University of Phoenix or online degree feedback

[kelsi55]

Is anyone currently seeking their degree from University of Phoenix? How is the curriculum? Structure? What are your thoughts? Would you recommend to others? If not UofP which one do you have experience with?

I am a full time working professional switching from traditional school to online this next semester- trying to fast track my degree. Any feedback would be helpful.

Thanks!!

[jeffs34]

I went to UOP for a year and a half. It is pretty good curriculum wise. The only real issue there is the mandatory gorup work. You are put in teams with others from across the world and sometimes have to do the work for them to get a good grade.

However, when a friend of my father's told me about CLEP and TESC, I jumped at switching. It is infinitely less expensive and you can do more than one class at a time. I am finishing a year sooner thanks to TESC and this site. It is also a State school which makes me feel like it is more legitimate.

[HawkGuy]

U of P doesn't have a very good reputation in the academic world. Yes, you have a degree, but, well, it's from U of P. Some friends in the business world don't look very highly upon a U of P degree either. I'm not trying to bash the school or anything, just letting you know how it's regarded.

I think a much better choice for you, both time and money wise, would be one of the Big 3. I prefer TESC myself, but there are others who are EC or COSC fans. It all depends on your situation and which school can help you get to where you want to go.

[bzptc0]

Lots of people here use the 'big 3'. I tried to work with Excelsior, and Thomas Edison, but both seemed too big for my tastes. It's been several months, and neither have my transcripts from my other colleges in their systems yet. When I call, I feel like I am talking to Walmart.

I chose to go to Park University. Park is tied to many of the military bases. They have been very responsive, and helpful. Park only accepts 30 CLEP/DSST credits, but I am not finding that a hindrance, as they were very generous in accepting past credits as my electives. The upper level courses don't have corresponding tests. The online courses and profs have been very good.

[kelsi55]

So what exactly is the Big 3?? Thanks so much by the way for your feedback.. I definately dont want to waste time/ money or put the work in for a degree that is less respected. You guys are amazing!! THANK YOU.

[Kelly Green]

Hi kelsi,

I'm new to all this too, but I can tell you that The Big 3 are:

Excelsior College http://www.excelsior.edu Albany, NY
Thomas Edison State College Thomas Edison State College Trenton, NJ
Charter Oak State College Charter Oak State College - distance learning college, online degrees, courses New Britain, CT

All three have regional accreditation, which is a good thing.

I will say that from what I've read on this board, it seems that most people are at either Excelsior or TESC. Charter Oak seems to be a distant third. Mind you, I'm not passing any judgement on the quality of Charter Oak -- I know nothing about it -- I'm just stating what I observed.

I think it's just a matter of finding which degree program is the best fit for your goals.

Anyway, the Big 3 (and distance education in general) seem like wonderful things for people who didn't get to go to college when they were young!

I'm just starting to learn about all this but I can't wait to decide and get moving toward a degree. (Well, it'll be a second degree for me. I had a horrible GPA from my first one...)

Take Care!

[Kelly Green]

:eek:

Wow, the board automatically made live links to those websites! I just typed in "www dot school name" and the board did the rest!

Neat!

[Greggy_D]

Look at the bottom of my sig. Enough said.

[lrgaul]

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Navy"]I have never attended the University of Phoenix, however, I am in human resources management for a Fortune 100 company. I have a little bit of feedback I can offer.

You mentioned that you are a FT professional at this point in your life. Experience is almost always more important than a degree - especially an undergraduate degree. This does not mean that I do not think an undergraduate degree is valuable, but it will do little more than open a few more doors for an adult who is already a professional in his or her field. For adult professionals, the experience on a resume stands out as very relevant while a degree is basically a checkmark on the list of needed qualifications.

The University of Phoenix does not have a great reputation in many HR departments. In other words, your professional experience should be particularly noteworthy if your degree is from the University of Phoenix. The biggest issue I would have with earning my degree from U of P is that it is just as expensive as a more prestigious university, yet the brand name on my resume would leave so much to be desired. Another alternative that may have a more favorable reputation is the University of Maryland University College. Also, one of the "Big 3" may be a great solution for you if you are comfortable with taking a lot of tests. While none of the "Big 3" are selling you a fancy name brand, all three of them will give you a degree that is at least as valuable as the U of P for a whole lot less money. The reason I say "at least as valuable" is because none of the "Big 3" have advertised their colleges to the same extent that U of P has. The University of Phoenix is a highly commercialized for-profit institution, and some HR professionals are inclined to snub colleges that send spam to people and/or place "banner ads" on a thousand different websites.

I would like to clarify that I do not intend to bash the University of Phoenix! It may be a fantastic institution and there is no way that I could profess to know otherwise. However, in my opinion, either a brand name is important to you or it's not. If a brand name is important to you, then I would not go to the University of Phoenix because it isn't a high quality name brand. If a brand name is not important to you, then I'm willing to bet that you can do a whole lot better than nearly $500 per credit. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[BrandeX]

How about this tidbit?

Most colleges/universities, don't have websites dedicated to "(School Name) Sucks", UoP does.