A Review of Southern New Hampshire University
*Updated as of 4/5/2022
2 years ago I decided to go back to school. I spent months researching and running the numbers to make sure I was avoiding debt while still getting a quality education. Though I’m no longer a college student (life happens and I dropped out.), the selection process taught me a lot about what to look for, questions to ask and how to fund education without loans.
I decided on Southern New Hampshire University for a lot of reasons, which I will get into. The main reason I wanted to write this is to show that conventional is not always the best option. Being open-minded about education can be a money saver in a lot of ways.
SNHU is a hybrid school. They offer in-person classes as well as online. Their programs span from AAs to Masters in a plethora of industries. The main difference between SNHU and a traditional college is that SNHU’s classes are only 8 weeks long. The classes are accelerated meaning you can complete your degree in nearly half the time. They offer full-time enrollment, which is two classes, or half-time at one class per term (which still qualifies you for federal financial aid!). This means, in one calendar year, you could knock out about 13 classes in your program going full time.
Pros
Enrollment
I paid nothing to SNHU to apply or enroll. Well, not nothing. I had to pay for my transcripts from my community college during my first college attempt 10 years ago. But, SNHU charged nothing to apply.
I called their enrollment department and after some questions, they put me in touch with a student advisor on the whole process, cost, and timeline of the degree program I was looking at. It took maybe two phone calls and submitting my application in online.
The reps I spoke with were a mix of senior-year student advisors and faculty. Everyone I spoke with was very thorough in explaining the process.
Staff and Faculty
After a year and a half of classes, I never really had a bad experience with a teacher or support staff. There was one teacher that was mildly annoying, but that’s a me thing. Overall staff and faculty were super responsive and positive. My advisor called me partway through each class to make sure I was on track or to see if she could find resources to help me. Their free tutoring service was also a much-used and appreciated option. It’s manned by Masters students and faculty and is available nearly 24/7. They also do open tutoring sessions so you can sign up and have a little study group, which is great if you prefer a more social learning environment. Comparing this to my local community college is night and day. Nothing wrong with community college, I just didn’t have a good experience with mine.
Cost
SNHU is definitely more expensive than my community college. It’s about $960 per class but can be more for graduate programs. However, I used federal aid (which you should absolutely apply for because free money and if you’re over 25 you get a lot more of it.) as well as employer tuition assistance. Overall I paid ¼ of my overall tuition costs. They even offer deferred payment plans on tuition. I had 45 days from the end of one term to pay the balance after federal aid is applied. Meaning I was able to save over the course of the term instead of paying it all upfront. My total AA degree would have only cost me about $3k, not including books. Speaking of books, I never paid more than $80 for any of them.
Time Commitment and Schedule
My advisor enrolled me in all my classes. She knew exactly what I need to take and in what order so I never had to worry about mucking up my progress. SNHU’s classes are accelerated classes. Instead of a full semester with three or more classes, you take one or two classes every 8-weeks. Yes, one class is only 8 weeks long but they pack a lot into those 8 weeks.
They advise setting aside about 10-15 hours per week for classwork and I’d say that’s pretty spot on. Most of the classes are structured so certain days of the week are when things like discussion contributions, homework, and quizzes should be turned in online. There’s usually a final project check-in halfway through, which actually forced us not to procrastinate too hard.
Cons
Coursework
This is a con but also not a con. I was in an Accounting program which had classes that deal with taxation, economic structure, etc. Personally, because I was in more diverse financial spaces before this degree, I felt some of the material was out of touch. There were certain parts of my economics and business classes that perpetuate things (like unemployment benefits taking away the motivation for people to work) that are just out of touch with reality. However, it would have been like this regardless of if I went to SNHU or another school.
That being said, most classes I took were great. SNHU provides a ton of resources to help make the classes make sense. The fact that I passed Statistics with an A AND understood the material is a testament to that.
The courses move fast though. As an adult student, it took me a few terms to find a study schedule. Especially because I was having to reread and find other sources to help me understand the material.
Location
SNHU is on the opposite coast from me. Sometimes, if I needed help or wanted to set up a meeting, coordinating between time zones was tricky. I usually had to leave work early or use my lunch break to connect with someone not over email. Luckily that didn’t need to happen often. Maybe once every other term so it’s not a huge issue, but something to consider.
Emergency and Late Work Policies
I had to withdraw because of medical issues with my dad and my dog. My dog tore both her ACL’s within months of each other and required surgery with a very hands-on recovery. My dad also ended up in the hospital and I withdrew from classes when I knew I wanted to spend more time with him before he passed.
I was proactive about everything initially. I connected with my advisor and my teacher letting them know about the situations. I asked if there were options for extensions for some of the assignments I knew I wasn’t going to get to in time. Because policies have to be applied fairly across the board, my only option was to take a hit of 10 points off the assignment for each day it was late. Meaning two days late was automatically starting at 80% before grading. Because I was using employer tuition assistance, I had to maintain a certain GPA to qualify for the assistance. I had to choose between turning in homework, or being with my mom while my dad was on life support. I chose family.
I list this as a con because life happens. That is unavoidable. I don’t think it’s fair to force people to choose between something as trivial as homework over being with family during an extremely stressful and emotional time.
Overall
Overall, I was pretty happy with choosing SNHU. I only left because of outside situations with my family and some health-related stuff. While I was an active student, however, SNHU checked all the boxes I needed to balance work and my classes as well as being affordable.
There are so many options for expanding your knowledge base. SNHU isn’t a traditional college but it will function the same in terms of expanding my skillset and opening doors in the future. However you decide to pursue your education, just know there are so many options that will work with whatever your situation might be. Don’t let the cost and time keep you from leveling up.
If you’ve been considering going back to school or are stumped on how to make it all work, check out this post I wrote for Staking Benjamins all about comparing cost and important questions to ask yourself before committing to higher education.
You can also read more about employer tuition assistance programs here.
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