University of Phoenix online degree???

[FrkyBgStok]

on the same note, there is a smaller private school in my state that offers campus degrees as well as online degrees.  Would this be considered the same thing as a UofP degree?

[LoveMySkip]

on the same note, there is a smaller private school in my state that offers campus degrees as well as online degrees.  Would this be considered the same thing as a UofP degree?

No, that's totally different. Nowadays there are many reputable universities that have online degrees. Even harvard university offers some online/distance learning degrees. U of P is a lot different because it has some of the most lax admission standards and is not known to have rigorous programs.

[GridironGonzos]

Grad school at U of P would not be advisable, but a U of P undergrad degree, coupled with an ABA approved law school will probably not matter to future employers.

I have no idea how Law Schools view UofPhx grad. degrees. I'm 90% sure their MBA program, for example, isn't even accredited. That said, the BA programs are regionally accredited, which means that the credits from those are at least, as far as most schools are concerned as "good" as those from any other school-you've-heard-of.

If you get the LSAT score they want, the Law School will accept you. They might not like it, but it's a numbers game, and a good UofPhx GPA and reasonably high LSAT (for that school) will get you in. Guaranteed.

FWIW: I am a complete snob when it comes to these things, and personally look down on any school with open enrollment. Nonetheless, I won't lie to you: do well in GPA and LSAT and the name at the top of your diploma won't matter. Hell, you could have gone to Hamburger University (which, is actually accredited to offer college credit), and they'll accept you if you've got the numbers.

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My advice is that if you are an AZ resident, and ASU offers an online degree that you want, go through ASU.

Just an FYI re: the MBA at University of Phoenix.  The MBA is Accredited and holds the highest business accreditation.On May 11, 2007, University of Phoenix President, Bill Pepicello, formally announced that all UPX and Axia College business programs had received programmatic accreditation through the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). In making the announcement, Dr. Pepicello explained that, "There are only two major internationally recognized organizations which accredit academic programs in business—the Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (ACBSP) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Both organizations," he stated, "accredit national and international business schools and programs.  However, these are the only two accrediting organizations for business programs which are recognized by CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation)—the organization that accredits the accrediting organizations."

Less than 25% of Universities have earned this accreditation.  University of Phoenix is also regionally accredited by the North Central Association.

[trudawg]

$515/credit hour is insanity for a U of P degree. My local community college is $45/credit hour and will get you the same credits as U of P. Find a cheaper online program.

beleive me I know! but I have taken all that I can from community college. I need 3 and 400 level classes now.
I actually found an online deree program at Arizona State University. It's still $385/credit hour, but at least it's a well known school, and it's cheaper than UofP. I've applied and am waiting to see if I'm accepted in thier BA of liberal arts program. Yup you read that right I'm going to get a BA in Liberal Arts....lol. I just want this thing over and done with, so I can focus on Law School

[*devo*]

$515/credit hour is insanity for a U of P degree. My local community college is $45/credit hour and will get you the same credits as U of P. Find a cheaper online program.

beleive me I know! but I have taken all that I can from community college. I need 3 and 400 level classes now.
I actually found an online deree program at Arizona State University. It's still $385/credit hour, but at least it's a well known school, and it's cheaper than UofP. I've applied and am waiting to see if I'm accepted in thier BA of liberal arts program. Yup you read that right I'm going to get a BA in Liberal Arts....lol. I just want this thing over and done with, so I can focus on Law School

I guess people choose U of P over ASU because the U of P program is accelerated.  You basically take back to back 6-week classes.  I only experienced this during summer school in which i took a few online classes (from ASU actually).  Technically, if you are able to get your degree even one year earlier than someone at ASU, then you have one extra year in the workforce to make it up.  This is very appealing since many U of P students are non-traditional or don't like the structure of a fulltime school schedule.

I live in Phoenix so I know quite a few people who work at U of P (they are based out of Phoenix) and attend classes for free.  So this actually works out to be a good deal for them.

[prelawmomma]

I took a class at U of P. I've currently been working on my associates degree for 12 (almost 13) years now. After giving birth to my daughter and having to work full time, U of P seemed like a dream come true. The flexibility of onine classes plus I'd earn my degree so much sooner than taking 1 or 2 classes at a time at night at CC. The online classes are surely more flexible but the accelerated format is a killer! Plus, you have to work in "learning teams" in each class and, I'm sorry to say, I had a very bad experience with my team. The class I took, which is the same class for every new U of P student, was an introductory course to online learning and, in my opinion, was a waste of time and money.  I've since told them several times that I an in no way any longer interested in taking further classes at U of P and they still contact me!! Every couple of months I receive phone calls and emails from a new person claiming they are my new admissions counselor... can we say stalker boys and girls? lol, jk...

