University of the People Launches MBA Program

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by scaredrain, Mar 15, 2016.

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  1. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes. That's the translation of its name. 人民 = renmin = people in Mandarin. About 30 years ago, I had precisely one semester of Mandarin on my way through college, the first time.... This is one of the not-very-many words I remember.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 21, 2016
  2. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Mintaru was just confirming that he or she is right, and he or she is. Johanna beat me to it, but Renmin means "people." If you google "People's University of China," the first result is Renmin University.

    English translation of 人民 ( renmin / rénmín ) - people in Chinese
     
  3. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Wow OK, so I learned something new today. Thanks.
     
  4. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

  5. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Generally, yes. But, there is a difference between a school that puts the words "Online Degrees" front and center on the front page like University of The People, and one that doesn't like, say, The University of Alabama. One is just more obvious than the other; the less obvious one will require a little bit more effort to find that they offer online degree programs. With a degree from an online UofA program, nobody would even question if it was online or not because they wouldn't even think about it since that school isn't known well for its online programs, combined with the fact that it's not front and center and immediately expressed on the site that there are online programs there. UofP is going to cause some suspicion just because of its name and it not being well-known. The hiring manager with the negative perception of online education will go to the site and see "online degrees" immediately, and, well, the resume likely goes into the circular abyss.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 21, 2016
  6. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    I love your computer literacy example. I'll tell you I was in that group. My public school district "got computers" about the time I graduated, I totally missed it. When I worked as the department head of culinary arts at a community college, I didn't even own a typewriter (1992ish) and had a secretary (!) that would "type" whatever I needed into her computer. She would retrieve and edit any files I needed. I didn't even think about it until your example- I should send her flowers. Anyway, I can't fathom a situation where someone would work in higher education and not posess the skills to do their own "secretarial" work. (and I'm pretty sure that's not even a job title any more)

    So, I don't think the issue is online learning- I feel like we've already opened the floodgates, and there is no going back. You can't unring this bell- but you asked "but for the price, why not?" and I think it's because of the work. Wayyyy back I applied to Andrew Jackson, when they were doing free tuition- so did my husband. We ultimately decided not to enroll because FOR THE SAME WORK we'd both be stuck with NA degrees. Work is time, and time is worth something. So, for me, that's why not.

    In fairness, even if I overlooked the NA part, it was the name that I addressed in my earlier post, and that's still my biggest objection. I wouldn't feel confident presenting it as "my" MBA degree (which of course makes me shallow) but I think most people are ignorant about 99% of the colleges/universities out there and for the most part, still assess based only on name.

    *quiz- without using the internet, how many colleges can you name? I do this at my workshops for parents. Most parents can name fewer than 200 (2 per state for university of and state university of) where they/their family/friends went to college, popular colleges in their profession, universities and community colleges in their home state, all the sports teams, all the ivys, etc.
    Now- between community colleges, NA universities and RA universities, there are about 23,700 colleges in the USA. So, if your college isn't part of the 1% people know, they only other thing they have to go on is the name.
     
  7. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Stuck? Geez.

    I can think of countless, far worse fates than being stuck with a legit and fully-accredited college degree...
     
  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    You keep arguing as though, in 2016, there's still a widespread stigma against online learning such that schools that specialize in it are significantly disadvantaged to say so. I think you need to back that up.
     
  9. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I'm not doing that at all. For me to say that there is still a stigma is no attempt to say it's widespread. It's nothing more than an acknowledgement that the stigma still exists.
     
  10. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I don't think that's shallow and it's the reason I opted for an MSM instead of an MBA from UMT. I want my MBA, if I ever earn one, to be from a good school. I've seen people with multiple Masters of Science but you seldom see a person with two MBAs.

    But if you don't particularly care about the name, then for the price I'd say it's a good deal. NA? Well, that's another discussion entirely.

    I think there will always be a segment of people who appreciate an NA MBA. There are many people who will never experience that limited utility. Chief among them, I believe, would be people who already have an RA graduate degree and individuals who are past a certain "point of no return" in their career where the degree is only going to represent a small percentage of their "total package" to employers.


