Patten University is Closing

[dfrecore]

But my point is that JFK is not cheaper than Patten, so anyone who was planning on Patten and specifically the price/tuition setup will have to make new plans and JFK probably wouldn't fit into them. As for the yearly tuition, I guess it wouldn't matter if they made you pay all at once or on a payment plan, because at the end of the day you're still going to pay $8500 for the year.

NAU appears to offer very little in the way of self-paced graduate programs compared to what Patten offered. I only see one in Nursing.

I don't think Patten's prices were a reason for their selling off. Lack of any real marketing after 2013, coupled with a bunch of been-there-done-that programs likely had a lot more to do with it.

They specifically mentioned that pricing had something to do with it.  I think it was simply that they could not make the program work at that price point.

So yes, JFK may not be the option that someone who was thinking of Patten would go to - but it doesn't matter because they don't have that option any longer, nor are there other programs priced the same.  The next best in terms of price is WGU.

[eLearner]

They specifically mentioned that pricing had something to do with it.  I think it was simply that they could not make the program work at that price point.

Who is "they"? I see that the edSurge article claims Thomas Stewart said: the one thing that the company’s Patten University never got quite right was the price to make the institution sustainable.

And to that I say, if they were running their business competently, the price should've been fine as there are much larger programs with even cheaper pricing structures (see Ashworth College for example, or even Penn Foster who they sold their CBE platform to in 2015) that have been going along fine for many years. As I've mentioned, the lack of enrollments would seem to be a bigger matter (800 is not great) since without enough of them that becomes the primary issue.

So yes, JFK may not be the option that someone who was thinking of Patten would go to - but it doesn't matter because they don't have that option any longer, nor are there other programs priced the same.

And that is almost exactly my point which is why I called it a shame. Restating the obvious--that the school is no longer open--is redundant and doesn't at all change the original point.

[GoodYellowDogs]

Shocked - I just went online today to restart in the MBA program, as my life is less complicated.  Poof - it's gone.   JFK is expensive and doesn't have any info about courses, payment plans, or whatever.

Just want to cry.

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There's some useful / interesting information about the sale here:

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-07-09-...h-platform

This would be a good case study for an education administration program. The article alleges that Patten's tuition wasn't high enough to operate the school and that they should have started accepting financial aid. The only other online RA school I can think of that does this payment plan thing is California Southern University. They're more expensive than Patten and charge by the credit hour.

Patten should have looked at WGU as a model. WGU is more expensive and harder to afford payments for, but accepting loans allows students to delay payments until they graduate and, hopefully, have better-paying jobs. Also, WGU ends up being cheaper for most of those who qualify for the Pell Grant. Patten didn't even accept TA or the GI Bill.

I don't know how it worked at Patten; I guess students graduated without debt. At the other schools that have monthly payments, it's a lie that students graduate debt-free. They usually graduate in debt to the school, and some schools won't issue transcripts and a diploma until you pay off that debt.

Patten actually was based on the WGU model - they stole their administrators and teachers from WGU when they started the competency model.

[eLearner]

Shocked - I just went online today to restart in the MBA program, as my life is less complicated.  Poof - it's gone.   JFK is expensive and doesn't have any info about courses, payment plans, or whatever.

Just want to cry.

If what I read was read correctly in the edSurge article, you should be able to carry over to JFK at the same price, so no worries there. How the program is billed is a mystery, however.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, that's what I think as well, the JFK pricing would be excellent for you at $4K/term.
Think about the name too, JFK sounds so much better than Patten, any day of the week!

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Oh wait, my mistake, it's $4,000 for one year. "Students who transfer from Patten will be able to continue paying $4,000 per year."

[eLearner]

Yes, better name, non-profit. It is an upgrade in the public opinion category. The article claims $4K/year, but Patten was actually like $2K per term with 4 month terms which would work out to $6K/year. I'm sure GoodYellow can fill us in on more as she goes, I know I would be interested in hearing about it.

[jsd]

Patten actually was based on the WGU model - they stole their administrators and teachers from WGU when they started the competency model.

Having done both, I can say they did a poor job copying the model. It simply couldn't compare to what WGU is doing. I hope JFKu has the resources to get it up to par.

[dfrecore]

I'm guessing that if you're not currently enrolled at Patten, then you're out of luck with pricing. But, I did receive this email today:

You have recently inquired about enrolling at Patten University, and I want to inform you that Patten University’s academic programs are transitioning to John F. Kennedy University (JFKU). JFKU is a regionally-accredited, nonprofit university offering innovative and nationally recognized programs, with vast experience serving working adults.

Most of Patten's current programs will be available at JFKU beginning this fall, and we would like to invite you to consider enrollment at JFKU. Any students who have previously expressed interest in Patten are invited to apply for a one-time-only promotional discount of $350/month for undergrads or $520/month for graduate students who enroll by October 2, 2018. Standard tuition at JFKU Online is $708/month.

If you are interested in learning more please let me know, and I will make sure someone reaches out to you when enrollment at JFKU's online programs is open.

[xjarhead1999]

I'm guessing that if you're not currently enrolled at Patten, then you're out of luck with pricing. But, I did receive this email today:

You have recently inquired about enrolling at Patten University, and I want to inform you that Patten University’s academic programs are transitioning to John F. Kennedy University (JFKU). JFKU is a regionally-accredited, nonprofit university offering innovative and nationally recognized programs, with vast experience serving working adults.

Most of Patten's current programs will be available at JFKU beginning this fall, and we would like to invite you to consider enrollment at JFKU. Any students who have previously expressed interest in Patten are invited to apply for a one-time-only promotional discount of $350/month for undergrads or $520/month for graduate students who enroll by October 2, 2018. Standard tuition at JFKU Online is $708/month.

If you are interested in learning more please let me know, and I will make sure someone reaches out to you when enrollment at JFKU's online programs is open.

I hope I get that email and they have degree I was planning for at Patten.

[bjcheung77]

xjarhead1999, which program are you interested in? They now only have a few degrees from Patten that got transferred over, doesn't tell you what "concentrations" are, however.