Ashford University

Ashford University online review

Brief look at the university
Ashford University is a private, for-profit, co-ed liberal arts university based in Clinton, Iowa, and it is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. It has, of course, both a physical campus and an online division/ section, and it is that online degree part that we are focusing on in the post. Ashford University has a very good and easily accessible website and even a post in Wikipedia.

What courses are offered

Associate, bachelors of Arts, MBAs, and Masters degrees are all offered by Ashford University Online. Business, accounting, social science, sociology, business administration, Masters of organisational management and Masters of teaching and learning with technology. The range of courses online here are obviously not as extensive as Kaplan or Phoenix, but would be worth looking at if you are not considering other fields apart from those mentioned above.

A brief look at the online courses offered suggests that their strength is in social sciences, and after all, it is indeed a liberal arts college that should and does specialise in the arts. There are other universities here on my blog that have online degrees that deal specifically with IT, technology and other related fields, so please do look around here if you are not intending to pursue a career here in the liberal arts field or with an arts degree. Also, this is not to say that the other programmes offered by Ashford University that are not arts programmes are poor or not worth doing, so please take note.

Financial and other matters

Apparently there is a benefit to studying with Ashford University, because the fees are lower than other private online universities. The website has all its fees and figures for the various associate, bachelors and masters programmes, and apparently it is indeed one of the lowest costs around. In addition, some of the online classes are 5-6 weeks long and some degrees can be finished in less than 2 years, which is incredibly fast. That would mean that from a financial viewpoint or an opportunity cost viewpoint, Ashford University offers one of the lowest costs for studying at a university. Financial viewpoint because it seems to be cheaper, and in any case you finish the degree earlier, so you pay less as compared to other online degree programmes. Opportunity cost viewpoint because since you end the degree earlier, you can therefore start working earlier and make money faster, which to some people, given their financial situation and their career needs, is very important. We do study to get a degree in order to pursue a career or a job sometimes.

Also note that in addition, there are veteran bursaries and scholarships available, and that might help you should you need financial aid. However, having said that Ashford University is affordable and that there is financial aid readily available, you should research and check up the costs first because the costs vary from degree to degree.

Why you should study there or my personal recommendations

It says on their website that Ashford University's online degrees are affordable online degrees that are very convenient and accelerated. These three points make it differentiated from other universities and other online courses. Yes the fees are much lower, as compared to Kaplan and Phoenix. Yes, the degrees are convenient and accelerated, especially since some of them can even be done in 12 months and others in 24 months, and yet they have the same validity as a degree from the physical campus at Ashford University. These can all be verified by their website, where I did my research on. These three key points thus make Ashford University a very good recommendation for arts students. You might want to consider this university, or you might want to have a look around to find out more about others as well. Cheers and good luck with your online education!

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