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I did a fully online Master's program (besides student teaching in person) and it was probably the easiest and most affordable way for me to complete this degree. What worked for me might not work for others, though. This is not a program that will hold your hand through the journey and you won't have the personal touch of a professor who knows you and cares about your well-being. You will get emails and posts about what you need to get done, and then they will leave you alone to get it done. This... Read More program is great if you are looking for independence and flexibility. You won't get a ton of personalized feedback and spoon-fed instruction, but you will get a degree in probably the most convenient way possible. As a working adult, this program was great for me and was a great launching pad into the next move in my career. I still learned plenty, but it was self paced and self motivated. I loved it!

I chose Liberty University Online for my Master's degree in education. At the time, I was looking for an online program due to the pandemic and my own work needs. Liberty advertised a Master's degree that was ideal for working adults and for people who were new to the teaching/education profession. While I had great professors and advisors, the fact remained that the program is obviously geared towards individuals who are already in the profession. In particular, the courses on tests/measurements... Read More and behavior management were lacking and did not prepare me for what I would eventually see in the classroom. However, these courses were not the largest issue. Practicums and field experiences at Liberty were by far the worst part of the degree program. There were two major issues, Christian school placement and practicum feedback. Liberty encourages student teachers to experience a broad array of school environments with both a public school and Christian school experience being mandatory. However, Liberty has no direct contact with any Christian schools outside of the Lynchburg area. I was expected to find a Christian school in my area to host me with minimal help from the university. The problem occurred when I was turned down by every Christian school I contacted in my area (we don't have many). None of them wanted to host a student teacher. Liberty's solution for this problem was to shorten the Christian school requirement to just one day and allow me to do a second long-term public school placement instead. Again, I was refused by the local Christian schools even for the one day experience. Liberty did not know how to resolve this and the Christian school experience never happened, which would have delayed graduation had I not taken swift action later. The public school placements were easier to secure and while I was welcomed at both schools, the fact remained that Liberty did not provide much guidance for these practicums. The requirements were only for me to observe the host's class and then design and teach one lesson in the class. I went beyond this and taught more lessons while earning extra hours, but I feel that Liberty was largely relying on the host schools to provide me with guidance and feedback. My host teachers had a lot on their plates with their own classes, so feedback from the professors in addition to my host teachers would have been better. In the end, I worked with the second public school I was placed at and secured a full-time teaching job under an alternative license. I opted out of Liberty's remaining student teaching requirements and was able to complete my degree via an alternative path. This elminated the need to pester the local Christian schools for a placement and prevented a delay of graduation. Hence why I say this degree is for people who are already employed as a teacher. If you already have a license, you don't need to do student teaching and you can focus on your coursework. Summary/TLDR: Great degree if you're already working as a licensed teacher. If you're new to teaching or don't have a license, I recommend going elsewhere.

I’ve been in the Alt-A M.Ed program at West Alabama for a year and was supposed to start my student teaching internship at the start of next semester (Fall ‘21), but have now been forced to delay until Spring ‘22 because the program advisor failed to sign my application (which I submitted over a month before it was due) by the deadline. I have been trying to contact said advisor since I received an email informing me that my signed app was still missing, but all I’ve gotten is an auto-reply saying... Read More they are out of the office for the next week. All of this is over a missing signature page... I’ve done everything I was responsible for well ahead of time (passed prerequisite courses, submitted the internship application, registered/paid for courses that coincide with the student teaching field work, etc) and 12 hours before the deadline I’m told my internship will be delayed until next year because of something my advisor failed to complete (which, again, was just signing her name on my app...).

When deciding on how and where I would complete my graduate degree and teaching certificate, I determined that efficiency and convenience was more important than the quality of the experience in my individual case. As an undergrad, I had an amazing and empowering educational experience, but because I was already employed in education and proficient in my field, I did not feel that I needed to duplicate that experience. GCU fit the bill. However, for those people lacking adequate experience working... Read More in education, I would not recommend GCU. GCU was ok. The assignments were relevant and the workload was manageable for an adult working full-time and with a family. I think grading was inflated. I graduated with a 3.93 without a ton of effort. I skipped lots of assignments when it became apparent that my grade would not fall below a 4.0. My biggest challenge was the weekly participation posts. Three participation post are required weekly, but the expectation was generally that you would respond to a classmates post. This would look something like "I like that you said... I agree with you... nice post..." They were so lame and lacked any value at all that I avoided them out of spite. Occasionally a professor would post questions to respond to, which improved the requirement, but more often then not, the posts were redundant and a regurgitation of what someone else said. Talk about "busy work..." It was also apparent that there were lots of less capable, less intelligent people in the classes. Graduate level students ought to be able spell, write coherent sentences, and follow directions. At times I was shocked at what I was reading, other times I could not decipher what I was reading. In one particular class, several students began posting that students in school shouldn't be able to wear clothing displaying the Mexican flag because it meant they were in gangs. There was a spew of not-so-subtle racist posts that went unchallenged by the professor. Freedom of speech? Sure. But these people are our future teachers. That was a disheartening concept. The professors were mostly fine. They didn't add much to the classes. GCU provides the materials and assignments, not the teachers, and the same assignments are recycled time, and time again. Sometimes assignments were outdated, and sometimes links to materials were no longer available. Other times, someone clearly attempted to update the assignments and/or materials but misaligned the course as a result, which became problematic to both the students and the professor. Because of how GCU is structured, the difficulties equally impacted students and professors, but there was no recourse for either of us. A lot of times I didn't understand what the assignments required, but I'd wing it, submit it, and get a 4.0. I received very little feedback and often wondered what other students were submitting and if anyone was actually reading my papers. I contemplated submitting a random paper to test the hypothesis, but never followed through. Another issue that I encountered regularly throughout my experience, was high similarity scores for plagiarism with other past students. Because the same assignments and readings have been reused hundreds of times, I'd submit essays that were identified as being submitted by another GCU student. ALL OF MY WORK WAS ORIGINAL, but a concept can only be explained so many different ways before it starts appearing similar to how someone else described it. Sometimes I would need to rewrite a paragraph three or four times before it cleared the system. By the end, it would no longer even reflect my thoughts or writing style, it would just be written in a way necessary to clear the system. Ultimately, GCU was what I expected; a sub-par collegiate experience that provided the certification I needed to advance in my career, but not because of the certification, but because of the ample experience I possess. For a younger student (I am in my late 30's) with less experience, I would encourage you to explore other options that will provide the valuable experiences that we all need to be good at our craft. For older adults like myself, GCU may help you advance your career if you already possess the bulk of the knowledge and skills that are foundational to your next steps. In regards to other experiences I have read about, I personally had a good student services team who was supportive and responsive. My criticisms apply only to how the online program is structured, the obvious need to update classroom assignments and materials, and create a more dynamic and engaging online learning community. To all of you, I wish you good luck and a prosperous life.