U of Phoenix's reputation & the Super Bowl

[GettinMyBA]

I'm sure we have a bunch of U of P people in this group. I'm curious... what do you guys hear and think about the reputation of the school? Here's the reason I ask.... It was the first online school I had ever heard of, and therefore the first that I considered. I requested info from them via some banner ad on some random website. Once I did that, I was absolutely pummeled for the next six or so months with phone calls, emails, college surveys, emails, admission dept calls, academic advising calls, more emails, supervisor calls (wondering why I didn't enroll), and - oh yeah, a bunch more emails. I began to notice that every time I went to almost ANY website, there was their ad again (which tells me that they placed tracker cookies in my computer system so they can target their ads to me).

Without doing any real research into it, I decided that I thought they were a scam (U of P students, pls don't be offended - I know the school is not a scam) just because they tried so hard to get me to enroll.

Now, being a NJ resident, TESC is about $110/credit versus UofP's $475/credit (both are approximates) so choosing TESC over them was a no brainer for me, but I'm still curious - what do you guys think of U of P and how aggressively they market. Are they hurting or helping the general stigma of online education?

One huge way they are helping is by hosting the SuperBowl! I saw a documentary with a "branding expert" who said that they will (almost) instantly be able to double their tuition after the super bowl is over. (For those who didn't know, the super bowl was played in University of Phoenix Stadium. Funny - they don't have a classroom but they hosted my Giants!!! Anyway, this guy said that the entire awareness and acceptability of online education is going to get a huge boost, but much moreso - a degree from U of P now means a heck of a lot more than it ever did before.

[cbrchris]

(For those who didn't know, the super bowl was played in University of Phoenix Stadium. Funny - they don't have a classroom but they hosted my Giants!!!

I have never taken a class at UofP but they actually do have various campuses across the Phoenix valley and they do infact have actual classes with instructors in person.

[ehetzel]

Yes they do have a lot of advertising. However, me and my husband have both taken classes online and on campus with UOP. We are in Michigan so my husbands class was in Michigan. But they do have a campus in Phoenix and you can actually fly out there and walk for your graduation if you like. Their tuition is expensive - but for us - it was the only program at the time. We both only have 9 credits left and are cleping out - I found their program for me was very informative and gave me information I did not already have from my ADN. I am happy with it and now they have more campuses opening in Michigan.

[kimberlyaz]

I've taken courses in person at one of the UoP campuses in Phoenix and have also taken online courses through them.

The price is exhorbitant. They do make it very convenient, though, in that if your employer has a tuition reimbursement program they will defer the bill until after your grades are issued.

One thing I liked about them is that they generally require their faculty to actually have experience in the field that they are teaching (rather than some PhD professor at a state university who has never been outside of academia).

One thing I didn't like, and what actually caused me to stop taking classes there, is that all undergraduate classes had "group" assignments. Meaning every single class (6 weeks long usually) you had to break into groups and do all of your assignments as a group, meet outside of class time as a group, etc. Normally people with the same major would be taking the same classes at the same time, so it would end up almost like a cohort group. Great if you got into a group with good people, not so great if they weren't reliable.

What I found at the time is that my lifestyle (at the time, single no kids) didn't match up with the lifestyle of the other people in my classes, so they were always wanting to meet on Friday nights when they could get a babysitter and I would rather be out. I preferred meeting after class but they all would want to get home to put their kidlets to bed. Even in the online classes we had to do group work, and try coordinating that across different timezones and getting everyone on the same Instant Messaging program!

It's a realistic model -- most people work as part of a team in their place of employment -- but if you are at all any bit of overachiever, Type A, OCD, or a perfectionist you might have a hard time signing your name to a group project with folks who are satisfied with different academic standards.

Just my 2 cents worth. A former cubicle-mate of mine went there for his Bachelor's in Project Management and was very happy with the experience.

[AKay]

You do know they have a Jersey City, NJ campus right?

Also Im an Alum from the ground campus and it was a good experience. But UoP is toooooo expensive.
They arent worth it compared to the big 3 around here because you dont get any bang for the buck.

Will

[DaFoamy]

U of P online is a joke compared to an actual university. Their assignments are ridiculously easy, so easy that my brother in high school could probably do them without breaking a sweat. I didn't read one book the ENTIRE time I was there and still passed with 3.5 GPA and that was only because I became bored with the easy material and slacked off. All the assignments are papers and there are no tests or quizzes. So, if you're really good at writing papers then this is the way to go. If you're not then you will struggle. One thing that I didn't like about the school was the group work. The only reason I stayed there was because that was the only school that took a crap load of my credits from previous schools. As others have posted the price of the school is ridiculous! Oh and the price does not include books. The books are online material only and you have to purchase them.