Kelly Higgins

13 November, 2013RE: My experience with Atlantic International UniversityTo whom it may concern.In March of 2009 I concluded an overseas work assignment ona contract in Nigeria in Project Management and returned to my adopted home inThailand, I am an American by birth, and to my wife and friends. As an incomesource while in Thailand, I occasionally worked as an English teacher and Idecided to use some of the funds I had amassed working on my last contract tostart my own business, a private language school that would offer English and ahost of other foreign languages to primarily Thai clients.Starting my own business was a fair challenge but my Thaiwife was extremely savvy and that helped to make the whole endeavor a success.In time I became rather bored with the operation of the language school andsought greater challenges. Having held an MBA since 1994 and having had a lotof experience in Project Management, I decided to take a 2-pronged approach tofurthering my studies. I first studied for and obtained my certification as aProgram Management Professional, PgMP, and enrolled in a PhD program at AIU.I was in my mid 40s and had a great deal of bothprofessional experience and prior academic instruction. As one of only about500 PgMPs in the world at that time, I had already established myself as anexpert in the field and saw a PhD as a further enhancement to broaden thataccomplishment. There are numerous schools throughout the world who haveprograms in Project Management but few, if any, that have the highercertification in Program Management so why not marry the two efforts together. AIU’sAndragogic approach to education was ideal for this. They recognized theuniqueness of my PgMP qualification and awarded me a decent amount of creditfor the achievement. The allowed me to design my PhD in business to include thespecialization “Program Management” along with International Business. 2-yearslater, I am now a PhD.I am now extremely well-balanced in my credentials and workhistory to begin going after the highest level positions in internationalprojects. I was able to do all of this while maintaining a healthy balance withmy family life, professional career and the operation of my private businessall conducted while earning the AID degree.I would not recommend AIU to the very young collegeeducation seeker, or to someone with little or no practical experience. I would recommend it to a moreseasoned professional, or aspiring professional, and it is a very rewarding andflexible approach. You must be much more than precocious to work a program likethis but I would wholeheartedly recommend it if you believe, as I always have,that the person front and center responsible for your own higher education isyou. At AIU you don’t simply earn your degree but rather you ownyour degree. They serve as facilitators and guides. My best wishes to them for their assistance and my bestwishes to you if you wish to try them.Sincerely,Kelly Eugene Higgins, PhD, PgMP