DeVry University: an honest review
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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 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.You're a dumbass joke and you're probably lying. Go back to Harvard then, I'm sure you'll need it.
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.I agree. At least it's an education. The students enrolled at DeVry could be in the streets or drop outs like the rest of the people posting on here, but they're not, they're getting an 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 am a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Electrical Engineering under the Electronics,Communications, and Controls option. I only make about $115K but have only 10 years experience in Electric Utility Telecom departments.
Many electrical engineers work under industrial exemption and don't require PE licenses and are protected by their companies. For example someone designing computer chips probably won't get someone killed if their design failed but someone designing high voltage transmission lines in substations could get people killed in the proper design isn't implemented with safety precautions.
If you are making $220k there is no need for you to get your PE license you are making more than most licensed engineers other than a Petroleum Engineers with Masters in the right specialty which can make upwards to $500k a year but have to move from site to site for work.
If you are still interested in pursuing a PE please make sure your state allows you to use an Engineering technology degree many states don't allow Devry degrees to count towards the 4 year required engineering education due to public safety issues involved with design work. In Alaska Devry degree are not allowed to count for qualified engineering education, I know because there are two Devry graduates with BSEET that were not allowed to take the test and they didn't have the math requirement to pass it anyway. Generally for basic engineering education you need one year of college chemistry, one year of calculus based physics, 3 semesters of calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations as your minimum plus some classes in electromagnetics.
Just out of curiosity what kind of work do to make so much money without an engineering degree. Are you working overseas in dangerous areas or working lots of hours? Do you have military contracts that only people with a security background to work on the equipment?
I have seen mixed results with Devry graduates in electronics, some were excellent and others couldn't pass our basic screening test for hiring. Maybe it depends on the individual, a smart person entering the program probably will do great after graduating and a person that meets minimum requirements to get into the program and barely graduates probably won't do well in the job market.
One question you should ask yourself is do you want to work with your hands, design things on paper, or manage projects. If you want to work with your hands getting an associate degree in electronics or BSEET should work well. If you want to work on designs on paper or open your own engineering consulting work get as Bachelors degree in electrical engineering from an ABET accredited school. If you want to manage projects you can have an engineering degree but just focus on nontechnical issues like time, scope, and budget of the projects. At the electric utility companies many of their engineers are project engineers, smart but not very technically inclined. Most of the design work is sourced out to large engineering design firms. I was fortunate enough to be able to design microwave radio links, two way radio sites, communication circuits, fiber optic systems, and communication tower designs.
One comment is that ABET accredited program doesn't mean that it is high quality, it just means it meets the minimum recommended standards.
Comparing myself to the electronic technicians, I would say they know a lot about installation, repair, configuration and basic troubleshooting and testing techniques. The only place I have a real is relying on standards, logically reasoning, and complex problem solving. For instance two of our senior technicians spent 3 days trying to resolve an intermittent communication circuit problem over a fractional T-1 radio and couldn't fix it even with the manufacturer's help. They called me and I figured it out in 15 minutes using basic probability theory. They had to change their communication time slots interleaving pattern down to zero. The manufacturer had them set it high to resolve interference problems where it would repeat the frame a further time apart causing intermittent delays and failing the protective relay circuits strict delay requirements. The reason for the spacing to decrease the chances of a random interference from corrupting the data frames which I knew wouldn't be the case since I did a path analysis previously.
So overall an electrical engineering education is fun, challenging but you will only use a fraction of it depending on your specialty. In real world troubleshooting I have only used it on the 10% hardest maintenance problems that our technicians couldn't resolve from their experience or manufacturers help.
Good Luck with your education.
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
Say what you wish but attending DeVry University did not stop me from earning over $150k a year.
