Opinions on TUI?

September 18, 2008 1:54 PM

Anyone familiar with Touro University International (TUI)?

My nephew, who thinks way too highly of my opinion, has asked me about Touro University International (TUI) and about the value of online schools in general. He's been in the military for many years, is about 5 classes shy of a BSBA and wants to know if it's a waste of time.

Main website.

I'm not sure what to tell him. Sure sounds like a great opportunity. It's gratifying to see that he has this motivation. He's a hard worker and I surely want to encourage his interest in this arena. Any hidden pitfalls I'm not seeing?

posted by RavinDave to education (5 comments total)

I was familiar with its earlier incarnation as part of Touro College in New York: here's an article about the sale last year that spun it off as an independent, for-profit entity. According to the article, the accreditation status was retained by the new ownership.

When I was working in the adult higher education field, the gold standard for online university instruction was University College of the University of Maryland. Another strong state-college option is Empire State College. Either or both might be more affordable than Touro.

That said, I never heard anything particularly negative about Touro. If the course offerings and prices work for your nephew, I don't see why he shouldn't go with it.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:17 PM on September 18, 2008

Keep in mind that though he thinks he's "5 classes away," that doesn't mean any particular university will actually take all his previous credit. Most universities have some type of residency requirement, where you have to take a certain percentage of classes at their school. This could be 50%, meaning he'd have many more classes to take than just 5. TUI states that they only accept a maximum 88 semester credits for the BSBA program. (And they use grocer's apostrophes, WTF?!) There's no guarantee that they'll accept that much, and he needs 120 to complete his degree, so if he gets the maximum allowed, he still has to complete 32 credits. The classes are 4 credits apiece, so that's at least 8 classes for him.

Why doesn't he just go back to whatever school he has credit from and finish his degree?
posted by desjardins at 3:00 PM on September 18, 2008

I think you're looking at this from the wrong end - you don't mention which school he accumulated credits at (Ex: most USAF types wind up consolidating their credits at the Air University from different places ) - He probably wants to move credits from where he is now to the facility he has the most credits at to avoid the problem desjardins mentions above.

The question then becomes whether or not his graduating college accepts transfers from TUI, and would almost certainly be best answered by the transfer evaluating people at that university. Make sure you talk to somebody who can actually make decisions.

I'm at a 4 year currently, and I've lost count of the number of people who've told me "Half my credits didn't transfer from ( insert other institution )...". Personally, I came from a CC and transfered 63 out of 66, the limit of what my inward school would take. Tell him to work this out BEFORE he enrolls anywhere.
posted by Orb2069 at 8:36 PM on September 18, 2008

(Now that I'm not at work...) Be aware that for-profit universities (I work at one; not TUI) can really give you the hard sell. Their primary mission is to make money, not to educate people. If they are publicly held, they are accountable to their shareholders and what shareholders want is not necessarily what students need.

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE ADMISSIONS ADVISORS. They are probably lying, and if they're anything like the ones at the place I work for, they're f--king morons. Talk to the people who actually assess the credit - that person will be in the "prior learning assessment" department. Tell your nephew to get all his transcripts together - if he was in the Army, Navy, or Marines, he can easily get his military credit recommendations online. (I can't remember offhand how the Air Force works.)

Personally, I would never, ever go to a for-profit university, and I work for one.
posted by desjardins at 9:01 PM on September 18, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I have read generally good things about Touro, and they are very military-friendly. Encourage him to learn as much as possible. and to talk with his base education office to find out about any other degree-completion options.
posted by davidmsc at 9:23 PM on September 18, 2008