xepherys

Does anyone have much info about them? It seems they've become increasingly popular lately, and being able to take online classes would be huge for me. But I have some sort of deep seeded issue with non-traditional universities and colleges. I seem to believe that a brick building with PhDs teaching = education, and online courses or community colleges = the easy way out. How crazy am I? Please help...

Infinite_Loser

Personally, I prefer the traditional way, as there are just some things you can't learn online (Plus you can get help much easier than you can when you take an online course), though I do know that taking classes online can be a gigantic advantage if you have a hectic schedule.

Unfortunately I don't have much information on the University of Phoenix. I know this is a stupid question, but did you go their website for more information? That's usually a nice place to get the information you're searching for.

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shesus

I am an alumni of University of Phoenix on-line. I graduated with my Master's degree about a year ago. I was extremely happy with it and found it very rewarding, although expensive. However, it takes a certain personality to be successful at it just like anything else. I do not like the traditional classrooms really because I have trouble comprehending what people are saying at times. I will just make a bulleted list of what I like about it and what was hard about it. I think that will help you the best.

Pros
1) You can complete all work from home
2) I only had one negative experience with a professor. They are very professional and work in the field they are teaching.
3) Everyone gets a chance to say what they are thinking and ask questions without being over-shadowed by another classmate since you have various forums to submit information too.
4) You still have the group dynamic because the first week you are assigned a team to work with for the class.
5) You only have one class at a time that last anywhere from 3-6 weeks. Then you get a week off in between.
6) If you move, you don't have to worry about transferring credits.
7) You get to meet people from all over the world and get a lot of different perspectives on things. This was awesome to me and really helped me grow a lot intellectually.
8) Everything you need is on the computer. I never had to leave the house to get information I needed.
9) You get responses from the professor within 24 hours because the classroom is always opened. This also means that you can go to class whenever you want.
10) You can go to school naked and drink a beer while you have discussions.

Cons
1) You have to be very organized. It is a LOT of work. I think I worked about 40 hours a week on classwork when I was earning my Master's. This is because it's so fast-paced.
2) It's harder than I thought it would be. You have at least 2 papers do every week plus smaller assignments. You also have to make 2 posts everyday responding in the class conversation.
3) You don't have actual people interaction. I never met a classmate in person nor a professor. This is fine for me because my goal was to get my Master's degree, not to make friends. While I did have friends in the program, it was more like friends at TFP...only on-line interaction.

Like I said, this isn't for everybody, but UofP is accredited and I have never been criticized for completing my program this way in interviews. Good luck in your educational venture. Hope you do well in whatever you choose.

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xepherys

Infinite_Loser, thanks for the input. Yes, I've been to their website, but ANY business is going to tell you all the pros and none of the cons of using them, so that's only partly helpful.

shesus, thanks! That's kind of what I was looking for, specifically the part where people don't look down on this type of education. I wouldn't suspect that they would, but then, you never know. Higher education is a funny thing and people seem to feel vastly different about it person to person. Congratulations on your Master's and thanks again!

shesus

No problem xepherys. I had the same hesitation and doubts that you do. But it's worked for me and I'm sure many others. It's just an alternate form of education. Glad that I could help you out.

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Whatever did happen to your soul?
I heard you sold it

Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

ziadel

I've been looking into this as well as the community colleges in eastern montana are few and far between.

I think I'll go for it.

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ngdawg

A friend of mine also got their Master's online and mentioned the same pro's and cons as Shesus with the added con(well, depending on how you look at it, anyway) of NOT slacking off because they do tend to be a bit more time-constrained and it can be too easy to avoid getting on the computer. You have to be really committed and organized.
With 'real-life' school, you get in the mindset of 'well, I'm paying for it I better get there', but you're home, so the thought kind of slips. That for me was the deciding factor in actually going to school in person.

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Rodney

I knew a guy and his wife who were both enrolled at the same time, and yes, as said above, you'd better be organized. They'd get home, eat, and hit the computers/books. Every night. Weekends were spent on papers. They both seemed okay with the education they were getting, though.

You will find yourself on teams with a variety of different people from different parts of the country -- America contains several different regional cultures -- and that's good. On the other hand, you may socially find yourself the odd man out; my friend is pretty liberal, and the most talkative people in his group were very conservative. He kept his mouth shut and just concentrated on the work.

There are other distance learning programs out there, of course, and you should check into them as well. U of P seems okay, but it's not necessarily the best; it just advertises the most.

level five

what do employers think about degrees from this place? i've heard that my employer - who will remain un-named - doesn't see the same value as from a traditional college. not sure why but i have heard it has something to do with the class interaction, discussion, team projects - that sort of thing that you only get from traditional.

have you people with masters been well received?

Rodney

I worked in San Francisco for many years, and before U of P, the big local alternative university was Golden Gate University, which offered MBA and other programs after hours. At one large company I worked for -- an
insurance company -- nearly all the top management had gotten their MBAs from Golden Gate. These people had worked their way up within the company to a certain point with a bachelor's degree, and then had gotten the MBA to qualify for top jobs in the same company.

So I can pretty much say that, if you're looking to advance within the company you're currently with, a graduate degree from a correspondence university will probably be more than good enough. Because you also have the background in that specific company and way of doing business that is desirable.

Beyond that, I got nothin'.

Zeraph

Don't have much to say but words of comfort; I think in 10-20 years it will be the norm.

As far as actual learning goes you can learn just as much I'm sure. I'm going to ASU and I mine as well be taking courses online. 70% of the time the profs only read from their powerpoints anyways.

xepherys

Which ASU? Arizona? Alabama?

Rodney

Brief threadjack:

I was thinking about that; I follow economics, and proponents of globalization talk about how it drives down the cost of everything, so don't worry if you lose your job to an Indian programmer making 1/5 the wages; everything will be soooo much cheaper.

Except health care isn't cheaper. Education isn't cheaper. Those things aren't off-shored, and they have powerful lobbies that keep costs high.

So what if you started an online university _based in India_ with accredited instructors making Indian pay? (Indian CS degrees are honored here, so why not?) Hell, you could probably get the cost of college down to $20 a unit. Or less. In many ways this is a _very poor idea_, but it's no different than offshoring our manufacturing and, lately, R&D capabiity. Watch somebody try it soon, and watch the universities scream.

/Threadjack

cookmo

I have never been to an online university, but I am in "regular" college now. At my school there is at least one of every class that you can take online. With the web based version of classes you only actually meet one time. You could essentialy do your whole degree on line, but still have a diploma from a brick and morter school. It shouldn't make any difference to employers as long as the schools accredited. As other people have mentioned, an online diploma would seem much harder to get to procrastinators like myself.

Zeraph

Yes, Arizona. Why? You too?

xepherys

No, but I live in Tempe...

level five

i dont think it has to do with the on-line concept...more the specific school - u of phoenix.

xepherys

Honestly, I'm interested in both, the concept of getting a degree online (and if you have one, how have employers looked at it) and also U of Phoenix specifically if you have experience with them.

Mark23

I don't think online degrees are worthless, but I definitely feel they are not viewed as being equal to standard degrees, and certainly not by employers. If you were going for a job and were up against someone with a standard degree, my got feeling is that you would lose the position.

Of course, I could be wrong, so feel free to comment.