Opinions on Upgrad.com Please

[SophiaPrincess]

Does anyone have any experience with Upgrad.com?  They appear to be a marketing agent primarily promoting heavily discounted foreign graduate degrees to Indian students. I believe the company is based in India but they have university partners in a number of countries including the USA.  Their sloppy and aggressive sales practices created the impression it was a scam but after further digging, I believe they may be legit.  Upgrad claims a huge number of students.

I have read conflicting information. Most sites, including their own, imply they are marketing for various universities. Purported students at a couple of sites claim Upgrad provides their professors. Upgrad's site mentions supporting students but not teaching them. This gave rise to the concern that Upgrad might provide teachers for their students in place of the professors at the university partners, with the university partners only issuing the degrees

Basically, I'm just trying to determine if I pay Upgrad the heavily discounted tuition rate to obtain an MBA or DBA/PhD will their university partner receive the money, allow me to matriculate, allow me to take classes in the normal manner,  and eventually graduate from the university or would I be taught by Upgrad employees?   Thank you in advance for your advice.

[Tomas]

Conflicting information could be due to a variety of their offerings. I have no idea about the degrees they offer from UK and US universities, but for one example they also offer degrees from Woolf and in this case they act as a Woolf college thus professors are from Upgrad.

[bjcheung77]

Upgrad is the Indian version of Coursera, EdX, FutureLearn, Udacity, etc. I've mentioned that if students can handle the language barrier amongst other things, they should be able to get though the program, it'll be cheaper, easier, faster than the traditional route at the partner institution...

Otherwise, if there are no language barriers (you can accept the accents and can understand fully what is being taught), then they seem to be a viable option... It's basically a partnership between a course provider and an institution to churn out degrees for cheaper than the butt-in-seat counterparts...

[SophiaPrincess]

Upgrad is the Indian version of Coursera, EdX, FutureLearn, Udacity, etc.  I've mentioned that if students can handle the language barrier amongst other things, they should be able to get though the program, it'll be cheaper, easier, faster than the traditional route at the partner institution...  

Otherwise, if there are no language barriers (you can accept the accents and can understand fully what is being taught), then they seem to be a viable option... It's basically a partnership between a course provider and an institution to churn out degrees for cheaper than the butt-in-seat counterparts...

So the courses are taught by Upgrad but the degrees are issued by Upgrad partner universities? The degree I am interested in at a Upgrad partner university uses asynchronous courses if you attend directly without using Upgrad. If I sign up through Upgrad will I be taught by Upgrad professors?

[bjcheung77]

So the courses are taught by Upgrad but the degrees are issued by Upgrad partner universities? The degree I am interested in at a Upgrad partner university uses asynchronous courses if you attend directly without using Upgrad. If I sign up through Upgrad will I be taught by Upgrad professors?

Yes, you're using their platform to learn, everything from audio recordings to video, assignments/assessments, graded reviews, will be done by Upgrad.

[SophiaPrincess]

So the courses are taught by Upgrad but the degrees are issued by Upgrad partner universities? The degree I am interested in at a Upgrad partner university uses asynchronous courses if you attend directly without using Upgrad. If I sign up through Upgrad will I be taught by Upgrad professors?

Yes, you're using their platform to learn, everything from audio recordings to video, assignments/assessments, graded reviews, will be done by Upgrad.

Thanks for the clarification BJ. That explains how the colleges can discount the price. They don't have to pay for professors for Upgrad students. It does throw a monkey wrench in my plans. I had intended to ask the school to extend the Upgrad price to me if I attended the school directly. However, I would use some portion of their professors time.
Other than dealing with accents, are you familiar with any other issues using UpGrad? The savings are significant. I am surprised it isn't more popular on this forum.

[turbotortuga]

So the courses are taught by Upgrad but the degrees are issued by Upgrad partner universities? The degree I am interested in at a Upgrad partner university uses asynchronous courses if you attend directly without using Upgrad. If I sign up through Upgrad will I be taught by Upgrad professors?

Yes, you're using their platform to learn, everything from audio recordings to video, assignments/assessments, graded reviews, will be done by Upgrad.

Thanks for the clarification BJ. That explains how the colleges can discount the price. They don't have to pay for professors for Upgrad students. It does throw a monkey wrench in my plans. I had intended to ask the school to extend the Upgrad price to me if I attended the school directly. However, I would use some portion of their professors time.
Other than dealing with accents, are you familiar with any other issues using UpGrad? The savings are significant. I am surprised it isn't more popular on this forum.

