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and you're required to teach yourself by searching the internet or getting books from the library that could be wrong, outdated, or biased.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.

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.