    This looks like fun and I promise I won't cheat:

    1. Harvard
    2. Columbia
    3. UPenn
    4. Brown
    5. Cornell
    6. Dartmouth
    7. Yale
    8. Princeton
    9. Duke
    10. Stanford
    11. MIT
    12. Boston University
    13. Boston College
    14. Georgetown
    15. George Washington
    16. U Virginia
    17. Virginia Tech
    18. Penn State
    19. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
    20. SUNY(s) Binghamton, Cortland, Buffalo, Oneonta, Albany, Cobleskill, Stony Brook, Delhi and Upstate and Downstate Medical Schools
    21. Brooklyn College
    22. City College of New York
    23. Queens College
    24. Baruch College
    25. New York University
    26. Bridgeport University
    27. Wesleyan
    28. Vassar
    29. Drexel
    30. Villanova
    31. Temple
    32. Sweet Briar
    33. Smith College
    34. UMass Amherst
    35. UMass Dartmouth
    36. Rutgers
    37. TESU
    38. Excelsior
    39. COSC
    40. Case Western Reserve
    41. Franklin University
    42. Ball State
    43. University of Indiana
    44. Purdue
    45. University of Southern California
    46. UCLA
    47. UCSF
    48. California Southern University
    49. Colorado Technical University
    50. Colorado State University
    51. University of Denver
    52. Texas A&M
    53. Marywood University
    54. University of Scranton
    55. Kings College (Wilkes-Barre)
    56. Wilkes University
    57. Misericordia University
    58. Keystone College
    59. St. Tikhon's Theological Seminary
    60. St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary
    61. Baptist Bible College (now Summit University)
    62. Mount St. Mary's
    63. St. Vincent's (Latrobe)
    64. St. Anselm's
    65. Aspen University
    66. University of Management and Technology
    67. New Charter University
    68. Patten University
    69. WGU
    70. Ashworth
    71. Penn Foster
    72. Global University
    73. Johnson University
    74. University of the Cumberlands
    75. Syracuse University
    76. LeMoyne
    77. University of Chicago
    78. Ithaca College
    79. Hartwick College
    80. Davis College
    81. Felician
    82. Franciscan University of Steubenville
    83. St. Bonaventure

    So, what's fun about this is that I started out with a system and then schools just started randomly popping into my head. And I realized that it was difficult to not only think about all colleges and universities in the country but also trying to even think of them compartmentalized. Trying to think of all universities in places where I've lived was somewhat difficult. And a good many of these schools I only mention because I know of them because I attended them. Still others I only know because I spend way too much time on the DEAC website.

    Honestly, I agree with your point completely. There's a reason I chose Colorado Tech over American InterContinental. Name was a deciding factor. Of course, also contributing to that was the fact that AIU was incredibly aggressive and CTU was not (this was before the threat to their accreditation).

    Even people I've worked with who lived in Colorado have said things like "Oh, CTU, I used to drive past the campus when I used to go to X." But I highly doubt my school would make their list if they did the same exercise. Then again, I have zero opinions about Davis College and only listed it because I used to drive past it when I (briefly) lived in Binghamton, NY. Still, I think it shows just how complex we index colleges and universities in our minds and how our opinions on them can differ depending upon the context.
     
  11. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    UMT is not a good school?
     
  12. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I don't think UMT is a "bad" school. It's definitely a legitimate school. But is it a "good" school? I mean, if I sat down and said make a list of "good" universities, what would you put? Would you start with the Ivy and elites?

    Would you decide that "good" meant some tier below Ivy/Elite and above "bad?"

    I learned some great things. But it wasn't a top flight business school. Heck, it wasn't even a middle of the road business school. It was good for what it was. It's hard for me to say that the program was more or less rigorous than a traditional RA program. I took two courses at Chadron State College in their MBA program. I felt, in many ways, that they were comparable.

    Well, great, but would I say that the MBA program at Chadron State College is "Good?" Again, I guess it depends upon how you define "good." But Chadron State and UMT have something in common; they're mostly unknown.

