Hodges UPower - any experiences/reviews?

[Berzerker]

I've been looking into a degree from Hodges via their UPower (competency base) program.

There is very little in the way of helpful reviews or forum posts from actual students/grads on. 

Lots of people say how it seems very attractive (comparing it to WGU) but have yet to come across anyone who has actually ever been a student at Hodges.

Just checking in to see if at this point anyone has signed-on with them and has a review and any helpful insight into this University and their UPower program at this point.

[bjcheung77]

Not many alumni know about the forums, I have found only 1 person doing a quick favorable review on his Bachelors in CIT at Hodges on another sister forum, and he posted that twice. Sanantone mentioned Hodges in the forums, so I got curious about their program. When I was looking at Hodges, I found their success stories pages and there were a few that I really liked but only two mentioned UPower as it's a newer self paced program.

I read all of their Success Stories: https://www.hodges.edu/Life-at-Hodges/St...s-Stories/
These are the ones that I liked reading on, as some are "still students", I mainly wanted to read about the graduates.
There are a few that did two or three degrees at Hodges, see below, and the IT program reviews.

Husband & Wife team who did all 3 degrees at Hodges, both finishing an MPA with Upower.
https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Ryan-and-Kayla-Harp/
This lady did all three degrees at Hodges as well in Legal Studies
https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Jennifer-Pretlow/

CIT: https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Michael-Enright/
ISM: https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Kevin-Jackson/
Digital Design: https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Brandon-Collier/
CyberSecurity (Upower) : https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Kasidit-T...h-(David)/
Current Student: https://www.hodges.edu/Profile/Phuc-Sean-Tran/

Hodges and WGU are both cheap/easy/fast - For WGU Bachelors, most of their programs are 35 courses total as some are 4 credits. One thing people don't know about Hodges is their transfer and residency requirements, for an Associates you can transfer in 40 credits and finish 20 residency credits, for their Bachelors you can transfer all but 32 residency credits. The kicker is, most colleges/universities, it takes 40 - 3 credit bearing courses, but WGU requires roughly 5 less and at Hodges, it's 10 less - each undergrad course is worth 4 credits. When you transfer a 3 credit course, it still is treated at a 4 credit course! (Why can't they do that for the Masters programs! As I am only interested in grad studies!)

[Berzerker]

Thanks for the reply!

I have found only 1 person doing a quick favorable review on his Bachelors in CIT at Hodges on another sister forum, and he posted that twice.

Really?  If I know what site you're talking about, I never found that post and I searched up and down a few times over this past week.  Is it possible you can post the link or PM it to me?

As far as the reviews on their site...

I read their reviews and testimonials, however, being that Hodges is a for-profit school, I don't take testimonials/reviews posted on their own site as "substantial" by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, even if they were non-profit I would still take it with a grain of salt.  There's no real way to judge if these people are real or if they were "incentivized" in some way to write a favorable review.  It may be illegal to do such things, but that doesn't mean anything if you have deep pockets and a good legal team.  That's why I'm looking for forum reviews.  Sure, you can never say for certain if someone on a forum isn't a shill or a compulsive liar, but you can make a very good educated guess by looking at their past posts, age of account, etc, etc, etc.

[bjcheung77]

Hodges is NOT a for profit university, just like WGU they're non-profit, I think you got them confused with another for profit university, and I agree about the testimonials, but I still like reading them, they seem more genuine. If you really want to read reviews that are somewhat skewed, here's one: https://www.niche.com/colleges/hodges-un...y/reviews/

If you're referring to DegreeInfo, another regular member there "me again" graduated from International College (before it was renamed Hodges University) a decade ago, they're a regular contributor on that site. You can ask them or PM them more info on their studies, but this is before Upower existed.

You may want to also PM this user: His younger brother is in the Upower program at Hodges, they're a regular at Degreeinfo as well. http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distan...post479341

This person made a list of IT/Competency based programs after I did mine - with slight differences (it mentions Hodges).
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-deg...grees.html

Here's the person who finished at Hodges in 2012, their first post: http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-deg...post628853
Their second post with more details: http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-deg...post628824

[Berzerker]

You're absolutely right.  Hodges is NOT a FOR-profit college.  They are private, but they are non-profit.  I must have mixed them up with one of the many other colleges I was reading about.  As they say...my bad. 

But I'm so glad you pointed it out because that moves them very close to the top of my list.  The only reason they are not at the very top is because I don't really know if competency-based is the right model for me.  I want the independence & speed that CBE affords, but being so far removed from the academic setting that I don't know if it's something I can handle, at least right out of the gate.

Thanks for the links.  I'll check them out when I get a chance.

