"If your undecided they push you oi on to what you were thinking about but not sure. Any way half way through I was talking to a guy I know he was asking about what they were teaching he said by the time you graduate the platform they use Java will be obsolete. He was correct they told you they would help me get a job,. I have yet to use anything they taught so do yourself a favor and find a real college"

Travs

Reviewed: 9/14/2021
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2021

"I have finished my degree program in CTU with a Bachelors in Information Technology Management. Here is my complete honest review about the school. You do not see too many reviews from people who have actually finished the program, especially with a detailed review. I would rate this school somewhere in between 3.5 to 4 stars if possible. Learning environment The first 2 years were mainly focused on general ed courses which were typically completed through Intellipath. Intellipath is where most people tend to complain about the most because they do not feel like they learned anything through intellipath. For those of you who do not know, Intellipath courses are basically a bunch of small quizzes usually between 8 to 12 questions long per a section. The school provides you with the reading material to complete each quiz, and it is an open book test. If you fail, you have the option to go back and keep retaking these little quizzes until your score improves. The length of each intellipath varies, I have seen some as small as only covering 5 subjects with 5 quizzes, while others can be 12 and can be very time consuming. The grade that you get for your intellipath quizzes depends on the effort that you put into it. Half ass work equals half ass grades. Further down my program, the last two years of my degree Intellipath had remained absent. Now that I was working on my core classes pertaining to my actual degree, I found myself writing 5 page essays from each class every week. These assignments required that we did plenty of external research in order to complete out assignments. This is where I feel that I have learned the most throughout this program, by doing outside research and writing 10 pages every week combined. On top of that, we also had to write discussion boards which also involved additional research and had to write between 600 to 800 words for each class, every week. This school did have a lot of hands on learning to offer as well from web developing, to programming, and even taking lab simulators. This school also utilizes Lab Sims and in case if you do not know what that means here is what I just copied and pasted: "LabSim is TestOut's learning platform. It delivers our certifications and courses, including our best-of-class IT simulations. It also provides tools for educators to manage and assess student learning. The LabSim courses keep students engaged and allow them to monitor their progress." Through Labsims, they made us watch a whole bunch of content that felt like it lasted forever. There was a lot of content to take in but it was all very valuable knowledge. For my degree plan, we used Labsims for A+ computer engineering learning, Network +, and Security +. However, you will not get your Comptia Certifications from this school but it does provide you with the tools to help you prepare for it. There were also a lot of lab simulations where I had to select different components and plug everything in to build a network as well as troubleshoot virtual desktop computers. When it came to learning HTML, CSS, AJAX, Javascripting, Python and other additional content, there were a lot of hands on assignments where I had to create webpages or programs using expensive paid for tools that were provided for free by the School. I have done plenty of these assignments and am glad to have taken those courses. They were very challenging for me but I am glad to have learned those skills. The Professors When it comes to education the professors are the most important part about school. I have had plenty of good professors who were very knowledgeable in their field. Most of the professors that I had were professional and either had their Master's degree or PHD. Many of these professors have a life time worth of experience working in their career field and many of them currently teach at other universities. I have had a few professors who taught at respectable schools including Harvard and worked at CTU on the side. Most professors that I had were very helpful and had no trouble communicating with them. You are able to communicate with your professor directly through emails or the school messenger chat, including through phone calls. The live chats are usually an hour long, some are 1.5 hours. CTU recently moved over to utilizing ZOOM to conduct our weekly lectures since covid had began. Zoom makes it easier for students to engage with the professor using a webcam, a mic, or through text. What I thought was great was that their lectures were also recorded and If you are a busy person working a full time like me, this came in handy because I was able to view these lectures at a later date. I found these lectures very important to watch to complete my written assignments or my classroom projects. However, I did not find these necessary for Intellipath