University of Phoenix

I completed the MAed program with initial licensure in 2004. I was an older non-traditional career changer coming from twenty-five years in investment management and investment banking. My program was for licensure in secondary social studies. I found the program to be very informative and professional. The group work was irritating but it reminded me of corporate culture and necessary. I had previously enrolled in a local traditional college and found that program to be a disaster with frequent changes and administrative confusion. The Phoenix program was much better managed and more practical. All of my instructors were either practicing teachers, active school administrators, or retired administrators. I received extensive practical advice along with competent academic instruction. At the conclusion of the degree I observed enforcement of academic standards during the required student teaching. Two student teachers in my cohort were flunked by their supervisors and failed to finish the degree as a result. This was a good thing...neither of those two candidates were competent teachers. My program was traditional classroom and I took no online courses. My only hesitation concerning Phoenix is for those people wishing to teach at the college or university level. Higher ed programs in traditional colleges are unlikely to hire Phoenix, or any for-profit college, graduates. I was able to have a second career as a high school English and Social Studies teacher for eleven years as a result of my Phoenix degree. It was a very happy and rewarding experience.

LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY- I HAD EXCELLENT GRADES IN THE MASTERS OF TEACHING MAJOR. WHEN I GOT TO THE STUDENT TEACHING, I WASN'T PREPARED. THE COOPERATING TEACHERS DID NOT TAKE THE ONLINE PROGRAM SERIOUSLY AND LEFT ME TO SIT IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM FOR 2 MONTHS. WHEN I HAD TO BE EVALUATED, I HAD VERY LITTLE PRACTICE AND RECEIVED A MEDIOCORE EVALUATION. I GOT INTO A DISAGREEMENT WITH THE TEACHER AND PHOENIX WITH 5 LESSONS LEFT TO TEACH FOR MY STUDENT TEACHING. PHOENIX WOULDN'T ALLOW ME TO GET MY MASTERS. I ASKED ABOUT TRANSFERRING CREDITS, AS I HAD 39, TO ANOTHER PHOENIX MAJOR. I WOULD BE ABLE TO TRANSFER ONE CREDIT ONLY. THE SCHOOLS IN THE NORTHEAST WOULD TAKE ONE OR THREE CREDITS. SO, I AM PAYING A LOAN OFF FOR MANY YEARS AND DON'T HAVE THE DEGREE. PHOENIX WILL SUPPORT THE COOPERATING TEACHER AND NOT THE PHOENIX STUDENT. I REALLY DID ENJOY THE ONLINE PROGRAM BEFORE THE STUDENT TEACHING AND CAN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT.

Recently moved to a new area and not being able to find decent job; I decided to enroll in the Masters' because being a mother of two for me was the best fit. Wrong all the way!!! The classes are not meant to be for adults that already have experience with teaching.More for people out of the field. Is that what your looking for? At the beginning they target you with a lot of calls, but when you complain the calls suddenly minimize. You are not in control of your group assignment,if you land with an irresponsible group you will have to swallow, there is not time to rectify if you did something wrong.You are stock with the grade.Placement for field experience is very bad, you have to do your own placement and that takes a lot of your time going from place to place because they do not have a good relationship with schools.So they wash their hands but they required you to do the observations for a grade. Putting you as a Sales rep. to promote the University. While you are sweating looking for schools they are comfortable working from an office. You are paying for that you know? Please ask a lot of question before you enroll? Use this as a guide.Now I am stock with a debt, no job and no degree.

I just took Early Childhood Growth and Development online. It was a good class until the end, when the instructor decided to not give me any credit for a paper I submitted because she could not open my word document. She did not contact me to let me know she couldn't open it, she just gave me 0 points out of 10 for not being able to open it and when I questioned her, she said it was too late. It's ironic that she was able to open a team paper submitted by me that same day, created in the same MSWord software, and graded that. I ended up getting a B instead of an A because of this. I'm pretty frustrated right now about it. I worked really hard and being jeopardized because of a technical issue is not fair. I will never take a class at Univ. of Phoenix again.

