(10-04-2025, 02:18 PM)virtualworkings Wrote: Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I wrote a msg here. I have been busy working on my DBA courses diligently, even maintaining my "A" grades until I got unexpected news.

So UpGrad has scammed me!!! Edgewood College or University as it is now doesn't have a Tech and AI specialization. The university claims they didn't get sufficient students so they are not offering this. Only Leadership and Finance is available. 

Well I wasn't told the Tech and Ai specialization is conditional. I mean is that even a thing from a university????? I have never heard of it.

UpGrad refuses to refund my money, even charged my card inspite of telling them to STOP payments. They are telling me they can't do that, they have no control over this. I'm like WHAT??? You have no control over stopping recurring charges.. how is this even possible.

Their international student personnel came back after 3 weeks of me threatening them and saying sorry it was written on the website and brochure the course will only start if we get 10 students. I have the brochure...I actually got ChatGPT to basically go over it with a fine toothcomb... nothing, nowhere written 10 students... 

I went online... this site: Course: DBA & MBA from Edgewood College specializing in Tech and AI | RiseUpp... is still talking about Tech and AI and the course will start in 24th Sep... then I went looking for UpGrad brochure, not the one they sent me... and they have covertly added in small print... 10 students. My brochure didn't have this nor did the so called Aakash Shelar, the Admissions & Scholarships person ever tell me the specialization was conditional. Now they are forcing me to go to Golden Gate as I want AI or go to DBA in Edu... 

Actual conversation from this guy - "I understand, hence is it possible for you to move towards Edgewood Doctorate in Education(Ed.D) instead of the DBA, where AI is offered?" We also, have Golden Gate University as well that offers a concentration in Generative Ai. Then I got this: Also, the Tech and Ai part which I conveyed to you was true to every extent. 

The decision of Edgewood University to not include it, is beyond the scope of my designation to ask.... and before that I got this msg: Your profile is being handled by Pratiksha from the learning experience team. 

She would definitely get back to you, and I also checked with the finance team; your payment has already been halted.
... My payment was halted... and now they are saying we have no authority, you should have stopped the payment from your side this and that. It is a nightmare. I will never get back my money. So I don't know what to do. 

Any advice guys... what do I do here.. cut my losses or go ahead and get a DBA in a program that I never wanted or even know anything about. I mean the dissertation is like 300 pages I hear... I have no experience in finance or leadership. 

I even wrote to the Associate Dean about this. She confirmed the Tech and AI isn't available. I asked for an extension to choosing the specialization as I need to think. Do you guys think if I write a formal complaint to the university they will make UpGrad refund my money? And also I am curious, does this happen often in American universities? Specializations just disappearing? I mean I did my MBA from University of the People, which many talked about as being scam artists, low quality education, this and that, but at least I knew what I was going to study. It wasn't all in the wind.

Anyway, just to make other students aware that this can happen.
N!

(10-04-2025, 02:18 PM)virtualworkings Wrote: Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I wrote a msg here. I have been busy working on my DBA courses diligently, even maintaining my "A" grades until I got unexpected news.

So UpGrad has scammed me!!! Edgewood College or University as it is now doesn't have a Tech and AI specialization. The university claims they didn't get sufficient students so they are not offering this. Only Leadership and Finance is available. 

Well I wasn't told the Tech and Ai specialization is conditional. I mean is that even a thing from a university????? I have never heard of it.

UpGrad refuses to refund my money, even charged my card inspite of telling them to STOP payments. They are telling me they can't do that, they have no control over this. I'm like WHAT??? You have no control over stopping recurring charges.. how is this even possible.

Their international student personnel came back after 3 weeks of me threatening them and saying sorry it was written on the website and brochure the course will only start if we get 10 students. I have the brochure...I actually got ChatGPT to basically go over it with a fine toothcomb... nothing, nowhere written 10 students... 

