I have worked for about 30 years in the mental health field in Texas. Over the course of my career, the online degrees have proliferated, so I have been skeptical. When I see an online degree from a “regular” university, I do not worry so much… like UT or Texas Tech or Texas A&M; but when I see these degrees from schools that are not mainstream, I begin to wonder. I am not saying any school outside Texas is a problem, but any school that is not mainly on campus might be suspect. The term “mail order degree” has been around for some time now, so these schools that seem too good to be true might just be that.
Get out of U of Phoenix while you still have your dignity.
Employers have been known to toss any job applications listing a U of Phoenix degree directly into the trash.
Schools like University of Phoenix, ITT Tech, DeVry, Corinthian, Kaplan and others are “for profit” schools. Also most of the various “Art Institutes” in many cities. Also known as “proprietary schools”. They tend to be very expensive, the qualifications of the instructors range from very good to awful and their credits are seldom transferable. In addition, most employers only consider candidates from these schools if there are no suitable applicants from a more traditional school.
These schools offer a lot of online programs and this is not to say that online programs are bad. They are not. Some are very good. Even the for profit schools can give you a reasonable education. There are many people who have graduated from these schools and started to make a good living. My objection is that the education they give you is incredibly expensive compared to traditional and non-profit schools, whether online or not. Overall experience is that grads from these schools take a fair bit longer to find jobs than grads from more traditional schools and they have a lot more debt.
Other on line schools like UCLA Extension or Athabasca University in Canada are fully accredited and seen to be excellent ways to get an education. Basically, what you want is the online division of a traditional accredited university to get an online degree that counts for something.
As for going to the classroom courses offered by these for profit schools, even the claimed to be bachelors level courses the for profit schools offer are considered at best by employers to be on par with what you get from a community college. But often they are nowhere close. However, a community college will be far cheaper and community college credits are transferable to a 4 year university in most cases. Credits from the for profit schools seldom will transfer anywhere. The for profit schools even mention this in their TV ads, at least here in California.
That is, few other schools will accept credits from them. However, it appears that Point Park University in Pittsburgh may accept some credits from proprietary schools. See http://www.pointpark.edu/, http://www.pointpark.edu/Admissions/TransferStudents/TransferPolicy and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Park_University
Have a look at this link: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2000160,00.html?artId=2000160?contType=article?chn=bizTech
Basically it says these schools are just student loan mills where they get you to sign for big student loans and then they do the minimum possible so you get an education. Just enough so you keep coming. Whether you get a job or default on the loan afterward is irrelevant to them.
I have heard many stories from people who have gone to these for profit schools who have been left with a bigger debt than many graduates from a traditional 4 year university while still not being able to get a job. I personally know a part time instructor for one of these schools and he had to quit after two semesters as he could not keep his mouth shut any longer about how expensive it was compared to a community college.
It has been reported at: http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/24/report-feds-downplaying-student-loan-defaults/ that 40% of students that took out loans to go to these “for profit” schools end up in default. With a corresponding hole in those student’s ability to get credit for other things.
In the current academic year (2010), the average tuition and fees a for-profits was $14,000, compared with $2,500 for the average community college.
So if you want an online school make sure it is the extension department of a “bricks and mortar” school. And before you sign, call the registrar’s office of your state university whether they will accept the credits for transfer. If the state university will not accept the credits, run away from signing with one of these “for profit” schools. State universities are a great bargain over online colleges, and you’ll get a better education.
University of Phoenix is just a degree mill. I’ve seen recruiters just throw resumes right in the trash from online schools. Employers literally laugh at people with online degrees.
Most employers are well aware of the “for profit” nature of many of these online degrees. While there are better ways to get a degree, if flexibility is important, then you’ve made your choice. From my own experience, employers prefer candidates who have a couple years of experience along with on-campus training. Even a weekend or part-time degree has more worth.
I would first determine the creditability and background of this “person” that told you. Do they have firsthand knowledge of what most employers think? Determine if this is hearsay or is this more a personal feeling towards the school rather than a factual one?
Secondly, out of curiosity I recently asked my Dr. if he would hire a UOP graduate and he responded with “as long as the school is accredited”. Which they are. I even have a sister-n-law who graduated with a BA from UOP and she has been working for the government for 5 years now. My best friend is about to get her Masters from an accredited online college. She’s seeking employment from a brick and mortar community college and their response to her was “As long as your school is accredited and you have the degree in your hand….. we will hire you”. Having an online degree period has opened doors for me; I myself have had an offer for a job once I finish my BA program. (And yes, the employer was very aware I was attending UOP at the time.)
Third, for the poster that stated that employers are more likely to hire from a school who is more accredited, LOL…… there’s no such thing. Either the school is accredited or not.
Fourth, I wouldn’t listen to the majority of these posters, I HIGHLY doubt any of these people ever attended UOP to yet alone comment on here. I do know for a fact the poster PE2008 is a TROLL on this board and he bashes the school at every opportunity. He obviously has a personal vendetta against UOP and strikes me as a degenerate with his trails of negative posts on UOP dating all the way back from two years ago. Though, he views himself a “well educated person with a degree in engineering”. Let’s make something clear here. Most “educated” people wouldn’t bother taking the time to write such negativity on Yahoo boards on a daily basis. For all we know he might not even have a degree and just reads a lot. Yet thinks he knows firsthand the hiring and firing practices of employers and what they do to people resumes.
As long as you have experience, good people skills, and the ability to interview well, you will be successful in gaining employment. If you are really concerned, then my suggestion would be to go directly to the source (company) and ask them yourself, before applying. This is the only way in knowing the truth behind your job prospects.
Hope this helps, I wish you the best of luck!
They probably wouldn’t completely discredit you, but if there was someone else applying who had a college degree from a more accredited school, you would most likely be tossed.
My neighbor works for an office and he is in charge of the hiring/firing, and I asked him about this the other day.