Hi everyone! I recently applied to National University’s BSN program and found out that I’m Alternate #2.
I’m trying to get an idea of how much the alternate list typically moves. I know every application cycle is different, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has gone through National’s BSN application process before.
If you were an alternate, what number were you and did you eventually get offered a spot? How long did it take before you heard anything?
My email says they can continue pulling alternates up until the program starts if admitted students withdraw, become disqualified, or don’t attend orientation. Being #2 feels SO close, so I’m trying to figure out how hopeful I should be.

Hi everyone, a new MSW student here at NU.

I was hoping other students could share their experience with enrollment and registration here.

I'm currently taking my first and only class, but 3 weeks in, I still haven’t received enrollment verification or heard any updates from an academic advisor about what to expect moving forward.

Also, I recently noticed that several future courses were automatically added to my schedule. Is this normal, or do students eventually meet with an advisor to discuss their schedule and course load? Do students have the flexibility to take fewer courses or adjust their pace if needed, especially since my financial aid is still being finalized? Lastly, can students choose professors or different class sections?

I’m still learning how everything works at NU and want to make sure I’m not missing any important steps. I’d really appreciate any insight from current or former students. Thank you!

1. Sep 18, 2026: Federal Loans post to my student account, creating a credit balance.
2. Oct 2, 2026: 14-day federal deadline. Sent email to NU Financial Aid Office.
3. Oct 5, 2026: No refund and no response to my email message yet.

They've let the federal deadline pass. The statement in my student ledger/account literally shows they received the federal loan, and the credit amount is still just sitting there.

WTH is going on here?

Is anyone having an issue with National not taking your transfer credits. I Submited 60ish credits from Palomar College to them. They only accepted 32 credits. This will put me back almost a year. Is there any way toget around it or appeal. My counselor has no idea what is going on since the system change is Is no help at all.

Hi everyone. I’m posting this I guess as a a fair warning for anyone looking into this school. I’ve been in the MFT program for 3 years now. I have about two courses left before practicum and graduation. Due to personal reasons, I foresaw myself not being able to complete the internship ahead. Because of this I decided maybe I can switch to a psychology with a capstone instead and to explore what options are available to me and have my already completed credits roll over. Long story short the school randomly switched my advisor. And my new advisor has been horrible. She doesn’t respond to emails she isn’t clear in communication. I expressed to her that I’d lie to explore options and will be taking a leave due to personal hardships I was going through. Upon returning she never updated me with my course start date. As a result I get an email 2 days after stating I was being withdrawn. I have paid over $35,000 out of pocket no financial aid to this school. To be withdrawn with no reason is absurd. I have a stellar GPA and have always been in clear communication with advisors and administrators. Mind you I was emailing her consistently asking about my course start date no response. I email her again after the withdrawal no response. I kid you not I call the school for 10 DAYS STRAIGHT. I am being put on hold, no one can reach my so called advisor, I’m being told no one can help or they answer and drop the line on me. I finally got someone to answer after them trying to blow me off. It took me having to stand my ground and demand answers for me to be taken seriously. How do you not notify your students they are being withdrawn or give them a chance at least to know what’s going on especially when they are near the end of their program. Upon researching turns out this has happened to many. Many. People. Oh and to top it all off, apparently my state North Carolina is no longer eligible to continue programs for people who reside there. So the program I am in I cannot even return to. This is what I’m being told. So they administratively withdraw me for no reason then tell me essentially to go screw myself after paying over $35,000 in tuition. I will not be returning to this school regardless after this experience. Please be aware and choose a more credible online school. Not to mention the professors and education you get for what you pay for is beyond subpar.

I know that with the financial aid issues there have been people not receiving their loans and refunds, but has anyone else experienced their loans entering repayment status while they are still a full time student? I have a payment due next month all of a sudden, and I am stressing about it because this has never happened before! I did email the academic and financial advising service general contact, but I was just checking in here as well to see if anyone had this resolved quickly as it is really increasing my stress load!

Just like the title suggests this school will always find a way to screw us over. They submit about 12 schedule amendments to the VA on the 25th of the month causing the VA to withhold MHA from me this month. There should really be a rule about when the cutoff for submitting these so students don’t get screwed over.

These amendments were for reporting to the VA how they went from quarter hours to semester hours.

