University of Phoenix is Not a Good College
In this current economic recession, many laid off workers are going back to college to learn new job skills, as the twenty-five percent increase of enrollments from last year suggests (Keen). It makes good sense to desire to improve your skills and qualifications in an increasingly competitive job market, but “would be” college students need to understand that all colleges and the skills and qualification they provide, are not created equal. Choosing the right college could mean the difference between landing a secure job or maintaining your position in the unemployment line. A laid off worker has little income and requires an affordable college that gives them the biggest bang for their buck. In addition, a laid off worker needs a degree from a college that is respected by employers and helps them stand out from the crowd. Also Laid off works need a college that is designed for on campus classes, that foster live one on one interactions and that build relationships that may prove beneficial in landing a future career. The University of Phoenix is not affordable, is not highly regarded, and does not foster personal interactions between students and is not a good choice for laid off workers because of it.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost of tuition and room and board for a public university from 2007 through 2008 was $11,578 and the average cost of tuition and room and board for a two year public college was $6,966 (United States Table 331). Traditionally, students who wish to save money will attend a two year college and then transfer over to a four year university in order to cut down on cost. Most universities allow a student to transfer more than just two years worth of credits. This allows them to stay an attentional year at a two year college and save them even more money. The savings that attending a traditional two year college and then transferring to a four year university brings, makes attending traditional college a very safe and good investment for a laid off worker who doesn’t have a pot of gold hidden under their mattress.
In contrast, The University of Phoenix’s tuition was on average $12,000, which is higher than both a public university or a two year college ( Miley sec. 80.29). That number might not seem so bad when you look at the average price of public universities, but when you consider that the University of Phoenix’s average doesn’t include room and board, most public universities are actually far cheaper, especially if the student attends a two year college first. The University of Phoenix also has hidden cost according to a class action lawsuit that was filed against the University of Phoenix by three students in the U.S. District Court of Little Rock, Arkansas. According to the lawsuit, “…the university ‘effectively pays off’ the loans of students who withdraw from the institution, then demands repayment from those students under terms more onerous than those of the original federally guaranteed loans.” (Blumenstyk sec. 55.20) If that is the case, then on top of costing more in tuition, there are some hidden cost associated with the University of Phoenix, making it not affordable and certainly not a good college for workers who were recently laid off.
What laid off workers are looking for is a college that is at least regarded as a good college by employers, which effectively gives them a step up in terms of job market competition. What college you choose is almost as important as what degree you choose, in terms of what an employer looks for. A peer reviewed study released in The American Journal of Distance Education found, of candidates that employers would hire with identical credentials, 85% of respondents, “…indicated they had reservations with doctoral degrees earned online, and only 4% indicated that the type of institution where the degree was earned was of no importance and that when “…considering an applicant with 50% of their coursework earned online, 15% indicated that the type of institution was of no importance, 53% had reservations, and 32% had ‘other considerations,’ which were provided as qualitative explanations” (Adams 78). Obviously not everyone goes to Harvard or Yale, but it is obvious that employers put more worth in a degree that was earned on campus, rather than one that was earn while wearing pajamas in front of a computer.
The university of Phoenix may even be less regarded than other primarily online institutions. Any college that has to advertise itself as much as Burger King cheapens itself to the point where fast food restaurants can become a metaphor for said college, fast, cheap, and unhealthy. According to an Advertising Age article “The University Phoenix spent $134 million on measured media…“ in 2008 (Miley sec. 80.29) . When was the last time you saw an ad on TV for a public university? Seeing the University of Phoenix’s ads on websites, on build-boards, on buses, on TV, and hearing them in telemarketing calls, doesn’t make us think we are getting an education. It makes them think that are ordering fries and a coke, which might just be what you end up selling if you get a degree from them. Even the US. News and World Report’s Best Colleges of 2010 has the University of Phoenix listed as an “Unranked School,” yet other primarily online colleges are ranked (“University of Phoenix.”). If you were an employer checking out a prospects credentials and you found that the applicant’s school was “Unranked” you might have second thoughts about hiring them. The lack of regard for the University of Phoenix’s graduates is one of the reasons why it is not a good college for people who were recently laid off, or maybe anyone for that matter.
