• American Public University

American Public University

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Overview

American Public University has a rating of 2.17 stars from 60 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about American Public University most frequently mention financial aid problems. American Public University ranks 1726th among Education Other sites.

  • Service
    12
  • Value
    11
  • Returns
    6
  • Quality
    12
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 25%
Positive
1
Neutral
0
Negative
3
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What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

No positive highlights yet

Critical highlights

  • Over the past three years, I've watched the school quickly plummet into a terrible place.
  • The other students are morons, and don't expect to be challenged to think in any way.
How would you rate American Public University?
Top Positive Review

“School is okay”

Natasha L.
4/17/23

I have had no issues at this school. I do not always like my teachers, as many of them dock points for grammatical errors while their lessons are FULL of misspellings, missing words, etc. Many instructors are inactive, but I do not care about that. I am taking online classes to quickly earn a degree that will help me get more job opportunities. I'm not looking to become a doctor or something. Where I live, a Bachelors is necessary for almost any job paying above minimum wage. This school will help me achieve that. I absolutely hate having to write 10 page papers for every class, every eight weeks. Especially since I take multiple classes at once and have a full life outside of school. I can't wait to be out of school so I never have to write another paper again.

Top Critical Review

“Instructors don't care about students”

Earl D.
5/4/23

Did my bachelors at APU and had an avg experience, mostly just taught myself with little direct instruction from the instructors. Stayed at APU for my masters since I was familiar with the format. Horrible experience! Had some personal emergencies pop up with a 2-month premature baby arrival, wife needing surgery that took her off her feet for a month, and my live in 70-yr mom had two heart surgeries. This all happened within a 30 day span. I appealed to the instructors, but they just kept marking my stuff late without any regard to my new time limitations. I had to do an official extension and even a special extension, with one special extension being denied. When I got some of the assignments in before the extension deadlines, the instructors refused to even grade them saying that they needed them on certain dates within the extension window. Screwed up my GPA & had to pay back my job for 1 course. I'm transferring to another college and I'm done with merciless robots as teachers.

Reviews (60)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

school (28) students (19) aid department (4) american military university (3) financial aid (16)
Thumbnail of user earl.davis.f
1 review
3 helpful votes
May 4th, 2023

Did my bachelors at APU and had an avg experience, mostly just taught myself with little direct instruction from the instructors. Stayed at APU for my masters since I was familiar with the format. Horrible experience! Had some personal emergencies pop up with a 2-month premature baby arrival, wife needing surgery that took her off her feet for a month, and my live in 70-yr mom had two heart surgeries. This all happened within a 30 day span. I appealed to the instructors, but they just kept marking my stuff late without any regard to my new time limitations. I had to do an official extension and even a special extension, with one special extension being denied. When I got some of the assignments in before the extension deadlines, the instructors refused to even grade them saying that they needed them on certain dates within the extension window. Screwed up my GPA & had to pay back my job for 1 course. I'm transferring to another college and I'm done with merciless robots as teachers.

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Thumbnail of user davea847
1 review
2 helpful votes
July 25th, 2023

What a joke. Never looked at a textbook, studied, or put more effort than a simple google search of a question into getting a degree. The learned website put even less effort into teaching. Made it through all of my classes without being taught a thing. How they can call themselves a college or university of higher education is beyond me. If you're looking to just pay for the degree and don't care to learn then you found the place for you. Chat GPT will get you through the entirety of the 120 credits needed to leave with a degree fully inserted in your anus. Get *******@ckd APUS!

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Thumbnail of user calums14
1 review
0 helpful votes
July 25th, 2023

Please be aware, it's not $0 out of pocket for graduate students, as advertised. It will cost $85 per class out of pocket for their "technology fee". This is very poorly advertised, but they will charge you out of pocket for this, and it's super frustrating as no one tells you until you enroll in the classes. Ensure you're cognizant of this when selecting universities. I wish I would've been!

Thumbnail of user natashal240
1 review
0 helpful votes
April 17th, 2023

I have had no issues at this school. I do not always like my teachers, as many of them dock points for grammatical errors while their lessons are FULL of misspellings, missing words, etc. Many instructors are inactive, but I do not care about that. I am taking online classes to quickly earn a degree that will help me get more job opportunities. I'm not looking to become a doctor or something. Where I live, a Bachelors is necessary for almost any job paying above minimum wage. This school will help me achieve that. I absolutely hate having to write 10 page papers for every class, every eight weeks. Especially since I take multiple classes at once and have a full life outside of school. I can't wait to be out of school so I never have to write another paper again.

