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DeVry University has its roots from way back in 1931 as a film
and radio repair teaching establishment. Today it is amongst the
largest schools run for profit in the United States. The
University as a company also finds mention in the '100 best
Corporate Citizen' list ranked at number 11. Through the years,
over a quarter of a million students have graduated from the
University. Its total number of enrolments according some
estimates is around 50,000, which is a tad lower than that of
Phoenix University.
DeVry University boasts of 70 odd locations from where students
can take classes. Students can also take online classes. The
most important attribute of the University is the range of
programs offered. There is something for every body - full time,
part time, night study or weekend classes or pure online
classes. By offering both online and brick and mortar classes at
a variety of locations, students find they are able to find the
combination that best suits their needs.
The university is fully accredited and offers various courses
in areas of Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications and
Business Administration at both undergraduate as well as
graduate levels. This differentiates the school from some of the
other online universities, like Capella, that have repeatedly
failed to receive accreditation for its programs. Of particular
note, is the business school, which has a strong focus on
business management. Management education is imparted via, the
Keller Graduate School of Management and as such is quite
focused and current in its curriculum.
Another good thing about the university is the 'part-time job
services', which offers to find part time jobs for |
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students
wanting to earn while they learn. Students can earn from $6.5 to
$10 per hour at entry level. But students have often been seen
to be complaining about the frequency with which the job
postings are updated. Even the limitations of the job board,
however, are a stark improvement over some of its online
competitors which do not even offer the service at all.
Online education is imparted in collaboration with
CertifyOnline, which provides DeVry with the reference
materials, tests and online labs. This enables availability of
courses and reference materials in synchronous format with live
instructions as well as in archived video media. The class sizes
are small and offer personalized attention. That said, many
students find that the formulated testing and teaching limits
not only the creativity of their professors, but also the
ability for them, as students, to learn at a higher level.
The overall quality of education is considered to be quite good
by both current students and federal regulators. However, unlike
less rigorous competitors, the quality of the education comes at
a price. The school is quick to place students on probation,
should the student's grades fall even a little. Such a strict
discipline is perhaps good when you look at the future
employability of the student. Tie this with the figure of 90 %
of the university graduates (who actively pursued employment or
were already employed when they graduated) finding jobs in their
referred field within 6 months. While certainly there is some
room for the University to have fiddled with the figures, this
number is nonetheless quite impressive. It is important to note,
however, that in light of this statistic the
University
qualifies their 90% claim by omitting some students who were
never employed before or during their education at the
university, and are finding it a difficult job to get employed.
Some students argue that this is because, despite the quality of
education, the reputation of the school remains sub-par amongst
employers.
The universities price tag and associated fees are on par with
its other online competitors, but it is important to note that
this does not always mean a bargain compared to other public
brick-and-mortar universities.
One of the major deficiencies of DeVry University appears to be
its administrative department. Students frequently claim to have
difficulty in dealing with the financial aid department as well
as with the other student services departments.
Many students express some serious displeasure with the
marketability of their Devry degree. They are finding that
despite the quality of education and rigor of the university,
that some employers do not yet regard the school as equivalent
to a more traditional four year brick-and-mortar school. Another
cadre of students report, however, that they have found the
benefits of having the degree a very tangible benefit. Other
than this deficiency, however, it appears that in the actual
business of teaching and learning, DeVry surpasses its online
competitors. The question facing incoming students, is however,
what is the ultimate purpose of that college degree.
About the author:
Jean-Paul Chortillion enjoys writing about online education. For
more information, see this review of DeVry University.
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