related assignments, but watching these videos are still very helpful to understand the content better. There is no penalty for not watching the course videos, but I think that there should be because a lot of people choose not to watch these weekly lectures and therefore do not learn anything. I have had a few bad professors in my time with CTU who sucked at teaching, breaking down the assignments, and just did not make any sense. I also had a few teachers that were absolutely horrible with responding to my emails and messages, in one incident the teacher did not respond to me until the night an assignment was due. These bad teachers also failed to clarify my questions and just copy and pasted the project requirements. These bad teachers would also just read their power point presentations like a script which I found very problematic to me, because it was hard to learn. Most good teachers that I had encountered had always went beyond the power point presentation and taught from the heart. Many of the good professors I had were also providing information that was always current and up to date unlike many online schools that I have heard about. Tuition and Costs The Tuition is my main concern about this school because is honestly very expensive. I had to pay out of pocket for the first 2 years because my fasfa and military tuition assistance did not cover the entire fee. My first time signing a "Student Agreement" I had no idea that I was actually taking out a $6,000 loan to cover the costs for the school year. Every month I found myself paying about $250 to $300 out of pocket to pay back their loans. If I had missed a payment, then my phone would be bombarded by what felt like blood sucking vampires almost every week which would become very annoying. Therefore, I just stopped answering their calls and paid on my own terms. CTU does give you the opportunity to lower your monthly payments, however there is a catch. Each fiscal year they give you a specified amount to pay monthly, that way your loan can be paid off each year and you will be ready for the next one. If you lower your payments and you do not finish paying off your current loan, then you will be stuck paying for 2 separate loans by the next fiscal year and they will not combine both payments into one. They will always remain as separate loans. Luckily, i was able to use my Post 9/11 GI Bill to pay for the rest of my schooling, otherwise I would not have been able to complete my degree. Speaking of the GI Bill, If you are currently in the service your tuition rates will be lower, but once you get out of the service, your tuition costs will increase and will be paying civilian price, it does not matter if you are a veteran Another bad thing about this school is that if you choose to transfer your credits to a different school, they will not allow you to request for your Transcripts until your student debts are paid off. There is also a $150 fee you need to pay once you graduate, if you do not pay this fee then you do not get your physical diploma. Which reminds me, when you graduate and pay this fee, you also get 2 copies of your transcripts for free, digital or physical, or both. The good news is that Colorado Technical University is an accredited school just like Colorado State University is. Therefore, other colleges do accept any credits that comes from this school except for fast track courses. I have had friends successfully transfer to other schools with CTU credits. My Overall Opinion I did not have much of a problem with what I learned from this school, I feel like I have definitely learned a lot and I had to work my butt off to graduate. Their assignments can become quite overwhelming in the last 2 years of school. I do feel that there is plenty of room for improvement for education in this school. There were some classes where I felt that the subject itself requires the full 16 week semester course to fully grasps the subject. Professors were happy to provide me with PDF books for additional learning that I had asked for, after the completion of the class. Other classes were difficult because the subject was intense and should not be crammed together in just 5 weeks. However, the Majority of classes I took were well paced and I did learn a lot from them. I feel that this school can use more hands on learning than what was already provided, after all, this is a technical school. I am glad that I went to this school for its education and flexibility with my work schedule, but I would not recommend this school because of the ridiculous costs. The costs is where most people tend to complain about CTU the most. Just keep in mind that this is a For-profit school before you decide to attend CTU. This school has also been known to use sketchy marketing techniques to harass and target veterans for their GI bill money, and because of this, the V.A. has blacklisted this school from receiving any GI Bill funding until they fix their marketing practices. I am not one of those veterans who were harassed by this school, my overall experience with this school has been decent. I just wish that the costs were not going to be a problem with this school and that I could continue to communicate with my counselor. My counselor became unreachable after 1 month of being enrolled in this school."

