I
have always wanted to do my doctorate and I was exclusively looking for
distance learning universities but I came across with universities who are not
genuine, who charge more than I can afford, who do not hold a graduation
ceremony at the end of many years hard work, who put restriction on your
academic achievement such as you have to spend 6 or 7-year minimum to achieve
PhD or DBA. For all these reasons, I
found it difficult to find a university which fits in to my circumstances and needs
but I did not give up hope. One day while I was hunting for a good distance
learning university that fits in to my circumstances, I finally came across
with AIU. Before I start talking to any
one I went to the AIU website and started reading about the program they offer,
the experience of other students and the tuition fee. Everything seems to be too good to be
true. I then picked up my phone and
spoke to the student councillor. She was
very helpful and patiently answered all my questions. I was then fully convinced what I read in the
AIU website was really true. I have
finally decided to apply and submitted my application online. On the next day, the student councillor phoned
me and asked me few questions about my financial circumstances such as whether
I am going to pay all upfront or in instalment. I replied I can not afford to
pay all upfront and asked her if there is any scholarship or fund, she
immediately offered me $3000.00 scholarship and gave me the flexibility to pay
the rest of the tuition fee every month for which I was extremely happy.

I
started on the program and my Tutor phoned me and explained everything about
the program and emailed all the necessary information including the Doctorate
hand book which is full of information about the entire program from start to
finish. Every time I need any assistance
I can call her or email her and she was always there for me. Unlike other traditional universities, the unique
thing about AIU is they give the student the chance to design his or her own
curriculum which I personally believe is the main reason for many students to
successfully achieve their program with AIU.
Whenever I submit my work my advisor always came back to me with
constrictive feed back which was another reason for me to finish my Doctorate
with a very good result and sooner than what I originally planned.

My
over-all experience with AIU is magnificent each and every one that I came
across during my time at AIU was very helpful, polite, and full of
information. With out their support I
wouldn’t be where I am today. When I log
in to my student section, any information that I wanted to know was there, the
library was very helpful and full of very important information. I could always check my transcript and able
to monitor my GPA as well as my academic progress. As I mentioned earlier many distance leaning
universities do not hold a graduation ceremony at the end of many years hard
work. AIU organises unique and magnificent
graduation ceremony twice a year which remains with you and your families’
memory for ever which I am looking forward to attend. The
other uniqueness about AIU is you can achieve as many credit hours as you like
with no extra fee. In my case I only
needed 50 credit hours to achieve my doctorate program. When I competed all the three phases and
achieved 50 credit hours I still wanted to do more. I then asked my advisor he
told me there is no limit I can still submit additional work and earn more credits
at no extra cost. As a result, I have
completed my doctorate with 87 credits.
When you are a student with AIU there is no limit and no burrier to how
much you want to learn and how far you want to go unless you want to limit
yourself. If there is any one out there
who has a very busy life style with family commitment like my self but wants to
advance his/her academic achievement and thinks it is impossible AIU is the
answer. I would recommend AIU to any one who wants to full fill their academic
dream.

Addis-Alem
Belay

Doctorate
in Business Administration.