NCU is a for-profit private university that has regional accreitation. They have made their mark in education by offering flexible, no residency degrees that were affordable. The tuition has been slowly increasing over the past few years and now it costs double what it did only 5 years ago. But that's not the problem. Many people register there because of the flexibility and no-residency. The flexibility has come from allowing students to take time off (leaves of absence) between courses as well as extensions on courses that the student is demonstrating progress in by the end date if the student is more than 75% completed. They would issue incompletes for courses not completed within the 12 week timeframe and a student could re-attempt it by paying for the course over again.
In December, Dr. Gardner sent a letter to all enrolledstudents. There will be no more leave of absences granted (except to military learners), no more incompletes and no more extensions. Learners will also be required to enroll in a weekly start date rather than monthly, allowing no more time in between classes to catch your breath.
NCU has also ripped off several learners who have been paying a dissertation fee in advance of their dissertation, as they have now changed the fee structure so every course is $2200 and includes all the previous fees. There are no refunds to those who have already partially paid the dissertation fee, yet those students are expected to pay the full amount per course, even in the advance or dissertation phase.
The final insult to their motto of being flexible is that Master's students will now be required to complete 18 credits per year... Where is the flexible pacing adult learners need if they are working or sick or looking after family members?
NCU is getting to be more in it for the money and shoving learners through like an assembly line. It's getting to be more like factory production there, and whispers of diploma mill cannot be very far behind if this keeps up. If you are contemplating going there, reconsider some other fine instituions that offer more and deliver.
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