American Public University, Human Resources office — Attraction in Charles Town

I'm giving American military university four stars because it is a good university regardless of certain issues (every school has issues). This was my first term with AMU and I have ran into issues with one of professors with course work.At first American military university seems like it's not for active duty service members or adults who work full time, however you just really have to apply yourself (every online school functions differently). I choose this university because I thought it would be geared towards those who work full time and a school that understands military workloads. One major thing I noticed after taking classes here is that they're out to make a statement about not being a diploma mill (AMU IS NOT A DIPLOMA MILL), it's a good but also not so thing how they ensure you receive a top notch education, I just don't believe that somethings that their requiring is necessary and may cause a student not to continue to attend here. I am not a first time college student nor am I new too online learning. They make every student take a online learning college course regardless if you have already taken courses at other online universities. At this university a student will surly earn their diploma there's no question about that (Expectations are very high for their students more then any online or brick and mortar school I encountered). I like that they make their students actually earn their diplomas. However, I don't like how the classes are setup regarding academic work. I was in the middle of a class and my book was just taken away from me and other students, however the books were replaced and students were notified. I don't agree with having to respond four times a week to my peers per forum's or I won't get full points (not including responses you make to your own forum). Also a outline for our first written assignment was posted but it would not load so I got major points deducted from my first written assignment and because the professor claims I missed major concepts inside my paper which I know are there and I mentioned, maybe not to the extent she wanted me too. The work load is heavy for working adults and the classes have deadlines that students have to meet. Overall if you get good professors and have a ample amount of time available than I'm sure you'll like taking classes here. I don't believe that anyone is supervising the instructors at all because how their grading students I feel is unequal and just opinion based. For example, my written assignment and my forum postings from one professor was graded horribly because of her personal opinions. She states that I'm just showing her a basic understanding of the information that she wants us to learn regarding the example. I was honestly just considering switching back to a brick and mortar, Thomas Edison state or Grand Canyon, however I decided that I'm not going to let one bad instructor ruin my experience here at American military university and I am determined to complete my undergraduate studies here and mostly like complete my graduate studies here as well. American military university is truly a great school for active duty even with . I have a large amount of work professionally (active duty service) and obligation committing time to my family, however if you're able to manage your time then...

One, I thought it was quality education for the price. I am getting a degree in Criminology. My local University is twice the cost and only a bit better. The professors are comparable. I specifically went and took a three upper level class at the University so I could use their job placement and to see if I was missing out on much by going to AMU/APU. $750 for a upper level class is awesome and there not so much more better at the University than AMU/APU to justify the cost, drive and time. My advice, go to the local community college for the first couple of semester. It saves you money. I would give the academics and learning a solid 3 and half. The rest of the university a 1/2 star!

The bad part: Financial aid, registration and the IT portion of the "campus". I do work 25-30 hours a week and desperately want to move on from waiting tables, retail. I will be honest, the grants, scholarship and loan money I need and BUDGET into my plans. I would not make it otherwise and have to move in with my parents. There no way I am going to do that at 27!

I will agree with most others, STAY ON TOP of the Financial Aid dept. I know, I have 9 semesters taking anywhere from 6 to 15 credits. I have had "only" 4 no problem semesters with my aid check or asking for more proof that I am poor or who I say I am. In fact, I am now a week over due on the last aid check. It should drop on the third week after classes start. Usually the 21-22nd. One month it was not till the third month, four weeks before the end of the semester!...two were a month late....I had them put a hold on me for identity verification. I have had them ask for IRS transcripts.....ask why my income is so low, like saying I am a student and waiter is not enough?!?!!.....one semester they sent loan money back and credited me with grants.....of course this was like three semester ago. It was in my favor since grants are free and loans are not BUT it gave a bill of 700. They told me it was my fault and I needed to pay for it immediately because I went from 12 credits to 9 credits that semester......The kicker in the nuts is I called that semester and TOLD them since they were late on my check I had to work more, so I needed to drop a class...their response! Don't worry, the computer automatically will adjust the awards!!!!!!!!

If I was not so old and like 20, I would pay for each class out of pocket and NOT deal with aid while taking my time. My buddy is in the reserves and has NO problem at all with his VA and military aid. It does make suspect it either incompetence or worse......THE UNIVERSITY is financially unstable and is using our aid funds to prop the university up from month to month....that my biggest fear is that my degree will be from a defunct...

I just graduated from AMU; well, technically the conferral date of 15 February, but basically I’m done and just waiting for the finalization of everything. It’s really unfortunate to see all of the negative reviews as I simply did not have this experience, so I felt particularly moved to write something regarding my experiences.

To start, I had taken a transferable class with ODNI and, as the class would be transferable to AMU, I promptly sent over the forms and everything was processed by AMU fabulously! It was such a painless process. Further, the tuition for all of my classes were paid for by my employer and my interaction with the finance process was also incredibly painless!

I then proceeded to take the Intelligence Studies program and had nothing but amazing professors leading up to the capstone class! The professors were knowledgeable and had significant experience in the field they were teaching.

Out of all of my interactions, I had only one instances that were truly a struggle. The first was the first attempt at the capstone in which my professor was apparently also teaching at another school, which shouldn’t have been a problem, but, while he and I were video chatting, after attempting to schedule a conversation for me to receive better guidance regarding the project, he abruptly ended the conversation as one of his other students needed him. Maybe this other student had an emergency situation, but this was after weeks after not being able to get into contact with him or receiving any proper guidance on how to proceed with my research.

If you have a chance to take the Intelligence studied capstone, I’d highly recommend Professor Fellman and Professor Hess, who were the professors I had after this mishap. They were incredibly responsive, truly people I enjoyed learning under, and demonstrated a care and understanding for their students.

Some of the reviews have noted that a degree from this school is worthless and I’ve heard very negative things regarding for-profit schools, but I have yet to see this play out. I found that the students who tried did well and those who didn’t try did not not. I found the expectations set by each professor to be very clear and I appreciated the layout of the areas to be covered in each class. Each of my classes were a challenge and I appreciated how much I was pushed by my instructors. I learned so much and I have a deeper understanding of the United States and the field of intelligence than I had before.

I recommend this school and everything I learned in...