    So when I said "good" I suppose that was an inarticulate way of saying "a good name" or "reputable" or "well known." I'm seriously considering the MBA program at Syracuse University. While I enjoy online learning I've found recently that my life isn't very well equipped for that method of study these days. I have small children at home. I can do assignments at home and at work during lunch but I can't take the entire course at either place. So, a hybrid program might suit me well.

    I consider Syracuse University to be a "good" school because it has a "good" name. There's nothing wrong with Chadron State or UMT or countless other schools. But I feel like certain degrees have a bit more prominence than others and the awarding institution matters greatly, if not to employers than to the holder of said degrees, in those instances. An MBA is one of those degrees. So I want to get as "good" as I can afford while be able to complete.
     
  13. AJ_Atlanta

    AJ_Atlanta New Member

    I think the sports team is a double edge sword. It certainly creates top of mind awareness and in many cases elevates a schools image, regardless if it has little to do with academics, but it has also contributed to the high costs.

    Still I think the Internet has done far more good for learning than bad, but we are now faced with some issue to overcome
     
  14. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    I will encourage a young adult to attend a brick and mortar school if that is feasible for the “experience”, whatever that is. As an adult, the last thing I want to do is to attend classes in person. I have always been proactive in making my online degrees work for me. I’d blabbered about my online degrees in every HR interviews I had, after earning my degrees.
    Once I have a job interviews, then my on-line degrees are not issues. The HR interviewee(s) are also doing online education. My job is to purposely let them know how challenging it was to earn my no-name on-line degrees while holding a full-time job plus other commitments. The silly names of schools are fun to discuss but very superficial as a hiring criteria. One of my Alma maters was called Last-chance University (LU) as a joke, because of losers like me. I could have well been its real name for what I care.
     
  15. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I have the same view. There was a thread on here or the other forum where someone was worried about an employer paying for an MBA or some kind of degree from Strayer or a similar school. I don't think I participated in that thread. Most of the responses were something like, "It's free. It wouldn't hurt." This might sound extreme, but if an employer offered to pay for an MBA at University of Phoenix, I would probably turn them down. Sure, I can just take the University of Phoenix MBA off my resume in the future if I become too embarrassed by it, but MBAs are a lot of work regardless of how low-quality the school is (I've never attended UoP, but I did attend a school with the same parent company and same model at the time). Even though I wouldn't lose anything monetarily by hiding my UoP MBA, I would lose the time and effort I spent on earning it. I would also question an employer that will only pay for a UoP degree. Either they didn't do their research for cheaper and better schools or UoP gave them one heck of a deal. Now, Starbucks having a partnership with ASU is impressive.
     
  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I think the page url might have changed since early days. It's here:

    List of all MBA Program Fees Yep, just as I wrote, current cost is $4,500.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 22, 2016
  17. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    We both work in higher ed - NA wouldn't cut it
     
  18. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Thanks for playing! You got 92, but I'll give you ~100 more for the State of/U of States you left out and the slew of for-profits that you would have eventually thought of. And I wouldn't call your level of expertise average, it's clearly well above average.
     
  19. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    I remember that thread- it was a thread here. The relationship was between Chrysler and Strayer and I was actually on the bandwagon for him TO DO it because the alternative was to do nothing if I remember. In that poster's case, I think it's a sliver different, is because within his organization, that degree will be accepted. Should he change jobs in the future, he's a mid-career professional who took advantage of an employment benefit- I think it's reasonable. If, otoh, he simply had tuition reimbursement, then there is some degree of responsibility that he choose wisely. Just my two cents- I think we've all went down the rabbit hole. lol
     
  20. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I won't be playing this game. I did a quick mental rundown of colleges and universities, and it would take me forever to type them out. When I searched for a master's program, alone, I looked at about 100 different schools. Then, there are the schools that are regularly discussed on the forums, the schools I attended, and the ones I looked at for bachelor's and PhD programs. I'm getting exhausted thinking about it.
     

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