What is American Sentinel University?

Answer 1

It looks like a typical for-profit online school. The website is here: http://www.americansentinel.edu/index.php. One of the things that they do is grant credit hours to people for "life experience," so if you have been in the business world for several years, you can get credit for that towards your business degree. Studants typically enjoy this, understandably, because it means less work for the same degree. Some would argue that it is deserved credit, at least in some cases. However, there are businesses and schools that would look down on any institution that participates in doing this, so be sure you know that whoever you are getting the degree for will accept it before you enter into such an agreement.

American Sentinel University is an excellent university that offers online degrees in business and information technology. It is different than most other online university in the fact that you get to interact with your instructors. A student can ask questions and get help in any material he's having trouble with. It's is a fully accredited university. Most ASU students are satisfied with their university.

The only complaints that I have about the university is the appearance of some instability in that they have had several name changes over the years, and for an educational institution, this has always caused concerns for its alumni. In 1992 and possibly back to its inception it was known as the American Institute for Computer Sciences, and then the American College of Computer & Information Sciences, and then in 2005 it changed again to the present name of American Sentinel University, and offers a greater diversity of degree programs.

In the early days of its existence, it used a ploy to attract students into their programs by not stipulating any time limit for the completion of courses or the degree program. This would have been great for those who are busy with their lives to complete degrees at their leisure as time permitted, but apparently, they came to a realization that there were not a lot of graduates, which is purely speculation on my part as well as not being a very good business model. Therefore, the policy changed to 6 years for undergraduate and 5 years for the graduate program circa 1999, the best that I can tell from any documentation.

However, the funny thing is that they seem to not be willing to honor those original unlimited agreements and seemed to have placed a cap on those as well at approximately 10 years, by sending out email notification of which many were obsolete addresses for those students... email by the way is not by any means legally adequate in terms of notice, nor is it possible to terminate those perpetual no age limit agreements!

When confronted with this fact they are purporting to be a new legal entity, in an apparent attempt to sidestep this obligation, when in fact they are not, according to the Alabama Secretary of State's office on their corporate records, having the same basic structure since 1992, and only filing some legal name changes, and flip-flopping back and forth between Education and Sales for business definition over the years. But still the Blue Sky Acceptance Corporation, as they are now know, is the successor to American College of Computer Science, with the newly formed (in 2005) American Sentinel University, LLC, established to operate the American College of Computer and Information Science and has one member corporation American Graduate School of Management, Inc. This might seem quite convoluted and confusing for the uninitiated paper chaser, but the bottom line is that the same people are all there and still accountable for any prior commitments. In the final analysis they are a good group of people and I thing they will do the right thing, while I can understand them being protective of their business interest and profitability, and placing it first over anything else as all such for profit schools do.

I will update this information as information changes over time...

For more information on American Sentinel University visit www.americansentinel.edu

Answer 2

Most all institutions of higher education have some type of accreditation. In the case of American Sentinel University, it has an accreditation by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). That being said, this is not the preferred accreditation for colleges and universities. But still, Distance Education and Training Council is listed as a renowned accreditation agency of the U.S Department of Education.The university has earned excellent reviews and rankings. The online program has the goal of providing students a high quality, convenient and affordable access to education. The American Sentinel University offers low tuition rates on online degree programs, fees may vary depending on the chosen program. For Associate Programs, it may costs $4,800-$19,200 which depends on the number transfer credits. For Bachelor Programs, the cost would range to $1290 to $1350. Doctorate Programs costs about $22,680 and lastly, Master's program could cost at the least $6930 to $14760 at the most.

When choosing a college or university, always make sure the institution has a regional accreditation. With a regional accreditation, you can be assured that the coursework and degree you complete will be recognized by all other colleges and universities, as well as employers. I have placed a list of the six accrediting agencies below, with their geographical areas of responsibilty. Make sure the school is accredited by one of the below agencies.

Regional Accreditation Agencies

· Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as schools for American children in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

· New England Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in the six New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).

· North Central Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

· Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities - Postsecondary institutions (colleges and universities) in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

· Western Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, Palau, and Northern Marianas Islands.

· Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas.