I hear over and over again about negatives and online schools. Complaints ranging from student service, to curriculum, and so on. I actually watched the PBS Frontline: College Inc. In many ways this review is a response to all of them.

,p>No one cares about students going to "traditional college" and coming out not able to get jobs, or with high student loans. No one listens to their complaints about their professors, or how they failed out. Suppose I went to Georgetown or OU or Harvard and said they were a degree mill... would anyone believe me?

No. Have a "for profit program" that offers a degree to ANYONE who has the drive and talent to get it and you have congressional hearings, pbs investigations, and other activities of similar stripe.

I went to a "traditional college" when I came out of high school. I did not mind my studies and left after two years. I got a job, met a girl and got married. I did well. I opened my own business and things were going great, until I made a few mistakes and 2008 came. That ended my business. Well I had saved up some money and my wife had a good job, so after a few conversations I went back to school.

I tried to apply to a "traditional university" and did not have enough hours to transfer. My previous transcript was an embarrassment, my fault, but I had to move forward. I applied to a local Community College and they didn't care. I called, nothing... So I called Capella after researching online options. Odd how all the "traditional universities" that didn't care about me being a "traditional student" wanted me to attend THEIR online program...

Capella seemed to care. They helped me get started, talked to me about costs, loans, and everything. Yes it was going to cost something but all colleges do. I told the guidance counselor that I wanted to graduate in 2 years, she said that it was possible, but it would be tremendous work. Well guess what, IT WAS and I DID. Everything they told me was the truth. They cared about my feedback. My professors acted like every other professor I had ever had. Everything about the school was challenging.

Online schools, especially Capella, take a LOT of self discipline, but then again so do all colleges. That is what I was missing the first time around.

Good luck to you. IF you choose Capella, and you try hard, engage the course room, read, and stay disciplined; you will do well.

My wife and I signed up for a master's program through Capella and spoke with financial advisors who assured us we would receive all of these grants and the actual cost of attending the university would be knocked down to about $10,000 instead of the ridicuolously high $18,000.

Some of these grants didn't work with the federal DOE resulting in an increase in loans. In addition, we were told withdrawing would not result in more payments, then magicly within a month or so, we owe more than they told us intially. Every time I speak with someone from within their business office, they certainly speak as though it is a business and not a school. I never felt as though the people in financial aid completely understood how the grants worked, which ended up costing us a lot more money in the end.

My instructor was fine, but we had to file a complaint against my wife's for several issues throughout the quarter. The more I speak with the university, the more the whole operation seems like a scam.

I am in the fieldwork phase of the Masters in counseling program. My experience with this school is that it advertises itself as a school for professionals who happen to students but their expectations are that you will be a professional student.

During the years I have been studying here, the school is constantly changing the graduation requirements; creating more hurdles for the students. The latest change for counseling students is that the supervision they have with their instructor (on a weekly basis for 90 minutes) may no longer be done over the phone but must be done thru a webcam.

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The times for supervision are during the work day and require the students to sit at a location for 90 minutes with no interruption and where privacy is guaranteed. A working student cannot accommodate this requirement because very few workplaces will excuses you for 90 minutes and give you a private space with a webcam. This was a change made without any discussion with the students and it is typical of the school. The school will expect that working students make school the priority in their lives.

Some student actually quit their jobs to complete the internship, but for some of us, giving up steady income, health benefits, and retirement accounts is simple not an option.

The "academic advisors" are bachelor's level student who have not completed the graduate programs and will only try to pacify you; they will not act on your behalf and will be reluctant to pass you on to anyone of authority in the actual department. The school demonstrates ivory tower syndrome, where people are making decisions without considering how this will practically impact student lives. A traditional school will be quicker, more rewarding, and more appreciative of the students’ time.

In reality IF you already in your career and will attain perhaps a pay raise, bonus or promotion once attaining say you Master's or PhD. then this school is for you. Or if you ahve an employer who promises to hire you once you obtain your degree or promote you from say mailroom clerk to social worker this is the place for you.

in a sister field like say you are a grief counselor with aspirations of becoming a full social worker than this place will get you there. If however you a menial hourly wage worker as say a waitress, bartender, preschool teacher or even pizza dilvery person with aspirations that a degree will get you a real job/career...think again!

Save your money and/or don't go into debt on a dream than can't happen in this economy. This is a school for the individual who is already a career professional. All the better if they are already in the field they are getting a master's of Ph.D in. It is not for anyone else you will never get anywhere save your time and money for better things, I wish I had :(

I've only attended Capella for 3 classes now, and I find the workload to be more than enough. The coursework has been immediately useful for me. The good thing about online learning is that the student must do the work themselves, so you actually learn something. The bad thing is that with online learning, the student must do the work themselves :) If you coasted by with friends notes, or cliffnotes, or whatever means before, it won't work here. Cost? bearable in my case, the average MSIT class is just over $2000 per class.

I'll post again when I've done more than 50% of the work.

Student services is good enough too, that they don't warrant any high praises or low marks, they just do their jobs, and keep the wheels going. They check up on you frequently. I was given all the information upfront about when to expect to pay, when to expect a refund, etc. I had trouble once when I expected my loans to get disbursed to a class, and they hadn't disbursed 3 weeks into the class. I called and it was handled right away.