Complaint Review: Strayer University

First of all let me start by saying these websites typically only attract people with negative experiences. I am a graduate of Strayer University. The University IS accredited. I have read all of the complaints within this thread and will say some are true while others are just YOUR personal experience.

Strayer like many colleges do have a few poor professors, admissions officers, and other campus positions. I have attended a local community college and Temple University in my past as well. Temple University is by far the worst college in my experience. I remember paying over $3,000 for a Phys Ed class where all we did was play duck duck goose for 2hrs.

Strayer does have some poor admission officers and professors. The college is primarily for returning adults. As an adult it is YOUR responsibility to get as much as you can from the course. If you choose not to open or purchase the book, that is your decision. Just because you may not need to read the chapter to answer discussion questions doesn't mean you shouldn't. Admission officers are glorified sales people. Their job is to recruit students to register for classes. Like any profession, some are better than others. Is every engineer at Microsoft the best in the industry without flaws? I think not.

I have not had any issues as far as employers mentioning my degree from Strayer. Furthermore, the degree typically only gets you the interview or in the door. Its the individual that gets the job. If you are not persuasive and confident in your interview, a degree from Yale won't get you the job.

It sounds to me that this forum is filled with a bunch of people who lack accountability. Stop blaming the professor, the dean, the admissions officers for problems. If they say your transcript was not received, check the tracking number to confirm the day and time it was delivered. If you were not smart enough to send a transcript with tracking, then it's your fault from the beginning. As a student at the university, you have a good idea of when classes begin and end. If an admissions officer has not contacted you for classes, stop whining and pick up the phone or go online and register yourself. When you begin working in the real world and your boss does not call you to and say you need to be here tomorrow at 8am, does this mean it's their fault and you don't have to show?

Take responsibility, stop complaining, and carve out your own path. No one else is going to create your destiny. If you need a big name school who over-charges for their tuition just to get a job, than apply to Harvard and stop looking else where. The majority of my friends went to big name schools such as Penn State or Maryland. Not only do they have mountains of unpaid debt but most are working for enterprise rental car making 28K/year. Me, I'm very happy with my Strayer degree, zero school debt, and my 6-figure salary.

Strayed has taken a good idea. And perverted it. This institutions leadership has no care for education, only cash. The initial courses are watered down to retain student count,and deans are instructed to make certain that the instructors realize this fact.students are given multiple times to attempt test until they pass.. The intent is to fool anyone that may be looking...money is the bottom line here,the student will never win.The staff would help but fear job loss,and we're constantly reminded about how hard it is out there.Your director is looking for that next promotion,most make over 100k a year...what actual work do you see them do??.lastly, don't be fooled,they may tell you its a brick and mortar school, but you'll be forced to go online because the classes aren't available.its an online school, using the tag brick and mortar as bait.

I was going to Strayer back in the early part of 2011.  They set me up with a "academic counselor" who promised to "call me constantly two weeks before classes began to make sure I was ready".  Much to my surprise, I never got a call from him again and found out later he "no longer worked for Strayer".  This fact will come back later in the story.  

Anyway, half-way through my classes I received an email saying they were dropping me from my classes for lack of a high school transcript, despite having confirmed receiving my request for transcripts.  Strayer then was going to charge me approximately $2600.00 for the two classes that 1.) were not even counting towards credit and 2.) were dropped due to no fault of my own.  Well, the guy that had contacted me initially was the guy who confirmed receiving my request for transcript.  When I asked my high school Alma Mater if they had received notice, they alas had received no request of transcripts from the school.

I have since transferred to a more accredited non-for-profit school.  When asked if I needed to request a transcript from Strayer despite receiving 0 credits from them, they said "No, they have no credibility with us".  The fact is Strayer is a for-profit "university" that will try to milk your money. 

I graduated from Strayer University in 2000, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology.  I attended during the 1990's, starting back during a period when they were growing beyond Strayer College.  I have had no problems getting good jobs with my degree.  I believe it has opened many doors for me in the field of Information Technology.  I recently landed a consulting job paying $50 per hour, and had many interviews for government contracting positions paying over $90k with benefits.  My wife has recently transferred to Strayer University and is working on her degree, attempting to copy what I have done.

When I attended Strayer, most of the teachers seemed to have actually worked in their fields.  They seemed to have real experience, and shared many anecdotes.  Some teachers did simply assign reading and offered little beyond the books.  The financial aid process was always too confusing to understand but my education was always funded.  The administrative staff were seldom able to help me understand anything beyond where to sign my name.  They had a real book store at the time.  Graduating with my Bachelor's Degree was a high point in my life.

The degree alone does NOT prepare you for a good job, and this is true of any school.  I have spent the last decade learning to program computers in a popular language.  Though schools will have a programming course or two, no student can claim that as a qualification.  You'll have to spend years studying beyond the IT degree on your own or find an entry-level job that allows you to learn (but you'll still find yourself studying on the side as virtually no employers provide training).  Again, the degree simply opens doors and gives a general understanding of a profession.  Typical students of Strayer often have work experience already, and simply want to degree to move ahead.

