University of the People Launches MBA Program

Isn't Renmin University in Beijing also called "People's University of China"? That sounds quite similar.

 

Probably true. A unknown name is better than a bad one. Sorry to say I have seen people openly laugh out loud regard U of Phoenix. I had one fellow executive tell me he just discounts them one level e.g. a BA is a AA, MA maybe a BA at a "real" school...

 

You do have a point there.

 

Yeah, the immediate sales pitch of Ashworth and Penn Foster needs to be toned down a bit. Although, as Sanantone pointed out, UofP puts the words "online degree" front and center which doesn't help them either. There are some who still have a negative perception of online education, although I've never personally known a person I'd consider intelligent or "with it" that had a problem.

 

I'm not going to say that the online education bias is completely gone but I think at this stage it's breaking down pretty considerably. There are elite schools with online programs. I've heard colleagues share negative feelings toward online learning. Then again, they are typically the same ones who complain about hiring "millennials" and refuse to use the HRIS because they trust paper more than a computer.

Fortunately, like all good dinosaurs, they will likely be extinct (professionally, I mean) in short order.

When I first hit the job market there were still people who would joke at work about how they were completely computer illiterate. While there may be a company or two out there where this is still funny this makes you more of a liability than an asset everywhere else. I suspect views on online education are similar. As more and more professionals, in HR and at the executive level especially, earn online degrees those walls will continue to fall.

Incidentally, I'm rather open about the fact that I earned two degrees online. At one job interview (circa 2005) the interviewer said "Oh..." and made a not-so-discreet scratch on the edge of my resume with her pen (HR code for "throw this resume in the garbage as soon as this guy leaves"). Since then, I've been on a number of interviews and when my online learning comes up the interviewer has either commented on how they too earned a degree online or how they had been considering doing so.

Don't get me wrong, UPeople's website tells its own story. For me, that story is more favorable than what you see on PF or Ashworth's website. But it's still a story that is going to resonate positively with some interviewers, negatively with others and strike a neutral tone with many (possibly even most). But for the price, why not?

 

Hi, when I first started as a volunteer about 2 years ago, most of my students were foreigners from Asia and Africa. Fast forward to this term and I have many American, British, and Canadian students, with a few being from Africa.

 

I believe soon they are going to change the name to Shai Reshef University (SRU).

 

Here's a list of the top 20 Chinese universities. As you can see, they tend to be named for the city they're in, an individual or their specialty area.
This is much the same in the US.

1 Tsinghua University
2 Peking University
3 Zhejiang University
4 University of Science and Technology of China
5 Nanjing University
6 Fudan University
6 Shanghai Jiaotong University
8 Harbin Institute of Technology
8 Renmin University of China
10 Beihang University
10 Nankai University
12 Beijing Normal University
13 Huazhong University of Science and Technology
13 Sichuan University
13 Wuhan University
13 Xi'an Jiaotong University
17 Xiamen University
18 Sun Yat-Sen University
19 Tianjin University
20 Jilin University

 

Yes.

I think people have more of a problem with online schools or what they perceive to be online schools than online degrees. Since City-Data's education sub-forum is not focused on distance learning, you get more of a feel for how the general public sees things. They tend to have a low opinion of for-profits and online schools like WGU while also recommending that people pursue online degrees at brick and mortar non-profits.

As mintaru pointed out, Renmin University is also known as the People's University of China.

 

They call Alabama the Crimson Tide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yykSHeVXD8I

 

Actually, mintaru didn't point it out. He asked a question. You can scroll up and see it. Now I didn't do an exhaustive search of their site but in my quick sprint through the "About" page and the "History" page I did not see that name mentioned. Maybe it's in there and I just missed it. It's really not a big deal.

RENMIN UNIVERSITY of CHINA |

 

I think this is a good point.

I don't know if I would take any online forum as any kind of indicator about how "the general public sees things" only because by participating in an online forum and discussing something they are expressing significantly more interest in that topic than "the general public" might otherwise express. The vast majority of people don't sit around thinking about higher ed. And even fewer take their opinions to an actual discussion. But, I would agree that there are trends among some people to look down on for-profit or "online schools." How widespread those opinions are, how actionable those opinions are and how much a person would actually care about those things in a practical situation are separate questions. It's one thing to say "I hate the University of Phoenix and I don't like anyone who has a degree from there." OK, fine. What if your company hires an executive with a UofP MBA and s/he is now your boss. Is your hatred so strong that you'll quit? Will you try to sabotage this new exec? Or will you just blather on about it anonymously on a web forum?

I meet lots of people at SHRM who tell me all of the things they will never do in hiring. But it's one thing to make a grand pronouncement at SHRM and another thing entirely to enact that opinion as part of your hiring policy. Talk is cheap and such.

 

I think its a combination of everything you mentioned and the fact that the school is now DETC accredited.

 

But his target market won't be hiring themselves; those people will be going through hiring managers who may have a negative position on online education.

 

Why not? That would be a great idea. The founder has a tremendously successful background in business (particularly in the business of education). Maybe just the MBA-granting division of the school: "The Shai Reshef College of Business, UotP."

I sometimes think of UotP as being in the Great Hall of the People - here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hall_of_the_People#/media/File:China_Senate_House.jpg
Or maybe UotP just rents it as an exam hall. :smile:

Kudos to Mr. Reshef. Silly jokes (mine) aside, his school is really making a difference.

J.