Check out some of the threads regarding UpGrad from other members. The TLDR seems to be that UpGrad discounted programs are functional but highly mismanaged, frustrating, and extremely annoying. You get a great price, but pay for it in other ways. The consensus seems to be among those students that if you can afford the degree program without using UpGrad, then please do. Otherwise, you literally get what you pay for.

[panda02]

So the courses are taught by Upgrad but the degrees are issued by Upgrad partner universities? The degree I am interested in at a Upgrad partner university uses asynchronous courses if you attend directly without using Upgrad. If I sign up through Upgrad will I be taught by Upgrad professors?

Yes, you're using their platform to learn, everything from audio recordings to video, assignments/assessments, graded reviews, will be done by Upgrad.

Thanks for the clarification BJ. That explains how the colleges can discount the price. They don't have to pay for professors for Upgrad students. It does throw a monkey wrench in my plans. I had intended to ask the school to extend the Upgrad price to me if I attended the school directly. However, I would use some portion of their professors time.
Other than dealing with accents, are you familiar with any other issues using UpGrad? The savings are significant. I am surprised it isn't more popular on this forum.

Hi Sophia,
I decided to enroll with The Great Learning. It's a similar platform, so I expect the UpGrad experience to be comparable. I attended their Introduction and AMA live sessions, and here’s what I observed:
1.    As you mentioned, the initial sales approach felt overly aggressive and pushy. Despite having done my research, it felt like a scam at times.
2.    The advertised price includes an 18% GST (Tax), and full payment is expected upfront. Financing is only available through third-party Indian banks, so it’s only for students in India.
3.    Most of the students are based in India, which might make international students feel slightly out of place at first. However, all the students seem to have strong professional backgrounds.
4.    The instructors are also based in India, so there may be a brief adjustment period due to accents. That said, they seems highly knowledgeable and competent in their respective fields.

It works, but you are dealing with for-profit platforms so it can sometimes be frustrating, and live classes might be in the middle of the night. Still, it's my only option, so I'm fully committed.

[aimz]

I am currently doing a DBA via Upgrad. So far the experience has been positive, there are niggles but these are minor considering the course fee.

The initial phase of the DBA consisted of live lectures on a weekend and some recorded lectures too. The live lectures were pretty good, the lecturers were credible.

Now I am in the dissertation phase I have been assigned a supervisor who is very helpful. My cohort colleagues who have completed their research proposals have successfully presented their findings to the review panel that consists of members of the university.

Things may be different if you are planning on completing an MBA rather than DBA.

In my DBA cohort there is students from UK, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, UAE, Qatar and basically most countries in the world.

If you have any specific questions I can try my best to help you. Please note my experiences may be specific to one university that upgrad partners with (GGU).

[SophiaPrincess]

I am currently doing a DBA via Upgrad. So far the experience has been positive, there are niggles but these are minor considering the course fee.

The initial phase of the DBA consisted of live lectures on a weekend and some recorded lectures too. The live lectures were pretty good, the lecturers were credible.

Now I am in the dissertation phase I have been assigned a supervisor who is very helpful. My cohort colleagues who have completed their research proposals have successfully presented their findings to the review panel that consists of members of the university.

Things may be different if you are planning on completing an MBA rather than DBA.

In my DBA cohort there is students from UK, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, UAE, Qatar and basically most countries in the world.

If you have any specific questions I can try my best to help you. Please note my experiences may be specific to one university that upgrad partners with (GGU).

Glad you are having a good experience at GCU.  Originally, I planned to pursue the $3K MBA at HAU but the speed of the 2.5 year dual DBA/MBA at Edgewood College is appealing. Regular tuition is about $30K but Upgrad cuts that in half.  Edgewood is regionally accredited and accredited by the ACBSP. 

Are the videos and course materials created by GCU or UpGrad? Will you receive the same GCU degree you would receive if you studied directly with GCU?  I understand the Edgewood program is asynchronous. Should I expect live lectures from UpGrad professors? Do you have group projects or other interactions with your classmates? I don't speak Hindi. Is communication with your lecturers, TAs and classmates a challenge?  How does grading work? Do you take exams or write essays to measure mastery?

Thank you