MSN has an article featured today titled Why Online Degrees Pay. http://encarta.msn.com/elearning/208.asp I clicked on the article thinking that perhaps they were writing on some new study about the economics of online education or something similar. I was sadly mistaken. The article seems to be nothing more than a blatant advertisement for the University of Phoenix. The article has 11 links directly to UoP all of which are in the form of highlighted buzzwords. For instance, one of the passages reads: "It is important to ensure that the degree you pursue is from an accredited university so that it will be treated with respect by employers." If you click on accredited university, expecting to get an explanation of what accreditation is, you're taken directly to http://www.uofphx.info/accredit.jsp?CLK=3060508111549288& I'm sure there have been many threads about me, but it just bothers me to see what could have been a decent article turned into a worthless advertisement.
I guess that so many readers simply ignore advertising that ads are being disguised as content. The problem is that if people start to associate MSN content with advertising, they may simply tune out MSN content in general. People are fickle and can move their attention easily if they sense that they are being manipulated. If too many sources of purported news and content start to become identified as stealth-advertising, it might add to a more generalized cynicism about everything that we read.
UoP seems to do a good job with advertising. It seems to be on EVERY website dealing with DL and it can certainly be annoying!
Yup. Almost any Google search for any university will cough up as its first or nearly first result either KW or UoP. There are all sorts of (different) reasons why I would not care to do business with either one, but this alone is quite sufficient to cover both. Aux barricades, mes enfants!
I'd be curious to find out the ROI for both K-W and UofP. Now surely with all this advertising by both schools there has to be some "payoff" behind all of this.
While UOP and K-W use similiar tactics in marketing, UOP is regionally accrediated and K-W is not. Furthermore, nothing is given to you at UOP. I think you can get a degree from K-W by doing a few courses and sending them the money. While I don't agree with UOP's marketing approach, it is a legit school. I am not sure what a degree from K-W will get you.
Skillful marketing can usually sell almost anything once: a good car or a bad car; a good school or a bad school. If you depend on repeat customers (toothpaste, hanburgers, etc.), then the quality of the product (or service) is more of a factor. Most schools don't worry about repeat customers, which is one reason bad ones prosper along with the good. When I was involved in marketing the Heriot-Watt MBA (1991-98), it cost us about $300 in expenses to sign up one student. I don't know if this is high or low in the 'industry,' but it gives some idea of what the schools, good or bad, may be spending. The last time I was privy to a number, a major US proprietary school was spending about $4 million a year on advertising for its distance learning programs.
No doubt about it. UOP markets like nobody's business. I'm going there right now for my masters and I can't get away from the place. When I'm not doing my schoolwork I'm getting inundated with ads for this school or with commericals. Then again---that is how they got me too. I clicked on a pop up ad and the rest is history (after I investigated them of course through this website)....
