Expert: Elisabeth (Beth) Pierce - 3/13/2002

Question
I was wondering how you would rate the quality of the school.  The tuition just seems so low and too good to be true for both Bachelor's and Master's programs.  Is it a well respected school in the field?

Answer
Being a teacher in another discipline bedsides natural health, I learned that it wasn't just the school that was "good or bad"; it was what the articulating college required.  For example, at the college I taught, tuition was less expensive than other colleges and some of the courses were accepted by articulating colleges.  Then I taught at other schools and articulating colleges would not accept any classes.   It's all a matter of preference.

As to the tuition at Clayton being low and "too good to be true", yes their tuition is low; that's why I chose them.  I also chose them because I could take my classes online which, at the time, other schools were just getting started in this arena.  

Also, I have experience with other schools besides Clayton.  Madison University, an online college, offers a Masters in Education program for about what Clayton charges for their Masters' in Natural Health programs.  Try to acquire this degree at a university near my home (there are four of them) and you would have to sign your life away for 20 years.  

Is Clayton a well respected school in its field?  Depends on who you ask.  In California, there is a vocational program open to adults that provides free on-the-job training and schooling.  People have been concerned that because it's free, the instructors are lousy.  I assure them that nothing is further from the truth, unless they are those individuals who have gone through college and have more education than anything else.  Then it wouldn't matter if the program were free or would cost a lot, because the idea of on-the-job training is foreign to them.

In short, schools are schools.  I can't say if Clayton is well-respected or not well-resected, because I don't really keep up on that.  I know what works for me, and Clayton offered that.  My degree helped me to obtain a position with the community college district in my hometown, something I have been waiting for a long time.  I couldn't have done it without Clayton, even though my position with the college district doesn't have to do with natural health.  Maybe that could be considered "well-respected".  I would be more than happy to go back and get a Master's, once I get the time.  I personally would rate Clayton "high" as my evaluations from Allexperts are rated high, so that tells me it's a good school.   

Hope I've helped you solve your dilemma.