Devry University/Keller school of Management is a great school from a perspective of being very flexible. I received my undergraduate degree at Devry and it was a mostly smooth transition into Keller. I retired from the military back in 2011, and it was almost an eventless transition. Now the only issue I had an issue with Devry was with the graduation verification. I was late on submitting my application, but I think with a little more help from my adviser, this could have been a little less stressful. But I must admit that the fairly new “degree works system” they have for tracking your degree plan is one that I just LOVE. Also the streamlined functions of the staff/advisers into a one stop shop is good. I do love the idea of being able to talk to one person for all your needs to include financial and academic. This made it much easier to track my progression using this system. Now the VA enrollment requirement was OKAY simply because the staff was unfamiliar with the process. I think (at the time) they had only one or two people that were familiar with the process and it made it a little hard sometimes getting to them to ensure all the right paperwork (from the school) was submitted in a timely manner. Now understand that it’s a two way street. The VA also had its issues with replying back to submitted documents. I happen to know this from first hand experiences. I read allot of the reviews from other former and current students and the issues that had with Keller. Well I will tell you that I really like the blended course concept, and if you want to be "Spoon Fed" your Graduate degree then maybe Keller is not for you. If you want to be challenged and learn from people that are in the industry and have firsthand knowledge of what’s going on in their field (oh by the way many of them currently are still working in their field) you are in the right place. As a 23 year veteran of the US Army, I have learned the best way to learn is to open your ears and listen and to rely on your own information that you research. Even the Professor will concur that they are facilitators of Graduate Students and they guide discussions but the discussions are from your peers. I love the school and I'm a living witness that can attest that it can be done if you work at it. While serving I was still able to meet my class requirements while deployed overseas, and still maintain my CGPA of 3.85 graduating Magna Cum Laude (BSTM),and on track to graduate with distinction with my MBA from Keller. Devry University/Keller School of Management was the right school for me.
Taking these courses is equivalent to reading a text book on your own, which one could do for a lot less money. There is no real interaction. The discussion amounts to all the students answering the same question with no feedback or correction by the instructor. I requested help from at least 4 instructors and only one called me. They also have an inane rule about posting three times per week. I posted to three different discussion questions on two different days and it counted for only two posts. Since there is no explanation there are times that I spent two to three hours doing research on one discussion question. I guess it is better to repeat the same answers everyone else does rather than try to learn something.
DeVry University is a for-profit institution and one of the more well-known online universities. Their costs are higher than some other online universities, but their programs don't necessarily have a better reputation.
I very much regret ever signing up with "Keller". I have had a hell of a time with the finance office getting my account straightened out because my VA enrolls were messed up. When I called several months to ask about the refunds I was getting, no one knew and said to wait for someone to call back. I finished my last class and still had a crazy outstanding credit on my account, so I called and asked what the deal was. Again, no one knew. So I called the VA, found out they had overpaid my account. TWO MONTHS after I finished my last class I finally got someone to look into it for me and found that they had misplaced my top-up vouchers and billed the VA for the wrong thing. No one caught this because they don't look at your account like a real university does. I had to bring the problem to their attention.
PLEASE do not go to this school. The classes are way easy, yes, but you don't learn ANYTHING from the professors. My experience with the "professors" has been slightly negative. I have asked questions (via email for most...some actually call you and check in), and probably only got an answer 10% of the time. I'm not sure they even understand some of the problems in the text.
To sum it up: The administration is poorly organized, their internal protocol is not student friendly, and they take forever to fix any problems that arise.
If I could do it again, I would go to a real university - one that would allow me to be proud of the work I put into the degree; one that truly has the best interests of the students at heart.
Anytime I had a problem with this online school it seemed the financial aid department and academic departments were never in sync. Neither ever knew what was going on with the other. The instructors were very knowledgeable, but the quality of education was somewhat lacking.
I am very uncomfortable with for-profit schools like Devry University that charge outrageous prices for education and burden students with thousands of dollars in student debt. While Devry undoubtedly has a strong advertising budget, there are definitely more affordable, much more respected programs out there!
Let me just start by saying that much of my professional success is attributed to my education, which was obtained through DeVry (BS Technical Management) and Keller Graduate School of Management (MBA International Business).