I went to this school. I owe the bank $40,000 and I can't get a job from what they taught me. I was in game and simulation major. They seem to be knowledgeable about the basics in C++. But, they teach the basic very very very slowly. Those things could've been taught within 6 months but it took them 12 months to teach us. When it comes to more advance stuff, they don't seem to be very knowledgeable. They asked us to copy and paste the codes and see ourselves on what it does.I learn very very very little from doing that. The English classes are completely useless. All the topics they asked you to write will be very very very easy. They don't grade your grammar, as long as you write something relevant. You get an A. The result is, your writing won't improve, and your reading won't improve. As for the math classes go... my physic teacher completely suck! He wouldn't explain what each of those symbol and signs mean and left the whole class confused. And he gave inflated grades. I supposedly to get a D and he gave me a C. Some other math classes are okay. I give them a C grade for their teaching quality. I don't understand 100% but I understand 70% of them. Now that I know more things from attending a community college, I realized that they need to teach trigonometry in order understand some of the game physics. They made us to take 2 physic classes. One is pure physic, which as I mentioned before, the teacher completely sucked! And other one was game physics, the teacher was okay... he explains a lot clearer than that garbage physic teacher but still not very good. I simply memorized the formula from the game physic class and do not understand it. Now I know why. I don't know trigonometry and I don't know calculus. Devry didn't add calculus and trigonometry in game and simulation courses requirements. They said it'll only take you less than 3 years to get a degree, the thing is, you won't be having enough skills and they have lousy teachers and the courses are well thought out. I am majoring in computer science in a community college and plan to transfer to a state university. And so far... the community college I am teach hell lot better than Devry. I understand every detail of how calculus and trigonometry works and my computer science teacher teach us pretty well. I don't have any questions or confusions, which is a good thing. I understand it clearly. I just looked through the text book that Devry provided on game physics, there are calculus in there... what the hell? Limits, derivatives... why only a brief lesson of derivative? I don't know... maybe it only need that portion of it... Some of them teachers they hire seem very very suspicious.
One of the bull$%&*@$%& teacher I had once gave us this quote "yea, I can talk" Sounds to me like the school just hired him out of desperation and he just not sure what to teach and that class was disappointing. Game design class... he taught us how to use 3D studio max on creating a box, a pyramid, a sphere.., okay the most advance thing he taught was to how to animate. But those are simple functions. And then the next class which is very similar was audio and visual design. Using 3D studio max again, teaching us again on how to draw a box, a sphere, a pyramid and how to animate. And the audio design was record and sound and loop it. That's it. Bull$%&*@$%&.
Just stay away from this school... it seems that they are more interested in your money rather than putting together a well thought out education for you. And for those who claim that they earned a lot of money from graduating from Devry.. suspect that they are working for Devry and come here to say what a great school it is. Ask them the quality of the teachers, I bet they are going to ignore you. Or might make up some more stuff/
Trust me or trust them? maybe I am just mad because I get no jobs because I am just dumb. I tried... if it's my fault because I am lazy, then it'll be very childish of me to ruin their reputation. Yes I admit I was very lazy when I was in Devry because the stuff was extremely easy and basic and later on it confused the hell out of me. But I have no good reason to ruin their reputation, I am just telling what I experienced.
Stay away from Devry. From all majors. All location. If one major isn't well put together, then you should be aware of other majors. Trust me, community colleges and other public colleges have many years of school experience. They know what student needs. They put all the lessons that student need to learn in order to move on. You won't get lost at in learning all when you are in a public college. I am talking about a community college that I am in, I can't imagine how good other public university are. Such as Berkeley. Devry charges $700 per unit. My community college charge used to charge $27 per unit, maybe $37 now since my community college is in a financial crisis. Just because they charge more, doesn't mean they give a good education. Stay away from Devry
I wanted to sue Devry for scamming my 2.5 years and my $40,000. But I have no money for a lawyer and since they are rich, they are going to hire a very good lawyer to defend themselves. But I might think about suing them when I graduate and have some money. My family isn't rich at all. Most of them students who went there aren't rich at all. They just have financial aid support and borrow money.It sounds like you went in without any kind of education foundation or life experience before you went to Devry. There is a lot of emotion and assumptive comments. Someone could say you sound like an angry video gamer but that would fall in to exactly what you've expressed here. have you advanced at all by continuing to practice the basics you learned?I went to Devry with a high school education. And yes, I have advanced by figuring stuff on my own and not by simply practicing the things that Devry taught us.
The things that Devry taught us is simply very very basic. Not advance at all enough to program a graphical game.
I am angry because I felt like I've been scammed by charging me so much for such crappy education. And wasted my 2.5 years of my time. I could've been graduated by now with the skills to look for a software programming job if Devry hadn't baited me into their school.
There is a difference between an angry video gamer and an angry game programmer. You seem to used the phrase "video gamer" rather than "gamer". You don't seem to be familiar with games. Video game refer to "video" games. There are many type of electronic games. Computer games, portable game consoles such as PSP and Nintendo DS and there is video game console such as playstation 3 and WII.
I wonder why you are defending Devry. You went to Devry and thought it's a great school and so that's why you are defending it? If you are defending it, please make your defensive arguments. Don't jump to conclusions without any evidence.
If you think Devry is such a great school, please tell me what makes Devry such a great school.You do sound very upset, but you have nobody to blame but yourself. You slacked while attending DeVry, and now you scold them for comming up short. I also attended DeVry's GSP program and found it to be very interesting and exceptional, but I have not been lazy and have advanced on the BASE they provided me. I have worked with students that you remind me of, the ones who let other team members do the work for them and try to slide by through piggy backing off of others.
You complain about not knowing trig before physics when one of the major math courses in the program is preCalc wgich is a combination of trig and college algebra....more then enough info to do well in a physics course. So you should have researched the material a little better before doing the courses in reverse order. They leave it open though for people who can handle physics without having the math course completed yet, so dont blame your advisor either.
Oh, and I am,no fake I will drop names because I am currently working as an intern at Frontline Technologies in exton, PA on web development and in c#. I had no prior knowledge of these languages before, but impressed them with my knowledge of data structures, math skills, programming logic, and WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS that they provided me with the opportunity over 20 other canidates. Everything I learned from DeVry I use everyday at Frontline, and can only be proud that I was active in college and not a slacker.
Lol, you sound stupid saying you are going to sue DeVry for your short comminga, and your little comment about video games was tge icing on tye cake. Try to realize that you were going for a programming degree, not a,media design degree and that is why you were provided with only a basic understanding if 3DS Max. You do sound like a disgruntled "video gamer" who did not know what they were getting themselves into, so don' t try to sway from the obvious.
Good luck to you at CC, and I hope you have matured in the way you approach your college experience.
No actually, I was the one who did most of the work or all the work most of the time. Yes, I did slacked a little bit but I did followed everything the instructors had instructed. The only thing I didn't do was I didn't learn thing on my own. I depended too much on the teacher to teach me stuff. Like on the Direct X9 class, the teacher asked us to copy the codes into our program and figure out what the code means on our own. I copied it but I had a hard time understanding it and I didn't spend that much of a great effort into understand it.
They should have teach trigonometry. They had no trigonometry in their major curriculum.
