Talk to me about California Coast University

[Vle045]

I was talking to a co-worker and she mentioned that she is taking classes at California Coast.  I hadn’t heard of them before, so of course I looked them up.  I see some mentions of them here, and it seems there are some mixed reviews.  I can see they are NA.  And might have a sketchy past. She is doing one of the Masters in Education.  I have to admit, there are some elements of their payment model and work at your own pace that are interesting.

[Alpha]

I was talking to a co-worker and she mentioned that she is taking classes at California Coast.  I hadn’t heard of them before, so of course I looked them up.  I see some mentions of them here, and it seems there are some mixed reviews.  I can see they are NA.  And might have a sketchy past. She is doing one of the Masters in Education.  I have to admit, there are some elements of their payment model and work at your own pace that are interesting.

It has been around for 50+ years.  It's a DEAC school now but once upon a time people spoke about it as a shady or, perhaps more specifically, a substandard school.  Some people will say that RA beats NA.  Some people don't care.  I'm sure that some people benefit from the school and the degrees earned there.

[Vle045]

Our company gives us $1500 a year for tuition reimbursement. I’m guessing this school is one way to get your degree super cheap if you are willing to stretch it out as long as possible.

[jsd]

I think it's a cool setup but they have had some trouble in the past and as you point out they're only NA. If that doesn't bother you, the money seems pretty good for some of their programs, and it's a self-paced model (except for some situations like you're using financial aid or possibly if you're doing tuition reimbursement).

I'd consider doing a masters in Psych there, but hard to justify ANOTHER degree I don't need even though it's a good price, and if I'm going to get a masters in another topic, I don't think I want to limit my opportunity to teach that subject by having it be an NA degree, even though I don't have specific plans to teach (outside the TAing at Georgia Tech that I already do)

[Vle045]

For me personally, I’d probably consider it, if I reach a point where I just want to use the reimbursement funds they offer. (I don’t take health, dental, or vision…. So I’d like to use *some* kind of benefit. LOL).
But if there is something really negative about them, I just want to know if I need to warn her of anything…

[Johann]

You don't need one person's opinion - you need to sort through LOTS of them. I just googled "California Coast University Reviews" and read through a few dozen. There are many review sites and hundreds of reviews. They leaned to the good side, with some few complaints. One poster said his CCU Bachelor's wasn't getting him into any Master's program at RA schools. My take: he should try other schools. Do some research. (I have no idea what his GPA was, where he'd applied etc...) A couple (no more) complaints of difficulty contacting professors to get questions answered. There probably ISN'T a school where this doesn't happen sometimes..

Read a couple-three hundred reviews. Then make up your mind. I saw absolutely NO egregious complaints - the reviews were generally very favourable. Back in days of old, people used to slag CCU because at that time it was unaccredited. Those days are LONG LONG gone. I have NEVER seen anything in print resembling a scandal or indicating dishonesty.

I think it's really worth considering - if DEAC accreditation works for your friend, but you don't have to listen to me or any one individual. Start by reading the reviews. Go from there. Maybe request further info from the school if it seems a, um...Vie-able bet.  Over my forum-years here and everywhere else, I've gotten to know a couple of MBA grads of Cal. Coast quite well. (As well as you can through forums, PMs and email.) Both spoke highly of their school and found their CCU degrees helped their careers.. I don't mean that to be a deciding factor for you - just an anecdote. But both were credible, honest people in my opinion. They always have been.

[bjcheung77]

They're an interesting setup, great tuition plans and pricing, the NA shouldn't matter too much when you get to the Masters level or if you're just doing this for a check the box degree and/or personal fulfillment reasons. They're pretty good with their overall reviews, however, that being said, I would still recommend you evaluate your options for your future studies. If you can get an RA at the same price or similar, I would shoot for that first before considering NA/CCU. Find something that is interesting to you and worth the ROI/Value.

Here's an example, you already know about HAU and their $3K MBA, it's RA and can be done in as fast as 18 months. You have tuition assistance or reimbursement for $1500/year. Guess what! Email Dean Martin at HAU and ask her if they can "split" the billing into two years, you need to pay a $375 deposit to hold your seat in the cohort. If they allow the $1500 this year and $1500 next year, you have a FREE MBA that is RA. This is what I would recommend you do!

[Vle045]

They're an interesting setup, great tuition plans and pricing, the NA shouldn't matter too much when you get to the Masters level or if you're just doing this for a check the box degree and/or personal fulfillment reasons.  They're pretty good with their overall reviews, however, that being said, I would still recommend you evaluate your options for your future studies.  If you can get an RA at the same price or similar, I would shoot for that first before considering NA/CCU.  Find something that is interesting to you and worth the ROI/Value.

Here's an example, you already know about HAU and their $3K MBA, it's RA and can be done in as fast as 18 months.  You have tuition assistance or reimbursement for $1500/year.  Guess what!  Email Dean Martin at HAU and ask her if they can "split" the billing into two years, you need to pay a $375 deposit to hold your seat in the cohort.  If they allow the $1500 this year and $1500 next year, you have a FREE MBA that is RA.  This is what I would recommend you do!

Thanks.  I am thinking that NA probably won’t be an issue for my co-worker then.  She is on the teaching side of things. 

For myself, I definitely have considered exactly what you suggested for HAU.   As for my own interest in CCU, that would be more of an option if I find I just don’t have the time for a structured program.  And in that case, I’d probably lean more toward the MAOL… and spread it over a LONG time.  (They give a max of 5 years).  But that is really more of a fall back plan at this point.

[sanantone]

It used to be illegal to use California Coast University degrees in Texas, and they were probably only other states' diploma mill lists. Now, they're considered legit.

[Vle045]

It used to be illegal to use California Coast University degrees in Texas, and they were probably only other states' diploma mill lists. Now, they're considered legit.

Ah, yes, I think that might be one of the negative things that was coming up.   Good to see they are considered legit now.  I’m guessing they cleaned up whatever put them on the naughty list.