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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 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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