With over 10,000 students and plenty more online Monroe College is attempting to show that for-profit schools can provide quality and stay loyal to students. One quality of the school is that they have broken up the year into three semesters, so there isn’t any downtime on your quest for knowledge. You’ll be taking classes year-round and won’t have to worry about fitting required courses into your academic schedule.
Monroe College Overview
Started nearly 80 years ago as a business school Monroe College has expanded and grown over the years to offer a wider assortment of academic programs. Offering a good mix of both 2-year associate degrees, 4-year bachelor degrees, as well as graduate programs, no matter what your educational ambitions are you should be able to find a field and program that’s suited to you.
Accreditation
Monroe College is regionally accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. This means that in the future if you want to change schools and transfer your credits you’ll have an easier time of it. This is the same caliber accreditation that public state-funded universities receive, so it makes the process of interacting with these schools less of a hassle. This includes transferring, as well as furthering your studies later in your career.
Traditional Campuses
It’s always nice when a school has a physical presence, and MC not only has a main campus, but they also feature two additional campuses. One of which is located in the Bronx, with the other two located in New Rochelle and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia for impressive beach views while you study. There’s also Monroe Online (discussed below) which offers the same courses found in the classrooms delivered through their online systems.
Athletic Teams
Providing a true college feel, Monroe College competes in various sports with the team name of Mustangs and team colors of gold and blue. Depending on whether or not you’re a sports fan, this can seem to be a great feature or an unnecessary expense that increases tuition costs.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The cost of attending Monroe College is on par with other universities of the same size and stature. If you were looking at an online university as a way of reducing your cost of a college education, you may want to look elsewhere. While assuredly a good value, this is not the school for you if you don’t want to pay back loads of student loans, and if things are tight financially.
Monroe Online
Monroe offers an extensive number of programs online, and has several thousand students taking courses over the Internet. You can get a bachelors degree in Business Management, Criminal Justice, Hospitality Management, and Information Technology all online from your computer at home or at work.
Online Health Care Programs
It’s hard to find a school that offers quality healthcare programs online, in an effective manner. So many medical careers require extensive hands on training that it is difficult for a school to provide that sort of education online. In the case of Monroe College, they have two programs that
Health Services Admin
Monroe College doesn’t pull any punches with this bachelors degree. The course requirements mirror those at a traditional university and you’ll be expected to complete all of your general education classes before getting into specific courses for your major.
Once you complete the program you’ll be able to apply for and secure positions with titles like Office Manager, Health and Social Service Manager, Program Manager, Clinical Director, Medical Records Manager, Mental Health Program Manager, Nutrition Services Manager, Practice Administrator to name a few. These are mid to upper level management positions with plenty of room for advancement.
The beauty of this program is that an overwhelming majority of students that begin it, end up completing it. Not only that but they complete it on time. And not only do they finish and finish according to plan, but they are then placed into the medical field and able to apply what they’ve learned to the job that they hold, according to Monroe College.
The entire program costs a whopping $50,000. This seems excessive at first, but if their employment data is correct it could be a worthwhile investment. Since it is a bachelor’s degree it provides a nice stepping stone for further study if you find that your career demands a masters degree. The average student comes out of this program over $20,000 in debt, so not only will you likely have to foot the bill for whatever student loans won’t cover, you’ll have to begin paying off your student loans 6 months after you graduate.
Medical Administration
If you’d like to speed through your education and hit the job market even sooner, this is a program you should look into further. In just half the time as it takes to get a bachelors, you can have an associate degree and be on your way to being employed in a medical career.
The program boasts similar job placement rates as the bachelor programs, but you’ll invest less time and money in order to accomplish the goal. Of course, you’ll be eligible for lower paying jobs than you would if you got your bachelors, so this is a great option for those that aren’t entirely sure that a health care job is for them, and want to test the water before jumping in. At just over $16,000 for the entire program you can get a large majority of that covered by student loans, with little out-of-pocket money required. Recouping this investment should take a relatively short period of time.
Public Health
This program has a phenomenal completion rate, with every student completing it on time and as scheduled, but has a slightly lower rate of employability than other programs. This could be because the demand for public health workers is not as high as some other health fields. This may change in the near future as baby boomers begin to retire and leave these jobs vacant. Because of the sluggish economy there seems to be fewer people giving up their jobs and retiring.
If you’ve ever wanted to be a Health Educator, Public Health Educator, Clinical Instructor, Community Health Consultant, Health Promotion Specialist, Certified Diabetes Educator, Child Development Specialist, Clinical Nurse Educator, Community Health Education Coordinator, Education Coordinator this is the program you’ll want to complete. You’ll be able to oversee large scale projects and educate the general public on major health concerns.
Nursing Programs
Monroe College has an extensive program in their School of Nursing, with training being conducted in their cutting edge facilities in New York. Because they do not focus on programs like RN to BSN, they do not offer 100% online courses in Nursing. They are specializing in taking new students and giving them the training needed to get started as a nurse.
For-Profit, Private College
In our opinion this is the best set up for a school to have. Monroe College is private so they are not subjected to rules and regulations that publicly funded schools are, they are able to make their own decisions and therefore can adapt more quickly. They are for profit so they are always trying to deliver the best experience for their students, while maximizing how they use their money and always making sure that their business increases and improves.
Compared to a for-profit publicly traded university the difference is clear. Less people to deal with in regards to paying dividends to shareholders results in a more intrinsic experience for students.
Final Recommendation
Because this school is privately held, there are not as many shareholders to demand that it turn giant profits every quarter. Without this pressure the college is able to maintain its loyalty to the students and provide a quality learning experience, both online and off. While they do seem to invest in unneeded expenditures such as a sports program, these can be thought of as boosting student morale and can play a part in the bigger picture. They aren’t an option for the budget-conscious student, but if you can afford the tuition Monroe College should deliver on their promises.
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