Has anyone attended AIU Online?

[melissajean85]

I have been interested in AIU Online but I don’t want to pay for a phony degree. I would like to earn a bachelor’s degree online and this school has what I’ve been looking for. There is a lot of scams out there and I don’t want to fall for another one.

[ShotoJuku]

I have been interested in AIU Online but I don’t want to pay for a phony degree. I would like to earn a bachelor’s degree online and this school has what I’ve been looking for. There is a lot of scams out there and I don’t want to fall for another one.

Which AIU are your referring to?

[Ahmed]

Atlantic International University?,

from Hawaii

From what I have observed from their website, its a very good school, definately not a degree mill, does not have RA accreditation, is on the Oregeon list of mills (which I disagree with). A bit expensive. Overall a good school, but lacking accreditation

[johann]

Holy cow!

We've ALL been asked enough by our moderator. How doggone hard is it?

http://www.aiu.edu/

FIRST - READ THE FOLLOWING! FROM THE AIU SITE!

ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IS NOT ACCREDITED BY AN ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNIZED BY THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF EDUCATION. Note: In the United States, many licensing authorities require accredited degrees as the basis for eligibility for licensing. In some cases, accredited colleges may not accept for transfer courses and degrees completed at unaccredited colleges, and some employers may require an accredited degree as a basis for eligibility for employment.

Now, Melissa Jean - do you STILL want this school?

It's worse, actually. They claim private accreditation from ACI (Accrediting Commission International) of Beebe, Arkansas. I have seen VERY BAD PRESS in the DL fora expressing extremely negative opinions of both A.C.I. and its President, Dr. John F. Scheel.

A.C.I.'s website is www.accreditnow.com Have a look. It appears that the average cost of accrediting a school through ACI is about $3,000 plus travel expenses. Enough said?

I'm a stickler for accreditation - and I would prefer a school with NO accreditation AT ALL over one with ANY unrecognized accreditor. This accreditation business is about the only area in which Ahmed and I disagree.

That said, I'm sure you'll have an interesting learning experience at AIU, if you decide you don't need an accredited degree. (You definitely DO, if you need it as a key to employment doors!)

It seems AIU has two methods:

(1) You take some courses directly from AUI - at about $250 each.

(2) You take a list of other courses, individually planned and agreed-on at AT LEAST TWO other (accredited) schools. I presume that means you pay for them and you also pay AIU something (how much?) for credit-banking them and assembling them into a degree. Hey, this could get expensive!

AIU makes much of the fact that each student is on an individual journey and each person gets much individual attention. I don't know how much of this is slick sales-lingo and how much is genuine seriousness of purpose.

I suspect you would have a very interesting time. You would definitely learn, but your efforts - and considerable expense- would NOT result in a degree you could show an employer!

The one thing I could NOT get a fix on was the cost of the degree experience. I know their individual courses are around $250-$300 and a Bachelor's student would take 8-10 from AIU itself so around $2500 there, say. If you take another 8-10 (total 20) at two other (accredited) schools, per their plan, you'll be spending AT LEAST the same again. (LSU is the greatest bargain I know, $229 per course).

Add on what AIU will take to "design," administer and credit-bank your program and my guess is an average $8-9,000 for an unaccredited degree. Maybe more. Maybe MUCH more. The website is not at all forthcoming about fees.

Melissa Jean, you were asking about web-design degrees when you decided (with good reason) Westwood wasn't for you. Maybe you should have a look at the ones I suggested. For less than half what AIU would want, you could have a REAL (Nationally Accredited) degree! Hey - you could even use it for a job application. I wouldn't try that with AIU. Whether Ahmed disagrees or NOT - it IS on the Oregon and other States' lists.

By the way, I enjoy Ahmed's comments. We agree on most topics. He is sincere, (and pretty smart IMO) and has an MBA from a very good (accredited) school. But Ahmed and I will likely always have differences as to the importance of accreditation. To me it's a MUST. To him, it's sometimes an option.

Another alternative - as Ahmed points out (and he's 100% right) fees are incredibly low at very good South African DL schools which meet American RA standards. Maybe UNISA is the school for you! :-)

http://www.unisa.ac.za

Johann

[cherylstewart]

I also wanted to mention that Atlantic International University LOST its US accreditation in 2002.