Newsflash: University of Phoenix Sucks Balls
Just read this article on the University of Phoenix and how shitty it is. NO SHIT SHERLOCK. For real – who goes to this university boasts a 16% graduation rate. 16%! And you know what? According to the NYT article, the UoP receives more federal financial aid money than any other school. Why would the federal government feed this school with money? The continued dumbing down of America is on the federal agenda, that's why.
How this academic institution with 95% of it's instructors are part-time and the syllabi these part-timers are teaching are written at the corporate headquarters of UoP. How this academic institution charges a little under $10k a year is in-fucking-sane. How corporations continue to send their executives to the UoP to advance their degrees is beyond me.
So how much time do those enrolled at UoP spend in class? 20 – 24 hours per course; the national average is twice that.
Government auditors in 2000 ruled that this schedule fell short of the minimum time required for federal aid programs, and the university paid a $6 million settlement. But in 2002, the Department of Education relaxed its requirements, and the university's stripped-down schedule is an attractive feature for many adults eager to obtain a university degree while working. But critics say it leaves courses with little meat.
So, under the Bush administration, which has given us the "No Child Left Behind Act" and a president who is known as bringing an "MBA" to the White House. His penchant for the notion of holding an MBA-lite degree bodes well for sham programs like those UoP offers. Just to be clear, Dubya does hold an MBA from Harvard – I'm not calling Harvard some fake school, but simply saying that Dubya's degree is bullshit.
I can't imagine ever turning to the UoP to further my career. I'd probably be found at a local college or community college taking a course here and there, a course directly related to some field I'm trying to advance in. But most likely not, I hate school.
Explore posts in the same categories: Education, Money Matters, The Media
February 10th, 2007 @ 11:03 pm
Well that's it really. Give academics to businessmen, and this is what they do. Charge a lot of money, raid the US Treasury, deliver little or no service, and then run like hell. More or less the same thing they've done with government.
February 11th, 2007 @ 3:40 am
[...] More:Albert View blog reactions Phoenix Newsvine:Phoenix February 10th,2007+Freshness [...]
February 12th, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
You've sent me on a search for the unlitmate list of understaffed, part time institutions. Got any more? The most damning phrase in your cited article: "The president resigned, as did the chief executive and other top officers at the Apollo Group, the university’s parent corporation."
Something feels bad about the phrase "university’s parent corporation"
February 12th, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
It seems to me the more institutions like this that pop up offering Associate & Bachelor's degress the less value a degree will have in general.
My school probably had us in class for 45-75 hours per course and we were expected to do the same amount of outside work. How could you learn anything in 20-24 hours?
February 14th, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
I read the article and the author is being intellectually dishonest in his use of facts and presentation of information.
The article was meant to be misleading because Mr. Dillon chose only negative data to attempt to support his thesis that: The University of Phoenix is not providing a sound education to its hundreds of thousands of students.
It seriously violates two critical principles of proper journalism: the principle of fair comment (listening to both sides, in the pursuit of fairness) and the principle of clear distinction between news and opinion (the need to draw a clear line between what is news and what is personal opinion).
Mr. Dillon was offered access to much data regarding the University’s programs and academic procedures, but instead he cherry picked data that he must have known would create a false picture of the University’s retention and graduation rates.
Furthermore, most of his argument against the University of Phoenix appears to be based on five-year-old attacks that have long been proven false or exaggerated (see the content dates of the items in the Web sites he uses as references).
Objective proof of bias is clear:
1. He reduced the many positives of the University to one 1.5 column inch example of a satisfied student wedged between 70 column inches of highly negative assertions, unsupported assumptions and damaging innuendoes.
2. This article contained multiple factual errors and serious misrepresentations, as such, it is symptomatic of a prevailing bias against institutions of higher education that are operated for-profit. As detailed below, this overt bias is visible throughout the article.
3. FICTION: At UOP profits trump academic quality, and therefore its reputation is fraying.
“The University of Phoenix became the nation’s largest private university by delivering high profits to investors and a solid, albeit low-overhead, education.”
“’Wall Street has put them under inordinate pressure to keep up the profits, and my take on it is that they succumbed to that…’” (quoting David W. Breneman, Dean, U. of Virginia)
“Its fortunes are closely watched because it is the giant of for-profit postsecondary education; it received $1.8 billion in federal student aid in 2004-5…”
“… its reputation is fraying as prominent educators, students and some of its own former administrators say the relentless pressure for higher profits, at a university that gets more federal student financial aid than any other, has eroded academic quality.”
FACT: To speculate that profits trump academic quality is myth, born out of elitist concepts of what should constitute an institution of higher education. The University of Phoenix was well on its way to becoming the nation’s largest private university well before its parent company, the Apollo Group went public.
Universities do not become large because of “low overhead” or “high profits”; but, rather, because of demand for quality academic programs. The University of Phoenix is one of the very few institutions of higher learning – public or private – completely devoted to providing access to higher education for working students.
UoP is commonly recognized, and frequently copied, by even the most traditional academic institutions, for its innovative teaching/learning model geared specifically for working adults.
University of Phoenix is the largest institution of higher learning in the U.S. so it is not surprising that its students are the recipients of large amounts of federal student financial aid.
Another piece of FICTION: UOP lacks prestigious accreditation.
“…Although Phoenix is regionally accredited, it lacks approval from the most prestigious accrediting agency for business schools, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.” (AACSB)
FACT: The pressure for profits has eroded academic quality is not correct. The University of Phoenix is without doubt the most examined university in American higher education. Since its regional accreditation was awarded in 1978, the University has participated in over 30 accreditation visits, 35 evaluations by state education agencies and 10 program reviews by the U.S. Department of Education. And, despite a common bias against the for-profit education sector among many reviewers from the traditional academic sector, the University has repeatedly met or exceeded the requirements of this astonishing number and variety of reviews. It is currently in good standing academically with all of its accrediting bodies as well as among the state boards of higher education in the dozens of states in which its campuses are found.
Regional accreditation, not programmatic accreditation (AACSB) remains the gold standard of accreditation. Historically speaking, the regional accrediting agencies started as leagues of traditional colleges and universities in specific regions of the country and they are recognized among colleges and universities as the critical institutional peer review benchmark in higher education.
But accreditation is not the only benchmark of quality. The University of Phoenix has long been noted as having one of the most comprehensive and leading-edge academic institutional assessment systems in the U.S.
These make possible extensive, detailed analyses of even the most minor operational procedure or process, for both internal decision-making and external scrutiny. The University has won many awards for its academic programs and assessment systems.
• American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC): Best Practices Partner in Measuring Institutional Performance Outcomes
• Arizona Pioneer Award for Quality (Phoenix Campus) This award is modeled after the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. University of Phoenix was the first four-year educational institution to receive this award.
• American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Best Practices in Technology Mediated Learning: Enhancing the Management Education Experience
• Project Good Work University of Phoenix was nominated by education scholars as an exemplary institution for excellence in undergraduate education, and was thereby honored to participate in a national study of excellence in undergraduate education. This national research study is a large-scale effort to examine how professionals in various domains pursue good work under contemporary conditions, including individuals and institutions that are engaged in carrying out or supporting cutting-edge work at a time of rapid innovation across all sectors of society. Conducted by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Claremont Graduate University, the study includes four-year liberal arts colleges, community colleges, historically black colleges, proprietary institutions, and research universities.
• American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) project “Best Practices: Toward an Enlarged Understanding of Scholarship.” (One of eight institutions selected nation wide) The results of this study, funded by the Carnegie Foundation, were presented at the AAHE 2003 winter meeting and chronicled in a special issues publication.
• Global Achievement Award for Innovation by Economist Intelligence Unit in recognition of leadership, creativity, success and contribution to our students’ lives, despite turbulent economic times (2002).
More FICTION: UOP has an exceptionally low retention rate.
“The university says that its graduation rate, using the federal standard, is 16 percent, which is among the nation’s lowest, according to Department of Education data. But the university has dozens of campuses, and at many, the rate is even lower.”
FACT: Mr. Dillon deceived himself and the public by reporting 16% (and lower) as the completion rate for the University of Phoenix, despite the fact that he was informed via email by the University President that the 16% completion rate applied to only 7% of our total student population. T
he federal IPEDS database (as the author was properly informed) requires that universities report only those students who had no prior college experience which, as disclosed in our consumer information notice, represented less than 7% of the University’s total student population.
The University of Phoenix serves a large population of students who bring a significant level of prior college work as well as professional experience to their college courses and their graduation data is not reportable in the federal IPEDS database. In fact, the IPEDS statistics quoted do not apply to 93% of UOP’s students.
The completion/graduation rate for all University of Phoenix students has been historically maintained between 50 – 60%, the very same averages found in most traditional 4-year public colleges.
The University expects that students entering its new Associates degree programs will have lower graduation rates than this, as is the case at all colleges and universities serving the same student population with the same student demographics – but these programs are only beginning to have graduates at University of Phoenix, as they were introduced only recently.
The bias of the journalist is clear. He has a mission, and it does not include portraying UoP a fair light.
February 22nd, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
UOP Does Suck Balls!!! It is a really poor education and is very over priced!! Avoid this school at all costs!! http://www.myuopmistake.com
February 22nd, 2007 @ 11:31 pm
What's even more interesting is to do a search on Mr. Sam Dillon–his shoddy journalism skills are even more apparent when you read about his background–particularly in Mexico as a writer for the NY Times.
Ethics? He doesn't seem to have any.
February 23rd, 2007 @ 8:03 pm
I have noticed that there are a few websites out there that seem to bash the University of Phoenix. I have also noticed that many of the poeple that are bashing the University do not seem to be knowledgable about the University and what it stands for. It's funny reading comments from uneducated people that most likely failed or quit the University.
Yes, University of Phoenix is a business as well as a institution of higher learning. UOP is the largest privately accredited University. They have over 300,000 students enrolled, and give all students a chance at an education. With the vast amount of past, present, and future students, there is bound to be bad experiences out there.
Don't take your opinions of a great University from a meaningless blog sight. Jealousy of UOP's accomplishments is apparent, and will conitnue to be as long as they lead the market. Go UOP!!!
February 23rd, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
Oh, and I have some advice for all of you that are posting, "be a little more professional!" Your use of certain language shows your ignorance!
February 28th, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
I did not have a good experience with the University of Phoenix. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you enjoy doing other people's work as well as yours. There isn't enough accountability for the other teammates. You basically have to play the "parent" if you want to receive passing grades and others you're teamed up with don't care.
March 22nd, 2007 @ 1:58 pm
I am a current student with a 3.5 GPA and the college SUCKS! Seriously look at this crap, I am in my last class and I cannot even LOGIN to work on my classwork!
"We are currently experiencing issues with OLS3. Users are receiving an error when clicking on Go to Class. We are working on resolving this issue, but we do not have an estimated time of resolution."
This happens a lot, they have garbage servers and load us up with experimental web based classrooms that are buggy. When I use the UOP spell check it doesn't even have the word PowerPoint it wants to say Powerboat.
Anyone that says UOP is good has never pissed away their own money taking classes here. UOP is horrible! If I didn't need the masters for work I wouldn't be having this experience. I should have gone to a local university, I screwed up big time and now all the stress is adding up! I do admit one thing the classes are "hard" in that you do have to do a lot of work and reading…but what you "learn" is useless! I can't apply any of the 40 credits to anything in the real world. Its just a lot of silly hoops that are hard to jump through but offer no prize at the end. So UOP SUCKS plain and simple, if you disagree be an idiot and take a class there, enjoy your "learning team!"
-William
March 22nd, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
I am currently attending UOP, and if you read my posts on my blog, I have to agree that UOP is a horrible excuse for an academic institution.
Had I taken the time to really sit back and evaluate the school, I would have gone somewhere else where I would have gotten a better education for less money.
I am at the point where I am almost forced to go somewhere else for a Masters (MBA, MIS, etc…) just so I can have a decent college on my resume.
Everyone is going to have an opinion on why the school sucks, but the issue really is that the school, and a large part of it's instructors, are not concerned with providing a good education, but with getting paid and handing out degrees.
If you really want to know what its like, ask if you can sit in and view a class in session. Walk through the halls of some of the campuses. You might see a good teacher, becuase there are some. But more than likely you will see a poor excuse for a college education.
Also, ask yourself why prestigous schools like Harvard and others have academic requiements you must pass to get accepted. At UOP, all it took was a check. When you will let anyone into the school, you end up with students who are not intellectually ready, dedicated, mature enough to put forth the effort to do the work. As a result the instructor dumbs down the class, and the school is only a step away from a Diploma Mill.
March 27th, 2007 @ 2:32 am
"Jeremy Says:
February 23rd, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
Oh, and I have some advice for all of you that are posting, "be a little more professional!" Your use of certain language shows your ignorance!"
That made me giggle. I thought I'd share that fact.
