ACAP University College Reviews 120

Unfortunately I made the mistake of not reading reviews before starting at ACAP. It is horrible.

1. They moved from 'Applied Psychology; to 'Applied Professions' showcasing their dedication to expand their college to appeal to wider society, then stick to focusing on a specialised field. This led to increased costs of degrees, less focus on Psychology students, and less support for students as more resources were placed on making money in Business/Law.
2. They are overpriced for minimal outcomes. Read all the other reviews. We all agree.
3. They add in fees every trimester without telling you until last minute, and you can't opt out or even choose whether to pay for a service you arent utilising. Why did I have to pay an extra $100-150 per trimester for services I dont use since? No one that I have studied with has utilised this, including lecturers.
4. Providing feedback to teachers and staff shows no benefits. They instead flip this around on you and never take critisim. Their mindset is, "youre a student and we are the teachers, we know more than you". I know this as this is what they have explicitly said in private meetings.
5. Some teachers are condesending and rude. When this is addressed, they have targeted my assessments harder than others and failed me. This is extremely horrible behaviour.
6. Many units are not transferable if you want to leave ACAP and go to better universities. After completing multiple MULT units in years 1-2 and experiencing high costs and rude behaviour from teachers, I wanted to leave, only to find out MULT and some other units are not transferable. So I ended up with over $10-15k in HEX/HECs debt for nothing, unless i stick it out with ACAP treating me horribly.
7. You want to get your results from your graduation? Cool, pay $30. You want to attend gradutation? Cool, pay $45. YOu want to bring your family to see you graduate? Cool, pay $45 per person, and you can only bring 2 people. You want gradutation photos? Cool, that will be over $100. You want graduation regalia? Cool, give us more money. Literally everything is money money and more money. The best part is once you graduate, they give you a plastic pen, 2 lollipops, and 2 mentos. Thats is. What a bloody insult.

The list could go on, and it does. Just read other reviews.

Do not go to ACAP. You deserve better than them.

I really enjoyed my 3yrs-long journey studying at ACAP (Masters in Couns and Psych). From the enrolment process, all the way to having amazing knowledgeable teachers, meeting mature aged students from all walks of life (some becoming lifelong friends) to getting practical hands on workshops) I'm a proud qualified Counsellor ready to start the next stage, my private practice!

I have only had one issue with a teacher. Most of the social work discipline educators are friendly, very knowledgeable and passionate about making a real change.

If you need support this place is great, and I mean it. I have hidden disability and ongoing chronic trauma - and the staff are very understanding and ensure you’re ok and encourage you to keep going without guilt tripping you.

The campus is lovely, very modern, and clean.

The only con is it’s expensive and costs $7k for each placement for social work. Once completed I will be out of pocket $100+k AUD for a bachelor in social work degree.

I appreciate the overall quality of the program; however, the placement process has been challenging. As an international student, delays in securing placement create significant concerns regarding visa timelines and the ability to complete my degree on time. Additionally, responses to follow‑up emails are often delayed, leaving me feeling uncertain and stressed during the process.

To improve, I recommend:

Offering placements in a timely manner to avoid academic and visa-related issues.

Providing regular updates to students about the placement progress.

Ensuring student emails and queries are responded to promptly.

Studying at ACAP is a genuinely transformative experience. The course structure is thoughtfully designed, blending academic rigor with real world practice that very few institutions have. Each unit builds on the next, allowing for deep personal growth and skill development grounded in evidence-based models.

The lecturers are experienced, supportive and passionate about their profession. Their insights and feedback are one of a kind and they are some of the best educators I have come across.

Whether you're looking to pivot or enhance existing skills, ACAP offers a solid foundation. It’s been one of the most enriching learning experiences of my professional life.

Great learning opportunity, competent academic team, supportive administrative staffs, very responsive to inquiries

If you’re considering ACAP, especially for a course that requires placement (like social work or counselling), think twice. Many students are struggling to secure placements, even after meeting all the academic requirements. Despite paying high tuition fees, you’re left to chase agencies on your own — with little to no meaningful support from the college.

To make things worse, the national placement lead holds weekly meetings that often feel like blame sessions directed at students, rather than addressing the college’s own shortcomings in building strong industry partnerships. Instead of support, you get pressure and criticism.

It’s incredibly disheartening, especially when you’re already juggling personal commitments, studies, and financial pressure. For a college that claims to be student-focused, the placement experience says otherwise.

