University of Phoenix - Continued Innovation

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, UofP has a new President!  I wonder what really will change with this leadership shuffle...  From the looks of things, they're betting on 3 things:  "Trying to meet the needs of learners (employees, students, etc)", "Adding Competency Based degrees", and "Using newer technology".  I think they're more "copying/playing catch up" to what other online institutions are already doing...

Link: New University of Phoenix President George Burnett Is Committed to Continued Innovation (apnews.com)

[Tedium]

Oh, they’re definitely copying and playing catch-up. When I first started hearing about competency degrees I always thought it was strange that UoPx didn’t have any. They could have made bank if they would have jumped on that gravy train early. They were too busy profiting off their insanely expensive peer-graded five week courses.

Hell, who am I kidding? They’ll probably still make bank now. Even though they’re late to the game, aren’t as ubiquitous as they once were, and have massive stigma attached to them, they still get plenty of enrollments.

I do still hate them for setting back the social acceptability of online degrees for more than a decade. People are more willing to accept online degrees, but they still loathe UoPx.

[jsd]

I'm honestly not sure why UoPhx doesn't just change their name. Deserved or not, their brand has a huge stigma. A name change of course doesn't magically relieve that stench, but there are enough people out there who don't pay attention to these things that it would be a step in the right direction toward reinventing themselves.

[rachel83az]

I'm honestly not sure why UoPhx doesn't just change their name. Deserved or not, their brand has a huge stigma. A name change of course doesn't magically relieve that stench, but there are enough people out there who don't pay attention to these things that it would be a step in the right direction toward reinventing themselves.

Isn't that what Capella and/or Strayer did? I can't remember what they were originally, if they did. 

I do remember Apollo College not having a great reputation and then it changed to Carrington College. It looks like Apollo/Carrington now owns UoPhx, too, so maybe the name change didn't help them as much as they hoped and they think it's not worth it to rebrand UoPhx.

[carrythenothing]

I'm honestly not sure why UoPhx doesn't just change their name. Deserved or not, their brand has a huge stigma. A name change of course doesn't magically relieve that stench, but there are enough people out there who don't pay attention to these things that it would be a step in the right direction toward reinventing themselves.

Isn't that what Capella and/or Strayer did? I can't remember what they were originally, if they did. 

I do remember Apollo College not having a great reputation and then it changed to Carrington College. It looks like Apollo/Carrington now owns UoPhx, too, so maybe the name change didn't help them as much as they hoped and they think it's not worth it to rebrand UoPhx.

"Capella University was originally established as The Graduate School of America" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capella_Un...ty#History

Strayer University "was founded in 1892 as Strayer's Business College" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strayer_University

[bjcheung77]

In regards to UoP and a name change, they had a subsidiary by the name of Western International University which shut down a few years ago.  If they kept the name and transferred their programs over, and used UofP as more of an online only or competency based degree provider (or vice versa), that may have been a better option.  

I mean, they could keep the staff positions merged and hire only when more staff are needed... Sanantone actually has/had credits from them before they closed: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid264250

[LevelUP]

In 2010, the University of Phoenix claimed they had 470,000 students. Now it's under 100,000.

[ss20ts]

In 2010, the University of Phoenix claimed they had 470,000 students. Now it's under 100,000.

There's a LOT more competition in online programs today than there was in 2010. Enrollment at colleges nationwide has dropped significantly since the pandemic began. In 2010 there were still lots of folks getting degrees because they were laid off during the recession. There were also a lot of recent grads who went onto grad school at that time because they couldn't land a job. Then there's U of P's reputation. The school hasn't been looked upon highly in eons....if ever. Rebranding themselves may not be a bad idea if they can revamp their programs and costs at the same time.

[sanantone]

The Apollo Group has owned University of Phoenix for a long time. Western International University was a separate university that was also owned by the Apollo Group. They transferred WIU's Axia College (associate's degree division) to UoP and eventually shut WIU down.

[Tedium]

Oh, man, I remember Western International University. I don’t know if I ever made the connection to Apollo Group, but I remember when it used to be an option. Good times.