Now I am enrolled at a state school (Charter Oak State College) which caters to adut students with already full schedules. The degrees are offered 100% online and can be full semester (15 weeks) or accelerated (8 or 5 weeks). The classes (for instate students) is only 188/credit which is much better then U of P's 515/credit. That's just nuts!! The trade off is that my degree with be in General Studies with the concentration of my choice... They recently started, in collaboration with the CT bar association, a concentration in Paralegal studies which has caught my attention. I'll be earning my associates from this school in May and will probably continue on to earning a bachelors degree from them as well.

Moral of the story? If online learning is what your looking for, do your research... U of P is not the only option for you, just a school with what must be a pretty large budget to put towards advertising. There are many many schools out there that ou can get your degree from. And, IMO, if you're worried about how someone will percieve your degree, maybe you want to get your from a school that offers the same format but not so much in your face advertising, giving it a bad name...

In CT alone you could get a degree online from
Charter Oak State College
Fairfield University
Univeristy Of Bridgeport
University of Connecticut

In NY
Mercy College
Empire State College

And I'm sure there are many more, these are just some that I've personally looked at. 

When a future employer or admissions person looks at my resume/transcript, I don't want the school I attended to scream "Online Degree" like U of P would...

[r6_philly]

I too looked at U of P after taking off 10 years form my ug degree. I have seen advertisement everywhere, and I guess the martketing did its job well because I approached it as a serious option to completing my degree. I had a lot of work experience in the field of my major, so it is natural for me to look at ways to earn credits from experience. As I explore the option with UofP, I can't help but feel that the standard is so lax on how to earn credit they basically just want to take your cash. That made me a bit nervous.

I also wanted to have a diploma from a traditional 4 year university (I feel that it carries more weight). It's to my surprise that many universities do not take transfer credits that are earned online. Even with state schools they would have to evaluate the courses, whereas if the credits are from communitity colleges, the PA state schools will take EVERY credit earned without course matching and apply them to genenral education credits. Which is great because I am changing major from what I started 10 years ago.

Anyway I end up going to a PA state school at $223/credit, about twice as much cc's here. what a bargain! They also have part-time evening classes for commuter students too.

I feel, from what I learned through my research, that not only UofP is not the only choice for working adults, it really isn't even a good choice. My state school as has a parttime evening MBA program too probably is worth a lot more than an online degree, for cheaper.

I would suspect law schools would not weigh UofP GPA as much as an established school, but if your LSAT score is high maybe it wouldn't matter? But again it really isn't a great option no matter how you look at it.

[prelawmomma]

In reply to the last poster's comment about schools not transferring online courses... When an admissions or transfer board is looking at your transcript, there is no (from what I've been told) mention whether the class was taken online or in a classroom. Same for your degree. The transcripts do not say "degree earned online" however I would think that if they saw "u of P" on your transcript, the first thing they would think is "degree mill"... which is really unfortunate since U of P also has traditional classroom options as well. There's a campus about 10 minutes away from me. I don't think it's how you earned the credits that matters, whether online or traditional, but where you earned the degree from. I wouldn't want a degree from an institution that has such a bad rep!  Getting a degree online is a wonderful option for any of us non-trads that are already balancing so many responsibilities. And might I add, I would think that anyone reviewing my transcripts/application would see how dedicated and serious a student I must be to be able to balance so many things and still have a good GPA (currently 3.55, not too shabby for working full time and chasing after a toddler) !!!

[*devo*]

You can't change an adcom's opinion of your undergradueate school, but by performing well on the LSAT you can an adcom to look past your school. If you look at LSN you'll see that U of P grads get into their target schools (based on their LSAT score).

[trudawg]

Funny to see this post again as I reflect on where I was when I posted it. I'm sooo glad I didn't go the UofP route. My online ASU program is doing fine. I started off with 6 credit hours for fall semester two classes both 7 weeks, I'm taking one winter semester class 3 credit hours that is only 3 weeks long! It's intense though, but I'll manage, I enjoy a challenge. Spring semester I have 12 credit hours, an summer I'll be taking 12 credits as well. I have to get this over with, and I will have paid $20,000 by the time its done with. Small price to pay to achieve my dream. I'm trying like mad to keep my GPA at 3.5 or higher so along with a high LSAT score and being a URM I may be eligible for scholarships for law school. I'm also taking a 9 month political leadership fellowship with the Center for Progressive Leadership. I'm pushing myself to the limit so that I'll have no choice but to succeed because failure is NOT an option for me.
I wish all of you the best!