Unfortunately, from what my wife tells me, this school seems to be in decline.  She is beginning her third quarter and has found the staff to be very incompetent, including some teachers.  Whereas I didn't have any credits to transfer, she has many and had to go deal with the runaround to get them properly allocated.  It's the same story with the finance people.  They give her wrong information and can't seem to ever get her classes funded on time.  They keep wanting her to sign promissory notes (loans directly from Strayer, not the government or banks) to fill in the gaps until money arrives from official lending sources.  The books are now Strayer-branded and very expensive.  They have structured the textbook system to make it impossible to shop around or, in many cases, even buy them used.  Teachers are often unresponsive or slow to reply via email.  Homework assignments are often done online, but the teachers will fail to "open" it up until the day before it's due (or similarly stressful shortcomings).  My wife doesn't feel too good about her future in this school.

My wife is now open to shopping around for another school.  She decided to complete the current quarter but will visit other schools in the area over the next couple of months.  If she finds one she likes better, there is a good chance Strayer will loser her business.  If she sees immediate and sweeping improvements, they might keep her for the two years she'll need to get her degree.

Yestersay i went to Strayer i got accepted in one day witout official transcrips also my Goverment teacher told me its a fake school, who gives mill diplomas. Im starting in January and i need to know if this is true before i make a mistake . I also need to show valid proof to my dad since he has to pay a 1500 the day i was registered.If anyone has valid proof please show me at ((REDACTED))) i would gladly apreciated


CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Strayer University was once a little-known business school in Washington, D.C. That is where it got an accreditation from MSCHE, which is responsible for the District of Columbia.

However, a few years ago Strayer went public and embarked on an expansionist policy in order to make money for its executives and shareholders. It opened mini-campuses throughout the southeastern United States. The corporate headquarters for the university and for its parent, Strayer Education, Inc., were relocated to Arlington, Virginia. The headquarters for its Online Division was set up in an industrial park in Newington, Virginia.

Thus, Strayer now came under the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, or SACS, which accredits all colleges in Virginia and a number of other southern states. Strayer has refused to apply to SACS for accreditation, maintaining it is still "located" in Washington, D.C.

Strayer also lacks accreditation for its business programs from the Association for the Advancement of Schools  of Business (AACSB). Among other things, that means its graduate business credits will not transfer to most other colleges and universities.

I am currently attending Strayer for it's IT program.  I have seen that people have brought up the topic of accreditation.  True, Strayer is NOT accredited thru ABET.  I also checked if Penn State was accredited for it's computer science program...  it is NOT accredited, either.  So I think that an overall university accreditation, such as Middle States Commission on Higher Education, is important.  And both Strayer and Penn State have that accreditation.

I am writing this from the sidelines, neither an employee, nor a student or alumnus of Strayer.  My perspective is having had to sift through resumes, participating in, and watching hiring decisions made for over 30 years.

Educational credentials, in the form of a degree, may diminish some in importance as a hiring candidate's professional experience grows.  However, it always remains a very important element in considering someone for hiring.  The proper degree (that matches the job) from an excellent college or university reinforces and can add substantially to a candidate's professional experience.  Likewise, a degree mismatch, or one from a weak college/university detracts from the value of a candidate's professional experience.  Professional experience and prior job performance does not stand alone, no matter how extensive it may be.  The school at which a person obtained their post-secondary education can substantially add or detract from it.

Lack of specialized or specific degree program accreditation, such as ABET, hurts the value of a degree that would fall under that accreditation (in the case of ABET, it's Computer Science, Engineering and the Sciences).  There are major corporations that won't consider someone qualified if there is a specialized accreditation for their degree, but the school that granted it doesn't have that specialized accreditation.  There are other major corporations in which that person might be hired, but will always be a "second class employee" with advancement and promotions limited to a specific lower level (I've worked for two corporations in which this is strict policy).

There are four major academic societies which are considered a form of accreditation because of the academic requirements imposed on an institution in order to belong to them:  Phi Beta Kappa (Liberal Arts and Sciences), Tau Beta Pi (Engineering), Sigma Xi (Sciences), and Phi Kappa Phi (all disciplines).  Only the very top students at an institution belonging to them are invited to join these academic honor societies.  Even though a hiring candidate may not have been inducted into one of them, the school and their degree program belonging to one of these societies is another enhancement to the value of their degree.  In other words, it coattails on the school itself meeting the academic standards to be a member institution in that honor society.

An on-line, non-traditional, or for-profit college or university may have a regional accreditation, but that's a very basic requirement for the diploma to be worth the linen on which it's printed.  These schools would get a lot more respect if they "went the extra mile" to achieve and maintain specialized and program-specific accreditations, and membership in the applicable academic honor societies.  A school can claim it meets the requirements for one or more of these, but it's unsubstantiated without the proof of actually having the accreditation or belonging to the honor society.  Students that expend the academic effort and pay the tuition cost of a degree from schools without these credentials get an "accredited" degree, which might be better than none at all, but end up less competitive in workplace hiring and promotion decisions, sometimes much less competitive.  I've seen it happen, many times.