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Thumbnail of user giovannij19
1 review
0 helpful votes
August 2nd, 2022

School is a complete scam! I needed to enroll in my masters degree program after completing the whole bachelor's degree, was told I had to wait 2 months. They had to audit my degree first! I needed those two months because I had limited months left on my VA education benefits! Needless to say, they didn't care! Then I find out from former students, the degree isn't worth the paper it was printed on!

Thumbnail of user jerryh306
2 reviews
11 helpful votes
November 15th, 2019

I received my MPA in 2012 from APU and found the experience to be very rewarding. Rec'd a raise and have since moved into another career on the strength of that degree!

Thumbnail of user momnaa1
1 review
0 helpful votes
December 21st, 2022
Verified purchase

You are froad and your can not pay may payment I worked for you but you does not pay me my payment you take your work from me but never pay me

Thumbnail of user meredythj1
1 review
13 helpful votes
August 2nd, 2020

I have attended online and hybrid classes in the past from a real school and never had any problems as I have at this place. I can say it was the worse experience ever. The course material did not match the lesson and I had a different textbook that did not go along with the class, I emailed the instructor to inform him and he did not respond in a timely fashion, and when they did it was two words. WTH. If you are willing to teach yourself and write 10-15 page papers with no direction, then this is the right place for you.

Thumbnail of user monical289
1 review
11 helpful votes
May 18th, 2020

I do not recommend this university to anyone. This school does not care about it's students. They do not answer questions in a timely manner no do they resolve issues between the student and teachers. You pay almost $900.00 to teach yourself. All the teachers do is grade your papers. There are better universities out there I don't recommend this school to anyone.

Thumbnail of user kt297
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
March 8th, 2023

I did my research before attending this school and verified that it is an accredited institution. I finished my undergraduate degree here after having my previous credits transferred over. In 2022, I received my bachelor degree and I am in the Master's program now. I have had zero issues. (It's recommended that you get a counselor to help you through the process. I did.)

Tip for consumers:
Ask for a guidance counselor to help you along through the process and ensure you are taking the right courses for your program.

Products used:
Bachelor degree

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Thumbnail of user ndpm
1 review
5 helpful votes
September 1st, 2021

Please if you register with this school pay attention to your loans. They change fees without notice, Financial aid will not tell you to register for all your classes at each term. Financial aid is the most unprofessional here. They are for the military and the money. As of this month, they are still under investigation with my loan services. They screwed me and 2 other students out of their degree. Also when loan or disbursements come to you make sure that you check and make sure they have not left you with a balance! I wouldn't recommend this bs school to anyone. Also keep records of who you talk to..

Thumbnail of user rebeccao78
1 review
7 helpful votes
October 31st, 2019

Instructors teach their opinion. If you want a paper mill degree this is the place to get one. One had an obvious hatred for President Trump. The fact that all he did was bash the president without offering a way to critical think with an objective opinion is immature, especially for a masters program. I don't need to be enrolled in AMU to learn how to blame the world for my problems. The American Military University is just a title its a company.

Thumbnail of user michaelo938
1 review
12 helpful votes
October 21st, 2020

If you want a college that doesn't know the meaning of empathy or down right don't give a hoot about the customers they claim to care about or put first. Then this is the place for you! I am not going to out by right trash AMU however, there are things that could of been handled better. I hope the staff and the instructors receive the same understanding as I received from them. My mother passed away three days into my classes. I did not neglect my program. II just had other matters that needed my immediate attention. I flew five hours over the Pacific Ocean to reach my home of record. I had to help my father navigate the tremendous amount of paperwork in the wake of my mothers passing. My father cannot read and I had to assist him. I reached out to one instructor left my cell number, personal and professional email and no response. I also reached out to an administrator or some office person and let them know what I was dealing with. So, adding insult to injury and still mourning the loss of my mother. I received an F have to pay back 1500. 00. I have spent 18 years and five months serving this nation. I will advise other service members to seek out other institutions of higher learning.

Thank you

M. Ortega

Thumbnail of user jeffj382
1 review
9 helpful votes
September 28th, 2020

When you have to do a quality review on your class while taking the class, it makes it hard. Military people know how to deal with bumps in the road and will find a way to succeed. When you do not have much help from the "Professor" that does not want to do their job, that is a different problem. When you have to go and fix quizzes and make sure the grades are correct after every single assignment on top of everything, it is time to find a new school. They do not care about a class or student, just the money that keeps rolling in, find a better school.