Oh jeeze, where do I start? I learned more about psychology from a Hazelwood book (if you don't know who he is, look up Dark Dreams, amazing). I actually quoted Hazelwood in several papers. In one class, I mentioned Hazelwood and not only did the insturctor not know who he was, she also didn't know what a hebaphile is. This was the "professor" for Human Sexuality and the week was on sexual paraphilias. My Intro to Behavioral Science "professor" was obsessed with in-text citations. I got docked way more than was reasonable because I didn't provide enough. I mean seriously, he expected one after EVERY sentence. I never got feedback on the content of my papers, just on the amount of citations used. It made my week of research, writing, and editing feel like a waste of time. I very rarely felt like I got a reasonable amount of feedback from any of my instructors; each week's feedback was copy-pasted from the week before. My cultural ethics "professors" tried to tell me I was wrong when I stated the ethnic make-up of a prison is on point with the ethnic make-up of the state. This was brought about when someone stated that prisons are made up of mostly minorities and I stated it corrolated with the population of the state. She provided me with a web link that showed an 8:1 ratio of black to white males incarcerated in the state I live in. There was no date on the page or information for where the "facts" were obtained. I worked in a prison at the time and have lived in this state for 16 years, but she's right, I wouldn't know the color of my inmates or the people around me. The financial aid process was a nightmare. I was constantly asked to resubmit paperwork that I had already sent in several times, only to find out a signature was in the wrong place. Then I was given incorrect information on what I needed to submit and where I needed to sign. This held up my degree completion by over 2 months. It wasn't until I threatened to finish my program elsewhere that it finally got straightened out. Miracle, I think not.

I am in the Master of Adult Education Program. After reading so many complaints, I had to include my input. I have had an exceptional learning experience so far in the program. I must say that Grad students work harder that Bachelor students. If I were getting my Bachelors, I would not attend this University, simply for the fact of the group assignments. However, in the Master's level, most students care about their grades and work diligently on group assignments. I am a self motivated learner, which makes a huge difference, when compared to students that search for the institution to motivate them. At UOP, a students needs to be self motivated to do well. Overall I give the institution a B.

This school screwed me plain and simple. I am in debt up to my eyeballs, and no one thinks my degree is real. They all laugh at me and say "I'm a phoenix!" this school is seriously bent. That's the problem when you turn education into a busineess For Profit. I recommend to anyone reading this - dis-enroll ASAP and go to your local community college. You'll learn more and get more respect than if you waste your money and time here. UOP only wants as many suckers willing to spend a lot of money as they can get. I even found some of my course questions and assignments cut and paste off of other Internet sites. STAY AWAY.

This school sucks. It hires people that manipulate you into school loans you can't afford (nor will ever pay back). Therefore, it makes you go broke and bankrupt. Then, after the federal government has lost its loan money paying University of Hell (I mean Phoenix), I got to take classes that were an absolute JOKE, with IDIOTS that should have never gone to college in the first place. This school is the downfall of education, and must be stopped. DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL -- an experienced and very real recommendation. HEED THIS WARNING.

I enrolled in the University to obtain an endorsement in Instructional Leadership. After verifying with the state department of education that the University had an approved program, and speaking with 3 different counselors, I decided that the price and time requirements were perfect for me. Only after completing the courses did I find out the University would not complete the paperwork that I needed for the state. After several thousand dollars and months of phone calls and emails, I was just told that the University doesn't actually offer an endorsement program. Isn't this information that should have been given before I enrolled?

I am in the final stage of completing the master's degree program at UOP, and this is the first time I have experienced an issue with UOP financial aid department. I am performing my student teaching (which means that I needed to quit my job in order to complete), and for the first time ever, UOP is holding up my funds. I have gotten the run around all summer long, have received all types of reasons as to why, always get financial aid advisor voicemail, only not to ever receive a return call or email, same goes for the so-called supervisor...UNPROFESSIONAL to say the least. I am looking to report this school to the Dept of Education.

I graduated from UOP in 2005 with an MAEd. I found that the quality of education really depended upon what I put into it. I was no slacker, and I worked for my As. My husband is a veteran teacher who graduated from a reputable institution, and he found the class expectations to be in line with his experience. I had quite a few PHENOMENAL teachers that I remember to this day. I had teachers who graded papers very hard, but most were reasonable. I had one teacher who was completely worthless, but I didn't let that stop me from learning. The learning part was my job. I know there are those out there who expect the institution to motivate them, but I think my experience with UOP was better because I was self-motivated. My host teacher commented often about how prepared I was for the student-teaching experience, which affirmed all of my hard work. I know there was room for improvement in the UOP MAEd program I went through, but overall I think it was solid.

Just graduated and I am still working on a complaint I had against an instructor almost 4 months ago. Many instructors are quite helpful, but there are quite a few who aren't and unfortunately those FEW really affect your experience! -I was out having a child that came early and an extension WAS NOT GRANTED. Offered doctors not and everything. Still nothing. Most of the time the instructor just simply ignored me. If I had known she wasn't going to be flexible... I would have dropped the course. I contested the extension policy (would think the school in general would have a particular set of rules and guidance, but nope.... I was informed that instructors have the right to grade any way they choose and they do not have to grant extensions, even legitimate ones! So, the grade grievance process is a band-aid. It is only there to let you think you have another channel to work through. -Flexible? Geared toward working adults? Military friendly? Nope, not in any way, shape or form. I find it hard to believe instructors have a FULL week to provide feedback to students in a five week course. If you have a follow up assignment and haven't received the feedback from the first assignment, how do you move forward? My advisor was HORRIBLE. Once again, he ignored my emails, didn't return voice mails, and failed to provide me with the assistance I needed to rectify this course. I should have graduated with a 3.95, but due to one class, where I received a C+, I graduated with much lower. Ridiculous. The school ONLY cares about money... not the students. When things are great, you can talk to your counselor all day. When things are bad... you can't ever reach them!!! Find another school that is a better value. At least if they screw you over, you wouldn't have handed them over a grand for each course you take!

