Student/Alumni Testimonials

Paula Rolls
BBA – Accounting and Finance

I have had an awesome experience at AIU and I want to tell everyone about it. I have been working in healthcare as a clerk/receptionist for about 26 years. I have applied for numerous promotions within my own organization and with outside companies but have always been told the same thing. "We think you have the experience and are a capable employee however, we are looking for someone with more education." Then I would usually end up training the person with more education to do the job.

After 26 years I decided to do something about it. I live in a remote section of Northeastern Pennsylvania and the nearest facility for higher education is over thirty miles of bad roads away. It was not feasible for me to attend a school in this fashion while working full-time and I could not afford to quit. Thank heaven for the internet and online education. I queried several schools but found that AIU was the only one offering the program and flexibility that I was looking for. It has been an awesome experience. I had to really structure my time to meet the deadlines but the instructors were wonderful and helpful, the format of discussion board and individual projects was a good one for me. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA.

Now is the best part, late November of 2006 I applied for a position two pay grades above the one I held in the healthcare organization where I work. I have been turned down for the same type of position on several occasions but I thought that because I would be graduating soon, maybe that would make a difference. I interviewed and it went well, then they asked for a skills assessment and I knocked them off their feet. I got the job and they are thrilled to have me. If it had not been for the education I received at AIU I would still be searching. At fifty-two years of age I am finally getting somewhere in a career, and I have one thing to tell everyone reading this - never stop learning; an education is one of the most important things you can give yourself.

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