Full Sail University Scam?
If you've been looking for a place to get an online degree recently, chances are you have seen an ad promoting Full Sail University. And as Full Sail is not as widely known as some of the other online universities, you may wonder about the quality of their education and accreditation. Since anyone thinking of entering a school program would naturally want to know some background first, you may wonder is there a Full Sail University scam, or is it a legitimate online school.
First Some Background
Full Sail University was originally founded in 1979 in Dayton, Ohio under the name,” Full Sail Recording Workshop”. Within a year the school relocated to Florida, and is still located in Winter Park. The schools original mission was to offer media related courses, such as video and film production. They have since expanded their curriculum to include a wide variety of media related degrees, and business courses as well, at the associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degree levels.
Things to Keep In Mind
Full Sail is, and always has been, a for-profit school. This means it is run like a business, keep this in mind before you listen to disgruntled former students and employees posting the same complaints over and over online, claiming that there is a Full Sail University scam. If you take issue, as many people do, with the business practices of for-profit schools then Full Sail may not be for you. Keep in mind however a for-profit school would go out of business if its product did not work most of the time, and for-profit schools look more and more to be the wave of the future. The things you should consider in any online school are tuition and accreditation, basically, how much it will cost and what you will be getting for your investment.
Accreditation
One of the most common online university scams is to have sales people hook you in to the schools program, and have you spending tens of thousands of dollars only to find that your degree is not worth the paper it’s printed on. Accreditation can only be given by organizations approved by the United States Dept. of Education. There are to major types of accreditation, regional and national. Although Full Sail University is not regionally accredited, like most major universities, it does hold national accreditation through the Accrediting Commission of Schools and Colleges, so you may have problems transferring your credits to a regionally accredited school. Regionally accredited schools are not obligated to accept credits from non-regional schools.
Tuition
Many online universities can be grossly overpriced, so make sure you do your research and find out what your final cost will be to complete your degree. Tuition at full sail comes to about $460 per credit hour, and though this is about $100 higher than many online schools, it should not be taken as evidence of a Full Sail University scam, as you can finish a bachelor’s degree in only 2 years.
Is Full Sail University a Scam?
The short answer is no, Full Sail University is definitely not a scam. The tuition costs at Full Sail may be a little pricey, and their accreditation may not be on par with a major university, but this is not a scam. The schools programs are well known in the performing arts and media industries and have led to employment for Full Sail graduates. The programs it offers give legitimate training in the fields they relate to, and should they ever achieve regional accreditation they will become a major player in this field of higher education almost overnight.
If you would like more information and guidance on choosing the school that is best suited for you