University of Phoenix Reviews

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University of Phoenix is a case study of an excellent business and educational model that fails to hit the mark. I know people on here say that the only people that bad mouth the school are those that either did not complete their programs, or had terrible experiences with faculty, staff, etc. However, I can tell you that many of the people that work there and have received their degrees from there are not completely satisfied. I worked there as an Academic Counselor for two years and I completed their MBA v20 program (I feel terrible for those that are now in the v21 program). Oh and not only do I have my MBA from there, I graduated with a 3.8, and it is only that low because I could not stand the participation requirement; mainly because it was so hard to find enough people and responses to justify a response to. Granted I may have deluded myself thinking that people in a "GRADUATE" level program would exhibit critical thinking, academically objective perspectives, and even basic grammar and APA formatting skills; but then again, what did I expect from a program that only requires a 2.5 GPA and money to gain admittance.
Now I can tell you from an ex and I emphasize the ex-employee perspective, that the school during my time there, was all about the money. However, to give them some credit they are beta testing a pre-admittance class right now, that students will have to pass in order to begin any program. This in my opinion is a great step forward on their part; however, it is completely reactive. What do you expect them to do when their graduation rates are at 15% and 60% of the first block students go to collections. How is this socially responsible, when the purpose of the school in the first place was to increase the middle class? Instead they are increasing the debt load of the lower socio-economic class.
All of that rant aside-which I did not mean to get involved in-it is mainly the curriculum that I would like to speak about. Granted some counselors there (Only academics is required to have a bachelors degree by the way), are not that great. But that is anywhere. Same with the faculty. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU and I had faculty there that were horrible. No matter where you go, there is going to be adversity. This is part of getting an education; how well you adapt, learn, and overcome adversity! Regardless, the issue is with what is being taught, and what is required of the students. In the new MBA program, the longest paper you will write is like 2000 words, and there is no stringent requirements as to what needs to be in the paper. How is this graduate level expectations? Between the classes that I did online and ground, there was not a single challenging course, or assignment. I slept in half of my ground classes, and still received top marks on my assignments. I was very excited when I first started, because, I thought that I was going to challenged mentally, and all I ended up with was a boring year and a half of mind numbing learning team experiences. Oh and did I mention that they are not fully accreditted? Yes they have a accreditation, but not the one that matters to all those companies out there looking for MBA graduates (Intel does not recognize their MBA). So you are going to have to really sell it when you go to interview, if your resume even makes it past the two second scan! Personally, I guess what I am saying, is that if you are paying out of your own pocket, beware. There are many other fully accredidated programs out there that will give you more bang for your buck.

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(12)

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I am currently in my 1.5 year for Criminal Justice, so far so good. Just had a bad experience in my first math class. I am not a math person, but I did try to ask my instructor for help. He would give me sarcasm and give me bogus answers that "I should already know". Other than that, you get out what you put in, and I've dedicated my life after work hours until whatever time was needed to succeeding. My academic counselor and financial counselors are there most of the time for me, so I cannot complain.

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I am 6 months away from completing my Associate's degree in Accounting. First, the University of Phoenix is a great alternative to not being able to attend a traditional university of even a community (I have three kids and I work full-time, not gonna happen). The cost is surprising but I haven't had experience with traditional universities. In my first year, I think I racked up some $18,000+ but that included two $3,500 excess checks. Second, the staffing. They can be a bit tricky to manuever around. Two of my instructors were WORTHLESS. I called them for help and was treated like a burden. Needless to say, they got horrible reviews. Overall, I think UoP is a great school and I plan and attending until I get my Master's in Accountancy.

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(1)

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I am at the Milwaukee branch and loving every minute of my education. The only people I have seen that put the school down are the people that had a hard time with education in general. Go back to high school and start over. I am and always will be a 3.5 -4.0 student no matter where I go and UOP is not making life easy. I have no issue finding employment and have professors from schools all over the US, including Marquette. UOP is an easy target because they are for profit. Anyone with half a brain should know that nonprofit still needs profit to exist. Ivy League schools stay Ivy League because they only choose the top 5% students (or better). I do not care where you get educated, just get educated. The piece of paper on the wall does not give anyone a free pass for a job or a magic ticket to wealth. Furthering your education opens doors; you need to seal the deal. I know a Marquette graduate that works as a manager for a small city hardware store. I know someone that has their degree from UW Madison and works as a short order cook. I also know people that have just their high school diploma making 6 figures at a tool shop. People going back for their education do a few things different than those that are not educated-they sacrifice important events and time with family and friends to create a better life. Sacrifice and hard work will pay off no matter where you go to school!!!!

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(4)

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I graduated UOP with a Bachelors in Criminal Justice and about to receive a Masters as well. UOP is like any other educational institution, profit driven. The only good thing about UOP is that it does provide opportunity to get a decent education and has excellent instructors. The down fall to UOP is that both academic and financial advisers are lazy and incompetent, providing little assistance to students leaving individuals feeling frustrated and angry. UOP is devoted to make money and to do so they need you to attend. I recommend to anyone, make sure this is the right school for you. Overall, UOP isn't a bad school if you can just get past staffing, excluding the instructors.

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U of P is okay if you have no experience with other universities. I am taking classes at Ashford University, which is much better. The education is not any better but the courses and professors are much better and the classes much more organized. For example U of P requires for days of participation, responding to two other students about the same questions, and it has to be done in four separate days. So no matter how much you participate in a given you must do it at least four days a week. At Ashford you can replay all in the same day and only have to respond four times in a week. At Ashford you know all your assignments from day and don’t have to wait until the next week begins. In my opinion it is much better than U of P. No I don't work for Ashford but i am currently taking classes at both universities.

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(3)

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BEWARE! It appears to me that this LVN/BSN program at the University of Phoenix in Modesto,Ca.has arbitrary and capricious standards for the advanvancement of students in its LVN to BSN nursing program. Life-altering decisions appear to be made without evidence or academic criterion. Every student in the pilot program has failed atleast one or more HESI test(s) during the three years of the course. Yet, the most recent test failed nearly half of the pilot class,thus,delaying members of the pilot class from both licensing as a Registered Nurse and completing the program. This is nothing less than a consciouness disregard of these students' rights and a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in every contractual relationship. Judging by the race,sex and ethnicity of those who have failed,bias appears to be a subtle undercurrent of many pass/fail decisions. Additionally, student advancement decisions point appears to a profit motive more than creating a quality educational experience.
Before signing on that line make sure the counselor explains the HESI tests in this program because again it appears to apply only arbitrary and capricious standards!!!! I have so much more to write but not enough space!

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(3)

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UoP is alright. I am currently enrolled and my biggest problem is with the inaccuracy of the counselors. I have asked my financial counselor Jillian Mallory the same question 4 times and have gotten different answers everytime. They find a way to suck every dime of your loan money and recharge for fees that were supposedly already processed. The actual curriculm is fine, although I find it disadvanatageous to have to work in teams for every single class. They have the right idea but the wrong follow through. I would neither recommend or deter people in my opinion of the UoP. Enter the University of Phoenix at your own risk and do your homework!

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(2)

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If this school is so great, why does it have a 15% graduation rate? When researching a school, do not put your complete decision on reviews. Look at other things too. This is not MIT or Harvard. A 15% graduation rate? Something is wrong here.

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