Thumbnail of user kimc1174
1 review
1 helpful vote
June 17th, 2021

They told me my credits would transfer to any school and…SURPRISE!…. They don't! I told them from the beginning that I wanted to transfer to a state school at some point and they assured me I could. I also had a period of time when I was struggling financially. I became a single mom and couldn't even afford a power bill most months let alone internet. I had 2 small children under 3 and no means to even get someplace with internet. We lived in a rural area and my suv was not reliable and I didn't have funds for gas a lot of the time. I told them all this and begged for them to let me put things on hold and withdrawal classes due to my inability to do then and they said no. Now I owe thousands on student loans for credits I can't use! I asked if I could have my transcripts and they wanted me to pay a bunch to get them bc apparently I owe them as well! I filed bankruptcy last year and the debt SHOULD have been cleared!

Tip for consumers:
Please go to a community college or state school that isn’t a for profit institution

Products used:
Classes marketing

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Thumbnail of user alexanderlah
1 review
6 helpful votes
August 4th, 2021

I started a Masters in Criminal Justice program in November 2019 I finished the required 36 hours of credit hours in December 2020. Which I felt was enough for graduation. I took the senior capstone class which was 16 weeks long and I feel that the class was unnecessary as all the instructor did was deny my 50 page paper all the way to the end of class as he was not available until the last week of class, In which he stated that i should file for an extension. I filed it and turned in the same exact 50 page paper and 4 days after the extension got the grade of B on April 4th In which all my classes were complete, I finished all classes with all A's And 3 B's and a final GPA of 3.5. This School has a piss poor staff that does not communicate properly with students they expect unreal expectations online when it comes to the staff not doing their jobs. I never received and email from financial aid about completing a graduation exit through FASFA in which has nothing to do with the school as I had a ZERO balance and I didn't owe the school anything. I still do not have my degree in hand due to the departments not giving a damn about students once they have stated that they will not attend the worst for profit school in North America. School does not send out proper paperwork needed to succeed. I have had 6 months of dead time waiting on my degree in which the school still will not issue me a degree until October 1st.

Tip for consumers:
Do Not Attend

Products used:
Got a letter saying how Sorry they were

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Thumbnail of user jakem466
1 review
6 helpful votes
February 23rd, 2021

APUS is a flat out joke school and it took advantage of me. Never attend a for profit university, your degree will not be respected and you won't learn much as these schools just care about making money. Almost all of my classes used outdated material and I think I learned more from Google as there was hardly any care put into these classes. The HLC is reviewing this school soon and I hope they fail because people should not be scammed like this and waste so much money. The APUS business model is simple, get desperate people to go into debt and military to waste their GI bill and think they accomplished something when in reality they are being scammed by giving almost nothing of value in return.

Also another thing, I believe this school is paying people to review it positively such as on this site. You see the same patterns of speech and grammar in these reviews. Do not trust those reviews. Go to a community college or your state university and don't make the same mistake as me and try to find an easy way out. There are no shortcuts when it comes to education and don't think for a second that "a degree is a degree". If you learn nothing from the degree which I guarantee will happen with an APUS enrollment, then its worthless and employers will know that. I don't know how APUS faculty can sleep at night to be honest, they know they are screwing people.

The ONLY reason you should attend is if you are already 100% knowledgeable in your area, currently have a job in your field, and you have gotten to the point where your employer will promote you no matter where your degree is from. That is the only situation I can think of, and even then you are still shelling out too much for the piece of paper. The government really needs to step in and shut down these joke schools because its gotten so out of control.

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Thumbnail of user melindat36
1 review
19 helpful votes
March 21st, 2019

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.

Thumbnail of user anneg209
1 review
5 helpful votes
March 10th, 2020

I attended this university for my Criminal Justice Degree- Had trouble with one of my classes asked for help and was denied by professor went to academics and ask for helped was told that an extension was requested was denied the extension- start my second semester and was kicked out due to I needed help and the professor denied me help so APUS sent me an email saying I needed to submit all documentation on where I requested for help and they still kicked me out and took my Financial Aid away from-- I had 9 months to graduate and now I am Pissed because instead of helping me or putting me on probation they told me to pay for it another way. Well being a single parent that does not make enough money now can not pay for school and take care of a family. Thanks APUS you are horrible

Thumbnail of user curtisp130
1 review
5 helpful votes
November 9th, 2021

Apus is definitely not a scam but the quality of courses is very erratic. I first enrolled in the MPH program and was shocked to see that several courses such as Public Health Ethics had nothing to do with population-based health but were obviously re-purposed from the Nursing program because they addressed individual patient care situations. You are left on your own to find a practicum - good luck with that if you live in small cities or rural areas. I then transferred to another degree program and teacher involvement is very erratic. Most will respond reactively, a few get very involved - and a minority not at all. I had one instructor who made not one comment and on the final 15 page paper, wrote "Looks great! You had a bibliography" and then attached the name of a different course. I personally found the Forums to be unhelpful - most students just regurgitate what the text said with no insights. But if you are self-motivated and aggressively seek out resources, you can turn it to your advantage.