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Peter Drucker once said, “More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.” That’s true, but traditional universities do foster student interactions. When people attend a university in person they build relationships with other students, teachers, and club members. The student you are sitting next to, or your dorm roommate, or the guy you helped cheat on his math exam, you never know what they will turn out to be in the future. They can become doctors, business owners, lawyers, actors, senators, real estate kings, heads of non profit organizations, or even president of the united states. We never know what opportunities our current relationships might bring us in the future. I mean, if you are the guy that the President of the United States cheated off of in an economics class, you can probably use that information to get a job recommendation. Its the same with all professions. If a person knows that their college buddy is a reliable smart person that they can trust and count on, they are sure to trust working with or vouching for that person. That is why the relationships you develop at a college or university determines how good of a university it is for laid off workers looking to improve their job security.
The university of Phoenix is a primarily online university and the students interact through social media, email, forums, and live chats. It doesn’t matter how many times you chat with another student online, you will never develop the same personal relationships that you do with a traditional college or university. Face-book is great an all, but you can’t count on a face-book friend to be there in an hour of need, like you can with someone you actually know. This is why the University of Phoenix does not meet the required criteria to be considered a good college for laid off workers.
Some people might argue that a primarily online college, like the University of Phoenix, has something that the traditional universities don’t, and that is that the students can take classes around their work schedule. Also, the students who are lucky enough to live near a University of Phoenix campus could always take a class in person. Supporters would say, “colleges like the University of Phoenix are exactly the thing a person who was laid off and perhaps looking for another job needs, because it provides them a flexible schedule that won’t effect any job prospects.”
While it is true that an online format is very flexible, the social interactions between students is so important that the these types of workers or students would actually be better off if they just planned a good schedule at a traditional college. It isn’t as if public universities don’t have online classes that students can fit around their schedules, but there are many courses that have lab work or classes that are in your specific field that would be better to attend at a college designed for real classes and not a campus that promotes online interactions.
In Conclusion, I believe that the University Of Phoenix is not a good college for people who were recently laid off. There are far cheaper alternative colleges to attend, and when times are rough, we need every dollar we can spend. In addition, Employers don’t consider the University of Phoenix a good college and when considering the whole point of laid off people going back to school is to better their chances of landing a job, attending the University of Phoenix could be a waist of money and time . Finally, the University of Phoenix’s online interactions do not foster relationship building with college peers that one day may be essential to landing a more secure job. In these trying economic times, a person looking for a job needs every slightest edge over other job competitors. In this current market, the University of Phoenix does not meet the criteria necessary to give you that edge and is therefor not a good college for our recently laid off workers to attend.
What do you think. Is University of Phoenix a good college? Let me know in the comments.
Works Cited
Adams, Jonathan, and Margaret H. DeFleur. “The Acceptability of a Doctoral Degree Earned Online as a Credential for Obtaining a Faculty Position.” THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION 19.2 (2005): 71-85. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
Blumenstyk, Goldie. “Suit Accuses U. of Phoenix of Improper Loan Tactics.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 55.20 (2009). Academic OneFile. Web. 25 Feb. 2010
Keen, Judy. “After layoffs, many workers go back to school for a fresh start.” USA Today 08 Apr. 2009. USA Today. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
Miley, Marissa. “A LOT OF BRANDING BUT NOT MUCH UNDERSTANDING; University of Phoenix spends $100 million annually on advertising, but misconceptions linger about the school.” Advertising Age 80.29 (2009): 3. Academic OneFile. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
United States. U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, 2008 – Table 331. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
“University of Phoenix.” Education – Best Graduate Schools. US News and World Report, 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
Sure. I’ll leave a comment about this article. I did go through this college successfully. No, I didn’t borrow government funds to do it. I was lucky to have help from a relative. Costs of any school can keep people out, even when it means you can borrow from Uncle Sam. As to UOP itself, I feel like I learned more via the interactions with the students on my teams and in the classes I was in. Yes, I took online courses. My work schedule would never have allowed me to attend any school otherwise. I was not unemployed at the time nor am I know. As to how effective any school is in the skills learned to go into a field, depends greatly on the individual. I have had many years of education through different forms of schooling. I have an AA through a community college. That wasn’t a promise I would find a job. No school can rightfully promise anyone that. As far as colleges go, they are all expensive and you take a chance with all of them. You get out of it what you put into it. UOP works with students who are already working for the most part and have some kind of work experience. The economy certainly sucks right now and may continue to suck. That is not the schools fault. It is my understanding with employers that right now, it doesn’t matter what school you received you degree from, they are all pretty much ignoring anyone’s degree. That is what happens in bad times. I also suspect that at this time, much emphasis is being put on encouraging people to attend public schools and colleges as apposed to private because the government runs those schools. Anyway, my experience, such that it was, with UOP was much better than with whatever I learned in previous education settings. Overall though, I would not knock any part of education experience. Everyone is different.
