Bachelor of Science in Information Technology

Program: Information Technology
Concentration: Software Engineering
Graduated? 3 more months
GPA: 3.99

This is a software engineering review and semi technical, if you want to write essays for the entire 2 years, then this is the school for you.  Otherwise, read further.

If you are looking for real world application, this wont be it, but you will learn all about everything of everything that has to do with software development.  Do you need it?

Business Systems, Fundamentals of Business systems analysis, project management, introduction to operating systems, and software architecture mostly Essay classes, and if you are going to be a software developer, you only needed 2 of these, not 5.

Programming?  The first java class is good, the second java class does not require you to go without an IDE, they should have when learning swing because you learn it way more and you learn how to actually program instead of drag in drop.  As a result, all but me used an IDE, yes dragging and dropping, and they all got A's.

The SQL business class was the only other class that had real application to it, it was actually really good, just plain learn SQL, and the class did not seem to get too tied up in discussion/writing so we had some time to learn the stuff.

Everything else was either way too easy or essays.  The web classes barely spend time on CSS and java application.  I could provide a simple CSS assignment and that would help someone learn more then what both of these classes taught, it is extremely sad I paid $1700 a class.

Take a look at the VB.net classes, I have not taken them yet, but notice that they teach the same exact stuff that the first java class teaches, programming basics.  They should have created a 3rd harder java class, and just one visual studio class that covers all the content of the two.

Lastly, when you look at the curriculum, if it says "explain", "describe", or "Identify", its a writing class, and usually an Essay class, even if it is an IT class, if it says that, Essays.

If the classes details say "Apply", this means you might actually do something technical.  If you only see one "apply" down the list, most likely you wont apply anything, it has to be all the way down the 5 or so bullets.

Like I said, they provide way too much information about IT, things that various IT managers might need to know, but for a bachelors degree in software engineering, they do not focus near enough on the actual discipline, and way to much on everything else that has to do with IT.

DO NOT SIGN UP TILL YOU LOOK INTO ALL THE FACTS! I have been attending for over a year now and it is a joke. I have had nothing but problems throughout the entire time. After paying close to $10,000 for 8 month's in the associates program, I was denied to the bachelor's program. With a 3.95 GPA I was denied. This was due to not having a job in the field of study. I finally got that fixed only to be hit with more problems. I find that instructors really don't care and will not answer the questions that you post, despite the University guidelines. I have taken classes and paid for them only to have them change the requirements and have to take and pay for additional classes. I am just finishing up a class now with the most worthless instructor. I have asked several questions in regards to the covered subject matter only to get the answer that the question is out of the scope of the studies. How can this be I ask you? If it is covered in the reading material, then how is it out of the scope of studies. I finally figured it out, the instructor doesn't know the answer. So off to complain to someone else who doesn't give a crap because they want out of there also. PLEASE LOOK INTO OTHER SCHOOLS BEFORE MAKING THIS MISTAKE LIKE I MADE! I am over a year a way and $30,000 in debt from this sub par education.

I have been with UoP for three years after transferring from a local college and am satisfied overall. Honestly people, if you haven't finished a Bachelor program your comments are worth jack here so maybe wait before complaining about trivialities as if that makes the school a fraud. 

YES - They are for-profit so transferring away from the school and importing credits are more difficult; this doesn't make the degree you can earn any less useful.

YES - There are lazy students sometimes that try to milk their team to avoid work, this is frustrating but as someone in the IT field for 9 years I can tell you this happens in the real world as well so could they be more strict on lazy people - sure they could but again that doesn't invalidate the entire school or programs they offer.

FACT - All colleges have classes that teach very little for the sake of milking students for cash. I will say though that the more basic classes could update the curriculum some. This is a problem in all colleges though, yet again UoP is not proven to be uniquely at fault.

FOR RECENT HS GRADS - If you go to UoP without a need for online convenience then you will undoubtedly nitpick your way into a frenzy as most of us would. UoP online is focused on providing working professionals with a viable educational alternative. If you are fresh out of high school don't attend this college unless it is in a live classroom setting because frankly you don't have the knowledge or work experience to much advantage of it.

REMEMBER - For working professionals the degree is not a holy grail so much as a distinguishing measurement that their career is ready for progression. It is one piece of our total value in the workplace unlike an inexperienced 22yo grad who is completely reliant on it. Your choice of college should reflect your goals, if you arent making 40k+ per year in the field you are seeking education in I strongly suggest you attend a local university. It is cheaper and it will help prepare you for the real world.

