When I first decided I needed a college degree, after my failed attempt at Baton Rouge community college because they wouldn’t work with my oilfield schedule, and after much online college research and some phone calls, I enrolled in American Military University, a school started by a Marine Corps LT General who identified the lack of advanced degrees in emergency services and intelligence. Over 70% of the students are active military or veterans.
They offer many interesting classes; for example, interrogation and chemistry of explosives. Variety of degrees: Fire Science Management, International Relations, Environmental Science, Space Studies, Sports and Health Sciences, Information Systems Security with a concentration in cloud computing. The average cost of one of these programs is $32, 670, and that’s if you don’t transfer in any credits. A cheaper option as far as online schools go.
Signing up was simple and quick. I talked with someone over the phone, filled out some papers, paid the $270 per credit fees, and was an AMU student.
I chose the bachelor’s in philosophy program, a factor that drew me to AMU since I couldn’t find the program at other schools within my price range. To start, I signed up for two classes, both of them eight weeks long. There is a 16 week format, but I wanted my degree as quick as possible, and I thought the eight-week-span workload wouldn’t be too burdensome; I was wrong, for reasons I’ll get to in the next paragraph. A book for one of my courses came in the mail, and the book for the other course was online. Their whole online platform was easy to navigate, to find materials, to ask questions, to view the syllabus and know what was expected. You’re told what needs to be done and left alone to accomplish it. The teacher answered questions, and if not the teacher, other students. I was excited and motivated . . .
But I only lasted two weeks. Again, work interfered. I was working 16 hour days, and had one 24 hour day on a drilling rig, which made it impossible for me to complete a written assignment . . . There was always writing and reading and board discussion work. I don’t think people are wrong when they say the school is writing intensive. So I had to drop out.
I learned about testing out of college and managed to get the degree I needed anyway. Much faster too. But now I’m looking at master’s programs because I want to further my education and they have such a great selection of programs, and at such a great price — $12,600.
For-profit schools have a bad rap, but AMU doesn’t seem to hold as much of a negative stigma as other for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix, for example. It is regionally accredited, and unlike national accreditation, credits earned at AMU will easily transfer to any university.
You’ll find negative and positive reviews about AMU. Some say the teachers engage with the students and some say they don’t. The teachers are known to be experienced professionals with excellent credentials in the field they teach. Some say the courses are dumbed down, an easy pass, and that many students write with horrible grammar in mindless, mandatory discussion posts yet still pass; and that it’s a diploma mill for the military. Of course, there are those who say it is what you make of it. You can cherry pick the good and the bad. I recommend you read the American Military University reviews on onlinedegreereviews.org to decide for yourself if AMU is right for you.
In my research, I found a number of people who say the degrees are crap, that no one will take your AMU degree seriously, but I also found an equal number of those who reported being challenged and found excellent jobs upon graduating. My short and overall impression of the school was positive, and I might again be a student in the future. If only they offered a master’s in English.