National UniversityReviews of nu.edu

Everyone is helpful and supportive.

Is not very positive

Classes are engaging and I have really enjoyed the 4 week format.

I love the fact that I can quickly move through my courses. Many of my professors have been great. However, I do believe that the workload in some classes has been Too much. One way to deal with that would be to assign heavy assignments to groups to work on together. Making this a part NU classes would be so helpful. The last thing I struggle with is that my advisors are not available after hours nor for phone conversations. This is inconvenient when I really need human help and not just an email. Also, my advisors often act as if the don’t have time to ‘really’ help because they are just too busy. NU, continuing to use Covid as a reason to not be as available for their students is incredibly discouraging. Bring back on campus classes!

I have had a lot of miscommunication and a lack and follow-up when trying to enroll in another program. Email correspondence has been delayed for weeks. Phone calls are not returned in a timely manner. When I tried to upload my credential packet to the e-form I got errors so I emailed it and never once heard back from the credentials department indicating they had received it. Nobody can tell me when I can begin taking classes to obtain my admin credential. I have been very disappointed with my recent experience. I do not know if I want to continue taking any additional classes at this point after this horrible experience.

Financial Aid is a nightmare even if you are a Veteran who uses the GI Bill, the GI Bill payments are usually late. The school is more concerned about putting money into their own pocket rather than helping or making sure the students are taken care of, they’ll take your financial aid and put towards the school rather than release it first to the student because as they say “they’re looking out for the student”. And then make you wait weeks to get YOUR financial aid reimbursed to you, meanwhile it’s collecting interest before you even have it. There is no accountability by anyone on the staff, it just gets passed on to another person. There are no individual/personal email addresses to reach anyone important such as an advisor, financial aid contact. It’s all very broad and you don’t talk to the same person on a consistent basis.

My National University online graduate experience as a student in the College of Letters and Sciences, Department of Psychology was negative. 1. The program degree path into which I enrolled was terminated and rolled into another program apparently due to leadership conflicts within the Department. 2. Conflict between due dates in the syllabus and the online classroom was a chronic problem which made the first week of the four-week classes a chaos of dialogue amongst students and instructors establishing accurate due dates, the outcome being a negative impact on course quality. 3. Instructor failure to issue a grade for an Independent Study class resulted in suspension while waiting for the instructor to respond to the University and correct the grade (this took approximately three months). National University at the time of my enrollment was a respected institution amongst my peers with good report from past students. In contrast, my experience has left me with a very poor opinion of the institution, its ethics, and leadership. I can only hope the issues I have identified above were unique to an unsettled moment in the University's history. Caveat emptor.

My Journey at NU I was a student at NU from 2016-2019 to complete a teaching credential and Master in Education. I was also working full time, a spouse, and mother of 3 children aged then between 5 and 16 years old when I started. At first, I was nervous and didn't know if I would make it, considering the busy life I already had; and being a very competitive person who thirsts for excellence, I wanted to make sure anything I did was great and well-done. I knew I needed to make sacrifices to reach my goals. Weekends were no more for family fun, but most of the time to get assignments completed, and weeknights were very long. I needed to help my family understand that things would be tight but just temporary and that I needed their support. My motivations were: 1. The monthly educational plan that NU adopts and you know upfront what is expected of you and make plans 2. The willingness of the professors to help you, their flexibility, knowledge of their subjects, and the seriousness they put in the program 3. The learning I was gaining and knowing you are not alone in this journey but sharing common goals with other students 4. The salary increase that will happen after I complete my degree 5. The ability to have a student loan and not worry about how to pay my tuition. The first few months were a bit challenging as I was learning to adapt to being a student again after not studying for 11 years and also learning to understand the American education system. I quickly learn to overcome challenges by working ahead of time and not turning in assignments late, asking for help from my classmates or professors if I was confused about something, and being honest. Soon I started realizing I was doing the right thing and started enjoying it. My greatest joy was the day I graduated, but not only that, my kids were watching me and they were proud to see Mom graduate. Today, my salary doubled and I was able to pay off my student loan in less than 3 years. I feel very fortunate to have made the decision to go back to school and have a Master's in Education, although I possessed a Doctorate Degree in Medicine from my country of origin before moving to the USA. My advice to anyone who wants to go to NU is: 1. Reflect on your current situation 2. Make a decision and have a goal 3. Have a strong work ethic to achieve your goal 4. Understand there will be bumps on the way but stay strong to overcome them. In the end, you will be satisfied. Best wishes to all NU students who are starting this journey!