I went online... this site: Course: DBA & MBA from Edgewood College specializing in Tech and AI | RiseUpp... is still talking about Tech and AI and the course will start in 24th Sep... then I went looking for UpGrad brochure, not the one they sent me... and they have covertly added in small print... 10 students. My brochure didn't have this nor did the so called Aakash Shelar, the Admissions & Scholarships person ever tell me the specialization was conditional. Now they are forcing me to go to Golden Gate as I want AI or go to DBA in Edu... 

Actual conversation from this guy - "I understand, hence is it possible for you to move towards Edgewood Doctorate in Education(Ed.D) instead of the DBA, where AI is offered?" We also, have Golden Gate University as well that offers a concentration in Generative Ai. Then I got this: Also, the Tech and Ai part which I conveyed to you was true to every extent. 

The decision of Edgewood University to not include it, is beyond the scope of my designation to ask.... and before that I got this msg: Your profile is being handled by Pratiksha from the learning experience team. 

She would definitely get back to you, and I also checked with the finance team; your payment has already been halted.
... My payment was halted... and now they are saying we have no authority, you should have stopped the payment from your side this and that. It is a nightmare. I will never get back my money. So I don't know what to do. 

Any advice guys... what do I do here.. cut my losses or go ahead and get a DBA in a program that I never wanted or even know anything about. I mean the dissertation is like 300 pages I hear... I have no experience in finance or leadership. 

I even wrote to the Associate Dean about this. She confirmed the Tech and AI isn't available. I asked for an extension to choosing the specialization as I need to think. Do you guys think if I write a formal complaint to the university they will make UpGrad refund my money? And also I am curious, does this happen often in American universities? Specializations just disappearing? I mean I did my MBA from University of the People, which many talked about as being scam artists, low quality education, this and that, but at least I knew what I was going to study. It wasn't all in the wind.

Anyway, just to make other students aware that this can happen.
N!

(10-16-2025, 02:30 PM)Carmen82 Wrote: Hello everyone. I came across this when I was searching for reviews on the upgrad/Edgewood Ed.D. program. I haven’t decided on joining yet and would like to hear from others who have already started. Thank you Lidel for sharing your experience, it’s been extremely enlightening. 
My biggest concern so far is actually the statistics aspect of the program. My MSc thesis was a qualitative systematic review so I am a total novice and afraid of it being a significant part of the program. If I manage to muddle through the quantitative course, will I have to deal with it again throughout the other modules or can I choose to stick to qualitative methods? Also, does everyone do the optional assignments? And what about the mandatory ones - is it one big assignment for each module or several graded ones throughout? I would greatly appreciate any insights.

(10-16-2025, 02:41 PM)lidel Wrote:

(10-16-2025, 02:30 PM)Carmen82 Wrote: Hello everyone. I came across this when I was searching for reviews on the upgrad/Edgewood Ed.D. program. I haven’t decided on joining yet and would like to hear from others who have already started. Thank you Lidel for sharing your experience, it’s been extremely enlightening. 
My biggest concern so far is actually the statistics aspect of the program. My MSc thesis was a qualitative systematic review so I am a total novice and afraid of it being a significant part of the program. If I manage to muddle through the quantitative course, will I have to deal with it again throughout the other modules or can I choose to stick to qualitative methods? Also, does everyone do the optional assignments? And what about the mandatory ones - is it one big assignment for each module or several graded ones throughout? I would greatly appreciate any insights.

Hey there. There were two quantitative-based courses. I have only had one past statistics-based course, and I found it manageable, though there was a fair bit to digest. That's pretty much the only place I had to deal with statistics. You will have to learn a little R-Studio, and show that you can use Excel, but it's not that bad. You can choose if you want to do qualitative or quantitative methods for your dissertation. There are pros and cons to each, and after weighing them, I chose quantitative and don't regret it. 

Regarding the optional assignments, are you referring to the discussion board posts and exercises? They are not mandatory, and in my class, after the first couple of courses, people stopped contributing to them altogether.

Each course is different for required workload. Usually, there are a couple of major assignments, sometimes mixed in with a handful of smaller ones, quizzes, video presentations, etc. If you read back through my posts, I probably listed what I encountered for each class as I went.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much, yes that’s very helpful. I really appreciate it!