Plan for the future and succeed! - L

I am currently attending uop and they are full of it. If they were really concerned with how I interact with theire interface they would have me complete a workshop not charge me almost 2 grand to tal a course that is not even transferrable. I stop doing the worj until they send me my money I do not have time for the crap. I have attended a real unversity and this is not worth spit. They shoud be taken off the market.

I graduated from a traditional 4 yr university back in 2003.  I decided to go back to school to earn an IT degree and picked UoP.

Its too easy.  Everyone gets a B or an A.  Half the people cant write a paper correctly.  All you do is write papers and read the text... then they charge you $1200 for it.  I might as well purchase some certificates, save $10,000 on the degree and actually be able to hold down a job as I might have some knowledge of the subject matter.

The online class is pretty pointless, as there is almost no teacher interaction except for "discussion questions" which are very boring.  They force you to read an article and write a 1 paragraph response.. this is worth about 10% of your grade (silly).

If you attend a brick and mortar UoP class it might be worth it, as I feel I learned something during those classes. Also, it only costs $180 per class (someone please explain to me how its cheaper to rent a room vs online).

Anyway, I am still attending this "university" but am going to stop.  The online classes are a gaint rip, and its too easy (meaning I am not learning.. yet somehow still getting an A).

Oh and 1 last thing.. my emphasis is in IT security, the text is currently referencing "dial up" and "Windows 2000".  Im pretty sure I can find a more relevant textbook on my own for under $1200 :)

I graduated from UOP in 2003. I had previously attended Auburn University but failed to graduate. My employer paid for my degree (~20,000). I agree with those who complain about "team projects", but as I have learned over the years, most team environments whether classroom or actual working usually have a similar makeup. You have some who strive and some who don't. Your final output from the team must be good...you have to carry/correct the work of some team members. That's just the way it is. I work in the satellite/space industry and couldn't have advanced without the degree. I make 3 times my starting salary since getting into my current field. You will get what you put into your education.

I need to finish my B.S. and I thought these guys were legit.
I gave them my real mobile phone number and my clean email address that had never been spammed before.
BIG MISTAKE !
UOP telemarketers called at least six times after I said I wasn't interested -- using aggressive high-pressure sales pitches.
When they finally did quit calling -- THEY SOLD MY EMAIL address to spammers !
Now I get like 5 spam mails/day from Cooking schools, Photography schools, Pharmancy assistant training, Social Worker careers, Law Enforcement training, Medical Billing and Coding jobs, etc, etc, etc.
This can't be a serious school -- don't give them anything !

Please sombody answer this question:

Can someone actually earn a bachelor's degree from UOP in Information Tech. and land an entry-level job in the industry???
Anyone know what the average starting salary is with degree only, no experience?

As many UOP students, I have attended other colleges, three other public colleges in fact, none of which required pre-testing (SAT).  Credits were transferred and I started from there, nothing different about that.  There's not much difference in the level of learning either.  UOP crams alot in 5 weeks and in some classes the work can be taxing.

I believe there is a bias by people who actually had to go into a classroom, and thus feel that is the only way one can learn, or the only way a school can appropriately teach.  I do know that there are other colleges that hire UOP grads, so I don't see a total academia bias.  And UOP grads get jobs and keep them.  For me, that is enough.

Honestly, I did the BSIT program as I was working.  UoP gave me the piece of paper I needed to move on in my career.

From a salary perspective pre-degree i was capped out at 43k.  Afterwards with job changes I experienced jumps from  45K->75K->125K.  Within 7 years.  For me the numbers speak for themselves.

UoP is great place to get in, do your work and get out.  I made know illusion that I was attending college for purely academic purposes.  It was very much a means to an end.

I will conclude with this, especially if you're in information technology you always have to keep up with new technology and what is available.  That translates into keeping up certifications, continued education etc.  Post-bachelors education I would just do that at community college or other universities.

Allen

I won't repost the continuing trend of people riding in the class and getting a good grade but I will say this you will write papers, LOTS of papers. You could have algebra II and probably still have papers to write. UoP is one of the most expensive online colleges out there which really sucks because you pretty much self teaching and then writing even more papers. 

