Liberty's Distance Learning Program
Written: Jul 03 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I did not experience any.
Cons: Distance learning program misleads potential students for $$$
The Bottom Line: It is accredited amazingly enough so a degree from this school will be on the up and up. However...nothing else seems to be.
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| armywife's Full Review: Liberty University |
In advance it is important to state that I have not received my degree from Liberty University nor will I ever receive one from this school. My opinion is based solely on my experience with their Distance learning program.
We are a military family and distance learning appeals to us. We are also enlisted so how much it costs really matters. For a long time I have wanted to obtain my certification in special education. However we have not been stationed anywhere long enough for me to complete a program. I found out about Liberty University through an advertisement they sent out to me randomly. My husband would often get them as well. Usually it would be a letter that had that look of "personal" to it with Jerry Falwell's signature at the bottom. It often referred to you as "dear friend". It always had a coupon or some sort of special offer for reduced tuition if I signed up for a class. Inside every letter was a registration form with a place to fill out my credit card number and immediately sign up for classes. i began receiving these advertisements back in 1995.
For years I thought on and off about this program however I was unsure of receiving a degree through distance learning especially in teaching. I wondered if I could really obtain a teaching license this way and if it was accredited. Their education department was accredited in 2000 and I even called the Virginia Department of Education to make absolutely sure that it was accredited.
The cost was very high as most distance learning schools tend to be. It came out to be around 700 dollars for a class which did not include the books and videos you are required to purchase which were around 200 dollars at least per class. In addition this program required a 2 week visit to the campus each summer to complete the residency requirement. This was highly expensive considering you had to stay in a hotel for the 2 weeks as Liberty did not provide dorm space for their extended learning students during this time. They also did not provide any type of transportation so a rental car was necessary not to mention airfare there and back. On top of this were the 700 dollars per class and the additional 200 for books.
The way the letters were sent in the mail randomly and the way they had the signature looking as if it had been handwritten and signed specifically for you..the coupons...the flyers...all of these often gave off the feeling that it might not be legitimate. The way you were required to stay in a hotel for 2 weeks and they did not let you stay on campus...again these were red flags. Yet I was so strong in my desire to get my teaching certification that I decided to go for it anyway. For 5 years I had been telling myself that any school that gives you a registration form for the class before an application probably is just out for the money. However I am a Baptist and I am from Virginia...somehow I thought that Jerry Falwell would be concerned enough about the reputation of his Christian university to steer clear of anything that smelled like a scam.
I called Liberty several times. I spoke at first with an advisor who always was ready to take my credit card number over the phone to sign me up and a lot less eager to discuss the specifics of the degree program. When pressed it became clear he had no idea. I tracked down the number of the person that was heading the Education Department. I spoke with her over the phone 3 times for about 20 minutes each time. She e-mailed me 3 times as well asking "when do you want to start classes?"...and "looking forward to helping you and getting to know you at the summer sessions"...I told her over the phone all my stats...my undergrad GPA and my GRE score and was told by her every time that I would have no problem being admitted to the program. Even though my GRE scores were 5 years old she told me that they did not have a time limit on GRE scores. Even though my GPA was below a 3.0 I was told that they had something called "conditional admissions" and that I was guaranteed admissions....GUARANTEED...the exact word she used. She told me that there was one problem...the special education program had classes on a rotating schedule and I would need to sign up very quickly in order to get on the right rotation. If I waited until I gained offical admission then I would miss the 2 classes I needed and would have to wait 3 years for them to roll around again. She told me that every student is automatically granted conditional admissions when they register for the first 2 classes and as long as I made a B or better I would be then bumped up to regular admissions.
I signed up for 2 classes and bought the books. With the "coupon" and "special offer" I had received in the mail my 2 classes cost together 1000 dollars... a break of 400 dollars total!! Since my books and videos cost 400 dollars this was a great deal. At the same time I went ahead and paid the 10 dollars for ETS to send my GRE scores to the school and to have my official college transcripts sent as well. Of course they already had this information and this was merely a formality). Then I filled out the official application and paid the 35 dollar non refundable application fee.I set out to work diligently on my classes and informed everyone that I was so excited to be a part of this program. I would finally be entering the special education profession and fulfilling my dream to help others.
A month later I received by e-mail a 2 line message by a person I had never heard of stating that they were appreciative of my interest in their program but did not meet the admissions criteria. Good luck and God bless!
EXCUSE ME??????
I was very upset. First of all this letter was from a person I had never heard of at all. In all my conversations with Liberty I had never been directed to this person at all. I immediately e-mailed him back asking why I was not being admitted? I told him of my discussions with the person I was told was the director of admissions..although I do know her full name and e-mail I will not disclose it here...even though I'd like to!
Again I received a 2 line e-mail that said very rudely..."apparently I need to reiterate myself...we are not accepting you to this program..thank you." I was given no phone number or way to contact this person and my attempts to get back in touch with the person I was dealing with never seemed to get through. Suddenly she was unreachable.
After my many e-mails and requests to be contacted by phone I finally received a phonecall. This person told me on the phone that Liberty had a high standard for the education department and a massive amount of applcants. They had more people applying than they had slots and they could afford to be highly selective. They had absolutely no conditional admissions and even though they had not even received my GRE scores yet they would not consider them anyway because they were filled up. What about the 2 classes I had signed up for and the 1500 dollars plus some change I had spent? Well that was non refundable and regrettable that I signed up for classes before being officially admitted to the school. This person was ..in a word...RUDE. For the sake of Baptists everywhere I will not go into any more detail of the things said to me on the phone. Suffice it to say I was treated like an idiot and this person repeatedly told me that they had no idea who the woman was I had dealt with and no clue why I would have been given the impression that I was conditionally admitted. He also said they did not mail out advertisments at all to anyone and had no need to do that.
My experience with Liberty's Distance Learning program was comparable to that of buying a used car from a used car salesman. I could not help but realize I had been HAD.
Unfortunately being misled out of your money by a well known Christian university is not the best example to set for Christian brotherhood. It has soured me on not only Liberty but the Baptist church.. I know this is silly because the entire southern Baptist Convention is not responsible for my bad experience....all the same...we attend a Lutheran church now.
My reccomendation: If it works for you and you have on official letterhead that you've been admitted you could give it a try. BUYER BEWARE!!!
On the other hand..with so many other distance learning degree programs out there that are legitimate, why waste your time on someone who just wants your money?
Finally....as a Christian I personally found this to be one of the best examples for why many non-Christians have no desire to learn more about Jesus and Christianity. They see people who claim to be Christians treating people in a very unchristian way. Why would they want to be a part of a community that acts in this manner?
In the end I learned that just because a university is Christian does not mean it can be trusted. That was a hard lesson for me to learn.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
armywife
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Location: White Sands Missile Range, NM
Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Army wife, Stay at home Mom and Graduate student in Professional Counseling.
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