Baker College

Former Baker College Student February 1, 2009 at 12:44 a.m.

Stay away from Baker College Online. The benefits of online education are completely lost on this institution because they have an unflexible timeline and extreme participation requirements.

Timeline: Everything is due by Midinight EST no exceptions. That means that students on the west coast, which I was, had to complete their assignments by 9 PM. When I made this point to an instructor and a dean, their responses were identically absurd: "East Coast students may have more time at the end of their day, but you have more time at the beginning." I guess their logic was that I should wake up at three in the morning to get started on my coursework. This is a ridiculous way of doing business because it wouldn't cost them anything but a little understanding to make the exception. It's not like any of the instructors waited until midnight to grade papers anyways.

Participation: To get full credit for participation, students have to log into their online classes and make two 'substantial posts' twice a day, 6 days per week. This equates to a traditional brick and morter student going to class 6 days a week and actually participating each time; it just doesn't happen. Imagine, if you were like me and took 2 - 3 classes at a time, you had to make 24 to 36 participation posts per week! All before midnight EST! The instructors sure held the students to this requirement, but typically never adequately facilitated enough discussion to make that many substantial posts.

They are also really stingy with transfer credit. They only gave me about 8 credits for all of my military training and experience. The bottom line is, don't go to this school for any reason. The only real benefit they provided me was that the classes were only 6 weeks long; a feat which is duplicated by other online universities

I recommend Baker College March 7, 2009 at 8:58 p.m.

I have attended Baker College since 2002 and am only graduating this spring with my B.B.A. in Business Management, because life circumstances have forced me to postpone my education. However, I had no doubt of returning because Baker College has given me a rewarding experience.

Prior to registering for an online college, I have done a lot of research and felt that Baker College was a good fit for me. All the classes are done exclusively online, which allowed me to continue working and traveling as I often did. I was able to log in from any Internet enabled computer and continue my work. Baker College offered a lot of flexibility. There quarter semesters allowed me to take a break when necessary, and continue when I was ready without delaying my progress too much.

At Baker College we are required to post at least 2 discussion threads 5 days out of 7 to count as participation. This allowed me to manage my time better and post sufficiently to add to the classroom discussion and not lose participation points. I’ve also had many great professors that I have learned a lot from, and many do give some up some of their time to talk on the phone to clarify the lessons. I have had courses where my classmates were great, participated every day and had a lot to share with the rest of the class. The best courses were the ones with classmates that really participated with everyone else. I have called Baker College’s Business office and Academic office, and they have always been very helpful. For example, I have often bothered the Academic office regarding the CLEP exams, and they politely sent me an email with all the CLEP exams that they accept and the corresponding courses. This has saved me a lot of money and time. The online bookstore has always given me all the information I needed regarding the required textbooks, and was able to buy it for cheaper from Amazon. I never had the feeling that they would withhold information from me just to make more money. Baker College really does seem genuinely interest in helping their students and helping them succeed. Another huge benefit is that Baker College is a relatively inexpensive college who is also regionally accredited. In today’s times, low cost and accreditation is very important,

Remember that Baker College may not have all the bells and whistles, but it has the most important thing that students need. It has the commitment, desire, experience, and low cost to help their students achieve their degree and succeed in the real world. Also remember that regardless of the school that we all choose to go to, the most important ingredient is the students themselves. What we put into our education is what we will eventually get out of out of our education.

I would recommend Baker College.

Kyle June 4, 2009 at 7:12 a.m.

I recently completed a B.B.A. in Finance after 2.5 years of full-time study while holding down a full-time job simultaneously. Baker has a lot going for it:

1. If you are willing to burn the candle at both ends, you can graduate in a reasonable amount of time, even with work and family commitments.
2. Tuition is cheap.
3. The academic rigor was comparable to that of a Big Ten University I originally enrolled in (I am dead serious).
4. The online content was easy to access and utilize.
5. I have found that my degree is looked upon as being the same as an on-the-ground degree by my Fortune 500 employer. It is helpful that Baker College is a not-for-profit institution with an original presence as an on-the-ground college, unlike University of Phoenix, Cappella, etc.

