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Capella University

reviewed by Phantom309

Phone: (888) 227-3552 Fax: (612) 339-8022 E-mail: info@capella.edu

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Phantom309
09/13/2009

Capella University 1

I attended Capella from 2003 until 2007 when I graduated with my Masters in Information Technology. I work full time as a network consultant and with my Masters I was able to start teaching online.



After a little more then a year off I decided to go back to Capella and get my PhD in General Information Technology. I only did this after a lot of soul searching and assuring myself that it was the right thing to do.



Capella gave me 48 credits for my previous course work which is max. I'm filling out the application for their $5000.00 grant and I've gotten the federal loan to pay for the first three quarters or until the end of the school year.



OK, somethings to know about Capella. They have a great online classroom and I can't recall ever having a bad course. Some instructors were better then others but all were pretty top notch.



Capella will put a bounty on you if you owe them money. They love their money but they have some of the best accreditations I have seen for any college and that is where you need to do your homework. Accreditation is everything when choosing your college.



One way to save money with Capella is not to purchase any books. My courses were all technology related and pretty simple and using the Internet to find what you need is just part of doing research. I got wise to that real quick.



There administration is top notch and the academic advisor's are excellent. I never had a communication problem with any of them. I call and they answer the phone.



I did check out other online PhD programs but none offered the selection in Technology that Capella did. I guarantee you that if I had a bad experience with Capella I would not have gone back to do a PhD. I teach for the University of Phoenix and they give you a huge break in tuition if you work for and take your PhD program with them but they have only one PhD in Technology and it was nothing I was interested in.



Any PhD program is going to cost you plenty and I'm convinced that the bang for the buck is in the accreditation of the institution and the acceptance of the degree. I still feel that Capella has both going for it and if it didn't, I would have gone else where.



Cliff in Tucson



***********Update! Summer 2009!********

This is follow up to my last post on entering the PhD program at Capella. It was a mistake and I now wish I hadn't done it. everything was going along pretty smooth until the Summer semester of 2009 when I had the great misfortune of having Dr. Lawrence (Lonny) Ness as one of my instructors. Here is living proof that not everyone is cut out to be an online instructor. It is my belief that Dr. Ness has a personal agenda for being an instructor online and it has more to to with feeding his ego and reading his resume to a captive audience then anything else. To say I had a terrible experience with his class would be an understatement.

After I had attended the first track of the residency and I began to question my judgment about my enrollment at that time. I meet many of the instructors at the colloquium and soon realized that most had found the one place that would hire them based on nothing but their credentials.

I should have stopped with my Masters and been happy but after a year in Capella's PhD program, I can tell you the only thing I got from it was more college loans to repay.

My advise, if your looking for an online PhD program, do yourself a favor and find one somewhere else but not at Capella.

Cliff in Tucson













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zuluchief commented 390 days ago.
Cliff,I hope Capella gives you free tuition for that great rating. This is my second term (just beginning). You also need to attend one of their Colloquia's if you have not. You might be setting yourself up for failure. You say "do not buy books, research from the internet".Capella's courses and Units are merely preparation for your PhD.research, leadin to comprhensive Examination an Dissertation. unless you want you degree to read (PhD.ABD) All but dissertation, you need not only research on the internet, you nee to compile your books and articles to start building your PHD book review. One of the reason i came to Capella is they do not award a PhD. where its not deserved, and to deserve it course work is only half the story. In fact you will find that some of your instructors may strugglea little with the course work, that is because you and them are at the same level. You are supposed to be a researcher. Remember in Undergrad,we learn how to learn, In Grad (Masters) We consume knowledge. At Phd we should learn how to research with onepurpose in mind--make aunique contribution to the body of knowledge. Therfore if you do not reveal some based on critical thinking, a new insight in your research, you will not get your PhD. at Capella,fo that matter at most universities,including technologically challenged institutions like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, MIT anf my Alma Marta Cambridge University (UK) which are only beginning to take advantage of technology and realize that most graduate work need not be done in the dorm room or school library. Last but not least the value of education is not the paper, or the university (accredited or not, though it helps in a label oriented society). The value is whether you do learn something or not. Which is why my eyes pop when I see people asking whether or not an evaluation of their experience can be adequately equated to a degree. For Job absolutely most likely yes, but for educational purposes absolutely not, except by passing some equivalent academic testing, for a Phd. you'd still have to do the thesis for the new wave of DBA's and DE, or DBA's or the standard dissertation. Which i kinda doubt anyone can do without the appropriate course work. Do you need a PhD to function in our society. If you are a simple person like me, 95% of the time no. But just remember that learning involve Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive attributes(brain) , Psych-motor (physical) and Affection ( the heartor willingness)/A dentist or a doctor needs all those well balanced, that is why they are called professionals and they have a commonly accepted codec. I am doingm PhD at Capella, purely for the purposes of learning. I have people who report to me who have had their PhD's many years before I even though of getting an MBA. Confirming again, that it all depends what you want to do in life. But believe me, getting straight A's at capella in Course Work will not guarantee you a PHD. Keep good notes, build a library, find an advisor who will coach you. They are pretty tough with that comprehensive exam and dissertation, and they, as you correctly note, they will not refund any of the money back. And, they will not give you too many chances, I talked tomany people who showed me their scars! Since you are alreay in academia, you know what I am talking about. All this bother, and we can buy a PHD from Ashwood University for 599! are we stupid or what?
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