The University of Phoenix is the largest private university in the world.  One of the largest markets is their Online campus, where students can go to school anywhere at any time.  It may seem like a great way to go to school, but know what you are getting into before you do anything.

Look at the following links for good information:

University of Phoenix Sucks

Rip-off Report: The truth about UoP Online

I used to work for the University of Phoenix, for both Western International University Online, and Axia College Online.  I was an academic counselor, and my students loved me.  As of yesterday, I am no longer employed with them.  When I gave my two weeks notice, my manager asked me to write a letter stating my reasons for wanting to leave.  So, I did.

My letter was professional, but blunt and to the point.  My colleagues all applauded me for putting together a great letter and speaking the truth.  I never intended it to be passed around the way that it was, but apparently everyone who read it, had an overwhelming desire to share it.

The senior manager, however, read it and I was immediately walked out of the building.  I could not even finish my tasks for the day.  I had to hurriedly pack up my desk, clean all my personal information off my computer, and then leave.  She did not want to risk me communicating these ideas with my students, and so stood at my desk, watching everything I did.  When I deleted all the files from the "My Documents" folder, she asked me what I was doing, perhaps thinking I was putting in a virus.

Click here to read that letter:

To understand the letter, you may need a little background on how the University of Phoenix operates.

When a potential student clicks on an Internet banner advertisement, that information gets directed to a Qualifying Center.  These people make hundreds of calls every day.  They will call and call for weeks until they get a live voice on the line.  Usually the calls start that very day or the next day after information is submitted.  Once they get a live body on the line, they transfer that person to an Enrollment Counselor.  The qualifying center staff are measured, in terms of their success, by how many transfers they make.  So, even if a student is not even close to qualifying (like someone in Junior High) they will still try and transfer that student to an Enrollment Counselor.

If someone from the Qualifying Center cannot reach that student, the information is given directly to the Enrollment Counselors.  These lists of potential students are called Lead Bases.  Enrollment Counselors "work" their Lead Bases to try to get students enrolled.

It is illegal to "sell" education.  Therefore enrollment counselors cannot work on commission.  Technically, they work on an hourly basis.  The University of Phoenix, however, comes as close to giving commissions, without legally doing it, as possible.  Enrollment Counselors have a review every 3-6 months.  Their review is based purely on numbers.  If they have enrolled a lot of students, they get a good performance evaluation, and a hefty raise.  If they have not enrolled enough students, their pay can actually decrease.

So, the motivation for getting students into class is not altruistic, as they would want you to believe.  Instead it is motivated by their own material gain.  That works just like a commission, but technically it is not.  It is a sales environment too, with managers touting numbers, giving numerical goals and keeping score in very public ways, pushing for higher quantities, and even ignoring it when their counselors are enrolling poorly qualified students.

There are some very good people who enroll students, but the drive for the acquisition for monetary gain, often supersedes their moral values.

There are Academic Counselors who take care of classroom issues and things like scheduling.  They, however are responsible for any student that drops, regardless of the reason.  It counts negatively against them.  They are given goals for bringing students back that is based purely on numbers.

There are also Finance Counselors, who deal with the money part of the operation.  They are experts in financial aid, and wind up being collectors as well.  They explain how the money part works, but it is not always 100% accurate.  They will say that a student loan only covers tuition, leaving a student to believe that the loan was not meant to pay for books.  That is not true.  The truth is the the price of tuition is set so high that the loan will only cover the cost of classes.  If the tuition were lower, students could use the money to pay for books and supplies as well.

Most major state universities and community colleges offer online programs now.  In some cases, as student may have to actually go to a campus once or twice a semester.  In others, there is no requirement.  The cost of these schools will be significantly less.  In my opinion, the quality of education will be much better.  It will be a better value for you, and you can trust that those community colleges and state universities are focused on giving you a good education, rather than just getting your money.  Do yourself a favor, and look into other institutions.

I do solemnly swear that this information is true and accurate, to the best of my knowledge, as of July 28, 2006.  I cannot account for any changes in policies or procedures after that date.