March 30th, 2007 @ 3:16 am
I have been researching UOP all day because I was considering enrolling today and I spoke with an adviser…Honestly,their phone tactics made me uncomfortable right off the bat. I think that People should trust their instincts as opposed to what every other asshole out here has to say… but I have found that the negative feedback out weighs the positive by far.Everyone has an opinion, which is right?Bottom line people, do your research and check all of your options before you make stupid decisions.Sometimes you have to educate yourself ….in order to educate yourself.College is over-rated anyway…everyone I know that graduated college is still tending bar or slinging pizza dough….I own a business and I never finished college.I just want to learn and I want something else to do for my own amusement…But I'm not going to waste my money on some phony shady college that is going to screw me over and not deliver what I want in a quality education…Do people want a quick piece of paper?and if you get it does that mean the workforce is going to take you seriously?The best point that was brought up today on another page,caught my eye.The argument that even if the degrees are legit and accepted by employers as well as being transferable…What about the quality of education in a setting at home by yourself taking online classes where real live debate and interaction does not occur.Whereas in a normal college setting you need to be a sharp thinker and react quickly to truly have an intellectual conversation.At home you can refer back to your books and notes to rebuttal .Good point.But I learn just as much online when I want to…and I really don't even need a crappy college to tell me how to do it
March 30th, 2007 @ 3:47 am
oh and I would like to know if "jeremy" attended UOP himself.since he seems to be so very professional and educated…..
May 12th, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
I've taken a keen interest in colleges and universities in the US over the past couple of months. Actually, my interest centered around graphical art used to represent each school, but in my travels (via the Web) to all the different college websites, what I've become VERY aware of is that there is a plethora of all kinds of schools in the US, thousands in fact. So many, after two months I'm still adding to my list!
You might say the sheer number really took me by surprise. Like all people I normally think of the big names when I think of schools (Yale, Harvard, U Michigan, NYU, etc.) but I've since come to the realization that the vast majority of college educated people in this country did not go to any of those prestigious schools!! Rather, they attended places like East Podunk and SouthEastern Podunkle.
Schools you never heard the name mentioned in your life nor will you ever hear anyone utter their name! Schools that may or may not be doling out quality education or worthwhile diplomas. Who knows?
Just because a school has the name "State" behind it or is a private establishment or is "back east" or has been around many years or follows the "traditional" sit in a classroom autumn/spring format doesn't necessarily make it a good school or mean that its' degrees have any relevance. There seems to be a lot of bias (particularly among folks who have the traditional degrees and especially among employees of the traditional establishments) that because UOP has a non-traditional format, it's lacking somehow.
I myself, am a UOP graduate (years ago) and I am proud of my degree. I feel anyone who really wants to learn about what ticks behind UOP should read up on Dr. John Sperling and his stellar business plan. I personally, have great respect for the man and thank him for his unbiased and forward thinking ideas.
Realistically, we are all not college freshmen anymore. That was my biggest gripe (as a working adult) trying to get through the traditional college arena. I finally figured out after a few years, they want to treat everyone like college freshmen! What that means (of course) is long hours sitting in uncomfortable chairs at unreasonable hours, moving at a turtle pace through the coursework year after year. Having to deal with the traffic and long lines and 18 year olds!
Not that there's anything wrong with 18 year olds.. I just don't want to be treated like I should be moving at the same pace as them. I certainly wasn't there on campus for the social scene. Traditional degrees are centered on the social life with good reason, freshmen usually do need an "indoctrination" into the real world and the college campus is a great place for that. I don't happen to need that in my life since I already spent a year in a dorm room (enough).
Another thing really hit home this past few months. My son (a college freshmen) doesn't seem to mind asking me for help which I am happy to give.. What I really noticed was the ease I tackle college problems with now, so unlike when I was 18 years old and first in college! Why? Because I didn't have any knowledge or experience then. It was hard to answer a question in Business Communications about conducting a meeting since I had never conducted a meeting, now it's second nature.
That's how UOP helps you cut to the quick and use your life knowledge in your classroom work. They encouraged team projects that centered on solving real life business problems.
I think the traditional degree die-hearts and bigots should also understand that education is a whole lot different than it used to be and it will never be the same again. It must be really a blow for them to discover that not only is the UOP format thriving, online degrees are now a new way of life!
Soon, the younger set will each have several of them! Many fine, established universities are also venturing there now.
June 11th, 2007 @ 2:06 am
As a former employee and student of university of phoenix, I have to say that the school operates strictly for money. To start with, I was an "academic advisor" for the school for over a year. It was required that I had a bachelor's degree for the job. My salary started out at 32K annually for the online department. I worked with six enrollment advisors on my team. These were the people responsible for calling recycled phone leads. The requirement for this job was a high school diploma or GED. They happened to start out at 33k annually, and they had the opportunity of making up to 40% raises every six months. This all depended on how many students they enrolled. Trust me, no one at that school cares about the students. The staff is so overwhelmed because of the high turnover of employees that they just ignore calls from students. My training class consisted of 23 people and at the six month mark there was 2 of us left. One of the people I trained with stated that he felt bad every night when he went home because of unethical practices of the university. From a student point of view, I'm in my last class right now and I have never opened my book. Listen, I don't care if you go to the unviersity or not, but please do your research before deciding. Also, I honestly don't think the university will be in business in 5 years anyway. Over 90% of the students at UOP are financial aid students, and with amount of personal information of students that gets out. Then when you add the drop out rate of the students. THEY WILL LOSE FINANCIAL AID!!! Once they lose financial aid, they are done….
June 29th, 2007 @ 12:21 pm
All I can say is, UOPSucks.com…
July 11th, 2007 @ 12:36 am
I worked at UOP for over a year and when I finally had the chance to start taking classes to earn my Masters Degree free of charges, I declined to take classes. Everyone who works at UOP, even for just a short while. eventually starts to see that this is a business, not a University. They are all about making money and do nothing to improve customer service or the quality of education they provide. They treat their employees and instructors horribly and have somehow been allowed to fraudulently obtain billions of dollars in Federal Financial Aid for students; many of whom have no business in college. The best part is that their "financial power" has not only bought them the rights to lie to the Federal Government, they were also able to convince an NFL team to name their stadium after them. Only in America!
October 5th, 2007 @ 10:46 am
I took six classes with UOP, all I did was read read read and learn nothing else. I hated every second of it, an instructor failed me because of nothing else than a pissing constest. I completed an assignment before he posted it, even though the instructor (according to the syllabus) was late in posting the assignment. Then he got upset and my grades just started dropping after that. Not only did he fail me but he failed my entire team. I seriously believe he did that just to make sure I didn't pass the class. Our team project was good. I will go back to IIT Technical Institute where I could talk to the deam, had a few issues and they helped me out tremendously. They actually care about the students not just the money. I dropped UOP and will never go back. 6 classes and only one good instructor. That is not a good turn out.
October 5th, 2007 @ 10:48 am
I took six classes with UOP, all I did was read read read and learn nothing else. I hated every second of it, an instructor failed me because of nothing else than a pissing constest. I completed an assignment before he posted it, even though the instructor (according to the syllabus) was late in posting the assignment. Then he got upset and my grades just started dropping after that. Not only did he fail me but he failed my entire team. I seriously believe he did that just to make sure I didn't pass the class. Our team project was good. I will go back to IIT Technical Institute where I could talk to the deam, had a few issues and they helped me out tremendously. They actually care about the students not just the money. I dropped UOP and will never go back. 6 classes and only one good instructor. That is not a good turn out.
Once again with ITT tech, we had one bad instructor. The uppers at the school talked to the entire class and they fired that instructor that week. UOP just doesn't care about the students, only about the money.
November 8th, 2007 @ 11:14 am
I would first of all like to state I noticed that none of u graduated. So, it evident that you had to work while attending UOP and some of u could not handle the work load.
Secondly, what college does not use tactics to get students in their program? I have a challenge for u all who have too much time on your hands. Let me know when u graduate with at least a undergraduate degree!
I would also like to know did u past employees get fired and maybe that is why the University sucks now to u?
Just thinking out loud !
November 12th, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
I have just finished my first class at UOP and feel like it is up to standards as any other college I have been to. You get out of it what you put into it! If all you do is read and blow off every article without using a little bit of brain power, then you will not learn anything no matter where you go. I do think some aspects could be better as with any organization one chooses to deal with. I noticed a few people here hate UOP, and I was wondering since they left the university, where did they end up now? If there is a whole lot better online college please fill us in with the details. As a working adult with a wife and two children, I find it impossible to go to a brick and mortar school and online education is the only way to go that makes sense. You say they are only after the dollar, what do you think your traditional college is after? See what kind of profit there turning and I am sure you will feel the same about them. And to the Jane Doe that wouldn’t even use her real name, if you had a chance to get a masters degree for free and didn’t take it! That says something about your intelligence level by itself. If people blindly think for one min there is a college out there that doesn’t operate to make huge profit you are sadly mistaken. I might have to do an amendment to this posting after the next couple classes, but I guarantee it will not be because the college is trying to make a profit.
November 20th, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
Here's my story. I had about 75 credits from a state university in Ohio and those credits were 20 years old. Arizona State University wouldn't accept them because they were so old. So, UOP accepted them (50 of them) and I finished my undergrad their. Now, I'm attending Arizona State working on a Masters. And guess what? ASU happily accepted the UOP degree! To boot, I have nearly a 4.0 GPA at ASU. Served my purpose very well.
November 20th, 2007 @ 10:00 pm
…just out of curiosity, has anyone: basically female, caucasian, over 50… felt the school discriminated in any way? Got a reason for asking…
December 8th, 2007 @ 2:59 am
There is a group on MySpace gathering information for a consumer class action against University of Phoenix, Western International University and Axia College.
December 8th, 2007 @ 11:25 pm
To join the group and find out more information about the class action, go to -
http://groups.myspace.com/apollosuxs
There is also another overtime suit on behalf of Academic Counselors, a discrimination suit on behalf of Enrollment Counselors and a securities fraud suit, in case you purchased stock.
December 10th, 2007 @ 8:21 pm
Currently, I am enrolled in UOP and am receiving a great education. The intructors always anwer my questions and the counselors are very attentive in making sure I have what I need. Lets be realistic, even the greatest traditional schools are after the same thing, it is just more of a….traditional raking of money instead of using technology to do. I am learning alot, but in order to succed in this school, you have to be disciplined, organized and self reliant. Traits not commonly found in individuals who have not the life experiences needed to excel and take from this school what they really have to offer, which is a quality education for adults and professional who work full time and have families. We already know how to multitask and prioritize. I have been practicing these techniques for 20 years.
A student who has no self control and no ability to self monitor and take charge and ownership of their education will fail at UOP. Before making a decision on whether UOP "sucks" make sure you do your homework, in an unbias manner. Getting information from a one sided source usually means that it contains fallacies
December 12th, 2007 @ 1:38 am
Currently I also attend UOP…I am 4 classes away from finally leaving this so called education. With the amount of work I have put into this, I see little to no return in my experiences here and would never suggest or recommend this university.
Every school acts on money, don't fool yourself. But it seems they are willing to ruin someones credit on a single late payment for a balance of 89 dollars, so misc fee. Mistakes happen, yet they are willing to ruin you over nothing.
I have a high GPA, hand in my assignments early….pretty much do everything possible to make sure I do well. I have to agree with the Instructors being very shady and far from being top notch. One even claimed to work for a company that has never existed.
This has nothing to do with self control or being a good student..we pay money to receieve a fair service, and if that service is below our standards, we have every right to vent and scream.
I plan on leaving UOP shy of 6 credits to transfer into Penn State, which means to more classes here. I say UOP is a good start, but a horrible finish….best of luck
January 2nd, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
I attended this school and it sucks! It was a total rip-off for what you get. The enrollment part was easy but after they get your money you are on your own. I would not attend again or recommend it to anyone.
January 4th, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
I am currently enrolled in UOP. I do believe that you have to be self-disaplined and organized to do the online classes. One blog stated that the site is always in technical difficulty; I personally have never had an interruption in my education. So far the site has been there when I needed it to be. Also, another stated that it is ridiculous that the UOP can state that a student can get a degree in 20-24 hours a week. I personally spend a full work week working on assignments and researching. As a single mom and working two jobs, this is the only feasiable way to receive a degree for myself. I am into my last year of UOP and so far have had only minor problems. There is a lack of communication when it comes to advisors returning your phone calls or e-mails, this is not acceptable. I feel that I have put into it what I have received. I am determined and interested in getting a degree and that is where my education is coming from. Most of the the instructors have done very well in the classes I have taken. There is always going to be two sides to the story and what someone feels they have or have not gotten. It is a personal choice and one that will have to be made the best of if you are to succeed. By some of the blogs I have read, most have dropped out before finishing and possibly giving all they had. I was brought up to finish what you start and if this does not get me all I need at the end, I will move on and do what else is needed. Everyone has an opinion.
January 8th, 2008 @ 10:48 pm
I hate this school sometimes. I have 3 kids, married, and I need to graduate in order to obtain a higher income. I can only learn what I need to once I actually get into my job. Yeah, I feel like this school is about money because it is. It is now JANUARY and I stiill am getting the runaround for FAFSA or so this stupid UOP says. But its on them they process this. So I am doing what I can and doing what they askes. i just ask that GOD works this out for me. Cuz why I am here. I am almost 5 thousand in the whole because financial aid has not been approved yet. bastards.
