Online Programs

Ofer Amrami ’06

For Ofer Amrami, a full-time network administrator with the city of Fullerton, California, APU online study provides the flexibility to juggle a job, family, and degree program in Organizational Leadership. “It allows me to get my education, hold a job, and still spend quality time with my family,” he said.

When Ofer originally considered APU, he was delighted to find their admissions policy more realistic and flexible than other schools he’d attended, including a community college and several technical schools. He was impressed that APU not only took his past schooling into consideration, but counted his general knowledge and past work experience as important too. This allowed him to get credit for legitimate learning that took place outside classroom walls.

And because APU online courses are aimed at the working adult, assignments are geared to each student’s unique job environment. “The courses give you real-life experience – case studies,” Ofer said, “that draw on the job you’re doing.” He said that this approach allowed him “to look at real problems, instead of theoretical ones.”

One school research project required students to find a problem within their company and come up with a solution. Ofer said that his boss was highly supportive of his course assignments. It also didn’t hurt that she was the one who’d originally introduced him to the APU online study program!

Ofer believes that APU is unique in other ways as well. The personal attention and support that he’s received throughout his degree program has made a strong impression on him. In most colleges and online study programs, 60 or more students may vie for a professor’s attention, but at APU, students are divided into smaller groups, called cohorts. These cohorts provide students with better student-to-professor ratios than most schools. And continuity and stability are further enhanced because students remain in the same cohort throughout their entire program.

APU students are given a variety of ways to interact with each other or professors online, including discussion forums, email, or phone. This provides a strong sense of community that serves to enhance the learning process. Ofer said that when a professor emailed to remind him that his assignment was due soon, it was encouraging. He said it made him feel that “someone was looking after me.”

And perhaps best of all, Ofer says that his coursework has translated to improved job performance. He feels he’s more confident, outgoing, able to express his ideas better, interact on a more personal level with coworkers, and be more visible overall. And, he said, his studies also enabled him to investigate other jobs in his organization. That allowed him to confirm that his current job was the best “fit” for his skills and interests.