, I found a job through my own professional networking efforts, my MBA did little to support my professional career. Still, I'm glad I earned it. I successfully stayed true to my commitment to get the most out of the material and earn A's (B's are more readily available, A's require effort) and it feels good to have an MBA, although one from a more respected and prestigious school would have been much more. Thanks and good luck."

"I started at UMUC in 2009 when the courses were the traditional 16 week semesters, however I had to take a year off from 2010-2011 (due to a move) during this time they converted over to 8-week courses. I much prefer the 8-week schedule as it allowed me to take more classes each semester without them overlapping unless I wanted it that way. I have been very happy with my experience at UMUC. I started out at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro many years ago and in comparing the two schools, they are not much different other than the fact that one is tailored to meet the needs of online students and the other is a traditional school. The curriculums were similar and most of my credits transferred in, just a few that didn't make the cut because of grades or the time gap. Both schools had professors I loved and hated and classes that were easy and hard. I worked my butt off for my degree and my grades reflected it as I graduated cum laude. Most of my professors were helpful but there were a few who were not. I liked the smaller classes compared to some of the bigger classes I attended at UNCG. My online classes were never more than 30 people, if that. When I went to UNCG, I had classes with 100+ people in them and professors who didn't care. I also had students who were idiots just like at UMUC. With any school and any degree, you get what you put into it. There may be professors and other students you don't like, but that is the same in life. If you feel there is a problem, there is always someone in the school to help. Any of my issues (which were minor) were resolved through my advisor. All in all, I am very happy with UMUC experience and I would definitely recommend this school to anyone who has a busy schedule but wants to complete their degree."

"If you want to graduate with some knowledge, then this "school" is not for you. The only advantage this school can offer for you is the opportunity to get a graduate degree somewhere else because it is still considered to be accredited. The professors in this school do not care about you, you are left alone to read your books, the students complain that open book exams are hard. I can go on and on. The only reason why I went there because they accepted my credits from the military, and since I was active duty I could not go to a traditional school. Now, I am still on active duty, but I have time to go to a regular school. I am starting my MBA next year in a state university. You will never get a respected job with a degree from umuc, it is nothing, people will laugh at you. I guess the positive reviews for this school come as propaganda from its PR department or lazy students. Sorry guys no offense. This school only needs money from you, do not go there!"

"Some of the professors do not provide useful feedback and it appears that anyone can be a professor. Plenty of times I did question the grading of my submissions because there was no relevant feedback so one wonders about the quality of grading."

"I enrolled in this school in July 2013. Since the very moment I enrolled I have been suffering because the school's administration is a mess. The classes and professors are very good but the management of the school really makes me regret enrolling in the school. The different departments work in a very disorganized way. Every time I call asking a question or asking for help they tell me something different and ask me to do things that were not really required later. The admissions department accepted my application and after a year with them did not let me enroll in further classes because they said there was a problem with my transcripts, the financial aid department took for ever to arrange my financial aid awards and let me use them, the department that did the evaluation of my courses refused to take most of my credits from my previous college and it took me two months to fight them and have them accept my credits, the advising department told me something different every time I called and I had to call constantly due to automatic e-mails they sent by accident asking me for something. I think if this is the best online school in MD I don't want to see the worst."