New Profile: Northcentral University
Wednesday September 26, 2007
Northcentral University is a regionally accredited for-profit online college with headquarters in Arizona. Northcentral offers bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees – all 100% online. They are known for flexibility in admissions requirements (not asking for standardized test scores) and teaching schedules (no set class times or residencies). Students are assigned faculty mentors who help them through online class material via email, telephone, fax, and regular mail. Learn more about NCU's programs, costs, and admissions here: Northcentral University
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Comments
I wouldn’t recommend NCU to anyone. I started there in the Spring, just finished my course at the end of January and transferred my credits to Capella. This fall my favorite faculty was fired along with several others in what appears to be yet another for profit trying to squeeze every nickle out of the place. Service has really gone down. I was in the school of education, and now that the person who recruited me -the chair-was also fired, I feel the value (tuition plus experience plus quality of education) has taken a tumble. I read on their web site that they are preparing for an accreditation visit at the end of the month and I am getting out before it gets worse. No sour grapes-got good grades. Just not the same place it was only a few brief months ago. Thanks for letting me say my 2 cents.
Avoid this place like the plague!!
Northcentral University on-line purports to be 100% online but is primarily a correspondence school. NCU uses deceptive advertising. It purports to have an online Ph.D. program. The school is a distance education correspondence program. It is not conducted over the Internet. The Internet capability of the university is grossly ineffective and is one of the weak links in its program. There is no interaction with students and very little, if any, assessment or interaction with professors. It is what one of my colleagues called, a glorified correspondence school. Yet, NCU continues to promote itself as an on-line delivery system simply because there may be some limited emails and download files or information.
NCU may try to compare itself to large private programs, but these schools are mostly owned by publicly held corporations that are subject to Sarbanes Oxley and thus a higher standard of accountability. They also have the resources to provide multi-media on-line educational programs and have the library and faculty resources to provide a viable program. NCU does not have any of these.
NCU has demonstrated very little accountability or service initiative. Although NCU is accredited, it promotes its services in a deceptive manner. It should be classified with unethical marketing scams. It is not an on-line program. It is a correspondence school.
NCU is not a student friendly environment, nor is it transparent and accountable in its disclosure. NCU advertising is deceptive and I believe that this is wrong and should be changed and or reported to the public at large.
Their student service is not effective and their focus is primarily on money. Students will receive much better service from large traditional or private universities.
NCU will not refund your money after you enroll and determine that their program was not what they purported it to be. In fact, they will ignore you and use unethical tactics to harass you. They continue to use false advertising and this warrants public disclosure and, at least, preventing others from falling for NCU’s deceptions. Although they may rank well in terms of cost, please remember, you get what you pay for. And you will not get much from this correspondence school.
Search for an AACSB school or a regionally credited school that has a long successful history and/ or is backed by a credible organization that has the resources to provide a top rated program.
Read more here: http://www.dltruth.com/showthread.php?tid=134
The school is absolutely outstanding. The support and direction by the mentors is outstanding. Those having problems probably created them by their actions.
I found NCU no different than any other accredited school I attended. Things can go wrong quickly and you have to take steps to clean things up. You need to work harder to communicate because you use either email, forum posts, or phone calls for contact. The staff has been very helpful when I have had a problem and most of the mentors I had were good and some very good. All work is done over the Internet.
I have had an excellent experience with NCU. I have never had any issues with the School of Education, mentors, billing, signing up for classes, or having my worked graded in a timely manner. The customer service is well above average. They diligently answer the phone or promptly return my call and they always have an answer to my questions.In turn, I really do not understand the complaints made by the other individuals listed.
In my opinion, school is school. You get out what you put in! In this instance, it is a big boys program. Meaning, if you aren’t disciplined then you are sure to fall behind or have problems. Communciation and self-reliance are the keys to success. The school is not for students who wish to be coddled or for ones who want to incessantly complain to get a change to their grade. It is for self starters and working professionals who cannot attend class in-residence, due to time contraints in their lives.
For me it is a perfectly devised program (PhD in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership). I am in the military, meaning that I am gone quite often. However, the flexibility they provide is better than any experience I’ve ever had at a school. They are a very Pro military school! I just wish more military personnel would get away from using TUI (Touro). Now, that is a school with no direction. They simply grant a degree if you pay money. At NCU, YOU HAVE TO EARN YOUR GRADES! If you wan the easy road, then go to TUI. If you want something meaningful and legitimate, then go to NCU!
I think many people who trash the school have not made it through an adjustment period. I felt the same as many initially but I gave the school a chance and found out how to get things done. Selecting good mentors for my courses and removing poor instructors was a key. Communicating with my advisor regarding any question pertaining to the school helped. Forming good relationships with some of the mentors asking for feedback also helped. Somehow, I made it through. It was not easy. There were lots of twists and turns but I made it through. If you are willing to work and communicate and make good choices for yourself, the school can provide a good education for you.
I’ve been a student at NCU for two years and will start the dissertation portion of my PhD in about six months. So far, the program has been rigorous, inspiring, and very useful. I have nothing but praise for the institution, its mentors, and staff. I do interact with students quite often and find the detailed feedback from my mentors to be on target. If you expect to be spoon-fed knowledge by a virtual professor on your computer screen, then NCU is not for you. You yourself must do all of the research, write tons of essays and papers, prepare PowerPoint presentations, participate in relevant discussions, and complete other creative assignments. I don’t understand why some folks invest so much time and effort putting down universities. For me it is very simple: I you dislike a university, don’t enroll.
Beware of Northcentral. It’s a terrible, horrible school, and complete waste of your time and money. And beware of their shills who post rave reviews but are just paid employees doing what they are told. This school sucks, take it from someone who was an actual student there.
I’m a real student at NCU for over a year now. I’ve learned just as much from each class that I would have from any other University. It does take a lot of self motivation.