why these three colleges have bad reputations (includes UofPhoenix)

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by warguns, Jun 30, 2015.

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  1. warguns

    warguns Member

    University of Phoenix has been called a “pay for degree school.” One Yelp Review says “Bottom line, University of Phoenix degree is worthless in real world. Employers know [it’s] a joke and will file your resume at the bottom of the stack or simply throw it away. This and many other online and for profit colleges that have been popping up in the last several years are the biggest scam on the planet perpetrated upon the American public.” Some may say that’s just one opinion, but there are several others just like it. The institution receives 1.5 out of 5 stars on Consumer Affairs.

    Read more: Why These 3 Colleges Have Bad Reputations
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Everest, as a part of the Corinthian group, doesn't exist anymore so taking a shot at it's reputation is just too easy (even if well deserved). DeVry is an odd entity to me. I just don't pay attention to it. I think of it like a vocational school on steroids. Do they have any good programs at that school? As for Phoenix, I've never really liked it. The whole cohort thing is not for me, the pricetag is too big and then there's that education loan scandal thing. Kinda takes the shine away, doesn't it? The author made some good points in the article but lost most of his credibility when he said that no one ever got a job with a Phoenix degree and that all employers sneer at these degrees. Despite my personal dislike for the school I know that this simply isn't true and when he makes statements that are clearly untrue, he degrades all his other statements. If someone were to tell me that they're considering a Phoenix degree program and asked my opinion I would advise them against it primarily due to the cost issue.
     
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    These claims are demonstrably false.

    Some may. Not all will.

    The plural of "opinion" is not "data".

    No thanks. I happen to agree that Phoenix is far too expensive and unremarkable, but that doesn't mean it's a scam.
     
  4. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

  5. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    The plural of "opinion" is not "data".

    :You_Rock_Emoticon: That's an award winning quote.
     
  6. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Wow, no employers would hire a UoP grad? So all of those people are among the unemployed? Every single one, eh?

    Surely none of their doctoral graduates have tenure track positions at non-profit or public schools, right?

    Certainly not at schools like Liberty University, Bloomsberg University of Pennsylvania (2x), Palm Beach State College (x3) and Seton Hill University.

    And of course, they would never hire a UofP PhD to work at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

    And forget about the business world. You'd never see someone with a University of Phoenix working as a Vice President at a company like Goldman Sachs. But even if someone did slip into a position like that with a UofP MBA, you'd never find someone with a UofP undergrad degree working for Goldman, right?

    But we've played this game before. Warguns swoops in and paints with a broad brush. Then we all post a bunch of links proving how ridiculously absurd the assertions are and then warguns slinks away for a few days/weeks before resurfacing with an equally ludicrous claim without ever addressing the prior response.

    It's starting to reach the point where I think we should actually call this activity "wargunning" and maybe consider organizing some leagues.
     
  7. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I believe that our friend warguns has simply pulled a quotation from the article. He has said little or nothing regarding his own thoughts on the matter. You might be just a bit too eager to pull that trigger.
     
  8. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I'll just have to agree to disagree.

    It would be like if a political pundit (take your pick, either side of the aisle) posted an incendiary quote, with none of his/her own commentary added, and then looked around and said "What? I'm just sharing a quote..."
     
  9. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    I worked for major aerospace company in California and they paid tuition for employees who attended UoP (I mentored a few fellow employees in statistics and their courses were not easy). Some UoP classes were held on my employers campus with most at nearby UoP satellite campuses.
     
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    At least some UoP degrees seem to work well here in Canada. One of my son's colleagues (teacher) earned an M. Ed from UoP and got all the career mileage he expected from it. So - not all the degrees are "worthless in the real world." :smile:

    J
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 30, 2015
  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    [​IMG]
     
  12. warguns

    warguns Member

    I selected the University of Phoenix quote because it was the distance institution among the three named.
     