I too find it disturbing how pushy the UOPX is becoming with their advertising. I am currently trying to make an informed decision on what college to attend, and seeing ads for UOPX everywhere I turn, internet,commercials, FOOTBALL STADIUMS, is saddly only influencing me to choose them. I am sensible enough to know that a public school is more cost effective than the UOPX, however it is so tempting to choose this college for the convience of it …yeah sorta like fast food! So how do you turn them down when you have family members going to there who find it perfectly normal to attend this type of school. I don’t want to put my family down nor do I wish to invest in UOPX for it to turn out badly.Since I will be pursing a teaching degree, I defiantely want the best education possible that is both cost effiecient and well respected amoung those who will be giving me my paycheck. Keep commenting on this topic. the best way for this issue to be exposed is to have graduates from the UOPX tell how successful life is after class is over.
I have been attending UOP online for the last 5 years. As a military spouse with 4 children an online environment was the only way I could obtain my degree. I have a 3.97 GPA that I have worked incredibly hard for. I take pride in my work and my achievements.
As far as UOP goes, you get what you put into it just as any other college. I would still have graduated if I had a 2.0 GPA, but my grades were important to me, therefore I put in the effort to receive good grades. There were some instructors whom obviously did not read the assignments and gave grades liberally. There were those who were very tough and had high expectations. I believe this is the same at any academic institution. I did hate the “Learning Team” environment because there were those who would piggy back on my hard work and still receive the same grades I received, however isn’t that the way it is with the real world?
I have never had problems with the finance or academic counselors. They typically returned my inquires within 48 hours either by email or phone.
I am concerned about the “value” of the UOP degree once I attempt to gain employment. I know the hard work I have put into the degree and hope my experiences and references will speak for themselves.
UOP 2010 BS in Psychology
Thanks for the comments. Mary actually has a counter argument I could have used. The lower paid, understaffed, and caring only about their own tuition employees of Public Universities are very hard to work with. I would love to have someone get back to me in 24 hours instead you just have to keep trying to fix any problems that will come up. I think that may be part of what your public university degree says; It says that, you can survive one of the worst bureaucracies and have experience in dealing with them.
Shamrock
MCC 2010 AA in Bureaucracies.
ASU BA Anthropology
I am leaving Univeriy of Phoenix. At $565/credit it is unjustifiably expensive. This is the 4th time they raised tuition during my AA program. What am I paying for? For them to have their name on a stadium and all those expensive TV commercials.
We’re paying Ivey League prices for a mediocre Junio College education at best. Many of my high school classes were more challenging than these. And don’t get me started on the lack of English Grammar skills of 90% of the students. Class participation is a joke; most of the students can not form a sentence.
Jimm,
You obviously are doing something wrong. Their AA degree is only 22 months long and $365 per credit hour. Much cheaper than what she points out in her article at about $9,400 for 24 credits, books included. You also said it’s like attending a Junior College, that’s what an AA degree is. Axia College of University of Phoenix is a Junior College. Wait until you transfer to working on your bachelors, you will have twice the work.
This article obviously wasn’t written well, with all the grammar mistakes, etc. It also falls well short of the truth, because anyone who attends UOP will see that it isn’t easy and it does take work or UOP wouldn’t have the accreditation they do. This biased article only sites anti UOP articles to back itself up. Try getting the facts about UOP and talk to people who actually want their degree, like some who have commented here.
http://www.phoenix.edu/news.html
Based on your response, I would venture to guess that you are a UOP employee…….
I taught at UP for a brief time until I realized that this organization is not about learning in any way, it is about getting as much money as is possible from the students and more so the federal funding agencies. This is a scam that I have no idea why the accrediting agencies allow to continue except that UP must provide a large amount of graft. As an example, my students at UP spent 20 hours in a classroom and read 8 chapters in a textbook for 3 hours of college credit in Sociology. My community college students spend 36 hours in the classroom, read a full 400 page textbook and a supplemental 300 page reader for the same 3hours credit. How can this be possible if not for corruption and graft in the accreditation agencies? I think NO government money should be allowed to be spent in FOR PROFIT education. If government money was not provided to the UP’s of the world, public education would be healthy and inexpensive for all who need it to enjoy.
