Beware of Northcentral

[RAW]

Is it just me? No, I don't think so. Here is a sampling of the negative Northcentral reviews at Online Degree Reviews (in between the obvious shill reviews):

Watch out
By: Anonymous (In Progress) on December 13, 2007

So called Mentor did absolutely nothing to "facilitate" my learning. Got a generic "welcome aboard" message at the beginning of class along with a list of papers that I had to write. Zero interaction (other than, here's your grade). You are at the mercy of your mentor, who by the way you don't get to choose. Also, check out the incestuous faculty credentials. My mentor's replies to my emails (which didn't answer my questions) included spelling errors and misuse of "big words" -- but what do I know, maybe the pace in which assignments are submitted is an "interglacial" part of the learning process.

I will have to say that this instructor was "new" but her incompetence didn't save me from having to fork over the tuition money. At $850 plus books, it was a costly "learning experience"!

You are required to use a special email system for all correspondence, which makes me thankful for Outlook.

The learner portion of the website isn't very intuitive. Eventually I found a site map, which wasn't linked. . .

Question about accreditation
By: mgaobe (In Progress) on November 24, 2007

...My concern is about the accreditation. I have been checking the accrediting web site for NCU and see that they have issues with conflict of interest, ownership, and they are getting ready for reaccrediting. Given the history of the owner, the bankruptcies I found on google, being turned down for federal aid, etc. anyone who can provide feedback regarding chances of getting accredited again would be helpful. Otherwise, I am pulling out before I get too many credits into the process.

Refund Problems
By: Anonymous (In Progress) on July 25, 2007

I planned to take two courses as a graduate student at large purely for licensure purposes - I already have two masters. When I started the first course I was shocked at the number of assignments, papers, etc. that were due each week. I have a 4.0 in my graduate degrees and am not afraid of work, but they clearly seemed excessive, including an assignment to make a videotape - I don't have that kind of equipment!! So, I dropped the two courses, and after two months am still waiting for the $2800 refund!! They keep saying they're in the process but haven't received it yet. I am going to lodge a complaint with the BBB as the next step.

Mixed reviews
By: Anonymous (In Progress) on June 25, 2007

I've taken 3 courses now in my doctoral studies towards my DBA in Management. I must say, in all honesty, that I have very mixed feelings about the school. Other reviewers comment that the staff is frequently unavailable, and I have to agree. When I have questions over an assignment, they frequently go unanswered for days. Also, I find that the mentors are more preoccupied with the format of the research papers rather than the content. I'm critisized at length because, this or that, is not properly formatted and has to be re-submitted, thus wasting a lot of time. This is total rubbish to me. The assignments themselves are often either confusing, or, overwhelming (too much reading and writing). My thoughts going into the program was that this would allow me to be more flexible about family and job. The reality is that it is not. I am having to spend far more time away from job and family to complete some of these inane assignments than I feel comfortable doing. My GPA is not the best (nor the worst), but I feel that all of my assignments were subjectively graded based on no real set of guidelines. The library is a joke. The research material itself is fine but the search engine is horrible (try to re-find an article you found the day before, you'll see what I mean). I think this could be a great school if they hired professional instructors, not the "leading professionals in their respective fields". These leading professionals in their field may be wonderful...in their field. But that doesn't necessarily make them good instructors. Also, fix the damn library search engine.

Lack of Support in the program from the mentors
By: Hamdi_LF (In Progress) on May 26, 2007

The idea of having NCU degree seemed to be great, but the problem arise from the lack of mentors support to their learners and the academic advisors. As I started my Ph.D program, They don't tell you anything that direct you to the proper source. You are basically on your own. I have an MBA and I got 30 credits transferred. The main problem is that when you start a Ph.D, One may need a lot of support all along, but the beginning is always hard. I just wanna say that it is extremely hard to even get their support. There is no standard grading system, by which you can pinpoint your grade. It is all up to the mentor and what they decide to do with you, so if the mentor does not clarify what wants you end up losing out, especially if your name sounds foreign like mine. I got an (A)in almost all of my assignments, but the mentor sometimes read the first two lines of my assignment and tells to resubmit and you already lost 10% of your assignment grade without even knowing why and if you discuss it, they may screw up your entire grade of the class, because there is standarized grading system that all mentors can abide by. It is important to mention to you that My MBA GPA is an (A)and I still maintain an (A) in my first classes assignment. The bottomline is you need to check out different online schools like Walden, Argosy or somewhere else as long as they provide a more standardized grading system and strong support for their learners, because you a mentor to be on your side to help you achieve your academic goals and be on your side during the process.?

