Ottawa University-Ottawa in Ottawa

I came in as a second semester freshman or equivalent of three seven week and one four week session in Fall 1977. My junior year I attended USC as my mother was ill. I wanted to be close to home but, not at home. This was a very difficult decision as the core of my studies was being presented in an entirety new environment. With help I made it through another challenge and returned to complete my studies and exams at OU. My time was filled with hard work, long sleepless nights, lots of papers, lots of core and University required classes, and 7 week sessions. From the reviews I am not clear as to the problem. Except a series of unhappy students. OU has made some major changes since I attended and graduated. The challenge to change may have placed a few pebbles in the road, and any technology requires a great deal of time to iron out the glitches. OU would not be on my list to get accepted to today. It seems to be doing everything like every other University. When I was accepted and attended the entire program was unique with a concept not available at most other schools. I prefer unique. Best to all.

This where I learned to walk and talk in the mid-70's. First time back in 40 years.

I earned my M.A. is Counseling Substance Abuse, November, 2015. I returned August, 2016, to begin work on my second Master's degree in Education with a concentration in School Guidance Counseling (M.Ed). I enjoy learning as I am a very inquisitive individual. I have had two excellent academic advisors and financial aid advisors whom have always been timely in returning my phone calls and emails. They both work hard in ensuring their students have the tools they need to graduate from their respective programs. The academic deans are very good as well by overseeing the programs, and meeting with students as well. I believe for the price of a higher education, one cannot go wrong by enrolling at Ottawa University. The classes are offered both online and on campus: Phoenix, Surprise and San Tan. However, not all classes are offered online but it is very convenient to enroll and attend classes that fit into your schedule and lifestyle, as many of us work and families in addition to attending school. The professors at Ottawa are excellent. They work in their respective fields and have a lot of experience that they bring to the programs. Ottawa is a fine educational learning institution.

If I could leave negative stars I would. This school has incompetent staff throughout every department. Not one but two different academic advisors regularly screwed me over telling me I needed this or didn't need that and I listened. It cost me thousands and took me months longer to graduate to which they always responded, "that was my bad". My financial aid was always being screwed up and delayed, again costing me thousands and good luck getting to the bottom of anything because if they're not there and you leave messages they never call you back or if they are there they give vague responses and try to pawn the problem they caused onto you. They do not care about you at Ottawa. I was constantly berated and met with condescension whenever I tried to stand up to the crooked practices or try to get to the bottom of the situations they put me in. And if you try to fight them on any issue no matter the size( for example they screwed up a term for me to which I had to pay more money and spend more time to take missing classes) they will get really nasty and strong arm you saying, "well if you don't do what I tell you, you don't get your degree". I can't tell you how many times I heard that while I was there. If for some crazy reason you decide to go there which I don't understand why you would considering you pay so much for such a subpar education experience, but if you do keep records of EVERYTHING and stay on top of them when issues arise because they will. If it's something they screwed up on they are not going to willingly get back to you. And don't let them threaten you with not graduating if you don't take their crap lying down, that's where records and recordings come in real handy; you'd be amazed what a remark about contacting the dean will do. I hope this helps spare someone out there from the stress and frustration going there caused me. And also if you decide to go there make sure you have a fall back plan or other options because you very well may have to leave in order to get away from the situation they put you in. Good Luck!

Do not attend this school online. Their technology is not up-to-date, so when glitches occur, they hold you responsible. According to their tech support, everything that goes wrong is your issue, not theirs. Why even have a tech support team if they're not willing to address your issues and help solve the problem? Also, watch Firefox, it is their required browser. Firefox combined with the Ottawa website creates mass amounts of pop-ups. Their website is not compatible with any other browser, so if this happens to you, you're just screwed. This school started off as decent, but then progressively got to the point where I voluntarily quit and transferred to a school where I had to take ten additional classes to graduate. It was worth it to not have Ottawa as a problem anymore.