January 13th, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
Every school is in it for the money! As for those who say it's so difficult to get into traditional universities and it's so easy to get into UOP. NO KIDDING SHERLOCK!!! It's targeted towards a different group of people. Generally people who are not very motivated and have not been able to finish school due to their full time work schedule. The advisors (SALES as you call it) help people realize the importance of going back to school. That is a service greater then any of you have done! As for those who say that it's only for their personal gain and they don't really care, try speaking with a counselor at a traditional school. I was put into a program that I didn't even know much about and I wasn't able to transfer out for three years due to their misguidance! A counselor at a traditional school won't even speak to you unless you enroll. The enrollment counselors at UOP are not on commission so it's not a sales job. If you met with an unethical faculty member or counselor or were not happy in your "learning team" you should have spoken up. That's your problem you kept quiet. I attended several traditional schools and one out of every ten instructors gave a crap about their students. Your point is invalid. As for you Kimberly the FAFSA is from the government not the school. If you were not approved or it's taking a while UOP has nothing to do with it. The counselor you worked with probably offered to help you apply. Try having to do FAFSA at a traditional school. Let's see how well you do! I know for a fact that many graduates have been able to advance in their careers and UOP has aided many students who would have never gone to school earn their degree. For all you ex employees or complaining students you were never successful and still haven't made much of yourselves.
January 17th, 2008 @ 12:10 am
Hi,
I am looking at doing some extra study to further my education.
I was wondering what everyone thinks:
WHICH IS BETTER UOP OR ITT tech?
Thanks!
January 26th, 2008 @ 8:59 am
I too, am receiving the run-around with the financial department at UoP. There was nothing wrong with my FAFSA or any of the information that I had to send to the finance department at UoP. (Federal aid person and finance person from UoP, told me this!) I was told that the problems with the 'processing', 'certification', and so on, were due to human error, human delay, and problems with UoP's 'computer' system. They had me begin classes before my financial information was completely 'processed'. I was in classes when a serious problem with my computer made it necessary to purchase a new one. I did not have that kind of cash, so I tried renting one, hoping that my financial aide and loans would go through so I could use the left-overs to buy one. (my computer problems happened 145 days after they had already had my info!) I rented a computer for a little over 2 mths, and my they said that my account had still not been processed, but I DID begin receiving bill statements from UoP saying that I owed them X amounts. It's kind of funny that they are so on top of sending out their bill statements, but can't seem to process my info. (I received 4 statements in 2 mth period). Now when it seems like they finally have it 'processed' and 'certified', the financial counselor that told me that I had received a credit on my account from the classes I had to drop out of, and the academic counselor who knew I needed the refund to buy a computer have disappeared and the school is telling me that all my money has been eaten up by classes that I couldn't take, classes that I DIDN'T know I was enrolled in, and another set of classes that I will soon have to drop out of as well. In fact they are telling me that I now OWE them money. My financial counselor is 'out of the office for an undetermined leave of absence due to serious illness', and my academic counselor was 'promoted', and my current finance counselor is trying to tell me that they (UoP) has no record of any of this info I am writing about. DOES THIS NOT SOUND FUNNY TO ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE? PLEASE HELP! Don't want to default on my loans and then not be able to continue my education. I did this so that I could give my children a better life, and now it appears that I may not be able to complete what I started.
March 1st, 2008 @ 12:29 am
I am so tired of all the bitching. Somebody some place has to own up to something. This is so ignorant. Bitch,complain,piss and moan. I had a bad child hood, my husband/wife left me. This entire web-site sounds like a pathetic country song. Pick your selves up and get over it. If youu want to bitch, bitch about tha Federal Government, or better yet go to Iraq, come home with your legs blown off and then wonder if this Web-site is worth it? Find something more useful to bitch about. How a single mother without a shitty UOP education can support her kids making 7 an hour. Border jumpers? Welfare drug addicts? Molestation? Get over it, its fucking college. Get a life or a fucking lawyer!
March 6th, 2008 @ 9:47 am
What strikes me is how everyone here is college educated or halfway so and cannot put together a proper english sentence! Your on your own instead of YOU'RE on your own, words like "cuz"…. I know it's online and abbreviations are shorter, but if you want to complain, put it in writing and use spellcheck. No one will take a self-proclaimed, "college-educated" person seriously with that kind of language, if anything if only lends to the point that University of Phoenix glosses over the fine points to get to the decimal points that involve your hard-earned money.
I have been looking into this myself. I am a white, single mom in her late twenties and hoping to better myself. I had one question for UOP and one question only…."Do you have a Speech Pathology program?" After many questions about what race I am, after telling them I'm not part of a federally recognized aboriginal tribe and loads of other rediculous questions, they still could not answer mine! You either: A. Don't have it, B. Don't have it but have a similar major with a broken down specialization that would be similar or C. Do have it. If you have it, you should say so and I would sign up today! If you have something similar, then say so and I may sign up in a month or so. If you don't have it, stop wasting my time. I have a child with special needs, and after a few hour-long phone calls, hour-long internet chats and countless messages (some of which weren't from UOP,but colleges they sold my phone number to within less than 15 minutes of internet sign-up)…I have gotten no closer to an answer and wasted valuable time.
March 6th, 2008 @ 9:50 am
Oh, and the financial aid thing, you get the run around with that anywhere. Most DECENT colleges will put a hold on your bill if you've been in touch with the aid company and they know the money is on it's way in.
March 6th, 2008 @ 10:03 am
Ok, I was about to call it a day when I read more that made me a little bit angry. There is an article above and many comments below dismissing the author's credentials as a journalist. Perhaps that is because they are somehow affiliated with UOP and want to defend their own income. The statement that got me was that the people who complained must not know UOP and what it stands for. If it has such an honorable name, then why are they trying to bamboozle me 7 ways left of sunday to get me to sign up before even telling me whether or not they have the program I'm interested in. Interest implies a want of information. This very information I STILL have not received whil the gentleman is on my phone preparing me to enroll, at which point I politely decline and hang up. I may have been on polite on the phone but the runaround I've gotten here BEFORE even intering has left me with nothing but scathing remarks in my head. It would seem that even if, as negatively stated, UOP were all about the money, they would at least make themselves appear honest to rope you in. Even a politician knows that you lie before the election and show your true colors later, but this guy was lying even before the preliminary. I think by now my choice is clear. If you try to get me into tens of thousands more debt without proof that it is going toward the degree I choose, I choose not to be hassled into enrollment. I would have been willing to withstand the pressure if I knew the payoff was what I was looking for, even if it were a slight more expensive, but the payoff for me is clear, there is none. The lack of information I seek speeks for itself. It cannot be given because it does not exist, so I will go somewhere that it does.
March 14th, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
I am 6 units away from graduating from U. of Phoenix. I work for a large drug manufacturer that pays for my tuition costs. Since I am finishing up my degree program and have been working at my company for 8 years now working with Berkeley and Stanford grads every day, I think I have some perspective and objective opinions on the U. of Phoenix.
Does the U. of Phoenix compare to schools like Stanford and Cal? No they do not and nobody claims they do. I think most employers probably view an undergraduate bachelor degree from U. of Phoenix somewhere between an associates degree and an undergrad degree from a traditional, major university and I understand that. What U. of Phoenix has provided me is an undergrad degree from a regionally accredited school, which will allow me to be admitted into a state public university masters program. I am just using my degree from Phoenix to get admitted into a masters program from a traditional school in-state. I know I am not about to waste my time and employer's money with one of Phoenix's MBA's, they are totally worthless and not accredited.
In the end I think it all comes down to proving yourself professionally. Does a degree from anywhere guarantee you success and a good salary? No. All a degree does is supplement what you accomplish. If you don't accomplish anything professionally and prove yourself, don't expect your Stanford degree to save you either.
March 14th, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
I am 6 units away from graduating from U. of Phoenix. I work for a large drug manufacturer that pays for my tuition costs. Since I am finishing up my degree program and have been working at my company for 8 years now working with Berkeley and Stanford grads every day, I think I have some perspective and objective opinions on the U. of Phoenix.
Does the U. of Phoenix compare to schools like Stanford and Cal? No they do not and nobody claims they do. I think most employers probably view an undergraduate bachelor degree from U. of Phoenix somewhere between an associates degree and an undergrad degree from a traditional, major university and I understand that. What U. of Phoenix has provided me is an undergrad degree from a regionally accredited school, which will allow me to be admitted into a state public university masters program. I am just using my degree from Phoenix to get admitted into a masters program from a traditional school in-state. I know I am not about to waste my time and employer's money with one of Phoenix's MBA's, they are totally worthless and not accredited.
In the end I think it all comes down to proving yourself professionally. Does a degree from anywhere guarantee you success and a good salary? No. All a degree does is supplement what you accomplish. If you don't accomplish anything professionally and prove yourself, don't expect your Stanford degree to save you either.
I would also like to add that the article referenced from the New York Times, some of it might be true but come on folks its the New York Times. Consider the source. Could very well be a writer trying to make a name for himself. Could also be true, could also be slanted or not true. Do not believe everything you read in the media.
March 15th, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
In response to Michelle's comments above about some of the posts here and spelling. You are drawing a correlation between the ability to spell, intelligence, and the U. of Phoenix (people who attend Phoenix can't spell and are therefore uneducated as you might say). This is an obvious failure in logic, you can't draw this conclusion based on this. People misspell words either because of lack of intelligence or laziness. I work with some chemical and electrical engineers who graduated from Cal-Berkeley who can't even put together a cohesive and grammatically correct sentence with correctly spelled words.
Look people college is overrated anyway. Once you get in the real world you begin to realize that employers really do value hard work and professional accomplishment more than anything else. Having a degree might enable you to move up one step higher than your current position (ie – from say senior analyst to department supervisor or manager). This one step up in income might be 5-10%. Statistics show college grads earn more than high school grads, yes, but these results are somewhat skewed when you realize some of the sampled population in these studies work at Taco Bell and they are compared to people working in tech markets making 100k+ per year. And yes I am the same John posted above who is graduating from U. of Phoenix.
March 30th, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
This school does suck. I thought that when I graduated I would be offered the same opportunities that other people who graduate do. WRONG. They never told me what tests I needed to take to be highly qualiified. I received an M.Ed. from them. They do not care about their students.
April 7th, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
I just wanted to point out to the original poster of this blog that his or her rant would have been much easier for me to read if she or he had toned down the rhetoric a bit and used complete sentences more consistently. It seems a bit silly to spend so much time writing about the merits of a college education in the style of a high school journalist.
April 9th, 2008 @ 10:50 pm
To answer the question about who's better ITT or UOP, they both really suck.Speaking from personal experience here. The only thing is that you can transfer UOP credits to other universities. With ITT you are screwed since they are not (or at least weren't in my time) a regionally accredited university. Its also the difference of spending 4 years or 2 years on an associates.
April 18th, 2008 @ 2:54 am
Unbelievable!!! We are in a socialist revolution and some rubes think hard work and education will get you ahead…..look at my town of Clearlake, California and you will see guys like Hurb Gura doing nothing and getting a government check, while bitching about BUSH! I will lead us from factories to the welfare lines , and then to the local pimps and crack dealers (like my mom).
June 19th, 2008 @ 4:32 am
My wife was on a flight back home last night and she told me a disturbing story. She was sitting next to two passengers…one, a very young reservist and new graduate from the U.S.M.C.'s Recruit Depot San Diego. The other passenger…a University of Phoenix admissions recruiter.
Aside from what were some pretty stupid and condescendng qustions from the woman admisions recruiter to the impresionable young Marine Reservist (Paraphrase…"Wow, where did you check your gun in at?"), she began working this kid to essentially waste his upcoming-future G.I. Bill towards an overpriced and under producing degree from the UOP. This pisses me off for a couple of reasons.
First, this UOP recuiter earned her MBA (apprently this is what she repoted to my wife as her educational credentials) from another university, and not the UOP of which she was working this kid over to fork $$$ too…,and second, as a clinical social worker who works with veterans ( myself being a veteran having served on active duty as an Infantryman), and having to counsel veterans in crisis because they now have a degree that is essentially worthless in the long run that they have wasted their hard earned G.I. Bill $$$ on…it just really pisses me off.
My advice to you veteran's out there…,and hell, anyone wanting to get a college degree…don't do it at UOP. Here are some alternatives:
Go to community college. UOP reports to be an institution that caters to full time working adults with busy schedules…well, not only do communty college's cater to full time working adults, the 2 year AA or AS degree will get you a better paying job. It also allows for any needed remedial academic work due to being out of school for sometime (which allows for being able to do college level academics and receive actual transferable college credit). And it is a lot more affordable…oh, and the vast majority of community college's in the U.S. are accredited (hence the ability to transfer crdits from community college to 4 year universities).
Oh yeah,…so lets address that…transfer from a community college to a 4 year university. Yeah, you can do that…depending on what you would like to major in (because you now get to transfer as a junior so you have to declare a major), you may utilize that 2 year degree and complete an additional 2 years and earn an actual fully accredited bachelors degree (which will now get you an even better job in what ever field–profession you've earned your 4 year university degree in…and you also get a much better salary).
Affordabillity?…come on! There are excellent Public Universities like the SUNY Public Schools in New York which covers 2 year, 4 year, and technical schools in NYC,… the UC Schools in California, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan, Rutgers University, Kent State University, University of Hawai'i,..there are multiple Public University choices in all 50 States of the Union, as well as territories within the governing sovernty of the United States (a 2 year Associate's Degree from the America Soamoa Communty Collge will actually get you e better paying job then a degree from UOP…no joke.)
And though undergraduate studies at a 4 year university may require more creative scheduling regarding full time work…,you can do it. I did it…my wife did it…and we both had classmates within our respective university co-horts who not only worked full time like we did, they worked full time and took care of their families…one of my classmates in my undergraduate co-hort spent the first 9 months of her junior year pregnant…and she did it with a smile!
