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OK - For starters, I've spent time reading a large majority of negative posts regarding the U of P on this forum, yet most of these posters do not provide comments that explain their stance. There seems to be a lot of bashing without valid reasoning to back it up. Please give me the lowdown on them; the good as well as the bad, in relation to their Master's level programs.
The reason I'm considering U of P is because I am wrapping up my Bachelor's at a college that has national accreditation (vs. regional) and found out that they will take the BS at face value and I can move straight into their Master's program without worry about what will and will not transfer over. I am considering their Master's in Administration of Justice and Security. This appeals to me because I plan to be working full time and need to be flexible with schooling.
Without going into too much detail, yet I'd be happy to provide it if it will provide better answers, I have close to a decade of experience in the field in which I plan to apply this degree. I have my sights set on several federal positions in a very select field. These positions include the Federal Railroad Administration (Operating Rules), Department of Homeland Security (Surface Inspector), and Department of Transportation (Rail Division).
While I realize that I do not need this degree to qualify for these jobs, it cannot hurt to have a graduate degree.
Any and all quality comments will be appreciated. If you're going to bash, please give valid reasoning. If you know of any other colleges that offer Criminal Justice degrees (Master's level) that are fully accepting of national accreditation, please provide a link for them. U of P will be conducting a seminar at my current school later this month. Can anyone give me good questions to ask the recruiter?
I thank in advance everybody who can contribute, especially those familiar in my selected field/job endeavor's.
I think you should post this question at degreeinfo as the folks there will provide the best answers.
My thoughts on UoP is that they are outrageously expensive compared to other options. For example, Ashford University (RA) will accept credits from RA and approved-on-their-list BA/BS from an NA school. It doesn't look like they have a program in the field you are looking in but it does show that there are RA schools that will accept NA credits on a case by case basis. If the coursework in your Bachelors program is reviewed by ACE there is a much better chance of acceptance of that coursework at an RA school.
I would just caution you not to jump and pay the high costs at UoP because you think there are not better options out there.
--Most of their programs are not accredited by that field. Programs like graphic design should be accredited by NASAD. This applies to many other fields as well. Accreditation means that their curriculum is rigorous enough to prepare the student for work in that field. University of Phoenix, UOPX, and other for-profit schools are not accredited where they need to be, because their programs do not teach students the material they need to know. Some of UOPXs programs are accredited but they gloss over all the ones that aren't, and often lure unsuspecting students into their trap.
--They have no admissions criteria. If you give anyone and everyone a degree, then the degree is worthless. And that is what UOPX does. Turning down poor-quality students would mean turning down tuition payments from them, and thus losing revenue, and thus losing profits. UOPX is a for-profit corporation and like any corporation, their only mission is to earn as much profit as they can for their shareholders and investors. So they don't turn down any students. If you've seen their advertising and recruiting campaigns, you know they will take anyone. They also have no incentive to fail students, because again, students who don't pass their classes don't enroll in new ones. So their degrees are meaningless.
--They charge way too much for what they give. For starters, they are extremely deceptive in what it will cost a prospective student. If you go to any other university, they will tell you straight out what the cost is per semester or per credit hour. And then you can look at a specific degree program and see how many semesters or credits are necessary to complete the degree, and thus know exactly what it will cost you. UOPX on the other hand, tells you how much their classes are per credit hour, but they are extremely deceptive on how many credit hours you need to graduate. If you look at their Associates in Business, for example, they list only four classes, but it is clear that there are some prerequisites. But where is the description of those courses? How many are there? It's all smoke and mirrors, and more than a few students have been snared by the appearance of low tuition only to find out that they are paying much more. This isn't unique to UOPX, of course. Kaplan doesn't even show tuition on their website. And the per-credit hour rates for UOPX are ridiculous. They charge as much or more than the top-ranked schools in their field. Current per-credit-hour rates at UOPX is about $50 less than the rates at Stanford. Most students leaving UOPX have spent more acquiring just an Associates degree than most people spend on a Bachelor's. Furthermore, most schools that charge as much as UOPX--like Stanford--have sizable scholarship and grant awards. Few students are entirely on student loans, whereas at UOPX, most people are entirely on loans or their own cash reserves.
--The best test of the value of a school's program is what professionals in that field say about their graduates. And overwhelmingly, professionals, hiring managers, and executives say that students graduating from UOPX are grossly unprepared for the occupation they are attempting to enter. Not just a little unprepared. A lot.
A huge part of the value of college are the contacts that you make there. Getting a master's degree from a traditional university puts you in contact with others who will be in your field and who can help you as you progress in your career. Alumni are also a very valuable resource when it comes to finding jobs and being able to get your foot in the door in the future. UoP doesn't give you those kinds of contacts.