1 star

I received a BSIT degree 2004.  Only a few of my classes were on-line.  I must say that the on-line classes required much more work and participation than the actual classroom and the instructors did a good job. 

Be prepared to spend three to five hours a night in the course web area, exchange well over 1000 emails in the course's time frame (class participation), write close to a dozen of small papers, try to work as a team, and assume that you will have to do the entire team project yourself as you've never met these people and all but YOU in your team may drop the class by the third week.

I attended Drexel University and they had classes that inadvertently very much resembled the UOP model.  Computer programming was one.  We had 900 students in a lecture hall with an instructor who couldn't speak English and then, as a natural course of student survival, met on the side in "study groups" to do our work.

Both classroom and on-line suffer from the same issues with learning teams.  Teams work best when you're in the same class group for your entire time there, something that typically only happens with the classroom.  There, the lower learners eventually all move to one team and the serious students move to the other.  Otherwise, the concept fails because - like it or not - UOP is a money making operation first and an educator second so they will take the dumbest of the dumb adult learner operating on a second grade level -- I've had people on my teams who can't write or think yet I saw them class after class.  So, yes, as D.N. says, you had to carry the ball with those turkeys just as you occasionally do in real life on the job.

All in all, though, the BSIT degree is a "Rodney Dangerfield" degree -- "it gets no respect" at least in my circles.  The best and the brightest guys in my class still haven't had any luck putting it to use.

I would say that this degree is to be completely avoided by anybody thinking that they can get into IT with it.  I and my classmates found that it's only useful for: 1) somebody already in IT who wants a promotion but can't because HR says "you must have a degree.) 2) Somebody with teaching credentials who wants to teach IT 3) Somebody who is bored and wants to get a college degree just to say that they have one. 4) Somebody who wants to make UOP even richer and take a followup graduate degree.

You get what you put into it.

On a TEAM assignment, you are supposed to work as a team and you are graded as a team.  Learning Teams have evaluations where every member of the team evaluates themselves and the other members of the team.  If a member did not participate, then I would give them a ZERO.

If you are being graded as a team, you have to take the initiative for underperforming team members.  No one is to blame but the other members of the team.  The team assignments that are turned in are the assignments to be graded...if the other members of the team do not read and 'fix up' the other parts, the grade is justified.

I love the University of Phoenix and the experience it provides.  Yes, it's tough.  Yes, it's frustrating sometimes.  If it were easy, everyone would have a degree!

D.N.
Elizabethtown, KY
BSIT, MIS from U of Phx

It's a good school if you're a working adult with kids wanting a BS.  There is simply no easier, faster way.  It is expensive but you can coast through the classes if you're a skilled googler.  If you take the UOP route, make sure you take some regular classes at your local community college to get that experience, and then transfer the credits in.

I am currently in my third class at UOP and am in the B.S.I.T. program.  I am only getting started, but am not at all impressed yet.  My first real I.T. class isnt teaching me anything, but only making me write papers about what I already know or what I read out of a book.  If I wanted to be self taught I would have bought a $4. library card instead!!  The team situation referred to in the other reviews is the same for me.  I always get the lazy ones in my team and end up carrying the team through the assignment.  Last class I got docked points on my grade because a team member did not do their part sufficiently and the teacher pretty much implied that I should have fixed his part before turning it in.  What kind of teaching is that?

Degrees are handed out to people who ride on others' coattails.....

I have been attending UoP for the past 6 months and my company pays 100% of the tuition so cost is not a big deal for me.  

I do find fault with how the teams are graded.  The school gives us evaluations to fill out on our fellow team mates and even if you give a bad review to someone because they contributed only 2% of the content for the final project, the grade they get is the same as you got for contributing 33% with 2 other people.  So you do have people that have not even applied themselves getting the same degree as those applying themselves 100%.

I think the worse part is every 5 weeks I get a new advisor who asks me for my voucher for the next class when I've already sent it to the previous advisor.  So I have to locate the voucher and send it to the new advisor but it's like the advisors don't even talk to each other and wouldn't you think they'd store the vouchers in a central location so all the advisors could get to them.  This has happened twice.

I signed up with this school and attended classes for a week and decided it was not for me. I requested to be disenrolled from the class and informed my teacher and advisor via email and phone. This school charged me 1450 dollars for this class. Needless to say I would not recommend this school to anyone.