And it doesn't stop there…because now you are motivated and may consider going to graduate school. And not some no name on- line institution, but a really great quality graduate school program. And if you worked hard and did well enough at an actual accredited 4 year institution…,you may get a full ride scholarship for your masters and doctorate education (like my wife did), or you may be able to bypass your first year of graduate school and get advanced placement as a second year graduate student (and end up saving a whole years worth of tuition costs towards your masters degree like I did).
You absolutely can not do this with a degree from the University of Phoenix…so sorry Charley, you just can't.
Again…my wife and I did it, working full time. No one gave us anything special or extra…no silver spoons or trust funds here…I completed my undergraduate and graduate education from a top public university in 5 years versus the usual 6 years.
And really, nothing beats the on-campus, first hand experience of learning in an actual classroom or lecture hall or lab…collaborating with fellow students and academic colleagues and professors…really learning something, and gaining actual subject knowledge not just on one particular topic,..but true in depth academic and direct practice expertise on a whole discipline. It realy is just amazing.
I do not know of any UOP students who have had that, and they are truly being cheated out of an important life experience.
But allow me to play devils advocate…distance leaning and online education.
If you're gonna pay for it (and want it to pay off for you in employment opportunities afterwards), consider the other distant learning / online options at these universities:
Johns Hopkins University (certificates, undergraduate, and graduate degrees).
Boston University (certificates, undegraduate and graduate degrees).
The George Washington University Medical Center Health Sciences Programs (undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and dual degree program's, as well as degree programs for millitary health science personal).
Options…a whole hell of a lot better then what UOP offers and peddles to the public.
And again, to my fellow veteran's and soon to be fellow veteran's…you have much better options then the insult that is UOP…do not let these charlatan snake oil salesmen and women deceive you and seperate you from your hard earned and rightfully entitled G.I. Bill,
'Nuff said.
June 30th, 2008 @ 11:19 am
WOW! I am so glad I saw all this! I felt the same way when I inquired about the UOP! She was a salesperson, not someone that cared about me or my education! I was lied to about the tuition. First I was told that is was 20,000 a year, and when I didn't qualify for FAFSA, but am entitled to VA benefits, she changed her tune. All of a sudden( after talking me into filling out a student loan, and picking a bank), it was covered by the VA! Now it was 8000 a year??? All they wanted was money! I thought about it over the weekend, and sent her an email declining because what she did and said just didn't add up. After that, she continued to call me and convince me that I should go to their school. She wouldn't take no for an answer, and once she started that…I knew for sure I was being lied to. I had to call her and tell her to close the file, I didn't want to attend and wouldn't ever go to their school after all that. Pushy!!She said she couldn't close my file because it had to be voice to voice to do it. I emailed her a long note, telling her my personal financial reasons I couldn't attend. She still called! So, I finally got her to understand( I think ) that I couldn't do this. She still did not want to close it! She still wouldn't close it and give it up! She said well I will keep it open until July…I said don't even bother! STUBBORN AS HELL over that money! It was like she didn't care at all about me! Please people do your research on this school before you get roped into something you can't get out of!
July 1st, 2008 @ 4:07 am
Avoid UOP at all costs. I work with a graduate of UOP. If someone that reads and writes as bad as he does can graduate with a masters degree then the university is a pile.
Do some searching on job sites in the IT sector. There's always at least one that says in the job posting "UOP graduates need not apply"
BTW ITT Tech is not accredited.
July 9th, 2008 @ 9:18 am
Well, this is my story…
I had decided to go to UOP when I found out that I was moving. I actually put my name on one of their call-lists, without thinking anyone would call me. Someone called that day, and I began telling him about my education goals.
We worked together to figure out what needed to be done, in order to secure my place at the school. Questions started to arise when the admissions counselor told me one thing, and then contradicted it numerous times. For example, I needed to know what credits would have transferred, and he told me to give him a list of the classes taken and the grades. He told me to just write it all down and send it.
Then, they would be able to evaluate what credits would be transferred THAT DAY.
Then, when I did that, he said that I needed to get an unofficial transcript from the schools (I went from a 4-year private to a community college). I could only get one, without paying (which I would have to do anyway when the school requested the official one), and I asked him if that was fine. He said yes, so I went through the trouble to get the one. Then, he told me that it wasn't good enough and we would need to get the one from the second school.
Well, I did all of that, and then he told me that it would take a few weeks for them to figure it out. It took two weeks to get to this point. I still had no idea what classes I would be taking, etc.
Then, I found out (on my own research), that I would only be allowed to take 2 classes at a time. Yes, I think it is a good idea to research schools, but I felt this was a huge thing for my admissions counselor to omit from our conversations.
Then, with the online application, tons of my information kept getting deleted, even with the admissions counselor's help with the entire thing!
Then, my admissions counselor mixed up my e-mails, etc with someone else, and decided to not call me when he thought I was not going anymoe (which was not true at that point).
I finally researched people's opinions on the school and actually found a website called uopsucks.com. I read for hours the comments that PAST EMPLOYEES, as well as most of the students made. I understand that people need to put the time and effort into researching a school, and then doing the coursework, but more than half the things on the website were things you just can't make up.
I discussed everything with my fiancee and I decided to go back to the community college, since the move had not worked out anyway. I told my admissions counselor my reasons for not wanting to attend and this was his reply (by e-mail),
" wow that seems a little dramatic, but that is fine I never said that this was for you told me. The other thing is you should make your own choices and not let others tell you what to do. Good luck with everything, and the other thing is many of your credits would apply. You never signed up for anything so you don't have to worry. Thank you for your time and good luck with the decisions you make."
I feel that was unprofessional, since it was his lack of judgement that led me to this decision. School was supposed to start in 2 and a half weeks, and I still had no book list (to download), had no idea what classes I was taking, etc. DONT GO HERE!
July 10th, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
I went to uop and at first it seemed great, then I stumbled upon uopsucks.com and others like it… so I decided to look into it and found out no grad-school would accept the uop diploma and I was wasting my time. At this point pulling from the uop meant I would be 11,000.00 in debt and be no where; no degree, no new job just further in debt and would have to start over at a new school, which will cause more debt!
July 19th, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
Its funny… You see all these negative comments of UOP, Yet I JUST went to a graduation ceremony with over 400 students that received their degrees.. and none of them felt this way. Like the saying goes.. if you have a good expirience, you will tell 1 person, if you have a bad, you will tell 10. There are a lot more students that have graduated and enjoyed there expierience then drop outs that didnt.
July 23rd, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
I am a UOP graduate. I selected the UOP because they would accept much of my military experience as college credit based on the American Council on Education (ACE) recommendations. After I completed my A.A. I attempted to enter a college (Albright in Reading, PA) and was told that none of my credit would transfer except 1 of my CLEP tests (I have 36 hours of CLEP credit). I declined and re-entered UOP. I got what I paid for. I averaged 20 hours per week in each course, wrestled with weak team members and befriended good ones. In two years I earned my BSIT, graduated with honors, and walked at Temple University to receive my diploma. It was an event of a lifetime shared by my wife and two kids. I loved it. My subsequent job as a web developer was made possible becuase I held a 4-year degree. Some of the negotiating skills I learned at UOP served me in good stead when I rejected the initial offer and eventually accepted – no exageration here – the final offer which was almost 90% more money.
While at UOP I saw weaknesses of the school and strengths. I transferred three times during my BS and NEVER lost a day in class. The degree is regionally accredited. The flexibility of me completing my course work from 4-6 am each day (when my house was quiet) and while I enjoyed the comfort of my bunny slippers was awesome. Some of my coursework was, in my opinion, archaic (e.g. learning C++?) where other classes were right on – such as web development and JavaScript.
IMHO I have observed that the only people asking if "having a degree" (or having one from UOP) "even matters" are those folks who have not yet earned one. I have mine and no longer ask.
Lastly, I am returing to school for a master's degree in the near future. I am considering UOP again for some of the same reasons that I originally selected it. The local university offers a similar online degree, in HR, for 33% more money.
I am a UOP graduate whose only regret was waiting until I was married with children before completing something I started when I was in my teens.
July 30th, 2008 @ 10:07 am
Sasha Says:
July 19th, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
Its funny… You see all these negative comments of UOP, Yet I JUST went to a graduation ceremony with over 400 students that received their degrees.. and none of them felt this way. Like the saying goes.. if you have a good expirience, you will tell 1 person, if you have a bad, you will tell 10. There are a lot more students that have graduated and enjoyed there expierience then drop outs that didnt.
.
.
If the 16% graduation rate cited by the original poster holds true, then the overwhelming majority of students don't enjoy their experience. The math is simple. Either way, how would you know how all 400 felt? Did you ask them? It would be interesting to know how many didn't show up at all.
August 1st, 2008 @ 9:14 am
Just completed the doctoral program and moving on to the dissertation. Best professors I've ever worked with. Real life expereince, multiple disciplines and terminal degrees held by all (some had terminal degree plurality), huge line-up to become a prof, but difficult to qualify for the doctoral program. Excellent experience, highly applicable to my job.
August 5th, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
I got talked into signing up there by work. They seem to have some deal with them. As soon as they got the aid money, they stop calling, never told me where to find the on line books, how to log into the class room. The work when you have free time is BS, they told me they dont care about the grades, just as long as I sign in three times a week, and post something on the set dates to show I am there.
August 12th, 2008 @ 2:06 pm
I enrolled in spring of 2008, but quickly found out that (among many, many other problems) there are NO academic standards at all, and withdrew. My problem with UoP had nothing to do with how it broke traditional college molds, in fact, that is what had attracted me to begin with.
I'd like to know what all the UoP alumni "doctors" have to say about the fact that in order to get your "degree" all you have to do is complete the attendance and participation requirements. Wouldn't you like to be educated by a school that demands that you actually LEARN something?? I'm going to find out where my doctors etc. were educated, and you can bet I won't be paying money for professional advice from a UoP grad.
I won't even bother going into what a mess the financial affairs department is, there are enough stories published all over the internet to convince you.
I'll just say this: DO NOT waste your time or money on this ridiculous joke of a school, or their so called graduates. IT'S A BUSINESS, AND NOTHING MORE.
August 21st, 2008 @ 10:03 pm
Let me tell you first hand about this school. Outside of it having more lawsuits against them than any other school for stealing financial aide money from students, they will find every and any excuse to make sure you don't get your overpayments from your scholarships, loans and FAFSA and Pell grants. They are supposed to be there, and you are supposed to trust them with money that you work hard to get in scholarships, money that you sign your name to to pay it back. The managers of the financial counselors (can't be more than 20 years old, the little snot nosed punks) are as bad as the counselors. Send an email and you will be lucky if you get a response within a week; but oh, their time limit is 24 hours, be real. They say they don't allow and will not tolerate plagerizim, but when you go to a counselor or even the 'instructor" (no they are not professors), the response you get from the instructor is "Don't tell me, I don't want to know". The conselors won't even touch a plagerizism complaint unless they have all of your personal information. So for me to say something about someone that has admitted that she has never done a paper of her own, she has brainmass do them for her, they want my name, phone number, IRN #. Why? so they can do whatever it takes to get me out of school before I snitch. For the last 5 weeks I have been fighting to get my excess funds to me so I can purcahse books. I cannot do the work off the computer due to a disability. Do they care? Not a chance. Half of the instructors don't even look at your papers. A class I am in right now has a persn that is using papers that others have done and doesn't even change the dates on them. Shows the instructor isn't looking at them because if he was, he would notice the dates. My son looked into this school and just because he called and wanted to get info on it, they now call here everyday "hi, this is xxxx's academic counselor from UoP". Open your eyes you idiots, he's the smart one, he doesn't want to attend a school where you can't get any help from the instructors, where they steal your money from under you, and worst of all, THEY LIE, LIE LIE TO YOU EVERY CHANCE THEY GET. We (the LT I'm on now) were all set to graduate in September 2008. Now, aftr we are almost done, they hit us that we need to take 4 electives. Isn't it surprising that they never told us that before? Just like they told us we woould never have to pay anything out of pocket, but all of the sudden they raise tuition by $65 per class, and you have to pay it, plus the cost of your books.
August 25th, 2008 @ 12:56 am
I suppose I really shouldn't have stayed up late looking for extra info on UPX (the actual abbreviation for the school).
I'm 18, and tomorrow is my first class. I'm nervous about it, because I don't know what to expect, and honestly – this didn't make things any easier. I have a medical issue that keeps me from going to a physical classroom setting, and this is literally my only option if I want a college education. I had no idea that there was so much negativity circulating around UPX. I don't understand why so many people are upset – yet – but I promise to come back here and give an opinion after a while. I really do think that people can become a little aggressive in their tactics to blame other people for mistakes or accidents; and because of this, I'm trusting my own experiences instead. I hope no one takes offense to that! :)
Much love.
August 26th, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Well with all of the negative complaints I must say I do agree with some of them. I am a UPX student and I will have to agree the academic team does have the stalker used car salesman attitude. I originally started in Las Vegas just wanting to look up some information on the school. Once filling out an application on their website i recieved a phone call within minutes.
Picking up the phone was probably my biggest regret as of now. After the first class I had to transfer to another campus out of state and it took about 3 and a half weeks to get the process completed. The stalker counselors stopped talking to me once I expressed my request for a transfer and would not give me the time or day.
