Expert: Education Advisor - 9/8/2007

Question
QUESTION: After reading all the info about Clayton College I'm a little confused. I saw that you went to Clayton College so my question is-do you feel you got a good education from Clayton and would you go back or would you get your degree from UNM? I started thinking that I wanted to get a degree in Nutrition but the Natural Health degree had nutrition along with other aspects I'm interested in. Is the Natural Health degree better than the nutrition degree? When did you graduate and have you been successful with your degree and school choice? Lots of question - sorry but I'm confused.

ANSWER: I feel like I got an average education from Clayton but not as in depth as it should have been.  The herb, nutrition, homeopathy classes etc... are all really, really good but in order to successfully work with people you do need to understand anatomy and physiology, biology, basic pathology, and some biochemistry etc.. and I felt my education was severely lacking in these areas.

I strongly feel that they should require the basic 120 credit hours that every other college and university in the U.S. requires for a B.S. degree, it makes the college seem less credible when they don't follow this basic protocol.

Knowing what I know now I would definately have chosen a different school for my bachelors degree.  Don't get me wrong, the classes Clayton does offer are very good, they also have excellent student support, weekly online chats, quarterly magazine sent to students and alumni, they have an annual conference where you take live classes for 4 days, you have a lot of support with CCNH but I still would select a school with a better curriculum over the student support.

UNM has excellent degree programs and their degrees are right on par with any traditional college or university, my only complaint is they don't have much student support.  You work solely on your own, take proctored exams that are sent to the instructor but you have very little interaction with faculty and no interaction with other students, it is very independent learning but the curriculum is great.  I guess it really depends on what you are looking for, some students would hate the idea of being completely independent and may opt for Clayton for the high level of support even though the education is inferior.

I would choose UNM over Clayton for sure, I wish I had known more when I started.  Clayton did give me a good foundation though.

I have not done a whole lot with my education, I do teach nutrition seminars and have done some nutrition/health consulting but I haven't felt that my education from Clayton was indepth enough to allow me to go into practice.  With my degree from UNM I am confident I will be ready to take that step.  

I am actually getting a second bachelors degree with UNM to fill in the gaps of my education from Clayton and then I will go on to the doctorate program, their doctorate programs are long, hard and indepth.  I just finished my embryology class and it was extremely hard, they use the same text as used in medical schools, they take the education they provide you with very seriously.

At Clayton college the nutrition degree actually has more indepth classes, I think it is more well rounded than the natural health degree which is what I got.  It really depends though on what classes you are interested in taking and what your ultimate goals are.  If you want a focus on nutrition, go with the holistic nutrition, if you are more interested in natural health modalities select that degree.  Really look into all your options, UNM is much more expensive, but in this case, you get what you pay for.

Good Luck

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your input. I have been researching a degree in nutrition for years and kept putting it off. My son was diagnosed this summer with ADHD, he's 15. I have been interested in nutrition for many years and take many vitamins and herbs. We eat mostly organic food. My family is used to my spiels on nutrition. They used to complain about organic food, etc. Now they accept it mostly. My son came to me about wanting to get off meds and try nutrition which was amazing since he was a junk food junky and was dabbling in things he shouldn't. I have him eating "mostly" a good diet. I say mostly because he's 15 and is very social. He takes many vitamins. Not only am I trying to help his ADHD with nutrition but his acne. He is my guineapig. lol I was all for getting my degree in nutrition then I came across the Natural Health and that sounded interesting. Does UNM have a nutrition degree? I have an AA from a community college that I would hope would transfer. Is your degree from UNM in Natural Health? I requested a catalog from UNM if they have one. Are the classes hard to handle with everyday life? Thanks again for all your help.

Answer
UNM doesn't have a nutrition degree but you can get your B.S. in natural health with a concentration in nutrition, their nutrition education programs are excellent and they require a lot of nutrition including a clinical nutrition course where you are required to apprentice with a clinical nutritionist etc...  

I have not found it to be difficult to handle the classes but I really love to study, I think that is an individual thing, some people can dive right in and do it, others may struggle scheduling their life and studying.  I think the UNM degree will really help with what you are looking for, there are absolutely ways to help ADD, I have learned a lot about that in my studies.  Vitamins are a start but they won't really help reduce his ADD symptoms.  Good Luck with your education.