Lamont Jones

Reviewed: 10/19/2020
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2020

"Please whatever you do, don't attend this school; especially if you're military affiliated. I attended CTU 2017-2020 and the VA was covering my tuition 100% or so I thought. The student advisors do not care about your success and financial aid does not do their own job whatsoever. I had to take it upon myself to contact VA my graduation month to figure out why my payment was not dispersed to pay off the balance on my account. I'm expecting for them to say the payments were running late; but come to find out my benefits were cut short the beginning of this year. Mind you I graduated in June and received no communication from CTU nor did they contact VA. I contacted the school October 14 because I'm trying to go back to school for my Masters (not with them) and needed to get clarification on how much per month it would be for a payment plan. The financial aid rep stated that he saw that I didn't need to pay and that he was going to contact whoever to clarify then give me a call back the same day. Here we are October 19 still with no information and can't eve move forward with trying to attend school because this balance is holding me up. Also, this school claims that they're here to help yet they didn't put me into the yellow ribbon program which would take care of issues that arose like this. I should not have to pay the remaining balance on my account because the CTU financial aid staff did not do the job they were hired to do which was ensure that students finances were good to go."

Linda

Reviewed: 10/11/2020
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2018

"If you have a life, kids, busy schedule and a tight budget don't think twice about this one. I chose online because it gave me the flexibility and to what I read affordability. Upon enrollment my first counselor was amazing, set me up well...but then when it came down to her passing me to the financial department they explained that all costs would be covered through my Federal Loans, not once was anything said in either email or phone calls that there would be any private loans or that I needed to specifically pay out of pocket to them. Class wise it was terrible, my last few classes had to be repeated twice since I was randomly dropped before my finals forcing my grades to plummet. Another difficulty was that the coursework rarely matched the quizzes so extra research and learning had to be done. The beginning of 2018 I had to pause classes because I had became unemployed so I asked for my most recent transcripts. They specifically told me I could not receive them until I paid off my debt. I was dumbfounded, my 20k in Fed Loan? The guy proceeded to tell me no the 10k in debt separately for the college. I was floored. He proceeded to threaten me with if you cannot make any payment we will give this to the main debt collectors causing it to affect my credit. Which at the time anyways, I didn't have much credit I was 22. I stressed to them that I already have to pay $500 to Fed Loan on top of their minimum at the time which was $300. If I'm only making less than $1,000 a month..you'd think I'd qualify for some sort of low income bracket or something. I ended up just hanging up in frustration. For the next two months I was constantly spammed with calls and emails. I eventually called back in March and requested that they send me all what I owe in the mail. They stopped contacting me up until this past month. They sent out an email saying the same thing about sending my debt to a collector and that they've been trying to contact me when I've only received one email this past almost year and a half now and I have yet to receive anything in the mail. I am now 25, 30k in college debt, with 4 years of college experience since I was forced to fail a few of my classes, yet I cannot finish my degree nor receive my transcripts until the debt is gone. Capitalism at its finest. So in conclusion, if you want to waste your time and money with no gain this is absolutely perfect."

Tim

Reviewed: 1/19/2018
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2018

"I had tried on and off for 20 years to get a college degree, I struggled mightily when it came to brick and mortar schools. Online was just the right medium for me and allowed me to complete my BS, and now I am looking forward to starting my Masters."

Tammy Williams

Reviewed: 6/9/2017
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2016

"I attended CTU and I had to stop for CANCER treatments. My advisor did not tell me I could drop without paying until a few days AFTER the drop date. The school is still pursuing me for 1700+ even after my employer and I sent them my leave of absence, and medical records. My employer who paid for tuition even called and spoke to a supervisor through their contact. I have called numerous times, always told they will send my dispute up and I will hear back. Absolutely nothing.. when I call and follow up.. its like starting over as if I haven't ever spoken to anyone before. So frustrating! Don't go to this school if you ever plan to be treated fairly!"

Glenn Fluehr

Reviewed: 3/9/2017
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2017

"Currently, I am working hard in all my classes. I have just found out that my FASFA student loan has been spent and I still have another year to go to finish my degree and now I am out seeking more money to keep paying my tuition so I can graduate. CTU has been helpful in giving me directions on where to find this extra money. They also have 2 of their own grants that I have applied for. My first CTU grant will be determined this month on the 20th and this will give me another 4 classes paid for. Interesting enough when I first started with CTU back in 2014, I was told that this B.S. degree will be a rehash classes that I will know from my 38 years of prior experience in this industry. CTU has been great when it comes to helping students make their dreams come true from Fast Track were you can just take tests to complete that class and get credits to make you closer to graduation. I must continue to work on the outside, and so I am on a Slow Track that fits my current life. Here lies that I must get more money to complete my degree. Each class I take I continue to get the Pell Grant money onto a Higher One Credit card that helps me during each month while I am still not fully working and making money on my own. All aspects I see here with CTU has been great and all the other students I have met in each class have been open to new ideas and different ways to look at the same subject being studied. Just in my last class it was all about IT and the history and mystery of it all. In the first week, the subject was DATA where I came up with DATA = 0 and 1 or chicken scratches on a piece of wood. This stun most student, but once they finished reading my 5-page paper on DATA, it finally became clear to them on what I was talking about. I hope that what I have said here is also clear since I just started to type out my review without any planning, organization or most anything normal people would do to prepare for such a task as this."