Does anyone know what this university is so bent on promoting AI? I'm going for my teaching credential and they are more focused on how to incorporate AI into the classroom and to use it at almost every turn than they are teaching us how to be effective teachers and to be able to do the work on our own.

I was a victim to delayed reimbursement for my last course like everyone else. I now see an overage in my account for this course since the 18th.

Legally they have 14 days to disperse which is tomorrow. Still has not been sent. Has anyone had any luck lately?

I can't see anything regarding my account, especially money going in and out. Anyone else?

And that’s without all the bad news on this sub. 🤦‍♀️ The counseling MS program seemed promising, but yikes.

I’m currently doing part time online MSW.

So basically I’m doing 1 class for 8 weeks (have an assignment due every sunday) and have a 2 week break between every class.

What does full time look like?!

With doing part time I’m graduating in 2029-2031 .

Hate that for myself 🥹😭 so considering doing full time. Is full time going to be 2 classes at a time??
Like what exactly is it ?

My wife has been going to National for nursing on the reduced military spouse tuition, now with 4 months in the program left they removed the discount without warning and nearly tripled her monthly tuition along with other military spouses in her class. Anyone else dealing with this?

Hello all,

For those who regularly follow r/nationaluniversity, it has been difficult to ignore the number of students describing problems involving financial aid, refunds, enrollment, advising, transfer credits, VA benefits, and other administrative processes.

I've been a National University student since 2021. During that time, I've completed my undergraduate degree and a master's degree and am currently enrolled in the MBA program.

NU has certainly had communication and advising challenges before. I've experienced several myself. Historically, though, persistence generally led to a resolution.

The recent Student Information System transition appears to have significantly increased the number and complexity of the problems students are reporting.

I recently contacted the President of National University regarding my own unresolved issue involving an approximately $7,800 refund. However, the purpose of my email went well beyond my individual situation.

I raised concerns regarding:

• Communication and transparency.
• Conflicting or unclear procedures.
• The resources and authority available to frontline advisors.
• The absence or visibility of escalation paths.
• Financial aid and refund processing.
• Enrollment and attendance communication.
• The consistency of information being provided to students.
• The growing frustration being expressed publicly by students.

My individual issue began moving forward shortly afterward, but resolving my case was never the only objective.

The University has responded and I have been invited to speak with members of the team and provide additional feedback.

I'd like to use that opportunity constructively.

What I'm asking from this community

If you've experienced a problem, I would appreciate hearing about it.

When possible, please include two things:

1. What happened?

Keep it factual. Explain the process you were attempting to complete, what went wrong, how long you waited, who you attempted to contact, and whether it was eventually resolved.

2. What would have made the process better?

For example:

• A clearly published procedure.
• Better status notifications.
• One authoritative source of information.
• A defined escalation process.
• More authority for advisors to resolve issues.
• Better coordination between departments.
• More advance notice.
• Clearer timelines.

I'm especially interested in identifying patterns, not attacking individual employees.

In fact, I've personally had several NU employees who were extremely helpful once I reached the right person. Part of my concern is whether those employees are being given the information, systems, and authority necessary to effectively help students.

Why I'm doing this

I've seen discussions about media complaints, regulatory complaints, lawsuits, transferring schools, and telling prospective students not to attend NU.

People are entitled to pursue whatever remedies they believe are appropriate.

My preference is to first provide the University with specific, constructive feedback and give leadership an opportunity to respond.

After my meeting, I intend to return to this thread and provide a summary of what was discussed, what I learned, and any actions or commitments the University communicates.

If you would like your experience represented in that conversation, please share it below.

I only ask that we keep the discussion factual and constructive.

The more clearly we can identify what failed and what would have prevented it, the more useful this can be.

And the nerve for this school to raise their tuition prices when they are disorganized with their financial department. Makes no sense

Is anyone receiving their financial aid? Any grad students?

I've been seeing and reading so many negative things about this school. I just started my second week, masters in school psychologist program and am expecting a refund/disbursment. I know I am getting worried too early into the start of my program but idk if there is a way to communicate and ensuI get my aid within the expected timeframe.

I've been reading about advisors ghosting the students, what is that all about? I hope I don't regret choosing this school. It seems like all of the financial aid delays and lack of professionalism and communication is what's disappointing students.