From experience, I can attest that in order to succeed in the online MBA program one must be driven, incredibly organized and have the ability to learn independently. Coursework is MASSIVE and includes textbook readings, class/online participation, quizzes, exams and course projects. Personally, I feel that the quality of the education received is great and often question how much more I would have gotten if attending another institution. At the end of the day, it is all about how much one is willing to give of him/herself.
Work experience has also proven to be a big plus as courses are extremely dynamic and use real life examples and current case studies. I am not sure how someone without a few years of experience could possibly relate to the discussions/content or keep up the fast pace of each course.
Despite of my satisfaction, I do struggle with the fact that Keller does not seem to have a better reputation with employers. In fact, many don’t even know it exists. As such, I would recommend the institution for experienced professionals whom much like I, already have a established career and are only seeking the credentials.
The flexibility of completing the coursework online comes in handy when constantly traveling aboard, raising kids and/or not being able to commit to classroom attendance.
I attended Keller for my MBA, the program was pretty good. Most of the professors are in touch with what happens in the business world. It is very rare that you are learning from someone who does not have a lot of industry experience. The program is quite expensive in comparison to local programs that are subsided by the local governments, i.e. state schools. If you are looking for a pure online graduate degree and don't mind paying a premium, this is a good option.
I'm really not sure about any of the negative reveiws I've seen. I just completed my 5th course at Keller's Tampa East Campus. The teachers (MBAs and PHDs)so far have been excellent. All have worked in the fields they teach. Class sizes are small 10-15 students. Most are working adults. I got my BA from UCF and the learning experience here has been far superior. The semesters are only 8 weeks and so far I've completed entire textbooks in that time period. Expect to put in at least 20 hrs a week in most classes. I will say it is not easy.
They offer online tutor (chat) with real individual. You can use anytime even late at night. Courses are blended, meaning you go to lecture one day a week and take part in online learing throughout week. Also, Do not let the fact that GRE or GMAT is not required. The math, APA format for all writing is expected as if you have a thorough background in both. I will admit, I expected the MBA program at Keller to be a little easier, but as my teacher's have made me well aware of, this is a Master's level program.
And, yes it is expensive, but I beleive you get what you pay for and I have personally learned more in the last 5 semester's than I recall learning my entire 4 yr program at UCF. Though I'll always be a knight, and loved the big campus life up there in Orlando, Keller style of teaching is superior. You learn a lot at an extremely fast pace.
Name: Philippians
Post On: October 9, 2010
Grade: D-
In the school's defense: this would be considered accelerated because each class is 8 weeks and one class qualifies as part time; GRE and GMAT are not required for admission; minimum GPA is 2.5-2.9 (I forget); and the classes may be taken online or blended (meaning attending at a local school.) The instructors are nice and computers are new.
Contrarily, my statements show $2800/class because online classes cost more than blended, there's a technology fee, and the textbooks are expensive. The tuition increases constantly.
My beef with this school is students don't see the results to final exams. It is a huge ordeal to quickly glance at the final exam (kind of like getting through airport security). In accounting, the information builds; I find it impossible to learn when I can't see where I went wrong.
A typical exam answer is a table or financial statement but, the student has a 1 in x 3 in box that does not permit formatting. It also doesn't allow leaving the screen to use excel, tab or cut and paste function. Annuity tables are not even posted for problems requiring them. Also the exams are timed and worth enough points to destroy a perfect A in the last week of class.
The courses are poorly constructed and inconsistent. The projects are not derived from the textbook but, the tests are. In my first class, I spent over 60 hours/week in my pursuit of an A. My issue is this school is technically DeVry. My efforts will not be recognized by society, namely employers. While the school is easy to get into, there are also not any standards for preperation, it's expensive, it has a bad reputation, there are no connections to Big 4 recruiters or Alpha Beta Psi participation, however, it boasts Becker courses then, has the audacity to be unattainable.
There are options inside of the online textbook resources that the school will not pay to unlock. Yet, we are not provided any practice problems. What educational system allows students to be tested on quantitative data/interpretation without first giving them an example or practice problem? DeVry...
$2800 can't buy me an interactive disc, product key code, a worksheet, a workbook, a solution to a problem from the textbook, or an instructor who replies to e-mails.
I don't recommend this school to anyone who has ambition, desire, passion, or drive.
I don't recommend this program to anyone who has a job, a child, or a life.
The only people who I recommend attend Keller would be employees because they seem to be the only people whom I have met who benefit from this Institution.