Anna

Reviewed: 11/19/2015
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2015

"These people who complained about not learning anything or having issues with the admissions office had a completely different experience than I did. I had gotten an AS degree from another online college and had started to go after my BA at the same school before I decided to do some research on other online colleges. I was sick of my grade relying on a bunch of discussion posts, mid-terms, and finals, I learn better by doing not testing. CTU teaches with a more project based platform with 5 week classes, this means there are no mid-terms or finals worth 40% of your grade, I personally found this far less stressful. This also means that if you put in the time and work hard on your project for the class, you earn the grade you deserve. For these people who say they didn’t learn anything at CTU, take some ownership for that. Yes classes are easier and at a faster pace than a traditional school, but if you are just googling all the information instead of taking the time to really learn the information, of course you are not going to retain it. I am also laughing how people think they can just get a job right away after graduation, you need to think, why would a company hire you fresh out of college when they can hire someone with more experience? If you are really serious about wanting that technology job with the fortune 500 company you need to get a foot in the door, the best way to do that is with an internship. Sure I was the oldest intern in my mid 30’s but I actually made more an hour as an intern than the job I left to take the internship. By the way, most all technology internships in a fortune 500 company are paid. I was graduating in 6 months from when I started, so when I graduated they liked me so much they hired me on full time. Plan ahead people, you can’t just expect a job to be handed to you because you now have a college degree. Also, the admissions people managed to get all my transcripts from my previous college transferred, evaluated, and applied to the degree plan I had chosen within a month. Because of that there was no time lost due to transferring schools, in fact I was able to graduate sooner than I would have had I stayed with the other school."

Another For-Profit Scam

Reviewed: 7/30/2015
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2003

"Caution to all, especially military service members and Vets I decided to enroll in the school while on Active Duty as a way to get a jump on earning my degree for when I decided to leave military service. At first, I believed all the hype and positive reviews. However, after the first or second semester, I began to run into issues. The faculty were difficult to get a hold of or respond when you have questions about the class or enrollment. This was also when I discovered that I had a student loan taken out to cover tuition and fees until the school could obtain my GI Bill/Tuition Assistance money from the government. Additionally, I also discovered that the technical degree that I thought I was pursuing was actually a business degree with some technical focus. When I consulted the advisors, I was told it was basically the same thing. I guess because I was gullible enough to believe the other information, they thought I didn't know the difference between a business and technical degree. Later, I found out that the school was continuing receiving loan money and GI BIll money at the same time to cover the same costs. When I discovered this, I stopped both and left the school without finishing my degree. Now, I am still paying on a Stafford Loan that was run up to nearly $10k in about 2 to 3 semesters, plus lost over $10k in GI Bill money. Despite all of this, I did complete an AAS at Harford Community College in Information Systems Security and a BS in Cybersecurity at University of Maryland University College. Ironically, after all this time, the school keeps trying to convince me to come back and "finish" my degree. I usually respond with "not even if hell freezes over.""

Elizabeth.

Responded: 9/28/2015

I am active duty and using my GI Bill, Montgomery CH 30....It is paid directly to me, and I pay the school accordingly. Never had any issues with that. It is ultimately YOUR responsibility to ensure the GI Bill is being received. You can simply call 1-888-GIBILL1, and talk to someone about the status of your GI BIll....not to mention the frequent mailings to your home address with authorizations and payment receipts from CTU as well. Why did you apply for a loan AND the GI Bill? It only takes a week... Read More

Michael

Reviewed: 1/29/2015
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2017

"I see a lot of bad reviews on here and some good ones but I can tell you personally that this is not that bad of a school. Considering I work full-time this school meets my needs due to the fact that their are no tests and no mid-terms and assignments are always due at the same time. With that being said, the only assignments are discussion boards and projects. Pretty easy if you ask me... and that's what I'm looking for, easy. I don't have to worry about buying books or anything because it is all included in the price which is why it may seem more pricey than it should be. Now, I also must say that the amount of knowledge you actually gain from each course is limited due to the time frame of 5 weeks for each course and having to learn as much as possible within that time. Bottom line is that if you are a good self-learner and motivator than you can do CTU. The teachers only give two one hour live chat sessions a week but if you're willing to go out and read and learn for yourself than you wont have any issues. From my experience as well the professors have always responded to emails so far. I've been attending CTU since end of 2013 taking one class at a time since that is all my work will pay for but it works for me."

haneyk

Reviewed: 7/27/2014
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2016

"I have been a CTU for a little over a year now. I love the professors and the school. ANY time I have had a question or concern all I had to do was call or email and I got an answer. When I started at CTU, I was taking multiple classes and it was too much at first. I called and they rescheduled my classes. I also had to take time off of school (6 weeks) they worked with me and it did not even effect my financial aid. There is 24/7 tutoring available too. I have and will recommend this school to anyone. Going back to school is a big commitment so whatever school you choose be ready to take it seriously."