In response to Prof. Stoll.
I believe you are stating essentially the absolute minimums required in the class. Normal participation levels in a class are a response to 3 Discussion questions per week as well as 2 responses to discussion questions per day. These comments have to be substantial in content and should be reflecting back to material in the text or other scholarly venues.
In addition to the discussion questions and interaction questions, the instructor can also ask for more interaction. There is also a number of papers, simulations, and exams that are usually administered in most classes.
If you were not holding your students to a higher level, it was your fault as an instructor for doing so, not the schools fault.
Online courses vary in quality specifically because of the instructor that is teaching them. That goes not only for the online community, but for ground classes as well.
Another response from a loyal UOP staff member
WTF???
To add one more thing about the article. They need to read a recent study by the Department of Education.
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
This states that “The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”
Since UOP has more faculty than most other online schools and has almost a 1/2 millions students attending UOP, the study may have just said that UOP students performed better.
All I’m saying is that, just because someone publishes something on the Internet, do your own homework and remember that not everyone will have the same experience no matter what school they attend. So you get out of your education what you put into it.
GOOD LUCK!
when it come to transferring UOP start using scare tactics. Unfortunately for them I did my research I called my lenders and notified a lawyer as back up. As long as they got their money and I want to transfer I can do so. I have passed all my classes and I have not withdrawn from any of them, I just want to transfer to a college that my job is willing to pay for 6 of my credits a semester so why is UOP trying to tell me if I withdrawal after completing 6 classes a total of 18 credits that they will send my loans back and I will have to pay them. What type of mess is that. They are upset because the money that is left from the loan has to be returned to the lender and not put into their pockets. They are less worried about your education then they are about the money they want from you. do your research do not become a victim of UOP contact a lawyer if you have to and call your lender. If you use your credit card to pay check you statements because I hope you know that their tuition rates went up a 3 weeks ago and the students were not notified.
I am currently a student of UOP. My GPA is 3.6. Since starting this college I have been with a learning team. There were 6 of us and 3 of us have computer skills and the other 3 don’t have a clue. We spend much of our time trying to educate them about PowerPoint and MS Word. They should offer some remedial computer courses….. Any time I call my FC she is not available and doesn’t call back for weeks. They are not concerned with their students. Some of the Facilitators are sincere, but forcing us into these learning teams is the worst. We have been writing papers and giving presentations for over a year, and still half of the student don’t know the basics. But their average is a “B” how is this possible? Well as long UOP gets paid they could care less. If anyone reading this is considering UOP, think again. You want to go somewhere that will actually educate you. The tuition prices have increased 2 times since I started UOP. I have requested information for transferring to another college. After reading all the horror stories I am kind of nervous. I don’t want any problems with my financial aid.
As someone who has been educated and graduated both from a Big Ten University as well as the University of Phoenix, I enjoyed and learned from both learning institutions. They both had positives and negatives.
I worried about Phoenix… heard rumors, did research and with my weird schedule,thought I’d give Phoenix a try. I can honestly say I received a great education on a graduate level. I have no experience with the online undergraduate program. (By the way, I have never worked for Phoenix). The classes are a little pricey. However, I did learn a lot. I put in a lot of study time. Between the classwork, the reading, the research, the individual assignments, and the team assignments, I put in way more than 20 hours a week in the classroom, read way more than 8 chapters (The avg. text book reading was like 3-4 chapters a week in addition to our other assigned reading and our other research for projects. Sometimes I fussed about it, but it was good work.
I probably had more interaction with my “classmates” than in a more traditional setting, although, I would not trade my undergraduate and campus life experience for anything in the world.
I believe my undergraduate college offered an overall great education. However, I am sure that there were some ill equipped professors as well as ill equipped students or students that didn’t grasp hold on the opportunities that were before them. In addition, there were policies I didn’t agree with. But it is still an overall good school. It is the same with Phoenix. I didn’t agree with everything but I forced myself to work hard. I challenged my Instructors to challenge me. In return, I received a good education.
Normally, I wouldn’t respond to one of these blogs but I felt compelled to. I consider myself to be a well educated and intelligent person. Every day I try to use my gifts and talents in order to make the world I live in a better place. Every day I make the effort to challenge myself, improve myself, and impart into others. It is a choice. Everything takes effort, including making sure you obtain a good education be it online or in a classroom.