John F. Kennedy University - Pleasant Hill, California

Paul F.

I have been attending JFKU for a long time while obtaining my MA in Psychology. Class sizes are generally small, providing much opportunity for interactive learning. Most classes have been high quality and quite satisfactory.

I was not satisfied with my experience at the counseling center for my practice hours. My individual advisor and I did not connect well, and I was not given the opportunity to switch to someone else. Academic advising has also been frustrating for me. I have had positive experiences with most other staff at all levels.

Mitchell L.

STAY FAR AWAY.

This college does not respect catalog rights and does not care about student success. As is the case with most schools there are a handful of teachers that are very responsive and helpful. However, the administration treats students like cattle.

When I started here they said that you can learn at your own pace as long as you paid your tuition and remained active in the class. Then they changed and said that you have to show very specific types of activity in the class (which were frankly trivial). I was able to show this activity with no problem. However, they recently changed the rules again and said you have to complete each course in EIGHT weeks. I capitalize eight because the coursework is the equivalent of 12-15 weeks. You have to write 3 huge papers followed by an exam and one MASSIVE project. This presents a challenge especially because their online library is REALLY lame. Recently, they made it even more lame by gutting learning resources that I had relied on.

In addition to these issues, courses do not contain lectures from actual instructors. Instead you can think of it as a massive collection of outdated videos and course materials that are pieced together from over 10 years ago. Moreover, the main measure of assessment is writing papers based on vague writing prompts that often do not match content found in the reading material.

Bottom line- this place changes the rules constantly, has lame learning resources and curriculum and is NOT suited for someone who is working full time.

DonHugo O.

Great place to attend graduate school. The environment is welcoming, professors are great, classmates are awesome. Two libraries, one for psychology the other one for Law. Plenty of parking, bus stops there and you can take it from Pleasant Hill Bart. School has a shuttle for students. Inside school there is a great cafeteria, great food.

Burcin B.

I received a call about JD . Admission . The employee ,Donald ,whom I was transferred was too rude and not covering any information when I ask specific details. Moreover he was speaking as if he was the one who decides about my education. JD program of the school is only accredited with California and advisor had a very limited knowledge in the legal field to help. Purely dissatisfied with the call .

Love N. G.

This place is set in a tranquil setting/location. It's next to a freeway, but you have to go through apartments/condos off of Contra Costa and Ellinwood and there's a pond. There aren't too many other businesses back here.

I was interested in obtaining a master's degree and I've seen advisors (?) a few times. The place is nice and clean. You might want to bring your own lunch though. I just only came by a student lounge with vending machines.

Josh E.

Not sure why no ones has replied to me. I sent an email to admissions office, one to a representative who emailed me & also messaged them on Facebook 2 days ago. Communication seems really slow, I don’t think I want to be in a program where snail mail is normal.

UPDATE: I’m not surprised they ending up having to shut down all operations & cease enrollment. The admissions department was a complete mess & had no idea what I was talking about regarding transfer credit... how do I know more than the people who are supposed to be experts in that

Another Update: I checked out their Flexcourse curriculum for the BA in psychology. There is no section for any elective courses.. 54 credits of general education (pre-selected), 42 credits in the major & 24 credits in a concentration.. that’s the first time ever seen a degree without any elective options. That’s pretty ridiculous.

John E.

I feel as though this university would have many more applicants to their online self paced & very affordable flexcourse bachelor degree programs if they didn’t require specific courses in their general education requirements.. also why is physics a requirement? Not many adults who are looking to go back to school while juggling work & life are going to understand physics let alone college algebra. This is probably the worst general education curriculum I’ve ever seen a university implement & I research hundreds of higher education institutes. One other thing - on the flexcourse page it states that anyone with an ADT (associate degree in general education for transfer) from a California community college is able to satisfy/ waive all general education requirements in the flexcourse bachelor degree programs & enter as a junior. Well I emailed & called a JFKU Representative & was told that this policy is incorrect & that this part of the webpage is going be taken down - well this was at least 6 months ago... it seems like she just didn’t understand what I was talking about.. this university’s flexcourse department really needs to get it together.

Brandon D.

Close to home and the cool part is most of all classes are online and the option of hybrid meaning there is a in class session but others can "Skype" in and learn from home.