John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Krishna -

Great commentary. Many students fail to plan for their future. They take out all sorts of student loans, get a degree as useful as basket-weaving, then have difficulty repaying all that money they borrowed.

A student who plans well should evaluate the potential income he or she can receive and compare that to the school of their choice cost structure. Undergrad cost for Univ of Phoenix is $420 per credit hour, or about $60k for the whole 4 year program if the student lines out every single class successfully. Therefore, a graduate needs to make greater than $80k on the first year after school in order to be in-line with ability to repay student loans.

One strategy a well prepared student could pursue is to take Community College courses for basic things like English, Math, and Science at a cost of $65 per credit hour (80% discount). After two years, transfer those credits into the University of his/her choice. Also, US military is eligible for basic classes through correspondence which can significantly reduce the number of credit hours needed at University.

Incurring a $60,000 debt to earn $40,000 per year is not a useful venture.

JG

Natalie Berkowitz ⋅ Des Moines, IA Thought-FULL ⋅ 30 years experience

It depends what you wish to do with your degree AND your professional experience. University of Phoenix, while accredited, was never set up to provide the level of education or experiences from a more traditional institution. If you have the experience and are looking for the 'piece of paper', by all means UoP would be an option. If you lack the experience, adding a piece of paper from an educational institution which does not hold up well under scrutiny is a waste of time and money. You would be well served in thinking about your career goals and searching for people in that field on LinkedIn to find out where they went to college/university and how it benefitted them.

Doug Hill ⋅ Kearneysville, WV PC Construction ⋅ 20 years experience

Krishna,

In my experience, the degree from a valid university will be accepted. Very few HR and hiring managers are "degree snobs" and don't add value to different universities. It might mean something if that HR manager is an alumni from your college. It happened to me once, but my experience was what got me the job. In addition to my "regular" job, I am an adjunct professor for a brick and mortar college with an online degree program as well. It takes a commitment and self discipline to complete the degree. The instructors, for the most part, have years of experience in the courses they teach. I regularly get emails from former students that have gotten jobs in that field asking for professional guidance. And I am glad to do it. Check it out. Here is the deal breaker, is it covered as a Veteran's benefit?

robert castillo ⋅ Huntsville, AL Northrop Grumman ⋅ 6 years experience

Getting an education is the key to success in any business, because it proves that you are willing to invest in yourself. I have also heard about the problems with the University of Phoenix, I would check with the VA to see if their recent problems have effected their rank or status.

Ted Mittelstaedt ⋅ Portland, OR Portlandia IT LLC ⋅ 20 years experience

UofP is accredited but it seems to be accredited by the same organization that many of the for-profit schools are accredited by, and not by the accrediting organizations that accredit traditional public schools. All of the accrediting organizations are supposed to be approved by DoE so I would suppose that this means UofP's accreditation is OK.

The big problem with UofP in my view and a problem with any of the for-profit schools is their acceptance of transfer credits from local community colleges. The public universities in any given state are under a lot of pressure from the state governments to accept transfer credits from the community colleges - after all the state funds both of those schools - so they make an attempt to work with each other to create transferrable degree programs.

But the for-profits only use transferability as a way to hook students, it is a selling feature - every transfer credit they accept from a community college is less money in their pocket. And, worse is transferability back to the public schools. The public colleges have a large incentive to not accept degrees from the for-profit schools, so you may end up graduating with a bachelor's degree from UofP and find that this isn't acceptable for acceptance into a masters degree program from a public university.

Many public schools and community colleges are offering more and more online courses and many employers are flexible about employees attending classes, so my advice to anyone even considering a for-profit school is to _thoroughly_ investigate both the public non-profit and for-profit schools in these areas, do not assume you have to go to a for-profit just because you work full time.

Drew Schildwächter ⋅ Wilmington, NC Salesforce ⋅ 8 years experience

One of the biggest benefits from higher education as it relates generally to job seeking is the network a school provides the graduate. Most of the cost for a top school, I believe, is a fee for the name and network.

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

A degree from a school with a poor reputation has the potential to actively hurt you more thsn it helps you.

The question uoubshould be asking is how to move on, and find a better school.

Michael Viel ⋅ Paris, IL M1 Support Services ⋅ 10 years experience

Krishna,
I am a current student with the University of Phoenix and have also heard various claims about these non-traditional schools. I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix and am currently working towards my M.B.A. You are correct that this school is not for everyone, it takes a very self-guided and goal driven individual to successfully complete a degree program from UOP. I know first-hand that the amount of school work and personal time the projects and papers take can be overwhelming.
In my opinion the school you get your degree from is not a make or break situation when going up against other potential candidates. Many applicants do not even have degrees and some have half-finished ones. Anyone can get a degree, it really is not hard, but the experience that you have along with your degree can get you the job or lose it. Even with a degree you still may need to accept an entry level position to gain professional experience.
I read your blog and enjoyed it, thank you. Isn’t it crazy to think that one online education is worth more than another? It reminds me of people who ride Harley Davidsons and say Yamaha’s are junk. Really it is just a name.
I hope this answers your question.

Best of luck,
Michael D. Viel

Joe Paschall ⋅ Madison, AL nLogic, LLC ⋅ 26 years experience

As long as the institution is accredited, the degree is just one aspect of the job qualifications. When we look for qualified employees and see someone with extensive work-related experience and/or relevant certs, then the degree is often just a check-in-the-box - you either have it or you don't. With any experienced worker, the degree is just one qualification. Where the degree comes from matters a lot more with the younger folks who have degree with no relevant experience. In that case, a degree from UoP would be a liability because that degree does not compete well against other institutions when that is all a person has on their resume. However, this is a moot point because almost all of UoP students are experienced workers who seek a degree to round out their experience.