There are a few other points to consider:

1. If you are not comfortable with browsing the web or checking your email, this form of education is not for you.
2. Online education in general requires the learner to be self-motivated and organized, and Baker is no exception.
3. The relatively wide-open admissions policy of this institution can result in a few classmates who are not up to snuff in the lower-level courses. I did not find this to be seriously detrimental, just a minor annoyance.
4. The program is non-stop unless you schedule a term off. There is no provision for missing a day of posting because your family reunion stretches over the three-day Memorial Day Weekend,for instance. If you choose to attend both terms of all four quarters then you will be in class for 48 weeks of the year.
5. The vast majority of evaluations come from writing papers, rather than from taking tests.

I recommend Baker College Online without hesitation.

Marti Wukelic June 26, 2009 at 7:22 p.m.

I'm about three classes away from my BBA and frankly, I'm very pleased with the experience. Yes, it's a concentrated program, but the semesters are short. I think this program may be better received by people like myself - computer-friendly professionals who have a bit of life experience under their belts and are able to focus on intense, quick courses.

I enrolled when I was living in a rural area that was not served by a traditional college, but stayed with it even after I moved to a more populated area.

You write a LOT in a Baker online course. So if that's a problem, it may not be the right choice for you. Personally the writing is fine with me, so it was a perfect fit.

I'm happy with it.

Nealy July 19, 2009 at 6:31 a.m.

I love Baker. This school does not get the credit it deserves. I graduated from Baker in 2008 and I had no problem getting into grad school... which school you ask? Try Michigan State. Baker is a great school with a great reputation. Most of the negative reviews you read will be from students who flunked out and did not want to do the work. The Baker curriculum is HARD and many people don't anticipate that before attending. So what if you had issues with financial aid? Or your mad that you had to particpate more than you wanted, seriously what is the quality of the school? That is what people want to know. I got a great education at Baker. I enjoyed every bit of it. It was well worth the time, effort and money spent.

Deb K September 14, 2009 at 6:33 p.m.

I am in my fifties and working on my Bacherlor's Degree at Baker. I took my first online class this summer and loved it. Too many people want the rewards and are not willing to do the work! Daily postings were not a big deal, to post takes 19 to 15 minutes of your day, and as far as I know we all get 24 hrs. I am glad it requires hard work and I believe you get what you pay for. As far as assistance, I find that everyone has been extremely helpful. Many of my teachers have provided their personal cell phone no. for any extra assistance required.

Niki October 29, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

Here is my review of Baker,
Well I am a student who already holds a Bachelors Degree in Engineering and went back to school via Baker for a Bachelors in Web Development because I wanted to learn, now that is where the irony comes in. I didn't need this degree, because an Engineering Degree qualifies me for jobs in this area as long as I can show a portfolio. The first thing that surprised me is that all there is to Baker College is that you read textbooks, homework is from the same text book and that's it. First, to succeed online you have to be motivated and dedicated, so if you have that motivation why cant you learn on your own? What I find is that during the six weeks, you are too busy completing homework that you may not learn much. I can see how other programs may work out but in Technology classes its not easy to grasp the full concept if you have to keep worrying about turning homework in, answering discussion questions, participation etc. So, that's where the joke is on me, I enrolled to learn but spend less time learning and more time just getting homework in. Many of the teachers they have are not proficient in the classes they instruct and this comes out in the way they respond to class questions. As a result many of them are not active in the participation and depend on the students to teach each other and answer other students questions, and ironically these are the instructors that grade the hardest and have no grace period with assignments. its like they are trying to make up for their lack of credentials by being overly difficult in grading. Also the textbooks that Baker College uses are out to date and that's a no-no with programming classes. They have you buy current software and then have you buy a textbook for the outdated version of the software and now you have a mismatched book, and still no sympathy from the instructor. Now, why do I need to attend Baker College when I can buy a more up to date and current text book, one that has a good market feedback and join one of those free programming communities. Now, I can focus on learning and stop killing myself to meet Baker College ridiculous schedule. After all you have to teach yourself at Baker College and many instructors are not conscientious of that. Instead they tell you that if you cant learn that way then taking classes online is not for you. I mean come on!! My advice to you, if you don't need a degree don't attend Baker College. The forced assignments will not make you learn as that is what I thought. If you are thinking about Web Development you only need a good portfolio anyway which Baker College will not make you get. You should have seen the crappy website that I made after one class that they wanted me to add to my portfolio, what a joke. You ca do better than Baker, expect little help and expect that 50% of the instructors are probably less knowledgeable than YOU in the subject that they instruct. Free online communities, here I come!