I'll sum it real simply: 1. Poor communication: -Teachers were very unwilling to help me out with assignments, and/or didn't not post their "help" until after the assignment was due. -They don't negotiate or give you an extension on homework even if your on a business trip (oh the counsellors and or syllabus will say so, but don't expect that to happen) -I've had 2 different finance counselors and only found out about 2nd one because I was sent an email. I've called her, but I've received a call or response back -Online Syllabi are different from pdf versions (pdf has more information) -Don't expect a walk-through of how to use the online system 2. They don't deliver on promises they make--take your pick 3. Don't believe those reviews that say "Phoenix works with your busy schedule." -Days are as follows: Day 1 - Day 7. Example: If you don't get a chance to turn in an assignment by Day 3 , you get docked a full grade. Regardless of good work. -There are NO practice assignments. You can spend 4 hours on an assingment and still get an F. Why! They don't explain the assignments adequately and don't provide examples to help you - If you are out of commission for 1 week, you're screwed. Bottom line: They're not interested in education, just your money.

I found the majority of the faculty to be exceptional, professional faculty. Many of the faculty taught at other esteemed colleges and universities and were published professional educators. Any faculty issues I did encounter, I know I would have encountered far more at ground campus'. I would never have had the opportunity to meet such wonderful and professional fellow students as I did with UOPHX. I did not have any other qualified options to complete my Master's in my home state, at the time I enrolled. With UOPHX, I was ahead of my field of collegues. My experience, as a cohort, was very good. I am very tired of hearing so much negative press about UOPHX because in the MAED program, I received a high quality education. I continue to remain in contact with fellow classmates and faculty. We have developed life-time relationships.

I'm currently studying for my Masters Degree in Elementary Education. I find that overall I've learned quite a bit along with improving my writing skills - UoP students have several writing assignments per week. I'd have to agree with some other posters in saying that I find the entire "learning teams" thing to be very annoying. Most of the people I have worked with on my learning teams have not been slackers at all - they are very capable people. With my schedule I just don't want to have to worry about the schedule of my teammates as well.

Overall, U of P provides a minimally decent program. Two main complaints: -Please stop your reliance on group work!!! I have talked to many other UofP students and it seems that that most/all of the programs require this. Come On! This is purely undergrad stuff-been there, done that. And, at the grad level, it smacks of Profs not wanting to do their work (someone else doing it for you). It also almost totally removes the 'flexibility' I was looking for in an online program - just how do you expect people to 'get together'? -also please use some of your profits to purchase a proper online learning environment (ever hear of WebCT?) - using Microsoft Outlook email for discussion groups is very low class (although I realize it costs the school nothing)

1-The technology and technology support is grade A. 2-The group work is the biggest problem in the online programs. Grading by the Group should be stopped immediately. Grading should be based entirely on individual participation/communication, & most importantly on the individual's work in their assigned section of the project. I spent tortuous periods at the end of each project researching, writing, rewriting, citing, and referencing sections not submitted or submitted at a high school level. Students with English as a second language should not depend on others to correct the language in their sections. 3-It is an expensive education give that I have no Private one on one face-time with a professor. 4-Some professors were very lax in providing their feedback. There should be standards and requirements set for them also. 5-I am considering the UoP for a doctorate but am unsure at this point (particularly when I think of those group projects!).

The UOP delivers an outstanding online education. I earned a Master of Arts degree in Adult Education and Distance Learning and believe I learned more online than in a traditional classroom because everyone was required to participate in discussion groups. I also had more time to reflect on what I was going to say in an asynchronous environment. This was an advantage over face-to-face learning where many students do not share what they have learned. The only negative approach involved group projects and it seemed like there were too many slackers willing to let others do most of the work which resulted in the slackers getting the same grade. This was a burden to students carrying the bulk of the load who wanted to do their best. I believe the UOP should grade on individual contributions in group projects and give the slackers what they deserve. Overall, the group discussions and individual projects were designed to greatly enhance learning. If you choose online learning at the UOP, be prepared to do more work than in a traditional classroom.