The overall advising at Northern Kentucky University is something the university should be ashamed of. Although I was lucky enough to become well acquainted with one of my professors who has done a decent job of advising me, the overall advising services at Northern are utterly terrible. My adviser during my first two years at NKU was little more than a joke. In fact, when I switched majors out of his department, he became visibly and verbally upset with me because when he asked me why I was switching out of computer science (his personal career choice/expertise), I replied that I really just didn’t like it. This was apparently unsatisfactory to him.
Not only have I seen advising errors first hand, but in my six years at Northern, I have also heard hundreds, yes, I literally mean hundreds, of complaints and horror stories about NKU advising from friends and relatives, especially since all three of my siblings are attending or have attended the university.
Furthermore, I have seen tuition increase by some $1000 in the last six years, while things like parking at the university have remained substandard at best. I’ve seen the parking garage next to the Business, Education, Psychology and Applied Science and Technology buildings be constructed, only to sit half-full on countless days because NKU charges daily fees for parking in it (on top of the required and overpriced yearly parking permit), and then the university built another parking garage. That is decision-making at its best (please note my sarcasm).
Money has also been poured into athletics and extracurricular clubs and activities, while I have seen little to no improvement to the overall quality of education at NKU. I realize that some increase in tuition costs are inevitable, but I feel that the bulk of my tuition payments have been nothing short of a waste.
My choice to attend NKU was solely on the basis that it was a quality, “value education” in comparison to other state universities like the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University. Among friends, family and acquaintances, cost seems to be a common theme. However, following all of the tuition hikes, NKU no longer holds the “bargain degree” title in Kentucky. In fact, it costs nearly $300 more per semester than EKU, and only $398 less than Kentucky’s most expensive college, UK. Frankly, had I the decision to make over again, I would have gone to UK or Louisville like the rest of my high school buddies who decided that their educations were worth the extra cash.
All of that aside, I wish the university the best of luck in its hopes to improve its athletic standings to NCAA Division I. I only hope that the quality of education might catch up.
Might I also add, sorry, but I won’t see you at the commencement ceremonies.