University of Maryland Global Campus Reviews of Bachelor's in Business

"The complaints that I have are few, but common to all the courses so I will start with the positives. There are no expensive textbooks, the professors do not get kickbacks from publishers, and the courses guide the student along the same exact path as universities that require expensive textbooks. That being said, virtually none of the courses in the undergraduate program have an umbrella course that wraps everything up or boosts the student to a professional level. For example, the managerial courses do not have students be a notional manager but rather solve very basic problems such as what to do with scheduling conflicts. Courses that talk about business ownership do not have students run a notional business but rather study what other people already accomplished. The courses will get the student to around mid-range if the student is involved and takes the work seriously, getting to the top-level will require a lot of personal experience. However, none of the previous comments touch on the core issues with the programs. Foremost, there is far too much overlap so the students end up doing the same assignments many times over--usually the same 20-page report due at the end of the week. Open book quizzes that are copy and paste questions from the textbook. Group discussions with forced responses that end up making everyone say something without having real interest in the topic. Another issue is the quality of professors. About 75% of the ones I had were good. The other 25% is a half-and-half mixture between professors that grade so harshly that you will get a failing grade for not writing in their preferred tone of voice, or the opposite where professors disappear for weeks and grade everything at the last moment leaving students to wonder if their work is on the right track or not. Possibly the biggest complaint is that the university uses course resources sourced from other schools. When they do that, the student is left wondering how much better of an education they would have if they went to the other school. UMGC/UMUC should replace those resources with ones from their own school. This problem is common with just about every degree path."

"VETERANS, STAY AWAY! If you are a veteran and looking for a quality education, you have many better options. This applies especially if you are not 100% covered by GI Bill and are out of state. For example, I have 50% coverage and live in VA. What UMUC does is discount the in-state tuition rate, then submit that amount to the VA. They then will charge the student the full out-of-state rate, which sees VA coverage being less than 25% of the actual charges. On top of that, the instruction is essentially nonexistent. If you seek feedback and support from an instructor, it's more likely that you will never hear back or will hear back weeks after the assignment is due. Even more interesting is that mot submission are not graded for weeks. In my ENG course, I didn't receive grades from the week 2 assignment until week 7, meaning that the submissions from weeks 3-7 probably had the similar mistakes. If you're like the program structure advertised by UMUC, you're better off looking at CSU Global. They follow similar 8-week course structure but are incredibly engaged in student's success and are significantly less expensive."

"As a working adult, I wanted a degree that was both attainable, affordable, and convenient. The University of Maryland University college fit that bill. As a long time leader in online learning, I was satisfied with the quality of education that I received there. Overall, while it's not Harvard, if you are searching for a decent online option to obtain a bachelors degree, then this university is one that I would recommend."

"I chose UMUC to pursue a bachelor's degree online. I've had online courses before, and I understood that the workload is often more for out of classroom learning. If you are looking for someone to hold your hand while you learn, I don't recommend taking an online course. The only reason to take an online course is for the flexibility. As for UMUC's flexibility, it was largely dependent on the teacher. Each class requires weekly discussions as part of a participation grade, but some assign group discussions that greatly limit the flexibility of taking a course. If your group decides to discuss/post on a certain day, and you have to work, good luck keeping your grade up. It defeats the whole point of taking an online course. As for my biggest complaint, UMUC seems to mess up my billing every semester. I have a completion scholarship, which was awarded to me for having graduated from an associates program from a MD school. The scholarship boasts roughly a 50% cut in tuition, and although it isn't paid upfront, it (in theory) greatly reduced the costs to attend this school. The truth as it turns out is that the automated billing system they use can and will miscalculate your scholarship. In my case, I would pay in full, and get reimbursed, only to be issued an additional bill before the end of the semester. The worst part is that when I would call and question where this charge was coming from, nobody seemed to have any idea why this was happening. They would simply say my scholarship was being adjusted (even though I was meeting GPA and minimum credit hour requirements). Adding up the totals on my own, it became clear that the scholarship I was awarded was no where near the amount promised, and to this day, nobody can explain why. I learned to not count on any of the financial aid awards, and budget an extra $600 into what I already paid for my additional mid semester bills. I guess you could say the most valuable lesson the school has taught me is how to budget for the unexpected costs life will throw at you."

"I am active duty Army and had about 60 credits from other schools when I started with UMUC. I was deployed to Iraq when I took my first class and had no issues with access to the course, instructors, or help desk. Some classes were more challenging than others, but overall I liked the school. I had no issues with financial aid or with any portion of the school for that matter. I will say that they changed their online format for my last two classes which I didn't like. Would definitely take Master level classes from here."