Just be weary when looking at this schooland do your research before submitting your information, because that is when the stalking begins. AND they will not take no for an answer
September 1st, 2008 @ 3:44 am
i am in class and for the last 8 months i had have no none of the problems anyone here had said…im getting credit while im working and getting pay…when i come home i rest and watch tv like a potate…i like it…i hope i dont have problems like some here…i just want to get a nice job…that pay me a lot of money just for having a degree…lol
September 2nd, 2008 @ 12:18 am
I love UOP! I have only five classes left before receiving my bachelors! I appreciate the hard work, and I have learned a great deal. Online is not for everyone, but it was for me. I have three small children, and I work full time. I maintain a 3.5 GPA that was well earned. With such a large population, UOP is liable to have negative comments. I am sure there are hundreds, even thousands with positive comments about the university. Do you think that Shaqielle O'Neal would waste hard earned money getting an MBA from UOP? Shaq loved his online experience. For those who never had the learning experience, do knock it until you try it!
September 6th, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Just as I suspected. UoP does suck and there are many other that see the BS behind all the propaganda of UoP. One more thing any sucker who loves UoP is a flake and a sap. If you really want to get a real education, receive a WELL ROUNDED, with a true peer to peer to professor to peer education from a 4 year Univ. Don't be lazy with this UoP BS!!!
September 11th, 2008 @ 10:27 pm
I would have to say that I really get a kick out of all the garbage that this site has created towards education. For those who do not even have an education do not deserve to even post an opinion especially if you have attended an institution or college and did not finish. I have attended the business school at the University of Oregon and have a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration focusing in Marketing. I am also working on my MBA from the University of Phoenix's Main Campus, not online and have had an excellent experience and education. I had an MBA statistics teacher that was a vice president of SmithBarney that had a world of knowledge about analyzing statistical data and minimizing business risks. I am having a difficult time with uneducated people knocking a program that seems to be impossible for unsophisticated people to accomplish. I recommend attending your local community college because you’re right you will not last at a University. SCHOOL IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good Luck!!!!
September 13th, 2008 @ 2:21 am
Hi everyone,
I'm a student at UPX and have only positive experiences with the teachers and other students. I've had experiences where some students don't pull their weight in the learning team, but that also happens in real life. I do have to admitt that I'm a little worried about other people's reaction when I do get my degree. Will they think that I out over on education or am I really qualified for a position that requires a degree.
September 21st, 2008 @ 1:19 am
yeah the prices at UOP do suck! I do go there and don't know if there are any options to leave to keep out of debt from financial aide. Other than the expense though, I don't see any problems with it. I do spend a lot of hours trying to keep my GPA up just as I would with any other school. I am basically paying for convenience. What UOP as set up is an assembly line system for handing out degrees, which products (students) make it and which don't. I'm only in my second block so I am not sure if things will change but I feel as if it is the individuals responsibility to research the school they are in. I honestly study more hours than most of my friends who go to University of Houston. I have had to rewrite papers for them while they will be getting their bachelors soon. Is UOP beneath where I should be at or should I be thankful that I can go to school and work 60 hours a week. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
September 21st, 2008 @ 1:25 am
my church profits 220k or more a week but they don't receive negative feedback!
September 22nd, 2008 @ 11:56 pm
All schools are for profit. Name me one school that does not charge for at least one of the following tuition, books, parking, room/board, sporting events, application fee, etc? Hmm..that right all schools charge fees for those items .Why? beacuse the grounds keeper have to get PAID! Dean of Students have to get PAID!! You get the point there are people who have nothing to do with education but are getting paid! IF the school runs a shortfall in the budget, guess who pays for it. THE STUDENT!!
Yes students spend 10-14 hours doing his or her homework. Because they take one class at a time. If they took 3 or 4 classes at the same time than they would spend 30-50 hours a week of homework. Just like a brick and mortar school.
Everyone hates microsoft because they have the best product and no one can beat it. Everyone hates UOP because they are the #1 adult education program and no one can beat them
October 14th, 2008 @ 9:05 pm
I will have to disagree with all these negative comments on UoP. No the school is not prestigous, but the education there is a good solid one. The professors really care about your advancement and getting your degree. The class times is convenient for people who can't go to school on a traditional schedule. I don't understand where all these bad comments are coming from. Also, I know a few people who graduated from UOP and have great jobs so employers do take your degree serously. I have been to a traditional university and also Phoenix and I must say Phoenix has certain things that I like better and the traditional school I attended had certain things I like better. The school is not for everyone though so be careful if you're considering UOP.
October 29th, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
After I graduated high school; I attended Roosevelt University in Chicago and after one semester, I dropped out. At that time I could not handle college. I was not mentally prepared to take on the challenges of higher education. Since then, I have graduated from 2 trade schools and went back to a community college and completed 2 years of education. I decided to go to UoP 4 years later and I find it to be the best experience one can ever have. The only difference from online and traditional school, is that you are physically present at a traditional college and you are transmitting your information through asynchronious communication online. Some of the past students at UoP complained that the education was a joke and that they completed their assignments before it was due. Well, at a traditional college; you can do the same thing when you are given a course syllabus, as I was given at Roosevelt University. Let me remind you; Roosevelt University is one of the top Universities in Illinois and they are just as expensive as UoP.
After I did not complete my education at Roosevet University; I was still obligated to pay my student loan. One semester was around $2500. I was not exempt from paying because I decided not to continue nor did I sue RU. Does that make Roosevelt University greedy for money or do you think they should be paid for their service? Every college, university, trade school that supply service should be paid. When you put in 40 hours of work on your job; you expect to get paid for your work. My point is; it is a shame that people are bashing UoP because they do not understand the mechanics of life and how you will not always have it your way. Everyone have a problem with someone or something. What can you do about that? Get educated. I believe if you want to learn; you will have to do that on your own with the assistance of an instructor because when you deeper into how one ascertain an education; it is not the instructor who makes you learn, it is the person who wants to learn.
November 7th, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
I finished up my Bachelors from UOP. I then began an MBA program, remaining at UOP. But after two weeks of tollerating such horrible spelling from fellow classmates, it became hard for me to stomach what I was seeing. I decided to search for another institution with a more intellectual and conducive environment where I can understand what was being interpreted. Dont get me wrong……..Once in a while spelling errors do occur, but in a UOP/ MBA setting, it happens more than expected.
November 10th, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
If you ever register for a class that is Taught by Wanda Curlee. Drop the class immediately she is such a bitch. I can't believe that they allow this woman to teach. It is so obvious she needs to be f. . . . . . I'll bet you she looks like a pig.
November 14th, 2008 @ 1:54 am
Seriously? All major universities advertise and recruit. What do you think football and basketball are for? And how much money, including government money, do you think goes into supporting non-academic programs at these institutions? Not everyone will be happy with their University of Phoenix experience, not everyone will be happy with their state college or other private university experience either. The call to arms should be "go to school and educate yourself to better yourself and your family," not, "go here, don't go there, I know because this is what happended to me and the universe revolves around me." Maybe it was that stinking attitude that prevented some of these people from finishing at a traditional bricks and mortar college and have placed a bias so strong in them that it is preventing them from continuing at a non-traditional college. Boo hoo to you!! You create your own future, do something about it and stop being a bunch of cry babies. Suckers! As for those of you who have completed a regionally accredited university education, good for you! It is an accomplishment in the passage through this existense that you will always remember as being both frustrating and absolutly rewarding for all time. Thank you, I tried to keep it short.
November 24th, 2008 @ 6:06 pm
I've been reading some of the posts and some people seem to think that UoP and regular university should be used in the same context of for-profits; however, there is a distinct difference. UoP has shareholders that are concerned with profit not with quality of education–that is what the CEO of UoP has been elected to do, and that is what he is successful at doing.
On the other hand, a university is also for-profit, but in a much different context. Instead of satisfying shareholders, they satisfy the students and attract faculty that will give them name recognition–they are concerned with recognition and with recognition comes quality education.
November 29th, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
I am so tired of people saying, "UoP is geared towrds people less motivated…people who don't care…" It is so offensive. I am highly motivated, hardworking, and want to EARN my degree…unfortunatly…not only do I attend school…like all students…but I also work and take care of my children and household…oh any my husband is in the military..we move a lot and so it's basically impossible to go to a traditional college…so please…don't act like we are BELOW you, because we are doing everything we can in OUR situations to get ahead!
November 30th, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
I attended a traditional school and found the class setting was so large in most of my classes that my professors wouldn't even recognize if I wasn't there. Heck, I had many courses I showed up for only on test day….passed… and learned NOTHING.
I obtained my associates at UoP and can tell you, I have learned more than I ever did at the University of Toledo. Not only do I have to be completely reliant on myself, I have to manage my time and my finances to make this work. I am a full-time employee, a full-time mommy, and a full-time wife. Not to mention that my son is autistic!
And what's this business with 24 hrs of class time per course? Please explain where that number came from. One must be in class a minimum of 3 days (yes, actually doing work) and has assignments that consume HOURS of time (usually 3 hours for the assignment, 1-2 hours for the checkpoints). This is not including the time taken to study. One does this for NINE week blocks. The average is roughly 75 hours per course in the classroom not including the time writing papers and submitting finals…. 24 hours?
December 1st, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
I have worked for UoP for nearly 4 years. They treat their employees like shit and will fuck you over at the turn of a dime! The have no regard for your family or personal life and are a bunch of cult like alcoholics and druggies! I also attend UoP as a student and think it is a worthless school! The reason I feel this way is because everything I learn in class is supposed to be implemented in your everyday work life. For some reason, the University of Inconsistancy and Constant Change doesn't practice what they preach! Unfortunatly I have to wake up and work for the demons tommorow. Regardless of what TV, Newsarticles, word of mouth, or anybody says.. Take it from soemone who knows the company inside and out! IT IS A FUCKIN CROCK OF SHIT!!!!
December 4th, 2008 @ 8:30 pm
Well as a single parent the UoP seemed like a key job. I hold both a bachelors and masters from both a state school and then a private school. The difference between the state school and uop. State schools receive money from the state to thrive and produce for academia. UoP receives money from the students to thrive.
School was great for me when I was younger. But there is no way to handle my career change and classes without what the UoP offers.
Now as an employee there, yes I agree with what I've seen here. I'm pissed. I've worked hard. We work on a matrix. And the truth is the numbers. No matter what you do you are penalized by the unmotivated individuals that start in courses and drop, even if it means they owe money. Phoenix always gets paid even when the employee does not.
At this point I'm saving to transition to my next career. I've loved my time at the UoP but if I can't get beyond one salary and I have to yoyo on a pay increase/decrease system then that is not the best place for me.
As for their work for the students it is not easy. After earning three degrees prior to ever starting work at the UoP, I can say that it is just as much reading and writing as I did in a semester anywhere else just in a condensed amount of time.
Don't be afraid to attend just be knowledgeable going in.
December 13th, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
Ok I had a bad experience with UoP. I really thought it would be good for me to do online schooling because of my job and all. I need to go to school to further my career. When I first started it was stated I was an independent if my mother was declined for a student loan which is what happened. My mother lives in a complete different state and it is hard for me to get in touch with her. They insisted to have her sign papers and she did. But here is the problem. The date was different. I kept having to spend money faxing papers with current dates on them. This is ridiculus. I am sorry but not everyone has a vehicle or time to be doing this. So finaly i thought i was done. A week later I had to resend everything with current dates again. Then I was charged for my first two so called classes. This is not right and I will not refer anyone in my situation or similar to this school. I did drop out but not because I couldnt handle but because this was just ridicullus
December 16th, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
The entire group is rigorous. We call the prior companies of each member of this group to determine the appropriate pain tactic for learning purposes. Each and every member is expected to sell regardless of the month or duration of employment. Some students will complain and those are regarded as victim-conscious.
December 17th, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
I thought you went there. I like how you mentioned you will take a few classes at a local community college or not. I guess you don't know what you are taking about as you did not say you have ANY degrees. I feel sorry for you as until you get a degree from UoP, bashing them is pathetic. Maybe you thought you would get paid with Google Ads or something (I don't see any). So who knows.
January 7th, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
This gets funnier and funnier. One of my favorites is this confusing lad Geoff above who seems to think one must get a degree from University of Phoenix in order to know that they are a rip off. We have long term EMPLOYEES here telling us we are correct. They do not care about education. Yes, every school needs to have revenue, but every school's top priority does not rest with Wall Street. I also like the people claiming that those of us who complain are simply lazy or too unmotivated to actually go to school. That is equally confusing, since many that withdraw from this sham of a "school" did so in order to pursue a QUALITY education and degree, like myself. If you are a graduate, then I am sorry for you, but do not act superior to me. I contacted the companies I wanted to work for and when they told me they did not regard a degree from Phoenix as highly as others, I left. And it was the right thing to do.
Oh, and when I did, I went through all kinds of grief with these people overcharging me. It took a three page letter with 20 attachments, a complaint to their financial grievance committee (which they wouldn't have if they weren't ripping people off left and right) and then an appeal for them to admit they were wrong. They couldn't wait to get rid of me :D
January 10th, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
Just an off note – I've attended 3 different "brick and mortar" universities – and the service at all of them was horrible. This seems to be ingrained into college.
My first math instructor's opening words were "you no understand the way I speak, that YOU problem!" This was to a class of 300 students in a packed auditorium. Needless to say, I was shocked. My first psych teacher was married to a photojournalist. No exaggeration – 6 weeks of the class we got to our classroom to find a note on the door cancelling class and saying to read "X" chapter. She was off travelling with him.