You said you are successful on your major based on what they taught you? I don't know how they taught you, but the way they taught me is bull$%&*@$%&. They asked us to copy the codes and learn it on our own!!! How the @#$%&* do I even know what the @#$%&* these code mean if they didn't teach us? The instructor was just sitting there on his computer during class time without lecturing and instruct us to work on our assignment, which was to copy codes. And the instructor didn't even bother to go through the whole book and said that he doesn't have enough time to cover everything. Every time I asked him something, he gave me a vague answer. Like I asked him what "|" means, he said, "OR". No further explanation. And I remember one time I asked him if we be able something (kind of hard to explain what that something is in words) in Direct X9, and he said no. And after I found out that it can be done. It shows that that instructor wasn't very knowledgeable in his field. And in Simulation class, the instructor gave us one assignment for the entire semester. I started the assignment on the first day and I almost completed it. I completed the rest a week before the date it's due. Add all that time I spent on the assignment, no more than 6 hours. (I am suspecting that it took me 2 hours to complete but I am not sure.) The assignment was simply program a simulation of an elevator. Elevator stays at floor one, if someone pushes the button from floor two, then it'll lift up to floor two and open the door, and close the door, and lower it down to floor one. And if someone at floor two pushes the button, it'll lift up, open the door, person steps in, close the door, lower it down... etc. etc. etc. The teacher didn't lecture at all every time I went to class. I missed several classes, I am not sure if he lectured during those class session. I learned nothing from that class. When he gave out that assignment, I wasn't even aware that that was a simulation project. I took it as a very easy project and I was shocked that he gave us almost 4 months to complete it. As for Linux class, what the hell is the point of giving us an introduction course on Linux? It taught us the very basic of Linux and the teacher suck so bad, all I learned was putting a number into a register. He tried to explain the pop and push concept and I had no idea what he was talking about. And most of the time, he brought us to the lab and have us read the book, copy the codes, and figure out what it means. Then modify it. I remember I was staring at the codes totally confused. I looked at this line and I had no idea what it is "#comment, comment, comment comment". The teacher didn't even teach us that "#" means comment. I went to that class every class meeting, so I didn't miss a single lecture and he did not explain some of the stuff mean.
Yes, I did skip classes during the last 2 semesters before I left the school. That is only because the classes were so either confusing or bull$%&*@$%&.
As for the 3D Max class, why did the school plan that class for us just to teach us making a cube, a sphere, etc, etc? I could've figure out those stuff on my own the minute I put my hand on that software. And why was the same materials repeated twice in 2 different courses?
I go to this school, I will say some "Success Coach" people are very lacking in the way of doing their jobs but others go out of their way for you. They do expect you to know simple things like algebra. How can you write a code if you don't know what an equation actually means? They pile on the work and it is extremely over whelming at times, however, my professors did take off points for grammar and structure, so I believe it may just be the locations as to the quality of instructors. Quite simple, I rather enjoy it!!!
Setting, Retired Army, SR Global Manager at Intel Corp, needed a degree to keep up with peers after 7 years. I originally tried ITT Tech but when I went to submit my papers to Intel to pay they would not Honor in its program, they Hired folks with ITT degrees and supported the local schools with grants and donations, but they would not pay for an ITT degree. So, I had a choice of going to Portland State or one of the for profit schools. I decided against UoP as I had friends in both the Military and at Intel that went there and did not like the format so I started DeVry.
When my management role was outsourced I was going to have to quit school, but found our I qualified for VA Voc Rehab, and after discussion with them and some SR Management at Intel I decided to stay with DeVry.
I moved to FL and continued my studies as without a degree I was never going to make what I had made at Intel. DeVry was great, I did have some problems at first with my VA payments due to DeVry messing up, but a call with a Senior Manager at the VA and the Director of Student Finance in Chicago and it never happened again. I also had some challenges with other students and a couple of teachers, but I had the same issues in work and at Community College. These all worked out by talking with those I had problems with (like adults would do).
I complete my Degree in Technical Management and went to transfer to the FSU School of Business Management, I took that placement test and was accepted but declined to go there as it required me to drive six hours round trip two times a week for school, so Keller offered me a chance through Voc Rehab and I took it and graduated.
In my job I work with 90% FSU and UF graduates, I was hired as a contractor while earning my degree due to my military and Intel management experience. I was hired as an employee after I received my BS degree from DeVry and was promoted when I received my MBA from Keller. Although, I make about $20K less than my peers from the State Universities, I still earn more than $100K a year which is $15K more a year due to that piece of paper than I was making as a contractor without a degree......I am thankful for my Degrees as they provided me an education on my schedule and along with my experience, put me back where I was without a degree at Intel Corporation as a Global Manager (before this I was making $60K a year as a PM after leaving Intel.
DeVry gave me what I needed, it challenged me and I can say they taught everything that was being taught at the very pricey training institution Intel had paid for me to attend and they use the same educational tools, books and accessories my friends are using in the FSU School of Business and at Warner Pacific College, so they are doing the right things, I have NO COMPLAINTS.
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