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Thumbnail of user zechariahm3
1 review
41 helpful votes
June 14th, 2020

I see a lot of people complaining about this college for various reason. Mostly saying that it is a scam and a waste of money, well welcome to collage kids, every collage is a scam just trying to get your money. In todays world it doesn't matter if you went to Harvard or APU. If you have a degree and do the job good you will be hired.

I also see people saying that you do not learn from APU, well its an online school, learning is the students responsibility, you get what you put into it, if you want to excel at your field of study than research and do well, if you want to gaff it off and not learn anything then do so and don't succeed anywhere in your field.

For those people who claim that the instructors never give students the time of day. Again its an online school and the student needs to be self motivated. As someone who has attended other collages and sat in classes I didn't get much one on one time with those teachers either.

Bottom line is you get what you put into it, if you are trying to better yourself and progress in a career than APU is great start. I bet you don't ask your doctor where they got their degree. If it can get you going into the next step of life then what wrong with that. I currently love APU and will be using it as a stepping stone to reach my personal goals.

Thumbnail of user melindat15
1 review
19 helpful votes
March 29th, 2018

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.

Thumbnail of user joela143
1 review
4 helpful votes
September 18th, 2020

Okay. First this is a purely online school. I have attended both brick and mortar schools as well as online institutions. I have been a higher education student for over 40 years since graduating from high school in 1976. I have attended state supported, private, public, community colleges, Unaccredited schools, nationally accredited colleges, regionally accredited colleges, and was part of the leading edge of correspondence education that was transformed into online education in the 1990s. APUS at least was a pretty good institution but as an online institution was only as good as the effort you as a student put in. I may have been blessed but I had with one exception great instructors at APUS who were invested in my understanding and success. In fact I was diagnosed with Congested Heart Failure while attending and instructors made a great number of allowances on assignment deadlines for me. Without the support of my Academic faculty advisor I would never have graduated if truth be told. The assignments were relevant and timely. As a working professional in the public arena almost all the lessons had direct application at the time. What more could you want? At the time I was a 30 plus year management and IT professional with at least 20 years of government (national, state and local) experience. It is not often that one finds that level of relevant instruction. Many of the classes helped make previous experiences make more sense. I had 35 plus credits in MBA courses when I enrolled at APUS and only 6 credits transferred. After earning a completely unacceptable and unaccredited MBA degree in the early 2000s, the accreditation standings for APUS were very important to me. The only real issue I had with APUS was the lack of standards especially for foreign students pertaining to the command of the English language. Some of the posted Forum assignments would not have passed my high school English teacher's grading quite frankly failing at multiple levels and ways. I felt a little cheated that these assignments were graded at all because they were written so poorly. Like so many here I will reiterate that you get out what you put in. I have a few things that I would pick with the school administration about not the least of which is multiple degree earning at APUS and the difficulty the school puts in place for alumni but my experience was a positive one. I graduated with a 3.97 GPA but I haven't had a GPA below 3.44 since 1981 and I was a National Achievement Scholarship Commended Student coming out of high school so I have a long history of academic excellence. It would be a shame if the standards at the school have fallen since I graduated.

Thumbnail of user nicl31
1 review
4 helpful votes
January 31st, 2022

If you had an issue handle it like an adult. I took my first class at AMU right after 9/11 via dial-up. It was exceptional. Ten years later returned and I graduated with a science degree at AMU with honours. So I see no valid excuses here. I am sick and tired of the babies on here crying they they could not succeed at APUS. If there was an issue in my experience APUS and the instructors handled it immediately. As for the work the instructors are not there to do your work for you. They are teaching you not the other way around. You are either willing and able to do the work in a timely fashion on your own or you do need to attend elsewhere. There is no hand holding. The instructors are top in their field.

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Thumbnail of user bashaw
1 review
31 helpful votes
August 4th, 2017

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.

Tip for consumers:
Register your complaints on the Higher Learning Commission website. Tell them your experience. American Public University doesn't deserve to be re-accredited.

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About the business

APUS provides accredited online college programs for adult learners through American Military University & American Public University. 877-755-2787

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