Master of Public Administration

REVIEW THIS DEGREE

Name: Megs098

I had a wonderful experience with this program and finished it in 15 months time. I appreciated all the responses from professors and fellow students.

Name: gradstudent

I don't know what's happened to this school. It was great when I started a year ago. Now most of the professors can barely be bothered. There are remnants of 2 or 3 different professors' work/schedules/requirements left in a hodge podge in each class so it's difficult to see deadlines etc. Professors do not monitor the required forums except a few occasionally make a few comments, but things like racist and bigoted discussions and comments are left to run on. Many of the professors now have a big "attitude" towards working students and before you even start a class there are rants about how you're life is not going to be tolerated intruding on class to the point of insult and ridiculousness. A recent class had an entire 300 page book assigned and the teacher wanted it read and forum post made in less than three days. Professors do not communicate and take actions without asking questions. Most professors think they are teaching classes in name only. They do not lead or manage discussions. They feel no responsibility for information being up to date. They make little contribution other than maybe a one or half page set of lecture notes, and, even then, the notes could be left over from another professor. Many of them clearly do not know what Academic writing is and make assertions based on military or journal writing, including not knowing what correct Turabian citation is. In fact I had one mark off for following a University issued template for a research proposal! Worse yet, you can't get a simple answer to a simple question from Admin. Emails go unanswered and then they claim they didn't get them. Questions aren't read and formulaic answers are spit out. Phone calls are not returned. And if they are called out on anything, then they are rude and confrontational. Customer service has gone out the window.

Name: Emily3264

In the APU MPA program you can you will be studying outdated information: The assigned reading on technology was published in 1980. One of the assignments said we could submit it on bond paper. That sounds like something written in 1980 too. So instead of learning about SAAS, cloud computing and other issues relevant TODAY, you will learn about not enough memory or hard disk space and floppy disks. You will be thrown questions in a midterm exam that were not a part of the information studied; be presented with questions that do not correspond to the assigned readings; get Yes/No questions on Essay exams, and you will be asked to answer vaguely worded questions asking for absolutes. If you are a working student, you will find no compassion or flexibility at APU. They made major changes to the MPA program recently without directly notifying grad students. No matter where you are at in the course of the program you cannot even change your concentration (2 classes) without meeting the new requirements. The new program no longer includes any electives so there is no flexibility. They put the burden on you to find these things even though they can easily push this information out. I had a job opportunity that was dependent on switching my concentration and the response from APU complete refusal. I’m stuck getting a degree in an area that is experiencing massive layoffs. With APU you can expect mediocrity and indifference. No matter what they say, there is no partnership. They are not there to help you. They will take your money, erect obstacles, move the goal posts, strictly apply self-serving policies, and provide a bare minimum effort towards your education. Good luck.

Name: Huard

Fantastic option for students that prefer not to be confined to a traditional classroom setting. The work is challenging yet manageable. While some of the classes have more real life application than others, all classes provide some tools a student can walk away with. Dislikes - Discussion boards are not useful, however that is no different than any other online program.