American Public University reviews

Someone took out two student loans in my name and they took my tax refund because of it. I need to know what I need to do to get my $3,921 back.

American Public University System has become a sham of a school. I worked there for 8 years as an adjunct and never got a single raise, even though they continually increased the amount of work. The students were also ripped off by this university. Many of this school's students are military or former military. When they started coming back after serving, many had PTSD (I taught psychology and recognized it) and weren't able to do passing class work. Because I had principles, I had to fail those students, which broke my heart.

Adding insult to injury for these students was the fact that the school permits students to withdraw from classes countless times, which insures they will get their financial aid. And they are permitted to withdraw until the DAY the class ends! So, those who should and would be failed are getting government money on the scam of a withdrawal when the truth was students would be retaking (and paying again for) the same class, term after term.

This university should lose its licensing. They aren't fit to call themselves an institution of education. They are a sham and a diploma mill. Students, don't be fooled by their lower prices--remember, you get what you pay for.

One warning- the school is regionally but not ABET accredited.
Second issue- when requesting document such as diplomas expect 8 weeks for them to just get it out of their office. Expect another 2 months to receive it by mail if you live out of country. All of my other universities can get documents to me in 2 weeks and not 4 months. Severe lack of professionalism.

Hard work and self-discipline are required when taking online courses. I worked my butt off and had earned both a BA and an MA in History at APUS. I found the majority of Professors I had to be very helpful and did not experience anywhere near the issue's others have posted on this site with my classes, and or for that matter, Financial Aid either. Over the years I have attended brick and mortar schools, both traditional and expedited, and can tell you I never had to work as hard to accomplish my goals. It took self-discipline and determination to achieve what I did not expect others to hand over.

You couldn't believe what I saw. Rampant plagiarism without any penalty--all they want is the money. Students coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq who weren't able to concentrate, yet the school kept them "on the hook" by allowing them to withdraw term after term, while charging them each new class. This is truly a horrible university. They don't update classes and don't provide textbooks (or ones that aren't 10 years old). I have never been more embarrassed to work for a university. The only good thing were the students, whom I loved--and who I feel so sorry for because they'll never get a job from this crap-show of a university. Total diploma mill.

This has the potential to be a great program. There are numerous professor who clearly love what they do and have a passion for their discipline. However, there are far too many that are clearly there for a pay check. Ive personally researched many who are teaching too many classes both at APUS and other online schools. And it shows in the lack of participation in class discussion, duplication of feedback to students, long response times to emails, and subpar and confusing feedback on assignments. The Staff is unprofessional and dismissive of legitimate concerns. They utter lack of concern regarding students education makes this University not worth the investment for those wo truly desire a meaningful academic experience

How long will a hold be place on my account? I just started & they say they are viewing certain student accounts before sending out money.. This is frustrating

I am a current student, but this would be my last course. They are selling illiteracy. You will get A for not even opening a book. The financial aid dept loves to torture students and to find any way to cut your federal financial aid down, and pay you a month after the start of the semester. I been two years with them, my GPA is 3.8, but still quitting.

I've been a FT faculty member at APUS for 7 years. Over the past three years, I've watched the school quickly plummet into a terrible place. As an instructor, I regularly teach 5 classes at one time for 11 months a year (new classes start each month). We're talking 100 active students at any one time. Is it any wonder why learner's are so unhappy? We don't have the time to actually teach because of recently imposed electronic sweatshop rules...rules that can change on a whim.

We're intimidated by an uncaring management team with middle managers that often like to make examples out of instructors by firing them. It wasn't always this way. Really. But the focus now is on the money and working faculty to the bone.

I can honestly say (and it pains me to do this) that I would not recommend this school to anyone I know. It shouldn't receive accreditation again because of the way it treats faculty. Students receive a substandard education because faculty don't have time to truly develop learner's. Think about it - how could anyone mentor students with that kind of teaching load.

I encourage students and faculty to visit the Higher Learning Commission website to leave public comments to the accreditation team. You can easily Google this. Tell them about your experience as a student and faculty member.