Honestly, save yourself the stress. This has been a pathetic experience. I wouldn’t recommend ACAP to anyone serious about their future

A truly transformative purse for coaching professionals and those wanting to take more of a coaching mindset into their workplaces or life.

Extremely flexible and accommodating of students' needs. Great teaching staff and very supportive Admin staff and processes. Study itself is very relevant to real world application and leaves students very workplace ready. Standards are high and academically rigorous. Cannot recommend highly enough.

The staff and educators have been fantastic during my time at acap. There have been a few hiccups along the way but have been sorted every time.
However the frustrating part this term has been the lack of assessment guidelines for our assessments.

As An older student I never thought I would get a degree, I have felt welcomed and that I belong. Working with lectuers tutors and a diverse range of students has been such a wonderful learning environment

I have been studying at this university for about 10 years and I honestly have had a good experience. I beleive it is the best if you are considering doing a degree in counselling. The classes and workshops are extremely supportive and the students are well-behaved and mature. The only critique i have is that it is so expensive and if I really understood this 10 years ago I would have never joined. I get the same support studying psychology at another university for 70% cheaper per subject. i guess it is up to you to do the cost benefit analysis

My experience at ACAP has been mostly very positive. The breadth of topics covered across the degree is comprehensive and equips students with a great level of base knowledge. The in person workshops are always interesting and a great chance to connect face to face with peers. The educators are always passionate and well informed and usually available to answer questions on assessments out of hours which is always helpful at deadline time. The one recommendation I would suggest is that each unit's readings could be more directly related to the assessment topics and overall subject matter - often there is an overwhelming amount of reading to complete and it's hard to know what's essential and what's 'nice to know'.

Profits before people is the best way to summarise it.

Class materials are outdated. Tutorial slides often have spelling errors. Most times tutors appear to be reading slides for the first time when teaching the class. Links to readings or assignments are often broken/go to error pages. I could go on.

Everything is tick box. Even something as simple as the assignments being due in the same weeks for EVERY subject shows it’s not well thought out or bespoke to the subject or assignment type but rather based on it being easy for ACAP.

I joined because they claimed to be flexible and offer a variety of ways to learn (online, blended, on campus). It’s a lie. Most subjects have one option. I work full-time. I can only do after hours study, and some subjects are only offered during the day.

The assessment feedback is appalling. Grading is inconsistent. An HD in one course for the quality of work may be a credit in another. And turnaround time for assessments is slow.

It is so stressful trying to navigate ACAPs ongoing contempt for their paying customers. It’s like they forget who they’re meant to be serving.

They asked students to provide these public reviews on this site when I have given this feedback to them privately every trimester (for years) and nothing has changed - in fact it has gotten worse.

So - as requested, here is my review:

It’s expensive and sub-par. Avoid this place. It’s not worth the financial or personal cost.

I have been a student at ACAP for around 2 years now and have had some fantastic teachers and some not so.

Class times and workshop offerings have diminished over my time resulting in having to travel interstate on 3 occasions with little empathy or alternative options provided when this was raised... unfortunately this is the polar opposite to what was sold to me when I signed up and had not only cost me thousands but really soured my experience.

Brisbane campus facilities are poor compared to Sydney and the upcoming move to the new campus is a welcome one.

Trying to get placement and support whilst there is an absolute nightmare.. some of the team work super hard to help the students and others seem to create road blocks and hide behind inconsistent policy.

There are a few select staff at ACAP that are exceptional people and teachers and I hope ACAP leans into them and uses their skills, knowledge and insight to go in a better direction for the future.

Good infrastructure, level of knowledge and education is high

Quite alot of support, just sometimes lacks consistency.

cultural sensitivity, respect to fair hearing, give students adequate learning materials and assist students to get use to learning materials, respectful academic and non academic staff. fast in response to students needs. I will recommend ACAP to any foreign and domestics prospective students.

Honestly, it's been really great. Great intersectionality and post-colonial theory throughout. The only negative is the price!

The national footprint model is inequitable in terms of student experience, and I speak in terms of Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Smaller campuses do not always get the “advertised” teaching experience, such as in workshops.
The student placement (WIL) model is failing students terribly and requires to be addressed urgently. Placement is not only a capstone experience, it is a formative requirement and the current debacle is doing untolled brand damage to ACAP. PLEASE adequately staff the WIL teams, including at each of the state-based campuses. ACAP you MUST listen and take this situation seriously.