Capella University

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: School of Information (This Major's Salary over time)
Coming into these reviews, there is a lot to be said about a person's station in life. If you are looking to live the whole "college life" experience, Capella is obviously not the school for you. However, if you've already lived in dorms, partied to all hours, and are ready to buckle down and work hard for a good education, then I believe Capella is a good choice. I have been part of the PhD program now for almost two years. I finished all of my coursework and am beginning comps. I have found all of my professors to be friendly and accessible- especially during the face-to-face residencies. Make no mistake, if you are NOT a self-motivated, self-driven person, you will not survive in this school (nor in any job where you are telecommuting or get to work from home). Courseroom leaders are Facilitators, not Professors. There is not going to be a hand-holding lecture, there won't be reviews before exams, there aren't any cheat sheets, the deadlines are there for a reason, and you are expected to do a substantial amount of self-directed work (like 95%). If you have questions or problems after doing a substantial amount of your own self-directed work and research, you will find that your questions to course leaders are much more focused, detail-oriented, and intelligent. These are question that the professors are willing to answer - and rightfully so. In my view, if you cannot weather the self-directed learning process in the courses to write giant papers and finish assignments, you will never survive the dissertation process in any school - traditional or otherwise.

As to the for-profit status, yes there is over-selling. But there is also a substantial amount of funding that is poured back into their resources such as the library and the residential colloquia. They bring in extensive experts and consultants to help you through the research process. I believe the structure of the learning process truly builds your writing stamina and eloquence, and prepares you for dissertation, which is largely a self-directed effort at every school. No one is going to build a research proposal and do the research for you… as it should be.