The only thing APUS understands is money. If enough people speak out, maybe they'll listen. I'm prepared to be unemployed as opposed to being treated like a dog and feeling guilty because I know students are being ripped off.

Used to be a great place, but as the years have moved on - APUS is a place of fear, run by people who only care about becoming VPs, AVPs, and the like to obtain free stocks. The students are left behind. Just pathetic.

It is with regret and frustration that I write the following review. I am at present, a senior level student majoring in Accounting at American Military University. My current GPA is 3.9587 with two and a half classes left until I'm finished. I have had only a couple good experiences with APU/AMU Accounting courses and a mountain of bad experiences. The publisher, the school, relies on heavily for their course materials in the accounting classes, is Pearson Publishers. I have found the publishers quiz and test materials to contain errors yet each time I presented these errors to AMU, the attitude was like, so what, no publisher is perfect. The sad part is that students pay the price for these errors by way of grade point deductions.

I also during one course complained when the Professor kept ignoring my requests to credit my grade, for an error on the course materials. I had sent the Professor five messages over a week long period, asking for credit. Getting no reply to my messages, I contacted the head of the schools accounting program. The latter action led to the Professor getting miffed, after which he entered my grade book and began lowering grades that had been given weeks earlier. In the end, I complained to the school's academics office, about the improper grade changes and as expected, I received no response. So basically the grades I busted my ass to get are simply worthless trash in the minds of this for profit university's staff.

All along the way, I have found most of this schools accounting courses to be thrown together haphazardly. All that truly matters is that the school makes a buck. Some of the Professors truly care and work with you to make sense out of the poorly designed courses while many more of the Professors are also along for the money only. Once I am finished, I will likely not walk for the diploma as the school itself has turned what should have been a great experience, into years of nothing short of worthless $#*! and horrible experiences.

If you happen to be a great student looking for a great school experience and perhaps Latin Honors to boot, pick another school. This school has continually cheated me out of deserved GPA points and are well aware they did. With only two and a half courses left, there is simply no way I can earn the points back they stole from me. In the latter, my GPA was a 3.9560 before my finishing ACCT400 with a blistering 99.8% yet all that grade did was move me from a 3.9560 to a 3.9587. Do the math; there is no way I could ever begin to get the points back the school robbed me of. As I write this review, I have just begun ACCT420 and already the quizzes that are supposed to follow the textbook chapters yet stray about as far from the chapters as possible. Complaints relative to the latter will result in zero changes, and the end outcome will be another APU/AMU substandard designed course that prevents students from attaining the grade they would normally attain.

In conclusion, if you're serious about your education and wish to do as well as you truly can, avoid APU/AMU. If you choose this school, you'll find yourself cheated just like me. This school is in the game of education, for a profit and nothing more. My review here has been accurate and 100% honest. It is to late for any chance at Latin Honors for myself, and I'm hoping by posting this review AMU/APU will not make it that same way for you. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent thousands of tax dollars on my AMU education and in return I received AMU's lusy experience, poorly designed programs and their we could give a $#*! less about your efforts, attitude. To AMU I say you can shove my 3.9587 up your worthless asses and wipe with my degree.

I recently graduated from this school with a BS in Information Technology. I just got accepted to GA Tech for a Masters in Computer Science. I think the school is respected enough to get me into one of the top Tech Schools in the country.

Most professors ignore you. They will not answer your questions or help in any way which tells me they are there for the money only and do not care about the students.
Too bad there is no way to give one third or less of a star.

Service Disabled Veterans and Law Enforcement Officers injured in the line of duty beware. As soon as APUS/AMU/APU learned that I was an SDV and LEO injured in the line of duty, the discrimination began. Without going into great detail, one would have thought I had the Plague or Leprosy. First, Financial Aid would not accept my phone calls once I disclosed my SDV status and I was denied financial aid. Secondly, when I attempted to dis-enroll from classes two days prior to the start of class they listed me as a "DP" (Drop). In other words I had to take a drop for classes that I never took, paid for, or even started. Thirdly, at the time of this posting, APUS Disabled Services declined to respond to my emails when requesting where I could file a complaint regarding the discrimination by APUS/AMU/APU.