Dissertation
By: hamptonspress (In Progress) on May 2, 2007

I am concerned. I am in the middle of completing my specializations and hear that the dissertation process is very long and no one to speak to about it. I do correspond with many students that are in the process. They seem very, very disappointed. The University has a new president, a new Chair for the Bus. Dept. and I hear the mentors are new and usually are of no help. Maybe we should compile a list of students and go to the Northcentral accreditation region with our grief. Keep all your e-mail and attempted telephone contacts so if and when this happens we have a leg to stand on. I think it is lucridous that people write their mentors asking where they stand on their dissertation and they do not get an answer and when they do it is that the chair of the Dept. who does not respond or tel. calls or e-mail needs to approve it. Let's do something collectively. E-mail me with your concerns. I have a great deal of experience in the accreditation process and will comply a complaint to them that will get their attention.

NCU is a Joke
By: Anonymous (Graduate) on February 26, 2007

What a joke. NCU has no rigor. All of the "mentors" (not even called professors) are rarely available... not that you'd need them anyway. Every class is the same. Read the text and either answer the canned questions in each chapter or write a "paper" which is no more than a repeat of the questions - only rephrased.

Financial collection problems are common. Academic "advisors" are no help in sorting out degree options. Tuition just took a HUGE hike along with "fees".

The "department heads" are not available. I've called mine several times, left emails, left voicemails, and even sent registered letters to him about issues I have. To date... NO feedback.

Avoid the place like the plague. No value.

learners beware!
By: davidfsims99 (In Progress) on January 20, 2007

NCU has both good and bad qualities. First I'll list what I have found to be the bad ones.

1. NCU does not participate in Title IV federal funding. That means that any loans you currently have in deferment will not stay in deferment. The school web site does hint that some lenders *might not* let your loans be in deferment, but that warning is not adequate. If I had known beforehand that I would have to be in repayment status while attending this "regionally accredited" school, I would have chosen a different school.

2. Since they don't participate in Title IV, you have to fund your tuition yourself. That might mean taking out personal education loans or charging it to your credit card, or simply using their payment plan. Fortunately for me, I can use GIBILL.

3. They have a fee for just about everything. If you want to have an additional transcript evaluated after initial enrollment, $50. If you want to change how you pay for your tuition, another $50. If you want to change from the DBA to a PhDBA, another fee.

4. As of the time of this writing, I am in my first course at NCU. This particular course is mandatory, and you cannot get credit for it from an identical course at another school.

5. As this is my first course at NCU, I can only speak to my experience in this course. There are 7 writing assignments. Write six 2-3 page papers, then one 15-20 page project paper. There is a "suggested" schedule of when to turn in each one, but you can go at your own pace and turn them in sooner. I read of one student who completed an entire 3-month course in just 8 days. There is no mandatory course discussion with the rest of the class, like at other online distance education schools. Also there is no lecture or lecture notes. Instead, you are assigned to read the textbook and write your papers using scholarly resources. I guess some people might count this as a good thing, but I consider it a weakness because you don't receive personal experience input from the instructor or fellow learners. Maybe that is why they don't call the instructors "instructors" ...they call them "mentors" instead. That ought to be "red flag" enough.

6. Degree and Institution recognition. There is another "North Central University" in Minnesota for Pentecostals. Some people might take offense at the possibility of confusing the two. According to the list of NCU's faculty members, many of them have degrees from NCU...it makes me wonder if they couldn't get a job anywhere else (because of their degree) and were forced to come back to NCU for work.

You can do a lot better than this
By: Anonymous (In Progress) on September 12, 2006

As a relatively new school NCU seems to be experiencing a lot of growing pains. This wouldn't be too much cause for concern if the effect was solely internal to the school, but they seem to be passing it on to the students.?

For example, initially I had difficulty with the person evaluating my previous work for transfer credit. It was apparent the individual hadn't even read the transcripts I submitted, and as a result I initially was being denied appropriate credits. I'm still not certain whether this was merely the result of that individual's abject incompetence or part of a plan to soak students for more tuition for unnecessary coursework.

Once that was settled I started the program and did have a couple of wonderful professors. But I also had one professor who was not only incompetent but an unabashed liar as well. Again, the professor's conduct was so outrageous it raised the issue whether anyone could be that incompetent by accident, or whether there was some purpose or design to the conduct.

(I've since learned NCU has a legacy of corruption, shady dealings, diploma milling and "overseas agents" involved in selling cut rate degrees for little or no work, as discussed in more detail here: http://www.armedforces.net/Groups/Genera...am_P276797 )

Eventually I got tired of dealing with their problems and left the program. I found another program at a different school with a much higher level of prestige in my field.

I would not recommend NCU to anyone unless you couldn't possibly get admitted at a decent school. Even at its best NCU is bottom of the barrel. If you are willing to settle for that then this is for you, but if you aspire to anything above that look elsewhere.

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