DeVry University: an honest review
Posted: Saturday, November 19, 2005
by Jean Chortillion
Jean Chortillion
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 .
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 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.
Jean-Paul Chortillion enjoys writing about online education. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/review_of_devry.html for another review of DeVry University Online.
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More commentsI'm slightly annoyed with the arguement about DeVry being a poor school for letting "ANYONE" in. Am I supposed to be impressed with the accomplishments of some 17 year old and their adventures in high school algrebra? "WOW. So basically you memorized more of your high school text books than anyone else in the class?! That is amazing!" All schools are "for profit" people. Just look at the salary that some college professors are getting for teaching only slightly modified high school cirriculums. Brick and mortar schools just mask it better than others. Traditional brick and mortar colleges don't produce any higher caliber students than an online school because the student decides what they get out of the education not the school. Every brick and mortar school in America right now is under a microscope due to the abundance of drug and alcohol offenses. Unpunished rape at UIC, a student murdered and burned to death at NIU, alcohol problems at Miami of Ohio, and the list goes on. If you call that something to brag about then more power to you but some people just prefer to go to a school that puts the education before the party. It is true that schools like DeVry put money before the students, but that is how they stay in business. Regardless they still put education second. No brick and mortar school can say that because they make you believe that it is some kind of "priviledge" to go there. I don't have an Ivy League degree but I work along side a guy from Harvard and he'll never make my salary. He has the social skills of a lab rat and his idea of professionalism is hiding from everyone who may talk to him. His work is ok but it is nothing to brag about. Did I mention he graduated top of his class? It all boils down to money. If you can afford DeVry then go to DeVry if that is where you're comfortable. If you can afford Stanford, then go to Stanford. Any Ivy League school will also let in any student at any time if you're willing to pay. Sure your "tuition" may be in the million dollar range but its no secret that there are a lot of students in Ivy League schools for that reason alone. In the end your degree will only get you an interview, nothing more. Ask anyone in HR at any company in the world. Sure your degree might raise the eyebrows of a manager but rarely in today's business world does a single manager make a hiring decision. Every interview I've had in the last decade has been with a full panel of my peers. That is how interviews are done today to avoid hiring based on race, degree, social standing, financial background, etc. If you want to really help yourself in the business world, work hard and live as clean as possible. HR departments have the right to dig as deep as they want before hiring you so if you do go to a traditional college keep in mind that morning you woke up sleeping in someone's yard might come back to haunt you in ten years.You need to go back and take some English classes, becuase you obviously have no idea about using paragraphs and that people won't read anything you say. I know I didn't, except for a piece I saw at a glance. What school is Miami of Ohio? I dont think I've heard of that one. lol
Devry is just a Trade School. Yeah they have a rigorous curriculum but at the end of the day they are looked upon disparigingly. However, in the Business world, your experience is a major factor, not just your degree.DeVry is a trade school? What research did you do to confirm that is an accurate statement? Trade schools are only able to offer certificates of completion. Universities award Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees, as well as Associates degrees and Masters degrees. DeVry is able to offer all three of those degrees due to their good accreditation. They are a University, not a Trade school.
Not that there is anything wrong with trade schools, which are awesome.
Some of these replies made me laugh. How pathetic of these people to come here and be all negative with their comments. EVERY university out there is FOR-PROFIT. Why do you think U.C or U.K charge $8500.00 per semester for full time student? Where do you think the money is going?
Devry is a great school, yeah they might advertise themselves so much, but hey THEY ARE PROMOTING EDUCATION. Regardless of the education quality you may assume. Just know that I went to 3 different universities (U.C, Xavier and UK) before getting into Devry and I must say I'm impressed and happy here at Devry. At least I don’t have to be stuck with over 150 students in one hall, unable to ask questions or having the professor not recognizing me.
Devry is a joke...it's advertised on television during Judge Judy and alongside commercials for local personal injury attorneys. Yeah sure, that's exactly the same as a NC Chapel Hill, CU Boulder, or Cal Berkeley. Give me a break...