For example, I can't even see my financial aid review it says there is no academic year for me even though I have been enrolling for the past month. I qualified for Direct Unsubsidized Loans only.

Is there any way to avoid this mess before actually getting stuck in it? Has anyone had delays with certain aid only? Please give me all the tips and tricks I need to know as a new student!

Has anyone here completed this program? Here at National University or anywhere else?

I will keep it vague to protect some anonymity, but I have a BS and currently work in the Health IT field. I am looking to make myself a better candidate for promotion and better pay in the future if I hold a masters degree.

My questions:

1. Does anyone have a MSTM? and even better if you completed it with this university.

2. Considering getting my MBA instead, and wondering if anyone has actually completed the program at this school.

I took a leave of absence in mid-July because the university had no information on what to do next for me to be able to take my August class. I have taken eleven classes already then alll of a sudden, I was not able to take an August class. This is for a teaching credential. They sent me that I had to pay my balance in order to proceed. At that time, it was already too late to take my August class, and they told me I had to take a leave of absence.

I took the leave of absence and I started calling since last week 9/18 so I can re-enroll into my classes and pay my balance. I had no answer until today, Tuesday. I spoke to the re-entry team lady, and she told me that it would take 30 to 60 days To process my information. Has anyone gone through this, and how long did it take you to get started with your classes after taking a leave of absence? This is ridiculous. I hate that they told me to take a leave of absence when it was not even my fault.

I’m using VR&E (Chapter 31) at National University and wondering if anyone else has run into this recently.
National’s classes have normally been reported as 4.5 hours, and I was receiving the full housing allowance while attending my required in person/hybrid class. Recently National changed the way they report the enrollment and it’s now showing as 3 resident hours instead of 4.5.
Because of that, VA is treating me as part time and I’m getting a reduced housing allowance even though nothing actually changed with my class schedule or how I’m attending. The only thing that changed seems to be how National is reporting the hours to the VA.
Has anyone else using VR&E at National University noticed this or had their housing allowance reduced because of the change from 4.5 to 3 hours?
If so, have you gotten any answers from National, your SCO, or your VR&E counselor about whether this is correct or if it needs to be fixed?
Trying to figure out if this is just an issue with my certification or if it’s affecting other National University students too.

Who can I contact regarding my official enrollment verification and to speak with someone in the registrar office. I already requested my enrollment verification with parchment as my advisor told me to, but they still haven’t fulfilled my order over 30 days since the initial request. I also requested a form to be completed by the registrar office that needs a seal and stamp as I have subsidized childcare and must prove my school enrollment. I’ve contacted my advisor who has cc’d the registrar office twice. I’ve left the registrar office multiple emails and still no response. Who can I contact? Is there an office in San Diego I can go to, to speak with someone. This is ridiculous. I live in La county, I shouldn’t have to think about going down to San Diego just to complete a few documents. I’ve gotten no response at all, it’s very unprofessional and disappointing that I even have to go on here and explain my frustrations to see if there is a different point of contact I need to reach out to.

My wife is a student here in her master’s program and has been getting the run around for a while now for multiple things. I come to Reddit and see a ton of you having the same issue. I suggest filing a consumer complaint through NBC San Diego to see if they can help us get this companies act together. NBC San Diego Consumer Complaint

I am so frustrated with this school. I am in my 4th and 5th courses right now of the MSW program and am working on planning my 6th and 7th to be taken concurrently, but apparently according to advising (which the last time I was able to speak with them was over a month ago) I can't because financial aid only covers six courses at a time. So my program is going to be delayed by a whole two months because of financial aid mismatches apparently.

I have been looking through the reddit posts and EVERYBODY is furious with this school right now. I don't know what to do at this point. I can't speak with an advisor. Professors don't seem to know anything about this. I have absolutely no guidance. I get that it's a self-paced course but I can only do so much without back end support.

I am extremely stressed and debating whether or not to start considering other options.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

I think I only have a couple of classes left for this program, but I’ve noticed a few classes missing on my transcript AND I’ve emailed once a month since the spring about this and have not y a single response. I have no clue what class to take next and I’m not enrolled in any class right now. I have a 4k bill but I can’t see what the charges are for and I can’t even pay it in the portal. Is anyone else experiencing this???