Juan

Reviewed: 6/28/2014
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2014

"I had researched the option of taking college classes online for about two years. After researching the available school options, I decided on Colorado Technical University online, which is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). I currently work in the IT field and wanted to earn a bachelors degree in Information Technology for the purpose of advancing my career. The university is an excellent choice, especially for working adults. I found the courses to be quite challenging, yet at par with current technology trends. I studied at brick and mortar colleges and can honestly say that the courses are just as good or better than those courses offered at physical campuses. Colorado Technical University has physical campuses in Colorado(Colorado Springs,Denver, Pueblo), Kansas City, Missouri, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota; so the university is not just an online university. A word of caution: If you want a university where classes are a breeze and obtaining your degree is a piece of cake, then CTU is not for you. You will need to study and earn your grades just like any other good university. I have seen some negative reviews here, but for me it has all been an excellent educational experience and I am going for my masters at CTU. The bachelors degree that I obtained at CTU has helped me in my career, as I have been promoted to a management position on the systems analysts department! My advice to those seeking an online education is that if you are determined to succeed in life and obtaining a degree is one of your goals, than you will succeed no matter what school you choose , and CTU as your choice is no exception. Excellent univeristy."

EAP

Reviewed: 6/17/2014
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2014

"My experience with CTU has been positive overall. I recommend the school's online degree programs. I do have to warn though, that once you start a program there, you should not take a break from the program, because you will be considered to have withdrawn from the school and upon returning, you most likely will be put in a new program that will have new requirements, which will require you to take additional courses. That is what happened to me and I ended up having to take 6 more courses that cost me thousands of additional dollars and I only missed one session."

Margaret

Reviewed: 6/3/2014
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year: 2017

"I have been in attendance at Colorado Technical University for nearly two years. My experience has been nothing short of exceptional. I absolutely adore my academic counselor who takes the time to talk to me regardless how miniscule or gigantic my "problem" is. Financial aid and accounts department is absolutely wonderful at explaining my financial dealings. MUSE is the best learning resource, catering to my specific learning needs. Course books at CTU are free (thank goodness!), and the library is a wealth of information both internally and on the web. The career center is absolutely resourceful and the clubs are extremely informative and fun! My teachers are amazing! I have had positive experiences with each and every one of them. The expectations are very concise across the board. They are challenging and fair. My academic program is AWESOME! We are given 180 credits, which sound like double to the standard brick and mortar, but because this is an excelled learning pace, it goes by fairly quickly and in a way that I can absorb. CTU doesn't have "class rooms", we have real world on the job experiences through virtual labs and projects that help equip students for the professional world. My program is more in-depth than those of a brick and mortar school and covers more subjects within my degree program. I couldn't ask for the better body of community or a superior school."

Cory

Reviewed: 2/26/2014
Degree: Information Technology
Graduation Year:

"I must agree with a lot of the posts on this site. I have attended CTU online for nearly a year so far, and I currently have a 3.84 GPA. I am quite proud of that too. It has not been easy, and I have definitely learned new things in each IT classes. I came to school with a broad knowledge of computer hardware and software... even down to C++, VB, HTML, Java and a few other languages. 95% of my instructors have had their PhD's which shows the instructors have credibility in the subjects they're teaching. All in all I have been satisfied with this degree program and it has been beneficial to me already in the first year. The FA dept is the subject of debate for many but personally I have had amazing results with them. I think ppl who are complaining are more worried about their stipends rather than education. If you read your loan forms as you do them it is self explanatory. Most jus blow past this contract detail area. But I follow this situation closely and I must say idt it is the fault of FA, but rather the students fault for not figuring out the probs w the Dept of Education. Your lender is not CTU, and you have the option to not allow FA to alter your loans from the start. Take it all out and pay extra $ back... then you are handling all of your funds. I would like to hear more about CTU alumni and their ability to find good jobs after graduation though. I plan to continue to obtain my master's after this degree and would like to know more about the benefits of the degree in real ppls lives. Help tell me more about this if you have graduated from CTUo. Use subject CTU or along those lines. Thank you"