[mudball]

My son started Hodges Upower program Oct 1st for BS in software development. The 1st 1/2 is the same classes as their AS in IT. I found the application/ and transfer process frustrating but I have nothing to compare it to. They only let you transfer 30ACE or non-graded credits in. They would not accept CSU CBE at all. They assign 2 classes at a time. One from your major and one from LA or business requirements. The next class is released when you finish one of the classes. The class itself also only releases one lesson at a time. You have to complete each lesson/project with 70% to move to the next lesson. The material for His Hardware support class is pretty good. He especially likes the LAB SIM which has video lessons and virtual labs. Professor Messer(sp) does a lot of the videos. It is NOT fast, but he had no experience in this area, and is learning a lot. He has a lot of programming experience so it should get faster when he reaches those classes. (80% on pre test AND post test would move you to the next section of the class) If you have any other questions let me know. I hope this helps.

[jsd]

They don't let you skip over things you're already familiar with??

I'm not sure they should market that as competency based, then. Self-paced, sure. But not CBE.

It's funny that they're using Professor Messer YouTube videos as their course content. He's great and what I used to pass a bunch of ConpTIA exams, but I wonder if he knows he's a real life college instructor and not just a YouTube star now

[mudball]

Yes, you can pass through a section if you receive 80% on pre AND post tests. For example, in his computer applications class he has 4 sections. Microsoft word, PP, excel and access. He had a project in each of those for the pre-test and also a post test project. They were somewhat detailed, but the projects were not timed so he was able to figure them out. (The Hardware support class multiple choice/matching tests ARE timed) He passed the first 3 with 80% or more on both tests and moved to the next area without doing any of the assignments. He is now on access but does not know anything about it so is watching some youtube videos before he takes the pre test project. I'm not sure the Professor Messer videos are the same as his YouTube videos, I imagine they had to pay him for his content. He is definitely a good teacher.

[Berzerker]

WOW!  Thanks for the info, mudball! 

You have no idea how excited I am to be in contact with someone who has experience with Hodges/UPower!  Hard to find!

I have many questions for you and I hope not to annoy you with them. 

These are the most important questions I can think of right now... 

- Did your son go into Hodges straight from HS or did he transfer from another college?  The reason I ask is related to my next question...

- Did your son have to provide SAT or ACT transcripts/scores to be admitted to Hodges and did he have to take the State of Florida's Accuplacer test as part of the admissions/enrollment process?

- How is the support?  Are they helpful?  Does he actually have a professor for his classes or is it like WGU where you have a "mentor"?  Any detail you can give me on this matter is appreciated.

- Do they have a min and max # of credits/classes you can take per term?

- So you're saying that you don't have to do an assignment or project for any class as long as you can pass the pre- and post-tests for that class with an 80% or above?

- How many classes has your son knocked-out so far in this past 1.5ish months he's been in the UPower program?

- Books?  Do they require a lot of book purchases or are all/most provided?

OK, that's all I have for now. 

[mudball]

Did your son go into Hodges straight from HS or did he transfer from another college?  The reason I ask is related to my next question...
      - he had taken 2 classes at Colorado state global as a course only student, and has about 50 ace credits mostly from study.com. (only 30cr can be transferred from ACE)
- Did your son have to provide SAT or ACT transcripts/scores to be admitted to Hodges and did he have to take the State of Florida's Accuplacer test as part of the admissions/enrollment process?
      - he has not taken the SAT or ACT, nor did they ask for it. I don't know what the Florida Accuplacer test is. They have two placement tests. One for English and one for math. He did not have to take the math one because he already had several ACE credits in math. If he had completed COMP I, he would not have had to take the English test. He took some type of fairly easy grammar type test with a short essay that asked him about his strengths & weaknesses.
- How is the support?  Are they helpful?  Does he actually have a professor for his classes or is it like WGU where you have a "mentor"?  Any detail you can give me on this matter is appreciated.
   - each class so far has had a teacher that you can get help from. He has only had a few e-mails back & forth with one of them. She responded every time by the next day.

- Do they have a min and max # of credits/classes you can take per term?
    - you can take as many as you want, but in the order they give you. You have to take and pass at least one post-assessment in at least one class by the end of the first month.

- So you're saying that you don't have to do an assignment or project for any class as long as you can pass the pre- and post-tests for that class with an 80% or above?
     - yes, but the pre and post test for the computer applications class was a project. The tests for the Hardware class were multiple choice/matching. Then there is a Final Exam at the end of each class that has to be passed at 70% I think. It appears some are proctored and some are not.
- How many classes has your son knocked-out so far in this past 1.5ish months he's been in the UPower program?
  - He is still on his first two classes. Hardware he is done with 7/10 chapters. He had no experience here and wanted to do all of the lessons. The comp appl class he has tested out of 3 of 4. He has not reached any finals yet. He is 17 yrs old and not as motivated as an adult may be. There was about a two-week learning curve at the beginning to figure out the system and processes.

- Books?  Do they require a lot of book purchases or are all/most provided?
   - they are extra. They give you a list and have you order them from their store and they add the costs to your tuition. So far there are no physical books, everything is accessed online. We are paying monthly for both about $558. If he does a lot of classes in the six months the book costs may increase that. I think you can opt to buy them yourself, but I'm not sure and would not suggest it. When you order from them everything is placed in the proper place in the course and linked to the lessons.

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Just to be clear. There is a pre and a post-test for each section of each class. The hardware class has 10 sections and the CAP class has 4 sections.