Is the University of Phoenix Worth the High Cost for an Online Degree?

[RyanSchw]

What are your collective thoughts about the “University of Phoenix”? My brother recently enrolled and is set to start classes on April 21st. From what I understand they have an online program called Axia and would only required to meet on campus on the first and last days of each semester.

Having attended an online school, and realizing how much of a waste of both time and money they can be I’m naturally skeptical. Don’t get me wrong, I know most, if not all, major universities have distance learning programs. It’s just that doing a quick search while trying to find information resulted in a lot of bad press and just as many bad reviews of the school.

The school is also extremely expensive in my opinion

“Apollo officials say Axia's price is appealing to students seeking an online degree. At $265 to $285 per credit hour, compared with $475 a credit hour at University of Phoenix Online, Axia ranked as the least expensive online program for an associate's degree in a survey by Lehman Brothers published in late May.

Nationwide, the average for community colleges is about $2,000 a year, Gallagher said. That compares with Axia's stated cost of about $6,300 a year, he said.

"Are 18- to 22-year-old students going to pay three times as much for the convenience of doing it online?" he said. "That's what the University of Phoenix has been founded on.” http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0605biz-axia0605.html

I just don’t want him to pay for an education and only get a degree at as much as 3 times the cost of a community college.

 

[Cyrus]

Tell him to save his money.

 

[Moonbear]

He'd be better off going to a community college.

 

[kuahji]

Yeah I don't know I'm skeptical as well... I know a few people that got degrees from that online college & it just didn't feel deserved knowing the people. But in all honesty I don't know, it could be a great college & the people I know may only be a select few.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Is your brother working full-time? The only problem with community colleges is that the ones I know of only offer two year associates (AA) degrees. But for someone working full-time, it makes sense to do an AA (or just general education requirements) through a night-time program at a cc, and then transfer the credits to U of Phoenix or somewhere else to finish up the bachelors. I think it's a big waste of money to do gen ed requirements at a pricey online university when they could be taken inexpensively at a cc.

 

[montoyas7940]

U of P is in the business of making money. I read that Intel has stopped reimbursing for classes taken through them. I am amazed U of P manages to keep what little accreditation they have. Can your brother still withdraw and get any kind of a refund?

 

[RyanSchw]

Yes he is working full time and I think that's what caused him to seek an online degree. He has paid for his classes already (through loans I think) and as far as I can tell he should be able to get a full refund if he doesn’t actually attend the first day of class.

If nothing else I’d like to get him to do what MIH suggested which is attend classes and receive his AA and transfer.

 

[mgiddy911]

If he is paying for school through loans then it definitely benefits him to save money by taking Gen Eds at CC getting an AA. Even if he then has to finish his
BA at U of P he wil still save money on the two years at CC

 

[arunma]

I have a cousin who's finishing up his business administration degree at University of Phoenix. My understanding is that it's a legitimate school with proper accreditation. Is this not correct?

 

[montoyas7940]

I have a cousin who's finishing up his business administration degree at University of Phoenix. My understanding is that it's a legitimate school with proper accreditation. Is this not correct?

I did some research last year because of some educational policy problems at my work, this is what I found:
U of P is regionally accredited as a community college.
They have no national accreditation.
They have no accreditation as a business school.
Few to none of the classes they offer will transfer to a real school.
They are far (3x) more expensive than any other community college I could find.

Tell him to get his money back if he can. He can take online classes through almost any other state school. He will pay less money and get a better education.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[bravernix]

I have a cousin who's finishing up his business administration degree at University of Phoenix. My understanding is that it's a legitimate school with proper accreditation. Is this not correct?

I don't know if you mean MBA but according to the "interesting" website at (http://uopsucks.com/ ), it says:

"When you ask UOP if they are accredited they will respond that they are regionally accredited. UOP relies on the fact that most people do not understand accreditation or how it works. University of Phoenix has regional accreditation but they do not have top rated professional accreditation for many of their majors... in particular the ever popular MBA. When looking for an MBA program, make sure it is accredited by the AACSB. Check to see if your school is accredited by the AACSB at http://www.aacsb.edu/General/InstLists.asp?lid=2."

It just seems like a good idea to avoid these types of "universities" in general. Going to community college and transferring to a full-size university is probably the best bet to save money.

 

[RyanSchw]

I don't know if you mean MBA but according to the "interesting" website at (http://uopsucks.com/ ), it says:

That site is the main reason why I came here to ask a second opinion. While doing some searching of my own it was one of the first to come up and I didn’t want to automatically disregard the school because of it.

I'll try to talk him into working some classes at a community college around his work schedule and transferring form there.

Thanks all.