NEIU Online Classes are a Joke

As I sit down at a computer, preparing to register for my summer classes, I quickly find myself frustrated with the schedule. I had planned on getting a full-time job this summer. My plan was simple: get a full time job and take online courses. Except for one problem, there were none.

Well, let me backtrack a bit on that statement. Yes, there are online course, but they are mostly 300 or 400-level, with an extremely minimal amount of lower level ones scattered here and there. This means that I will have to take actual in-class courses, which further frustrates me because all the classes I need are offered at the same time and on the same day!

So I say to myself, "What is wrong with this school? Doesn't anyone sit down and consider the students when they create these schedules?" If I am willing to make the trip to school during the summer, then why can't the teachers? It is a difficult situation for me, because I need to stay a full-time student to keep my full military benefits. On the other hand, if I work instead of going to school, then my graduation date is postponed. But I only have so many months left on my grant in the first place.

I am tired of school! I want my degree, just like most students here. I thought this was a school that offers cheaper tuition for the same amount of time spent attending other schools? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the average student is here for more than four years, which means that in the long run the school is getting just about the same amount as many other school do.

I argue that this is about the so-called online classes they offer here. As I see it, other universities and community colleges have great summer and online courses to offer, so why doesn't NEIU? I asked President Hahs this question at the last town hall meeting, and her response was that they keep the summer classes that fill up and get rid of classes that don't do so well.

Really? So all the introductory classes people need to complete their general education requirements do not get filled? Do the 200-level courses people need in order to move forward in their major also have the same problems? I am not saying that this is not true, yet it's extremely hard for me to believe. I can only say this, because I hear complaints by students about this issue everyday that I walk these hallways.

I know it is not just me who is frustrated with the lack of summer or online classes. NEIU should at least offer more courses on the 100 or 200-level, and if they do not get filled by a certain date, then just cancel the course. It would show that they at least made the effort. Isn't that all a student really wants from their school? The school expect it from us as students, so don't we have the right to expect the same in return? So in my last attempt to reach out to NEIU on this subject, I beg of you, please post more online classes for the students. If a class doesn't fill up, then cancel it. But please give us more of an option then you are giving us now, which in my view is little more than nothing.