Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg Graduate Program Reviews

“ I enrolled in Penn State's Online MPA program due to its flexibility with my full-time work schedule as well as the range of various electives offered through the program. Penn State's program allows you - more so than other schools to take unique and varied electives outside of your direct program area for program credit. The program is very flexible for working professionals and the school as a whole has been understanding in regards to my work priorities. However, if you are the type of student who wants extensive feedback, career counseling, and general academic support to be provided, this is not the program for you. As it is an online program, I would say the user interface is partially updated. There is room for improvement as certain applications appear to be extremely outdated and are not intuitive. Overall, I would way that the program is as advertised and there have not been any negative experiences as of yet. ”

“ The professors worked with the students. They understood that most were also working part time or full time jobs and many had families. You could take courses as you wanted and that was important to me. The campus is beautiful and the facilities are always improving. ”

“ I am a current student in the School of Pubic Affairs obtaining my MPA. The staff are very helpful and professional. The coursework is very vigorous and I feel like it is preparing me for my field of choice. It is an expensive program, but worth the investment. The standards and expectations are high and I enjoy the feeling of meeting and exceeding them. I am enjoying my coursework right now; although it is a heavy caseload at times. I know I will be more informed and well educated once I complete the work. (I am an online student so I didn't rate the other items.) ”

“ Penn State Harrisburg is a quickly growing engineering school. The professors and classes are challenging and provide good instruction. The surrounding area could use some improvement as there are not many facilities/restaurants outside campus. ”

“ As a student in graduate Homeland Security program at Penn State, I've been extraordinarily satisfied with the progression of my academic studies. The entirety of my program has been pursued as a World Campus (online) student and I have found my administrative and support needs easily and quickly addressed, whenever an issue arises. More importantly, any time I had a question or concern, I had an almost immediate response, regardless of whether I was contacting the administration, financial aid office, my program's chair, or one of my professors or instructors. The academic quality of this program is rather high and the demands are many, but also fair. Since the course requirements are the same as those in the traditional/on-campus version of the program, I feel very strongly that I have learned far more than I had expected and that my efforts have been well assessed. The online environment, quite simply, does not detract from the course of my education. The Homeland Security program, specifically, is a fusion of emergency management, public administration, and security studies, providing many opportunities to tailor a graduate degree to a specific area of interest. The courses are taught by those with a wealth of academic and professional experience, with backgrounds in law enforcement, emergency management, public administration, and the military. All of the professors and instructors I have interacted with have been extraordinarily qualified and dedicated to furthering the education of graduate students such as myself. Perhaps most important of all, the Penn State Homeland Security program encourages the development of critical, analytical, and prescriptive thought, providing its students with the tools necessary to not just function within their chosen field but also improve it. By avoiding an emphasis on rote memorization or information regurgitation, the program ensures specific issues are studied, considered, and addressed in depth. This is a program interested in true learning and the results, both academic and professional, that will follow. In all honesty, I am extremely happy to have found this program and have mixed feelings about graduating Fall 2015. I have no complaints or criticisms of note and cannot imagine any substantial ways in which the program may be improved. I will be very glad to call myself a Penn State Alumni. ”

“ Faculty and curriculum are the key reasons I chose pen state ”

“ The pros is that the faculty has a huge amount of professional experience to draw from. The cons is that because I live out of state, there is no scholarships for me to get as a grad student. ”

“ Penn State Harrisburg's American Studies Ph.D. emphasizes interdisciplinary knowledge, and its placement rate is one of the best among humanities programs. The faculty is knowledgeable and encourages intellectual growth as well as professional development, and the scholarship to which students are exposed is usually top-rate. While the workload for a GA/TA can be heavy at times, and the surrounding area is not particularly energizing, the on-campus atmosphere and culture of scholarship is very invigorating. ”

“ Most of my classes are online but I have visited this campus before and read comments from in-campus students about the school's transportation and safety. Penn State is a well known school but it would be great if they consider the tuition cost for students enrolled in online programs. ”

“ PSUCOM is an amazing school that foster a supportive educational system, with phenomenal faculty. The one caveat that could also be a benefit for many is that the school is in a rural setting. The one con for the school is lack of public transportation. But overall highly recommended. ”