I never saw my advisors on any of the campuses. Oh wait, I take that back, at the community college I saw my advisor once. (The other classes were taken at state university). I never had a clue what classes to take, and when I picked ones that fit my schedule – half the time they were rescheduled for a time I couldn't attend (and I had to put in changes) or cancelled for lack of enough students for the course.
Oh and let's not forget the bookstore. I go to the bookstore and buy my books (minimum over $100 per class, $400 for one of my law classes) and get to class to have the instructor ask for a different one, or say we won't be using it. Go back to the bookstore to be told that this edition won't be used next semester so they won't buy it back.
So this was my brick and mortar campus experience. Since this was 3 different ones, somehow I'm not getting warm fuzzy feelings from them either. (schools were, for those interested, University of Maryland (2 campuses) and Anne Arundel Community College)
February 8th, 2009 @ 10:08 pm
You get what you put into the program. I believe the online courses are more difficult since one has to participate, unlike classroom where one can hide. A degree only opens the door, what you can do with the degree is up the the individual. So hearing from the negative comments I would suspect they are negative in life as well.
February 17th, 2009 @ 5:13 am
I started reading this blog and got to AJ's post above. I had to stop and write, "are you kidding me". AJ needs to be renamed as blow hole because he wrote a book on a blog.
I am suffering through my last class of a certificate program. I do say suffering because UOP is there to collect a buck, get funding from the government and they really don't care about the quality of learning or administrative impacts on the student. I have been on team assignments that are mandated with other students who don't contribute, but get credit for classes. Right now I am on a team of 5. One is an employee. There always seems to be UOP employees enjoying free classes. They are typically the students that turn in poor quality assignments or late assignments that take the team down. Then there is the students that are "life long learners" – isn't that so warm and fuzzy… those are the ones that collected a degree from paying for the credits and it was so easy they decided to do this for life because it makes them feel important. I have 10k into this certificate course. Just for clarification that would be real cash, from my bank, not borrowed or provided for free because of a program. If it were not for money invested, I wouldn't follow through. My PHR certification is worth more than the certificate program I went through. It only cost me 300 bucks for the test and I took it before classes were finished. As a hiring manager, I will not go with the candidate with a college degree achieved anywhere but UOP.
February 17th, 2009 @ 5:22 am
Clarification on last sentance of my post.
As a hiring manager, I would hire any other candidate with a degree OTHER THAN A UOP candidate. The degree just doesn't have much value. Especially after my experience in 6 classes!
March 6th, 2009 @ 8:39 am
I'm currently enrolled at UOP and decided this week to transfer out. I have been at school for 2 years and I cannot take another class. The learning teams are an absolute joke/nightmare.
I have been in classes/teams where students were not qualified to be taking college level courses; absent instructors who had no interaction with class other than posting weekly DQs; plagarism is BIG TIME. I have been able to copy student DQ responses and portions of team assignments and locate articles and sources of references from web. My HR department recommended UMUC? Does anyone have comment on this school. Obvious plagarism and NOTHING EVER HAPPEN!
The final straw occured last week when I was applying for a position and recruiter told me the client would not consider any applicants with degrees from or who are attending colleges/universities they deemed as 'deree mills'. UOPs name was at the top of the list.
I cancelled all my future classes and have been researching schools.
March 10th, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
I did my undergraduate at Clemson and my MBA at University of Phoenix. I am now currently working on my Ph.D. in communications from NC State. I have read many of the posts here and find many of them very humourous. I found the course work at University of Phoenix challenging enough to prepare me for a Ph.D. program so it can't be that useless. I was also accepted into a state Ph.D. program with my MBA from University of Phoenix so the universities accreditation has to be top notch. I don't think it gets any simpler than that.
March 23rd, 2009 @ 4:04 am
I can't believe so many people are against UoP or that so many people have had such horrible experiences. I am finishing up my Associate's degree and I'm starting on my Bachelor's later this year. I haven't experienced any of the problems everyone is talking about. My financial and academic counselors have been great. They've been very helpful and they have always been prompt in returning my calls. I have had a really good experience with UoP but sometimes I do get overwhelmed with the workload and a lot of the assignments are pretty hard. I really feel like I am getting a good education there and all of my instructors have given productive feedback and they have also been prompt in answering my questions. Online classes are certainly not for everyone. I could have easily went to a traditional school but I find that I learn better on my own. I am just one of those people who get distracted by others so online classes are the best thing for me. I don't think one type of education is necessarily better than the other. Like so many have said before, "You get out of it what you put into it." I have definitely put in the time and effort and I really feel like I am getting my money's worth.
March 25th, 2009 @ 1:25 am
UoP wows me:
http://216.240.154.224/UoPForum/default.asp
April 1st, 2009 @ 1:40 am
I attended UoP for nine months. I did not think it was a horrible place to attend but the way they recruit students reminds me of the military. I have heard horror stories regarding counselors at the school not returning phone calls and such. Luckily I never had this problem. The price per credit hour is a bit high for online classes. I also prefer to own a copy of my textbook rather than just having fragments of PDF chapters. Yes, you do not have to pay for textbooks but they are just in the tuition.
I have changed schools for two reasons. One reason being, there were way too many students in my classes who could not construct a simple sentence. The next reason is the fact that many employers frown upon a UoP degree. While I do not believe this is fair, I am not willing to take the chance of having that listed on my resume.
April 5th, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
the point that you curse this much shows me a mis-education on your part. Not even the easy courses at UOP could save you.
May 12th, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
I attended UOP for one class, GEN101. I found the UOP course to be far below college level and the students that I attended with were very far below college quality. In my first group assignment, I did all the work… My team mates refused to attend meetings, refused to contribute intellectually, and received the very same 'A' that I received. That lesson cost me over $1,000 and those 3 credits are not (and will never be) transferrable… Definately, money well spent (scarcasm intended).
I decided to continue my education at a local community college. Because of a fee waver program that I somehow qualify for (my wife and I earn into six figures a year), I have attended school without paying tuition and without paying tuition fees for the past two semeseters and two summer sessions. My only expense has been books and parking permits. I have competed 36 units of all transferrable education (and alot of those units were completed online) for just over $1,000…. Money definately well spent (sans sarcasm).
The big difference maker for me was, I could get a college education for a fraction of the cost that UOP offers, and here is the clincher: No one will challenge the validity of my degree.
While many UOP students have had wonderful experiences, there are too many students that have been discriminated against because of thier UOP degree to ignore. For $60,000, my degree has to be beyond reproach. My degree has to open doors for me, not conceal them. If, only one employeer does not talk to me beacuse of a UOP degree, then I have wasted my money.
If you are considering UOP; do the math and weigh the value of the education dollars you are about to spend. For the cost of one year at UOP, you can have a complete education at a local state university, and no one will challenge the validity of that degree, or close a door because you are a state school grad.
July 26th, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
My comment is a little different than most of the posts but it still applies to the UoP.
My neighbor started attending UoP to earn more money and support his family. He had three great kids and wonderful wife and all seemed very happy. He eventually earned his degree but also talked his wife into attending classes at the UoP. Shortly after the wife started she began an affair with her professor from the UoP. I think his name is Daniel Geivett. To make a long story short, my neighbor attended this institution for an education and instead lot his wife, his home, his car, and his marriage. He will not say anything but I will. What kind of ethics do employees at UoP have. It angers me; I watched a beautiful family disintegrate after their involvement with UoP.
Imagine, UoP says come to us and further your education and career. My neighbor did that and he lost everything.
Sadden's and angers me.
July 28th, 2009 @ 1:34 am
I am currently attending UoP, but I've also attended a tradtional college. I found both were difficult, but in my opinion I noticed I really have to dedicate more time going online. Sitting through a class is not difficult in my opinion. The only aspect that may be difficult is studying for tests. Going online I have to basically learn everything through reading and my own research… Sure I can ask questions, but it isn't as easy to translate through reading responses as it is hearing/seeing them. The comment made about only having to spend 24 hours per course is ignorant. I almost spend that much time in a week! I know that there are people that cheat with homework… but it isn't happening only with UoP students… you'll find that it's just as common at traditional schools. Bottom line, UoP is difficult, requires much discipline, and a whole lot of motivation… Don't try and undermine anyone who earns a degree through UoP! I have worked very hard to get as far as I am, and I hold a lot of pride in my accomplishment..
August 8th, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
I am both a graduate of the Mater's program and an Enrollment Counselor. I am apalled at how small individuals can blow so much hot air. University of Phoenix hasn't gotten to where it is by providing crappy education.
I am proud to be both a graduate and an employee. I hope to someday be an instructor as well.
The proof is in the pudding.
August 11th, 2009 @ 7:03 pm
I decided to manage my own money and they are dictating me like crazy. My loan should have been here almost 2 months ago and they have been holding it and making so many excuses to keep it. Then they keep letting the bill go up and they only let me get less than 1/8 of the money every month while they pile up the bill. The classes suck ass and the teachers are full of shit. DO NOT go to this school. It is expensive and full of crap. FUCK UoP. FUCK FUCK FUCK this school. I Hate It.
August 15th, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
lol @ the dumbass Lexi…
Your opinion is of no value here, because you're one of them, don't you get it? The University of Phoenix does not provide a solid education for the amount of money it is raping the taxpayer for.You offer no substance, articulation, or detail in your assertion that the University of Phoenix (a corporation) has any sort of accountibility to anyone other than national accreditation bodies. The fact that your organization only graduates 16% of enrolled students speaaks volumes, i.e. they run like flies once they see what kind of education you offer.
As employers are realizing what kind of a crappy education it is that you offer your funding will certainly begin to go down. Employers will begin to hear reports from their employees, their performance will not go up, and your funding will stop there. It is only a matter of time before the federal government raids your corporate offices and shuts the diploma mill known as the University of Phoenix down for tax fraud and the head CEOs of your company will be behind bars as well.
The type of people who enroll in the University of Phoenix online courses are foced to, because they have obligations to their families to provide a better future for themselves, are stationed overseas, or simply not that bright and don't know what to look for in a solid educational foundation. Bright people will find value in any poor decision that they make, but it is not that initial decision that they made which will set the cornerstone of their future success, it's because they believed in themselves not some stupid online 'education'. I can get myself a better quality education by simply going to the library, but that won't give me a raise right away, but it wil develop my analytical thinking skills so that I can make better decisions for myself in the long run.
August 15th, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
If the University of Phoenix is allowed to continue to operate as an organization, then the dumbing down of America will continue and it will be because the true educators, the ones from regionally accredited schools who operate not for profit, are dropping the ball and letting corporations run with education.
August 19th, 2009 @ 11:57 pm
Any school that requires APA format instead of MLA for English papers is not worth going to.
August 20th, 2009 @ 12:01 am
"Lexi Says:
August 8th, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
I am both a graduate of the Mater's program and an Enrollment Counselor. I am apalled at how small individuals can blow so much hot air. University of Phoenix hasn't gotten to where it is by providing crappy education.
I am proud to be both a graduate and an employee. I hope to someday be an instructor as well.
The proof is in the pudding."
I hope you are not one of the douches I have been dealing with over the past few weeks. The enrolment people are about as lazy as they come. They wont even check a fax machine when you call them ahead of time to send them a document. Fucking douches. I havent even started yet and they have me flipped the fuck out. Maybe I should just stop myself before I freak the fuck out on every last one of you pricks who work in the enrollment department. Double tall man to all the enrollment douche bags
September 9th, 2009 @ 11:30 pm
I attend the University of Phoenix and it sucks, the teachers are very sloppy, the syllabus always contains many contradictions, the teachers do nothing but count your number of words in your papers. No value to added by teachers. This money grubbing University also offers no flexibility in payment policies, the only thing they respect is PAYMENT IN FULL. Take a number and bend over if you plan to attend this diploma mill.
September 20th, 2009 @ 2:54 am
At this time UOP has 460,000 full time students. They all must be idiots.
September 24th, 2009 @ 11:44 pm
I run a tutoring business for students attending traditional colleges. Lately we've had online students come in and ask for help with their writing assignments.Now that I've had the chance to look over some of the U of P's coursework for first and second-year students, it appears that these assignments were designed for high school freshman (no book reports for "Lord of the Flies"' were in the syllabus, though). I guess the work gets harder in years 3 and 4.
Their graduation rate is atrocious (18%?!)?!. Yeah, I know a lot of people who attend but none who graduate from this place. Most people just sign up, have someone do the work for them, and collect the grant money.
October 11th, 2009 @ 10:03 pm
I have taught at UOP. But I could not take it any more for their greed. Let me tell you, the quality of the student is so damn poor, that I wonder how in the world these idiots even passed highschool exam. One of the comment is about the faculty. Tell me why faculty would spend any more time when they get paid $950 for five weeks course with 18-22 students. Students are charged 1400+ dollars per class. That means UOP pays to its teacher less than one students course fee. The rate comes down to below minimum wage. This is nothing but an exploitation. Most of the teachers are retired folks who sit on their vacation condos and teach for timepass. They do not care whether they stay with it or not.
November 3rd, 2009 @ 9:24 am
Zenja Thomas Says:
"Roosevelt University is one of the top Universities in Illinois and they are just as expensive as UoP."
