A Student's Guide to Bellevue University

If sitting on your couch in your pajamas, a beer in one hand, and the other on your laptop, listening to a lecture on the accounting practices of Honduran sugar cane growers sounds appealing, distance education might be right up your alley! All kidding aside, the Internet has been a big player in higher education for some time now. I completed a bachelor's degree at Bellevue University back in 2002, and they have expanded their degree offerings and have revamped existing ones. I'm currently enrolled in their online MBA program. If you aren't able to physically attend a local college or university because of scheduling or the simple lack of one being local, Bellevue might have what you need to get ahead. Here are some tips on why you should choose Bellevue University, and what to expect when you apply, enroll, and "attend" classes.

Reasons to Choose Bellevue University

First, let me say, Bellevue University is not a diploma mill. It is a fully accredited, private university, and has a physical campus in addition to a vast online presence. Classes can be challenging, and even online classes have homework assignments, group projects, quizzes, and tests. You are receiving an education for your money. If you choose one of their accelerated completion programs, you could even finish a bachelor's degree in about a year. If you are worried that your degree will have any mention that it was received online, fear not. It won't. However, employers can usually put two and two together if they see you were employed in Sacramento at the same time you were earning a degree at Bellevue University. Don't worry, most employers simply care that you have a degree; more care that you have accepted jobs with increasing responsibility and skill. Finally, students choose Bellevue University because it is convenient, offers degrees they are interested in, and is affordable.

Applying to Bellevue University

It's not exactly $50 and you're in, but it is close. Ok , so they aren't very selective. According to the Bellevue University Admissions website, for undergraduate admission, they want to see high school and other college transcripts, military service records if you have them, some financial information, and job history for evaluation for possible college credits and transfer status. After you've submitted this, you'll get a call from an academic advisor who will evaluate any transfer credits and assist you in getting started on your chosen degree path. The advisors are generally pretty lenient regarding transfer credit, so if you've passed Calculus 101 elsewhere, you'll get the credit for math, likewise with humanities elections, etc. Bellevue University divides its academic calendar into quarters, and accelerated completion programs are offered with year round start dates and follow a cohort format in which you take classes in order one after the next until completed. All in all, the admissions process is painless.

Course Content and Getting Around

Bellevue University uses the Cyberactive online course content delivery system to present and maintain its classes. In all of the classes that I have taken, both undergrad and graduate level, you participate by discussing topics via an online message board. The professor posts his or her lecture via videos, word documents, pdf , etc and you read those in addition to the assigned textbook reading. Often, homework is assigned which requires you to work on problems out of the textbook or do some research on the Internet. You'll write a lot of papers in some programs. Weekly quizzes will insure that you are keeping up with the readings and lecture notes, and are taken through Cyberactive . Your classmates and professor are usually very responsive if you ask questions, although some students may use the "anonymity" of the Internet to challenge you if you don't seem to know what you are talking about. Plagiarism isn't tolerated, and an incident involving another student who was plagiarizing me and other students was swiftly dealt with. That, however, should be an expectation for any college or university.

Exams

I don't recall taking any tests in my undergraduate degree but I'm sure this has changed in the eight years since I graduated. For my online MBA, I have several per course, with most being take home exams, but several have been full blown proctored exams that you have to line up a test proctor for. This is easy enough, if you live near some other campus, or you can see if your employer or a library official will be a proctor for your test. The tests are challenging, and if you haven't studied, it's difficult to get a decent grade.

A Gripe - the Kirkpatrick Signature Series

Bellevue University has the Kirkpatrick Signature Series of classes, three courses, which you are required to take for all undergraduate degrees. These courses are to, "encourage an awareness and appreciation for the visions and values of our society." When I took them, I found them to be little more than a reinforcement of conservative ideology, and someone who recently took the classes told me that the strong conservative bias hasn't changed over the years. My professor served in the Reagan Administration and was very proud of that time in his life. I got the feeling that my liberal, non Judeo -Christian worldview wasn't worth a pfennig in his course, and despite turning in work comparable to other "stars" in the class, I feel I received a lower grade because I didn't "conform." So, if you're a conservative, or don't mind pretending to be one, you'll do fine. If not, be prepared to aggressively argue your views.

Insider Tips

Do the assigned readings and homework. Get involved in the discussion boards so you actually learn the content and enrich your learning experience. You can sometimes get a passing grade with minimal work, but as you are paying for your education (or your employer is), take as much as you can from each class. Don't purchase your books from the Bellevue University bookstore, unless you absolutely have to. Sites like Bookrenter .com allow you to rent your textbooks for a fraction of the cost that the university bookstore charges. You can also find new, international versions of some textbooks online for ¼ of the price of a new standard textbook. Read ahead in order to allow time for material to fully soak in. All in all, Bellevue University offers a fine catalog of classes and list of degrees to help you get ahead in life. It's not Ivy League, but you'll gain from it to the degree of effort you put into it.

Sources:

Bellevue University Admissions. (2010). Bellevue University.
Kirkpatrick Series. (2010). Bellevue University.