Strayer University is accredited by the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE) and as such it is listed by the US Department of Education as an approved and accredited institution on their website. Likewise according to Strayer University's website its current graduation rate is 14%. Lastly, all graduate Students at Strayer University must complete a thesis (DRP) in their field of study that is typically eighty pages in length.

(((Redacted)))
(Search for Strayer University at the site below)
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx

(Thesis (DRP) guidelines)
https://icampus.strayer.edu/files/drp_3.20.09.pdf

Prof. A. Pike

My advice for anyone seeking to leap frog from schools is to attend a junior college with several matriculation or official transfer agreements so that the maximum number of credits may transfer.  The real issue is not about Strayer University only having MACHE accreditation and not other optional specialty accreditations such as AACSB, but rather it is about students not always taking the time to see if their plans are actually feasible. Is an introductory English class from Harvard equivocal to that of NYU or that of a community college? Some say yes, but it is up to the college you are seeking to transfer to decide.

I am a past student of this school. I was working on my MBA. I am not certain of this but I have seen many complaints that the online classes were taught by students. Students or not, I had to correct the instructors so many times I finally gave up. They fell way short of having enough knowledge to even teach the class. My instructor for one class, the Dean, left midway through the semester for a promotion. Could not wait a couple more months. The new dean had no idea where to start. She missed half of the semester. She was out looking for a new Jag. Words straight from her mouth. The other half of the time, she was leading the class to the enrollment line to sign up for classes for the next semester. I racked up $15000 for 6 classes and got nothing in return. My last class of my time with Strayer, I finally decided enough was enough. I could not drop the class for a full refund. So I decided to amuse myself. I not once opened the text for that class. Much to my dismay, maybe not, I scored an A. In fact I dropped out with a 4.0 GPA. Bottom line, the school is not recognized as an accredited University under most standards from what I was told and most if not all organizations will not even accept a degree from Strayer. This is just what I have experienced in the past. So take it for what it is worth. Just take a look at other sites. You will see a similar trend in complaints. They only want your money.

Go to google and type in AACSB. Go to the AACSB website and click on "Accredited Institutions". If you intend to go to any of those insitutions in the future, be forewarned - it will be difficult to transfer any, if not all, of your Strayer credits to any of those schools.

Strayer University is not accredited by AACSB or ABET and has chosen at this time to not pursue either of these accreditations.

Please note the following talking points if you are asked about specialized accreditation:

*Strayer University is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Regional accreditation is granted by one of six U.S. regional accrediting bodies, and represents accreditation for the institutions and all of the programs it offers, across all of its locations.
Other institutions accredited by Middle States include Columbia, Princeton, and Penn State.

*AACSB and ABET are specialized or programmatic accreditations, often associated with a professional organization. They are optional, although certain institutions do select to pursue them.

*AACSB is an optional specialized accreditation for business schools. The AACSB standards are designed to align with the mission of research
institutions with an emphasis on faculty scholarship and research. As a University with a mission focused on access, teaching, and the ability to provide instruction from qualified practitioners of business, Strayer
University's goals do not align with AACSB's priorities. Only a small proportion of business schools seek and/or are approved for AACSB
accreditation.

*ABET is an optional specialized accreditation for engineering, applied science, computing, and technology education. Strayer University does not have ABET accreditation, but our IS programs were designed to be consistent
with ABET standards (where applicable). ABET is primarily viewed as an accreditation for engineering programs, and as such it does not necessarily fit the mission of Strayer University's programs.

*Strayer is licensed through each of the states in which it operates. It is further licensed through the Commonwealth of Virginia to offers its classes and programs online.

I am an Admissions Officer of Strayer University who has been with the university for several years. I would like to clear up the confusion regarding accreditation. Strayer University is REGIONALLY-ACCREDITED by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the same accrediting body as Princeton, University of Maryland, and several other well-respected institutions. We hold a ten year accreditation, with a five year program review. This is the highest accreditation available to any institution of higher education. The difference is we are regionally accredited, not nationally a, accredited. There is a lot of confusion to the general public regarding this. The difference is that a regional accreditation is more in-depth and reviews not only the university's business practices, records keeping, academic quality, professor qualifications, curriculum and our student's ability to successfully learn the material. You may look this information up online and this can be verified by any other college as well. Our programs are not accredited by national accreditation because they only look at the individual programs (curriculum only), not the college as a whole. I also know for a fact that you have just as much chance getting into any professional organization with a Strayer degree as you would from any other college. As for credits transferring, I have helped hundreds of students transfer credits in and out of our college and have never heard of any complaints. I'm sorry for your poor experience, but it is not a representation of our institution.

If potential customers would look past the messages "Strayer fits your life; flexibility of hours; take classes online" and the target of working adults, you would start to ask the logical questions . . . is the degree respected in the workplace? How can you do a information technology degree online with no lab work? Are the business classes quantitative in nature to compete with other BBA degree holders? Most people won't ask the those questions because they only see the "ease of getting the degree." Most non-profit colleges will require computer science majors to do some actual on-hands programming and lab work and not just take online classes only. Think employers are stupid? Think again. They know the non-value of a Strayer degree . . . sorry to inform you but it's not what Strayer has led you to believe.