Actually no, at the 2005 May graduation the President of Roosvelt University stated that he was happy that Roosevelt University was moving from a Tier IV institution to a Tier III. Tier IV is as low as you can go. Locally, Roosevelt University is regarded much the same as UoP is – the education process is all about the money. Roosevelt University is a Chicago example of how the "poor pay more". Most of the students are the first members of their family to attend college – so they have no idea that they are throwing thier money down the drain.
November 8th, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
I am a former employee of the University of Phoenix (well, Apollo Group, Inc. really). So yes, the university is part of a publicly-traded company. And that's where the troubles start and end. I can certainly tell you that working for the university feels no different than working for Corporate America. And why? Because it is Corporate America! I actually think this employer treated me worse than any employer I've ever had. I worked in enrollment for a number of years, but after I started questioning some of the practices internally, they pushed me out the door. I watched management do the same thing to co-workers over the years as well. Enrollment counselors are not paid commission (as it is illegal). However, the "Merit Matrix" is weighed heavily on how many students you enroll. Therefore, enrollment counselors are looking to get in as many students as possible, not caring about weather or not they graduate. This becomes a problem for the Academic Counselors (the counselors students get after their first couple of classes). Academic Counselors hate their job because they have to deal with bad students dropping left and right, which lowers their retention rate. Of course, their matrix is weighed heavily on their retention rate. So basically, the goals of the Enrollment Counselors and Academic Counselors get in the way. This all goes on while the student is working their tail off posting throughout the week and writing papers.
Furthermore, it is difficult to become faculty for the University of Phoenix because the competition is fierce. They do not pay well, so faculty have to teach a lot of classes to really make any money. And pressure is on to keep their faculty position. If the faculty member does not rate well with their students, the university can just drop them as a faculty member. In other words, no accountability on the part of the university, just the faculty member.
November 29th, 2009 @ 11:19 pm
I am not sure where you get your information from but being a student at the university of Phoenix I vcan tell you for a fact that I spend between 30 and 40 hours a week attending class and working on assignments. i know others here that do the same or spend more time. Just sov those who want the truth about the classes they are structured with discussions required and with individual and team projects. There is as much information covered and the classes are harder than the ones I had at community college.
January 3rd, 2010 @ 9:29 pm
@ michigander: you're spot on about poor students. Recruiters target these idiots to fulfill a quota without even considering one's academic background. Apparently firing out about 4 or 5 kids makes one an expert on elementary education or childcare.
January 29th, 2010 @ 4:58 am
I attended the UOP for two long years. I finished my MBA program with a GPA of 3.4. However, if you are considering attending the UOP beware. This university is a joke. First, let me start by saying that if you are not sure about a class get out during the first week of that class. If you don't, the UOP will trap you into taking the course or affect your credit.
This has happened to me. During my last class with the UOP, I became ill and had to withdraw from class. The financial aide counselor advised me that my student loan funds for the class was returned to the lender yet, my lender has no record of money being returned. I was told that I now owe the UOP $2,065 for the class dropped. After getting better, my academic advisor and financial aide counselor guaranteed me they would recover my loan money and can get me back into class. This way, I would not end up owing the UOP anything and can successfully graduate.
So, I took my last class (statistics) and passed with flying colors. Fifteen days after finishing my entire program, the financial aide counselor sends me an email telling me that she was unable to recover my loan money and that I will have to pay the UOP $2065. This was an evil and underhanded tactic to get more money out of me. Now, the UOP is refusing to change my student status to "Graduated" and will not forward to me, my degree.
I have been searching for a job and not sure whether or not I can claim myself as an MBA Graduate on my resume. This really sucks! Any suggestions?
February 9th, 2010 @ 3:53 pm
UOP is the Worst school ever. One of their favorite tricks is to not drop you from a requested class, and then bill you for it. This not only happened to me, but to several of my friends that attended there. In my case, they were paid by both financial aid, and student loans, and still tried to bill me again. The teachers and staff are extremely rude, and they won't back you at all. Capella is a great school, and well worth the money.
February 13th, 2010 @ 1:49 am
GET OVER YOURSELF!!!! Your pissed because 1) you failed a class or 2) you couldn't handle it !!!! Don't talk SHIT because your a hater!!!! Give credit where credit is due or are you to much of a pussy to do that?
February 13th, 2010 @ 1:57 am
Particia
Financial aid will only pay for a class that is successfully passed. You chose to not finish the class that is why you owe money…please tell the whole truth!!! Loans are financial aid, you obviously struggled because you ignorant and uneducated, get your facts straight. I'm sure the instructors realized how uneducated you are and called you out…good for them!!! Why couldn't you handle the work load? Was it too hard for you???
March 2nd, 2010 @ 6:09 am
During my 4 years of attending UOP, I have come to conclude that UOP is only cares about the money and is full of excuses. My recommendation to anyone who is looking to attend UOP, make sure this school is the right school for you and remember, where ever you go you will have problems, but remember you education is all that counts. Good Luck!
March 12th, 2010 @ 9:10 am
Every University has it's flaws but I achieved a B.S. in Management, MBA, MAOM, MIS, and DMIST all from UOP and I couldn't be happier. Went to a traditional University got my Associates in Engineering. For me it was a complete waste of time because most of the professors never worked a day in their life in the public or private sector so what they taught me I could not apply to the real world. I had to retrained when I started to work in both public and private sectors.
All professors at UOP have multiple degrees, own their own business, have worked as consultants, or are in high levels of authority in many corporations or public sectors positions and have real world experience that you can learn and bring to your workplace or apply to your own business. UOP prepares you more for improving your skills at work or starting your own business. It is not for everyone but if you apply yourself you to will become a Phoenix.
March 15th, 2010 @ 10:29 pm
There seems to be a number of UofP shills here… interesting.
I’ve worked with their graduates, and in some cases they’re not even literate, let alone proficient in their area of study. For some reason they believe that their degree is equivalent to one earned from a state university, which makes me laugh. All other factors being equal, I’d hire a graduate of a 4th tier state school any day over a UofP “graduate”.
There are simply too many state and private universities with far better reputations offering online programs to be wasting your time and money with Phoenix, Devry, ITT, etc. What is obvious is that some of the pro-Phoenix people here simply could not gain admission to those programs.
March 16th, 2010 @ 9:52 am
U of P is a joke. The only reason I attended that school was because it was the only school that would accept 80% of credit from 4 different traditional universities. To me all of the classes I took were basic common sense. I never even opened a book and yet I graduated with a 3.8 GPA. The "professors" don't even teach they tell you to write a paper over some BS company or article. Basically if you can write a paper then you can pass with flying colors. And the so called "team work" is a bunch of BS too. I guess you can say that these team work assignments are like working in a regular company because all the shit work does normally roll down hill and that ONE harder worker ALWAYS picks up the slack of other people. I had one "professor" have us do our daily posts on comic strips. REALLY!?!?! I don't pay 1500 a class to talk about comic strips. Another time we had to write a paper (oh wait…thats all the time) I did it so half ass and not even on the topic just to see if he actually reads the assignments. Hmmm I got an "A". How can a school not have EXAMS?!?! How do they know these kids are actually learning and actually the ones doing the assignments. All you're doing is writing them a check and they're handing over the degree. I currently attend Texas Tech online and this school is kicking my ass. This school actually makes you learn the material. The assignments are actually over the material and YES you have to take exams at a near by college/univeristy. Here I only pay 500 bucks for the WHOLE class not 500 a credit. People that are debating whether or not to attend U of P or a tradition college….. hands down go to a traditional college.
March 27th, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
@ Was a Phoenix: I have always considered U of P to be like a dumbed-down version of a traditional college. I have a cousin attending and one day I glanced over some of her "assignments." How can you turn in papers loaded with spelling and grammatical errors–not to mention not writing anywhere close to your grade level–and get an "A"? She told me most instructors are only concerned with word count and may check a paper against a database for plagiarism. Does the University of Phoenix help graduates with job placement? I've spoken with several business owners and the overwhelming majority of them say they'd wouldn't hire UoP grads unless they had a ton of experience in a particular field. Most say a degree from there isn't worth the paper it's printed on (heck, when you graduate, do you print the degree off the internets or do they mail you one?).
And for all the "recruiters" on this blog vigorously defending your employer: what the hell is up with your recruiting tactics? Are you selling a car or trying to recruit applicants for the military? You ass-hats know what I'm referring to. Instead of being concerned with a quota, you should really look into an applicant's background? Maybe you guys could do a video conference via Skype with prospective students. Take this idea back to your higher-ups and implement it.
April 6th, 2010 @ 8:36 pm
@TheWhammy: I'd like to see some of these supporters defend Phoenix's graduation rate (a dismal 16 percent in 2008 according to the US Department of Ed). I guess all those people "didn't apply themselves" or "work hard." The school is garbage and they know it. And what about job prospects for those lucky enough to graduate. As an educator, it's not fun to watch education majors with UofP degrees get their dreams crushed when they take the Praxis exam.
May 18th, 2010 @ 6:46 pm
The University of Phoenix does suck totally and completely, who's the idiot that wrote an essay on why everyone is wrong about Phoenix? Thats a lot of info to disprove something that is not true huh? I just withdrew from Phoenix after acquiring an AAIT and beginning my second class of the bachelors program. I was ready to find a new school after the idiotic GEN 300 class but my issue is the "learning teams" they are poorly conceived and most of my "team" didn't and wouldn't participate or contribute to group projects. Most people are minimalists and rely on other people who actually give a damn to carry them and that is bullshit! On retard said that she couldn't hardly ever get online so she would try her best??? It's an ONLINE school!! She contributed about 20 words to a 1200 word assignment and expected to be equally graded WTF? I finally got her to participate on the last day of the week so I wrote her saying "Your available on Mondays apparently" and I got in trouble because I used the word "apparently" in my post, the facilitator said it is snide and could hurt the freaking 44 year old idiots feelings. He din't say anything about the girl not doing her part or the illiterate way she attempted to write (44? really? At a university? Really?) her little responses which only amounted to about two a week. The point is that the staff is only driven to create profits from a pay matrix, the instructors are minimalist societal rejects and most of the 600,000 +- students do not really belong in a university level course. Many and we have all witnessed this, cannot even construct coherent sentences making it very hard to collaborate and get anything accomplished. The five week courses are simply not enough time to actually learn and retain any relevant information and much of that time (in specific weeks) is consumed by waiting on learning team members to do something. My final grade was affected because of this very issue, I still got a B+ but could have received an A. I have a 3.7 GPA and am planning on finding a college that will first accept my AAIT and that is structured and geared towards learning, not writing irrelevant essays on outdated and impractical theories over and over. Some people that attend are in fact serious but the process is contaminated when paired with those individuals that belong in an LD class. Most companies do laugh at Phoenix's degrees and it is a giant waste of time and money. When I began the bachelors program was estimated at approx. 40,000.00, a few weeks ago I received a new statement showing that ( and this is after my two years and an Associates Degree) the remaining time to complete the bachelors would total 63,000.00 dollars. So I paid 20,000 for my associates but for another two years that price would more than double WTF? You can go and graduate if you are compelled and put up with the masses of idiots that you have to deal with (?because there is NO selection process) but in the end with the experience you could gain by working in your chosen profession in an entry level position greatly outweighs what this so-called university actually offers.
May 22nd, 2010 @ 7:34 am
I actually worked at UOP for about 8 months as an enrollment advisor. I graduated from Purdue with a 4.0 so I understand college this place is a true legal scam. Advisors get 3 weeks training and it is a sales job not an advisory position. Tremendous pressure from team leads, team supervisoers, managers etc. constantly to make more calls, see more people, register more students. The true scam is how they get you to use student loans, look at the numbers they are posted everywhere UOP has lost federal lawsuits regarding these abuses. I am sure this program has helped a relative few people but more than 92% of students who register dont finish 1 year…look it up. This place is a scam that preys not only on the student but on the employee as well. By the way most schools will barely give any..any…any credit for UOP classes. Saw and heard daily about this. UOP is a scam.
June 14th, 2010 @ 7:22 pm
I'm very shocked to read all the rude comments calling everyone idiots and dumb asses to people either working for or attending UOP. I do not work for UOP, however, I did obtain my MBA from UOP and I must say….. I worked my tail off reading hundreds or pages of weekly required text, countless hours of research, and sacrificing two years worth of my weekends writing papers and constructing projects. I don't dispute anyones' claims or issues that UOP obviously has, but what school(traditional or private) doesn't. I obtained my BA degree from a traditional state school (UNR) and experienced the same issues or cheaters, lazy teammates, stubborn/rude staff, high costs, and the"runaround tactics" utilized by administrators.
I originally applied from UNLV's MBA program, however, it was not conducive to my work schedule. I still had to provide for my family, pay bills, and put food on the table. UOP's flexible scheduling allowed to accomplish my goal. UNLV's and UNR's tuition was also comparable to that of UOP's. I would have cost me $16 grand to attend UNLV or UNR (that is not counting two years worth of parking fees nor books) and UOP only cost me $19K. Its saddens and scares me to hear that employers DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE UOP degrees!!!! I worked just as hard as any other graduate student…..and not to mention, UOP is nationally accredited. If the programs are so mediocre in its content, then UOP shouldn't be accredited, but they are. Employers need to realize that, rather than discriminate on those just based angry former students.