"This college is great if you want to work on your degree and have a full time job as well. The 8-week online courses are fast paced and enable you to get credits quick. Most classes are challenging but not too difficult to get an A/B if you just do your work and stick to the syllabus. A typical week involves discussion posts and replies and a paper/case study either each week or every other week and a final project or test at the last week. Where this school lacks is its administration. I've had nothing but issues with trying to get anyone to answer my questions and typically they just pawn it off to someone else that drops the ball. In short...I've been told to wait and wait until closer to graduation for an advisement audit... so I expect I'll either graduate come Spring or be told I still need a class at the last minute....no guidance whatsoever. I'm only 2 or 3 classes away from completing my degree but cannot get any solid answer for the mistakes in my advisement report and just get told that will be sorted out when closer to your graduation date. I've requested a advisement report audit twice within the last year to figure out what I needed to graduate; because some of the classes I completed are showing in the wrong areas making it look like I need to take more classes than really necessary. The first time I was simply contacted and told that will be done when you apply for graduation. Sooo...I applied for graduation about 3 months ago and paid the fee and still haven't heard anything. I followed up with advising to once again request a advisement report audit and this time they updated my report with no actual changes just to tell me the same thing, and my classes are still in the wrong areas (these are my upper level residency classes being placed in my electives) and once again I'm told that will be done when you get closer to graduating. I'M TWO CLASSES AWAY FROM GRADUATION!, (OR 3 depending on the mistakes in my advisement report) hence why I've been contacting advisement over and over again to figure out the issue.... The advisement/administration is horrible to work with and just use copout methods and have never really given me a sense of 'hey these people care about me' feeling. I've been told to wait and wait until closer to graduation... so I expect I'll either graduate come Spring or be told I still need a class at the last minute....no guidance whatsoever."

"Tough and expensive program but worth it. Admissions and Financial Aid offices did everything to help me expedite the processes. The academic advisors are great in the beginning but once you are in the program, they don't initiate person to person communication. The course work is serious and very valid. I learned a great deal that I immediately used in the workplace. I am happy to have competed the degree requirements. However, the school does not have a great reputation so I am not proud to walk around and say that I got my degree from UMUC."

"UMUC is an excellent university with likewise professors. The professors were very helpful and knowledgeable of their areas of study. You earn every grade you receive. Miss an assignment and you probably can forget an A for that class. The school takes those assignments very seriously. The work is very challenging but if you put forth the effort, you will be very pleased with the knowledge you have gained. Some very influential persons have their degrees from UMUC. Again, an excellent university."

"I attended UMUC part time and completed all of my schooling there, with the exception of a three-credit class at a community college and two CLEP tests to graduate a little early. I was focused and motivated, with a clear goal of obtaining my bachelors degree in business administration. And I did...with a 3.8 GPA. Academic excellence was not a goal initially, but over time it became more important. I would recommend the school for anyone who is a self starter with a strong work ethic and good time management skills. Also, if you are taking classes online, it is important to have excellent written communication skills, as all of your work will be in the form of papers, presentations and discussion posts, the latter of which take the place of lectures. To those of you who say that the classes are subpar, I disagree. Sure, there are some courses that are "easier" than others, but that is typical. As you start taking the classes that apply to your degree, you will find that the material becomes more challenging. Yes, some of the instructors are less invested than others, but that is typical at any school. I dare to say that there are poor instructors at the Ivy Leagues, although many of them don't even teach the courses, leaving it all up to their TAs. To those of you who say that the financial aid is a disaster... I ran into an issue the last year I attended. Financial aid contacted me and we resolved it fairly quickly. However, I needed to follow up. That is the key and, quite frankly, applicable in the real world. You need to take responsibility and not take it for granted that someone else will handle it for you. It's part of being an adult. I am now enrolled in the MBA program, which is no walk in the park. The material is rigorous, and the program intense. So far I am doing well. However, I am a little burned out from working full time and attending school part time (after all, I have been doing this for nine years), so I am going to take a break after this semester. Oh, and my responsibilities and income have exponentially increased since I started taking classes. I have been able to apply much of the material I learned in the undergrad program on the job. I have not been in the MBA program long enough to make an evaluation there. So, that's it. Make of it what you will. Bottom line, bring your best attitude and know that it's not for sissies."

"The instructors made it very easy to maintain an understanding of all work assignments. Versus with the current online course I am taking is very confusing and not user friendly. I did not have to deal with inconsistencies with getting financial aid started. It was just overall a great well organized school. Why I am not there any longer is due to with my not being affiliated with the Military any longer. My tuitions rates would be considered out of state and I would not be able to afford to attend."

"UMUC, is not a high standard school. If you are looking for an easy class with little to no knowledge conveyance, then this is the school for you. Most students write at roughly a low high school level, and the professors for the most part (roughly 80%) are under qualified or disinterested in their students or the class. I have had a few good solid professors at UMUC but they are the exception more than the rule. I would never recommend this school to anyone truly trying to learn a new skill or improve the skills they already have."