I am highly suspicious that many of the comments are actually made by DeVry operatives. There have been many ridiculous claims made, mostly by purported students of the school.First, most traditional brick and mortar schools are indeed not for profit, which is significantly different than a for profit school such a DeVry. The claim that traditional schools have a financial structure that is similar to Devry's is quite possibly the most ridiculous claim that I have ever heard. For profit means that after all operating and tax expenses, the money left over (profits) would go to shareholders, which are the owners of the company. The company has an incentive to reduce expenses such as classroom materials, art displays, clubs, social events etc. that don't directly generate more revenue than expenses. That's how most public companies work.Not for profit means that all the money made must be used for continued present or future operations- not into the pockets of the owner. There are no shareholders (the people who own the company) that demand more revenues than expenses and in fact many such schools are subsidized by the government because they generate a loss. Salary to professors is an operating expense since even non-profit organizations need to pay their employees or they would work elsewhere.The bottom line is that DeVry's main goal, like any for-profit corporation, is to make money and they will do it in whatever way possible. They don't have programs unless if they are proven to generate profit in one way or another. This school would inherently provide a much less comprehensive experience that would foster the social, academic, and cultural skills companies are looking for because they would most likely cut every program that isn't proven to pad the pocketbook of the shareholders. If you were the owner of a company, I'm sure you would do the same.That being said, is there any reason to go to DeVry? Many states have community colleges that are much, much less expensive than DeVry. DeVry's tuition is actually almost half the cost of Harvard for Pete's sake while community colleges are much cheaper and have a much more flexible financial aid department. Sure the community college might only give an associate degree, but first, you can transfer the credits to most highly regarded public universities for acceptance. THAT'S THE POINT actually; they don't give degrees easily making them much more desirable and reliable for employers and reputable universities alike.DeVry is for a very, very narrow range of people who1)need to get a degree- any degree- fast because the company they already work for requires it2)for very special family/life/travel reasons, they cannot go to a traditional university. For example, if they MUST stay near their family when the nearest state university is 120 miles away while deVry is 5 miles away, then they might be forced to attend.One of the people closest to me is a company recruiter, and he confirms that DeVry is a joke. Unless if he can see VERY compelling reasons why the person would need to go to DeVry, which is almost never, he throws the application out because going there in itself is a poor life choice. Surely the money could be better spent for learning purely technical skills.The fact that many people mentioned not being able to get in Harvard or Yale as an excuse for going to DeVry confirms my suspicions that not all the reviews were written in good faith. It isn't Harvard or Yale that is seen as better than DeVry. Very ordinary public schools are also more highly regarded and some require nothing more than a GED to get in. And the tuition for in-state students could be a third of a fifth that of DeVry.So don't be fooled. DeVry is most definitely the very last resort- usually worse than not having a degree at all.
These people who are putting DeVry down are idiots. My daughter got her degree at DeVry in AZ. She also had offers from other well known schools, but stayed with DeVry. She was offered a good job right out of school in Navada. A short time later, she received a request from a company in NY City with a large annual increase in pay. Which she took. Now, this is her third request from another company wanting her to move and work for them. She is making more than my husband, who has worked in his field and has a great job for 40 years. Your always going to have people who don't feel they got what they wanted, but most of the time it is because they are not giving it their all. DeVry is a very good school.
I can honestly say without DeVry I would of had to start over with school 3 times now and probably retake countless hours of subjects I already learned. I have lived in Texas, Missouri, and Ohio within the last 4 years and also spent some time over in Iraq. Although the time in Iraq led to a break in taking some classes I still got more done then I would have at any other college. Yes some courses are easy, but some are also very demanding.
I love the people who accuse others of being DeVry staff undercover, maybe the people saying that are from other University's undercover. Every school has dirty tricks when it comes to attracting students so don't turn a blind eye to what the Universities do in order to get students to attend their college....Reggie Bush anyone. Leave it alone and let people choose what they want to do by encouraging their decision to continue their education.
This school is the best and I have friends that they have really good jobs and they got their degrees in Devry !!
I'm attending DeVry because it works well with my schedule. I'm prior USAF with over 25 years of experience in the field of telecommunications. I'm currently an independent consultant making over 220k. It's my belief that once I've earned my BSEET and maybe a MSEE from DeVry my earing potential will increase. I like the small classes and the fact that many of the students are around my age (40's) so for me it's a good choice. Last but not least the BSEET/MSEE programs at DeVry are accredited by the ABET/TAC which is the same agencies that accredit engineering degree programs at IIT, MIT, Cal Tech and other prestigious institutions. I plan on becoming a Licensed Professional Engineer after completing my degree. DeVry certainly isn't for everyone, but what university is? My experience with the academic advisors has been positive, and I look forward to attending. Personally if you're a working adult with tons of experience but no "Formal College Education" DeVry University is definitely a good choice. Experience Degree most times equal higher wages.
I graduated on February 4, 2011, from Full Sail University with my Master’s degree in Entertainment Business. I did the online course due in part that I reside in Cleveland, Ohio and it was phenomenal! Excellent course material, excellent course instructors and assistant course instructors, and I left with a wealth of knowledge.
The coursework is very strenuous due to it being an accelerated program. There is absolutely no room for procrastination. If you procrastinate just a tad, you will fall behind, and your grades will reflect this. From the get-go when the first course commences, it is non-stop learning at a fast pace and YOU MUST have self-discipline!
My only negative comment would be that I wish there was the option to engage in this Master’s degree program on a non-accelerated rate, a normal program duration. I wish that the program was more than (12) months. There is such a wealth of information, and for a new course starting each month, it is difficult to retain all of the information thrown at you. Also, the information learned was so valuable and interesting I wish that each course was longer to dive into it more and to digest it all.
Hope this helps!
Robert M. Blatnick, Manager
devryuniversityreviews.info
MyTh and Company
Cleveland, OH
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