June 15th, 2010 @ 9:45 pm
UOP is a start. It is not the solid movement that one wishes for; it may be strained or have effects of hardship or soiled pants like a leak in the system; it will do for an Associates but I wouldn't recommend this for a Doctorate or a Masters Degree. Besides, Employers look upon what college you went to. You have the paper document; Now, what have you learned? It's all in a name. The Almighty dollar is shit into your wallet depending on the shit that you learned and the shit on the paper document which you hold that says; I AM A COLLEGE GRAD! FROM: ? That is the question which will receive a total clean slate; including your ASS!
July 4th, 2010 @ 5:00 am
I'd suggest that anyone looking for an online school to search for traditional schools that offer online degrees in your field of interest. More and more traditional/non-profit schools are offering online degrees. When you attend a traditional school, the tuition is usually cheaper, it is more likely to have programmatic accreditation (extremely important in certain fields), it won't have a bad reputation amongst employers, and your credits will be more likely to transfer. I live in Texas and there is a government website that let's you search for online degree programs offered by Texas colleges. As a resident, I get in-state tuition rates and additional Texas grants when I attend a Texas college/university. You have to be careful when choosing a school though, non-profit or for-profit. Programmatic accreditation (like ABET) is required in some fields to take tests for licensure or entrance into graduate programs. Some states have their own standards and won't even recognize a degree from UoP for certain professions; not because of reputation, but just because the school doesn't meet their standards.
I attended Western International University/Axia College/University of Phoenix back in 2005/2006 when I was 19 and clueless. UoP never checked to see if I had a high school diploma or GED. There are basically no admission requirements besides a few basics, so a person who is mentally challenged can get into UoP. I can honestly say I learned absolutely nothing. I don't know if the curriculum has changed much by now, but when I attended, the key to passing was to meet word count requirements and properly use APA format. The curriculum wasn't geared towards actually informing a student on the subject matter. The textbooks were horrible because they weren't informative. The math classes I took were on the middle school level. My sister, who was in middle school at the time, laughed when she saw one of my assignments. I decided to attend a Texas community college online and it only cost me $50 per credit. The textbooks were great and I was actually tested on the knowledge I had obtained on the subject. I had to take proctored finals at a local university, so there was no way to cheat. After finishing the community college, I didn't know so many private and public schools offered degrees online, so I attended another for-profit college. Even though this school is for-profit, I still learned way more than I did at UoP. The instructors gave lectures and actually taught their students. I had to do a lot of research and the textbooks were decent, so I actually learned. The instructors did not only grade me based on word count and APA format, they graded my assignments by their content. I don't see why UoP employees and some students boast about their instructors having real world experience because they don't teach; at least when I went there. All the instructors at UoP did was make sure you made attendance by posting and graded your use of APA format. Luckily, I didn't have to deal with the learning teams when I went there because most of the students were near illiterate. The people who are saying you get out of it what you put in are basically saying you pay UoP thousands of dollars for the paper/degree and you're required to teach yourself by searching the internet or getting books from the library that could be wrong, outdated, or biased. You don't even know everything you'll need to know for that field; that's the responsibility of the school and that's why there are accrediting bodies to set a standard.
Once a school obtains regional accreditation, it's very hard for it to lose it. I believe schools are only evaluated every 10 years or so. In the meantime, the school's curriculum can be whatever. UoP actually lost in a case against them for not requiring enough credit hours for a degree. UoP has return to lender policies that aren't used by other schools. There are situations where the school has to return the funds to the government or bank, but UoP will do it even when it's not required. UoP is attempting to pay off your loans so you won't default on them. Studies have shown that people who do not finish their programs are more likely to default on their loans. Every school has to keep its cohort default rates below a certain level to qualify for Title IV funding. UoP will lie and say they were required to return your funds when they aren't. Call federal financial aid and they will tell you it is up to the school's discretion to return your aid for failed classes or classes dropped at a certain point. UoP will not be able to show you where it says they are required to return loans if you fail a class in your lender agreement or in federal law. Yes, aid will not cover the class when you have to retake it, but they do not ask for the funds back for that failed class. As long as you are meeting SAP (satisfactory academic progress) and attendance requirements, you are eligible for financial aid.
Not all colleges/universities are for-profit. Profit is what the business has leftover after paying salaries, taxes, utilities, maintenance fees, materials, etc. For-profit colleges have to make extra money to pay shareholders/investors/owners outside of salaries paid for work done. UoP even lost a lawsuit for paying commission to admissions "counselors." Other lawsuits/cases UoP lost: discrimination for favoring Mormons in employment and promotions, not paying overtime, they had to pay a fine for holding money too long that was supposed to be sent back to the government, and they are currently under close scrutiny for having a high drop out rate in the first set of classes which the government noticed because they were receiving so many loans back from the school. The government is suspecting that the school is using sales tactics to pressure people into enrolling even if they aren't ready or without completely understanding what's required of them. Like I said, I'm sure UoP enrolls people without diplomas/GED's or with mental/learning disabilities. This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and UoP has to be doing something out of the norm for the government to take notice.
I hope the government will soon stop throwing away tax dollars at these schools, but hopefully they will all go out of business due to the drop in demand. I like to do my part by telling people that many traditional colleges do have online programs; but you do have to have either college credit, a minimum SAT or ACT score, or make a certain score on an entrance exam.
July 4th, 2010 @ 5:07 am
UoP also lost in a lawsuit for lying to investors about their enrollment practices.
July 12th, 2010 @ 7:11 am
I am currently enrolled in a graduate course of teacher certification in secondary science. I have been taking graduate online and traditional classes for five years through UCM, the premier teacher education university in the mid-west. The UoP class is intellectually demanding and time consuming in the reading, discussion, and assignment requirements. Was it more expensive? About $50 more per credit hour, but I had no choice due to certification changes this fall. It is every bit as challenging as my traditional courses have been, perhaps even more so since they appear to be trying to boost their academic standards. I spend around 30 hours per week on it and still only have an 86%. I am taking a C.A.L. course concurrently and cannot keep up because there are other things that life requires besides countless hours of reading and coursework. If you are considering online graduate classes, keep in mind you will spend your entire day every day and on weekends reading, writing, and doing projects. Yeah, grad school!
July 23rd, 2010 @ 11:38 am
My expierence with Univ. of Phoenix was terrible. I would not recommend this school to anyone. Spent alot of money for my daughter to attend, she quit and is now enrolled at another school and is very happy.
October 23rd, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
My eyes are getting tired from reading all the comments. I just want the honest truth from someone about the univeristy. I have been at UOP for one year now. I transferred from a local community college after having my daughter because I could not work (in my unrelated field) and go to school at the same time. I entered a junior and will be a senior next month. Let me start from the beginning:
My enrollment counselor was great. He did "sell" me (if that is what everyone wants to call it). He even called a couple of times during my first two classes to see how things were going. After discussing with family members my decision, they recommended I change majors because I was majoring in psychology. Now I am majoring in health care adminstration. This is when the big change began. My financial aid conselor sucks. He has an attitude everytime I call him. Yes, I am calling about my refund check because it is my money technically. This "semester" specifically was difficult because it was recertification time. I completed my FASFA in January well before the 2010-11 academic started. I was in my second class of the Fall before my paperwork was processed; so, I was basically billed twice before getting approved through the financial department. My financial aid counselor, who returns your call one week later, only had this advice: "It takes a minute to process. It will be a couple of weeks because of the large amount of applicants applying." Uhhhhh….. what is a couple of weeks? Yes, we want our degree, but we want our refund check too. This is a fact. Anyhow, my academic counselor is a little different. She does return all phone calls but responds to e-mails quicker. If she doesn't have the answer, she tries to find it. I have no complaints about her. Most of the instructors I have encountered are good. They seem to be well-educated and know about the subject they are instructing/facilitating. I do not like the fact that the classes are only five weeks long. By the time you finally grasp the concept, you are starting the next class. Oh yea, teamwork in team forums is not what you think. It is a pain in the anus to work in groups because a lot of the students are not motivated, and they sit back and wait on someone to do the work and place their name on the paper. ABSOLUTELY HATE IT!! I wasn't that bad in the beginning, but it seems the closeer I get to graduation the worse teamwork gets. I HATE IT. Someone mentioned in an earlier post about the lack of common sense when writing, and this is so true. I have been an honor student since kindergarten and hate when someone cannot write a complete sentence. Saying "their tired" instead of "they are tired". Like, are you serious? I think UOP should evaluate students before enrolling them like tradiitonal schools. This will eliminate a lot of dropouts if you ask me. My BIGGEST concern is will I be able to get a job? I don't want to be thousands of dollars in debt with no job. I have read on UOP, asked questions to potential graudates and those who have graduated, even the facilitators. I get basically the same response and most are bad rather than good. I really don't have time to drive 45 minutes away to a traditional college 3-5 days a week with two jobs and a toddler at home. It is unfeasible. I have spent an entire year here and don't want to set horses in the middle of the race, but I will if I have to. I wish I would have researched a little more before making this move, but I was at a bad time in my life when I enrolled and the counselor did "sell" me :( ?
October 24th, 2010 @ 12:26 am
Sean, You offered the best advice ever. Thanks. I am withdrawing after this so called "semester" is over. I believe what you said to ring truth. If someone spends $60,000 for an education, they should be able to walk into a place and ask "Where's my badge and I'm filing Single on my W-2s"
November 2nd, 2010 @ 1:58 am
Here is my take, I just finished a Master's at University of Phoenix:
- I learned much from the degree
- I put a lot into it, studied, interacted, and wrote many papers
- I am proud of my work
- I attended a brick and mortar school (Loyola) for my Bachelor's and am successful in my career. I viewed this as a supplement or something much better than certifications. I was right
- Most people commenting failed or quit, and can hardly string a sentence together
- There is a place for online learning and traditional schools will have to adopt the UOP model, at least mostly
- Like life, you get out of it what you put into it.
- Sure they are for-profit. Maybe the self-aggrandizing lunkheads at traditional school could learn something from a nimble and adaptive organization. Then again, many who spend their whole career in education would not know much about the real world. Don't get me wrong, we need educators God Bless Them, but don't ask them about something they know nothing about.
- Overall I am satisifed with UOP.
- I am open to any debate on its merits. No I don't work for UOP, nor will I ever work there. I don't own their stock. I have no motives beyond sharing informaiton.
You be the judge. What story do you have to tell when interviewing? If you are planning on an Associates or Bachelor's from UOP, that may show you could not do a traditional undergrad, but it is still something.
If you have a traditional undergrad, and keep going on oline learning, it shows initiative and drive. You can never hurt yourself by learning more. Again, what story will you have to tell after you get a UOP degree? It was worth my money.
November 22nd, 2010 @ 8:05 am
Come on guys and gals, time to wake up. We have been duped into going into taking on debt for an indoctrination, not an education. Your debts cannot be paid off, ever. It’s a mathematical fact because every dollar we have is borrowed from the Federal Reserve. Can you pay off a debt with a debt? Nooooo. I jumped ship when I realized that UOP was more like Scientology than you could ever imagine, unless you have been in both. Go to university-of-phoenix-sucks.webs.com they will show you how to get your degree, without going through the crap. Time is running out for all of us.
November 22nd, 2010 @ 8:08 am
Just wanted to add something to my last post. Having a degree from UOP is the kiss-of-death on any resume. Just Google the bad press they have. Do you really want to be a UOP grad. Think again from an employer’s perspective.
May 5th, 2011 @ 8:50 am
After a long and hard 2 years I got my AAIT/N from UoP…Worthless piece of paper that any kid in a local college would laugh at…I've been asked what hardware and software I had hands on with in school…Uh…nothing but my home pc sir….How do you work with others, well sir…I do best on my own, as with school…You get the jist of what I'm saying, when you go to a job interview with your newly acquired sheepskin from UoP, you find out how worthless it is. And to think that im now thousands of dollars in debt to a school that turned over my 1000 dollar tuition Hijack finance charge or whatever bs to a collection agency days after I graduated…Now I get harassing phone calls every day..Thank you UoP..Oh, they did give me the opportunity to pay it in full with my credit card, lol…Im a single dad working for a pizza joint..I don't have one, never will…Save your finance for a school where you can actually get on the systems your trying to learn, book learning isn't half of what's needed in the job market now days and there are thousands of kids popping out of technical schools with a more respected and earned degree…Best part of being poor like me, theres no wages to garnish, no credit card to charge, and no way in hell UoP will get their money they claim I owe due to some bookkeeping error in finance.
May 25th, 2011 @ 2:13 am
I was an instructor for 8 years at UoP and I can honestly say it was the worst experience of my academic and/or adult working lives. Just horrible. The education provided is nearly worthless. If you are considering matriculating into UoP – don't waste your time or money.
June 4th, 2011 @ 11:57 am
Hello I have a story about UOP but on a students view point. My daughter signed up right after grads high school to take a class online and it has been a nightmare every day since. After she signed up it was good for about three days and then she stopped receiving her work, she would contact her teacher and she said she had sent it and then she would give my daughter a 0 for not doing her work after two weeks of doing this UOP dropped my daughter and demanded full payment after sending the money back to financial aid. Why should we be responsable for full payment and she did not get what she signed up for? That would be like going into a department store and buying some goods paying for them and then giving the goods back and not asking for a refund. They will not even retro for just two weeks. They want full payment for the whole course. They want stop calling. Does any one have any ideas what to do?
July 20th, 2011 @ 11:49 pm
I'm gonna simplify this for some of you folks:
Popup University degree on resume = hearty laugh(s) from potential employers; resume and app end up in trash/shredder
Truth hurts, UofP shills.