My wife is psychologist, and the contacts that she made in school and during her internships led to her job today, and she is able to call on her friends to work as experts on her research projects. Another friend is an MBA who was offered her job because the person doing the hiring was an alumni of the same school that she met through another alumni who introduced them. And yet another friend got her job because of a personal introduction from one of the professors in her MPA program to a manager in the city.
Big Thank's to those that took the time to post so far. I do appreciate the comments.
As a note, I was told that it was $655 per credit hour and that there were 12 classes at 3 units a piece for the Master's program that I am looking at. I was told that at this level there are no other classes to take other than your core curriculum. The only listed prerequisite is the first of the 12 listed classes. If what I was told is fact, that would make the program roughly $21,780 with a completion time of 63 weeks.
If you are working for the government, I suspect you can get a degree from any place as long as it's accredited. I noted that many people got Master's degrees (H.R. or "social management" type degrees) or MBA degrees from local colleges/universities so they could move up the pay grade while working a government job. The government tends to be non selective in order to have continuity, so an MBA from local U is generally good enough to move you into the Master's degree bracket.
Ugh, nobody cares about accreditation. When you are at an interview, does the interviewer check if the school is accredited? No.
The problem with these U. Phoenix / Devry / ITT Tech diploma mills are that:
THE BARRIERS TO ENTRY ARE VERY LOW / NON-EXISTENT
Why do employers value an applicant from Harvard / Princeton? It says something about the quality of the applicant, and what it took for that person to get the degree.
If any joe six-pack can pay money for an online degree, what does it prove, other than the fact that the person likes to waste money? Most schools are accredited. The ones that don't, again, have no barriers to entry.
I worked for the govt. for close to 35 years. I did do hiring until it was farmed outside our agency. In my position I did search for degree accreditation.
I do not resist to apply a person who struggled to get a Masters degree and I looked at it with their need to advance themselves. Penn, Princeton, Stanford and other Ivy schools are known for their difficulty getting in the front door. Why? Prestige is on their minds and also is their family fortunes.
I can also say that U of Phoenix is not a diploma mill and neither is Temple U or Yale a mill of that sort. Online schools are for the people like myself who had to work and attended school during the night. My wife and I attended Univ of Penn at night. Penn State picked up a few dollars from us too.
Department of Homeland Security would be my choice. I was teaching safety programs for FEMA when I decided to retire very early in life. If you elect U of Phoenix, your writing assignments will drive you up a tree because my brother completed the MBA program and his writing and reading assignments were a daily chore. The brick-and-mortar Univ of Phoenix is different and does put the student in touch with their classmates. A student can transfer to Online classes if they believe that writing and reading is something they can handle. Univ of Penn and Penn State does not have an upper hand over Univ of Phoenix.. U of Phoenix is fast and vigorous. I can say that my brother loved the coursework and it was not easy.
As in life, Univ of Phoenix teaches teamwork and individual assignments. The student's submission of online work will go straight to a plagerisim site..... It was very tough to write a paper of 1,500 words twice a week and avoid having 5% of the work to be 95% in your own words including APA citing.
I believe you will have fun as you learn...Good luck.
I worked for the govt. for close to 35 years. I did do hiring until it was farmed outside our agency. In my position I did search for degree accreditation.
I do not resist to apply a person who struggled to get a Masters degree and I looked at it with their need to advance themselves. Penn, Princeton, Stanford and other Ivy schools are known for their difficulty getting in the front door. Why? Prestige is on their minds and also is their family fortunes.
I can also say that U of Phoenix is not a diploma mill and neither is Temple U or Yale a mill of that sort. Online schools are for the people like myself who had to work and attended school during the night. My wife and I attended Univ of Penn at night. Penn State picked up a few dollars from us too.
Department of Homeland Security would be my choice. I was teaching safety programs for FEMA when I decided to retire very early in life. If you elect U of Phoenix, your writing assignments will drive you up a tree because my brother completed the MBA program and his writing and reading assignments were a daily chore. The brick-and-mortar Univ of Phoenix is different and does put the student in touch with their classmates. A student can transfer to Online classes if they believe that writing and reading is something they can handle. Univ of Penn and Penn State does not have an upper hand over Univ of Phoenix.. U of Phoenix is fast and vigorous. I can say that my brother loved the coursework and it was not easy.
As in life, Univ of Phoenix teaches teamwork and individual assignments. The student's submission of online work will go straight to a plagerisim site..... It was very tough to write a paper of 1,500 words twice a week and avoid having 5% of the work to be 95% in your own words including APA citing.
I believe you will have fun as you learn...Good luck.
..
Thank you for the positive comments. It is a refreshing change. Writing is one of my stronger points, so I look forward to the opportunity. You seem to understand the struggles of a professional working student. You also know the federal system. Thank you for your response.
It's real simple. The curriculum is not challenging; they will pass anyone as long as they turn in the work regardless of the quality of the work; if a professor fails students for cause, they no longer teach, etc.
We have never and will never hire anyone from a diploma mill and that holds true for other businesses.
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