First I did not use financial aid, so I cannot comment on most of the comments here. What I did do is apply myself to my classes and I got a very worthwhile education. The faculty was very accessible and quick to respond when I had questions. My firm readily recognized my fully accredited degree.

APUS is a FOR PROFIT institution! If you want a college degree that will count for something, please go to a real school. The classes are a joke, and the only thing the administrators are interested in is increasing student enrollment for profit. The other students are morons, and don't expect to be challenged to think in any way. There aren't any enrollment requirements except for having a pulse and writing a check. That means anyone from anywhere can get in, no matter how stupid they are! A real college has admissions requirements: SATS, GRES (for graduate school), an essay exam, and GPA requirements. At APUS you can have a D average and they'll take you, as long as you can write a check or qualify for financial aid. And, your degree, once you have it, especially in the Humanities, will be completely useless.

We read books that high school students are reading! It is a total joke. Avoid this school at all costs - because it will cost you more than it will ever be worth.

APUS is a scam. I was assured when I enrolled that I was eligible for the loan and pell. I emailed them several times about the refund and they told me everything was o.k. Then when the time come that it was too late to withdraw they told me I would not be receiving the loan and they would have to keep all of the pell grant. Please do yourself a favor and do not attend this company. You will regret it if you do.

It took me about 2 weeks to figure out this place is a complete scam. Financial aid fraud, anyone with a pulse gets in, the professors are complete morons, the administration doesn't care about anything but enrollment and money. If you want an education, a real education, look elsewhere. If you want a job in education, keep looking. APUS is a diploma mill, not an educational institution. I hope they are investigated for fraud, they need to have their weak accreditation revoked and this "college" needs to be closed for good. STAY AWAY.

Not a single person knows what they talking about. They will pay for all the run a rounds they give. They certainly will. Who hired these bunch of idiots?

So I guess it is true, the financial aid department said I owed three different amounts at three different times. They have no idea what they are doing...... The lady wouldn't even explain to me what they did, she had to have someone else explain it to me. It was so wrong. Went the whole year without issues, but then boom they went psycho. Then they tried to give me a refund, but then I noticed I owed the same amount they were trying to get back. So I just don't know what to say about this place. I will continue for one more year, but after that I am done with this school! Gonna transfer to somewhere else.

Honestly, if you want to attend a reputable college and receive your funding on time, stay far away from this university! The financial aid department is horrible! No one seems to care that they are playing with your money and that you are depending on those funds. You will continuously have problems with the financial aid department. Your funds will not be disbursed on time and you will not receive the amount you anticipated (that is stated on your ledger). You will experience great stress dealing with individuals who are supposed to be professional in this department. Please, do yourself a favor, and stay far away from all the hassles that the financial aid department hands out. Oh, one last thing, do not expect any reply back from the school, especially the financial aid department, if you email them. Your efforts are worthy and justified, but the response back is nonexistent.

Do not attend this so called university. The stories of financial aid problems are all true. They implemented a new computer system in July of 2013. My aid from last November has still not credited to my account. I received an email from them yesterday saying "we have no solution for the issue with your account and do not know when it will be resolved." In other words, there is no reason for me to stay at APU. They hang up on you, get angry that you dare ask about YOUR money, don't respond to emails and generally do not care. Every department does this. They care NOTHING about their students. This school needs to be investigated for fraud and shut down. RUN FROM THIS CORRUPT SCHOOL!

This school is a joke!!!! anyone who is thinking about starting at this school please understand that all of these reviews of horror stories are sooooo true. The fin aid is lame and takes your money and the awards for grad students are foolish and a low blow to all students who really wants to get their books and complete the course and really graduate. I hate this school and they will get carmah for the wrong that they do and sit back and laugh. we students deserve answers, support, truth,all of our money, fair awards, real quality education and people in the field who wants to see students do well and not fail. the name should be B*ll s**t university of cons!