  13. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    All three schools market like crazy and will annoy the hell out of you.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 1, 2015
  14. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I went to DeVry in the late 80's in NJ and the technical quality was great. It was a tech school in my mind since I went to school for the ET program (electronic technician). Now they have a really good biomed program - Biomedical Engineering Technology Degree | Bachelor's Degree | DeVry University

    I would say those numbers look good and we are always looking for good people.
     
  15. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    So will SNHU.

    And a few weeks ago I filled out a form for NAU and, for two weeks after, I had about six missed calls per day from an Arizona ph one number, they filled up my voicemail with pleadings to call them back. I have at least 30 emails total from them. I was getting daily "sorry we missed you!" Emails and now it's slowed down to weekly.

    And back when I was in high school I distinctly remember an overly aggressive college in Texas which had accepted me despite my never having applied.

    Schools do annoying stuff sometimes. There's a lot of competition. There was a lot of competition even before everyone was online. SNHU seems quite proud of the fact that they use UofP's marketing model while also working very hard to make people aware that they are "non-profit" and absolutely nothing like UofP. Incidentally, cruise the web for SNHU student reviews and you'll find some pretty horrendous ones. Yet, I would still consider SNHU because it has some pretty interesting programs. I take reviews with a grain of salt. I've discovered that, given the opportunity, some people will be incredibly whiny contrarians for no other reason than the fact that they have an outlet to be heard.
     
  16. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    I feel your pain. Liberty called me daily after I applied and I never talked to the same person. They got on my nerves so bad I waited 2 or 3 years after I first applied to start. I would've graduated a lot earlier had they not ticked me off so bad. That and analysis paralysis.
     
  17. La321

    La321 New Member

    I attend snhu and the staff seems to actually care and I wasn't called a lot when I was interested. They have helped me in some areas with issues from my disability and always check up on me during and after courses. They are are helpful to make sure students succeed and some students have told me that some support is still offered after graduation I started in 2014
     
  18. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I don't harbor ill will toward SNHU over their assertive sales techniques. If I had any criticism of SNHU it would be:

    1. They are unremarkable in terms of reputation and price competitiveness. I can get an MBA from Chadron State for a third of the price of an MBA at SNHU. Neither is going to accelerate my career on the basis of my school reputation (that seldom happens to mid-career students anyway, by the way). But one has the potential to give me a ton of debt that I'd be paying off for the remainder of my working life more than the other.

    2. "We're non-profit" is indeed a statement of fact. I don't like how SNHU tries to use it as such a major talking point in its marketing because I feel it is somewhat misleading. Being a non-profit school doesn't make you "good" any more than being "for-profit" makes a school "bad." The fact that SNHU proudly admits that they borrow heavily from UofP's playbook and then tries to distance themselves from anything that's "for-profit" is disingenuous, in my opinion.

    That said, I like their diverse offerings. They offer some programs in fields that are underrepresented (in my opinion) in the field of online offerings. So, for those programs, I say "Charge whatever you want" because if the choice is paying above market and not being able to study that subject, I might well choose to pay extra.
     
  19. jhp

    jhp Member

    From reading another forum where "real" academics chatter, my conjecture is that they see writing on the wall.

    It is like Honda. Remember how it was the butt of the jokes and encouraged from Detroit? Instead of looking into Honda's methods and ideas, Detroit was the "too big to fail". Not so much anymore.

    I think established, brick & mortar institutions see the major advantages of distance and commercial aspects of such universities. Although there is still time for them to see the light, many are taking the wrong attitude in my opinion. There is just so many new building a non-profit can build, just so many tenured professors, and so much half million dollar paid board members can one have, before the obscenity is questioned.
     
  20. La321

    La321 New Member

    I chose snhu by coming on here from others feedback on a list I was given on my program tuition. The other schools cost more and didn't have what I was looking for. They have a lot of resources that I like. I was going to choose Walden but it was more expensive $59,000 for bachelors, and they didn't offer online books. My program I wanted was psychology with some courses in child adolescent, and snhu was cheaper for me. I was going to switch over the summer but changed my mind because there would be another loan my on my credit, and I want to keep it in one place. She does have a program that I wish was offered online. Argosy and Walden called a lot even after I would ask them to email me.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 2, 2015

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