University of the Southwest Reviews

"I did a lot of research before choosing USW as my choice for my DBA degree. Of all the things I was looking for they met all the requirements. Going into my third semester I can honestly say they have not only met my expectations but at times have exceeded them. Even with a minor issue I had recently the university staff was helpful and resolved the issue to my satisfaction. Great school so far!!!!!!"

"I started the online doctorate program full of optimism and motivation. I talked to several people at the school administration office who assured me this was an interactive program with zoom calls and instructor participation. Well - I was lied to. By week 2 of my first class, I realized this was not the experience I wanted. The instructor was MIA for most of the course. They will respond to emailed questions but these classes are very boring. The focus is on word count and APA vs a challenging/rewarding student experience. You are paying tuition to teach yourself. The school will say that you learn by reading the books, having a weekly discussion with your peers and getting grades back with comments from the instructor. There is no cohort, no teamwork, no team assignments, no student association, minimal student support and no support for your dissertation until more than a year into the program. They have less than 10-graduates of their program. I fear these guys are only in it to make money. They do not care about the student experience at all. The academic advisor for the doctorate program was defensive when I voiced concerns. The faculty brushed it off as "this is way online education is. It is NOT this way at all institutions. At $800 credit hour, I expect to have an instructor who is present and actually instructs us on something. Is that too much to ask USW? Save your time and money and go somewhere else. USW is a joke."

"As a third year student at the university of the southwest I must admit as hard as it is to pay for the tuition, room and board, and other "USW" fees it has been nothing short of unacceptable. The school receives money for the academic work the students put in yet, they don't physically see any reward from their efforts. The school has not been descent in sports consistently, yet the coaches are still brought back and remains under low expectations. The school overall, is way to expensive for the limited resources, poor living conditions, and high amount of low caliber professors and staff. I am an out of state student and I'm trying to figure out how and why this school hasn't see a change in culture, one word to sum up the last few years would be "WOW". The staff and website lead you on to believe that the institution is Christian lead and whole heartedly encouraged but unless your taking a required course, no Christian related activities are assigned."

"The MBA program is solid. They offer no prerequisites and no GMAT or GRE. You just jump right in. They offered the first class free to me (I dont know if that is still the case). They also provided a lap top after I completed 6 hours and it was very nice. The courses are offered on an 8 week schedule (online). Each course is set up very similarly. You have 8 weeks with two assignments each week. One discussion and one written paper or problem sets (finance and accounting). The professors grade the work quickly. One area that I would like to see improvement is that the professors don't interact in the discussion board. You get grading comments about your answer and that is it. Otherwise, I have had good interactions with my classmates. The rigor is appropriate for an MBA. The books are included in the tuition and are linked into the courses. Overall the MBA is a quality program. I recommend it."

"Excellent school the professor and staff is very helpful. The classes are very challenging but well worth it. I graduated with two graduates degrees one in law enforcement and corrections and the other one in finance. They are in the process of starting a doctorate of business administration and I can not wait. I highly recommend usw. I am a mustang for life."

"Great School and Great Staff. I have gained lifelong experiences by learning how to be on my own and networking with friends and other business owners. This is not for everyone though, if you need more guidance then this will appear tough at first. Plus professors are more open to your own ideas than what they would normally believe in."

"This school was a huge disappointment. First, their mission statement states Christian values and beliefs; however, the material and worldview is extremely secular with a negative view towards Christianity in the three classes that I took. I am in my fourth class now. The professors are very unorganized. The quizzes for 3 of my classes had questions on them that weren't even in the material that was being tested. I contacted the professor and he admitted that they were questions from other chapters and asked me to look through the book to see if I could find them. I ended up going on the internet for some. Also, in one class, I would be graded differently for different assignments. It seemed that an assistant may have been helping grade and didn't have the same grading criteria as the professor. I received A's in all my classes, but the time spent was not beneficial to learning and very inconsistent. Because I want a faith based education and want to attend a professional university, I plan to transfer to Liberty University after this class. I do not recommend this school!"

"This is not a good school to attend...they are very slow about getting things done. When you ask them too,  they want something from you. They expect you to get it done right then. In the financial department, they only have one person working on things that need to be done right away and when she decides to take a vacation, she leave for 2 weeks and no one else is there to help. The attitude of the staff is also terrible...I thought it was an Christian school but it is really not....If you can help please decide to look at other schools before you go there."

"I had a wonderful educational experience during my time as a student with the University of the Southwest. My professors prepared me quite well for my career."

"They are pretty close to just being a diploma mill.Nothing is learned, little is taught, they will bait and switch courses and costs on you and the staff is completely unprofessional."