University of Phoenix

I started with UOP as a Masters student in Health Care Administration shortly after giving birth to my 2 year old. For my undergrad I attended San Jacinto College (Jr. College),University of Houston and Colorado Tech. I first learned of UOP in middle school when my mother A WELL RESPECTED PEDIATRICIAN renewed some sort of certification she wanted. I think that people who say that there is no value in a UOP education have no real grasp on what is expected in life and that is you are responsible for learning. Yes, you do have lazy people in your class and some that just get by on bare minimums. The work is significant and not for the faint of heart. I read one review that said that UOP was for people "could not make A's in a 'real' school. FYI I graduated undergrad Cum Laude. I laugh when people say oh its easy and they just hand out grades. THAT IS FALSE. If you do not do the work or turn in less than what is expected you WILL FAIL> I have personally witnessed this with a friend who thought she could skate but she is now struggling just to make a 2.0! I also have another friend who graduated from the same MHA program that I am in last year. She was NOT already working when she graduated yet managed to wrangle and prestigious internship on the basis of her UOP degree and G.P.A. I am happy to report that she is working full-time happily with a solid basis in her position. People show disdain for things that they cannot either understand or have the discipline to finish. This world was founded on free thinkers as well as brick and mortar learners as well. I find it a complete sign of disrespect when someone says it is a mill. If that is the case, then why am I only reinforced with positive grades when I the effort is made? Give me a break people you will not graduate and move into the big money.....you actually have to continue to work for what you want. Just as with any other school if you do not properly certify, research and network you will never be successful. I love when people challenge the 'realness' by showing them my syllabus and asking them to produce a Graduate level response to the assignment. I always get a blank stare and a OMG moment from them when they realize the workload is certainly not a joke. I too find it funny that everyone downs online schools or education but now most ALL major Universities have COPIED UOP....put that in your doubt rhetoric and smoke it ;-)

I started this program and then left right away after some of the shady shenanigans the financial aid dept was pulling. The classes were marginal. From what others told me, and my experience, I left right away. I now attend another online school (will remain unnamed) that is WAY better, and regionally accredited, and cheaper. UOP is no good.

I graduated in 7/2010 with my MHA from UOP with a concentration in Healthcare Infomatics. Consider the following: 1. GIGO (garbage in garbage out) you only get out of the program what you put into it. Yes, you can pass without doing most of the readings, but then you are only cheating yourself. 2. You have to make your own opportunities. No one is going to just hand you a job because you have a MHA. I wound up with a promotion and 20K a year raise less than 2 months after graduation. Then again I work my butt off and probably would have gotten the promotion without the degree. 3. Any degree is useless without the experience and knowledge to back it up. If you have no experience in the field don't think you will go and get an online degree and jump into a high paying gig. You have to pay dues and develop your resume and portfolio. If you do have this then the degree will definitely give you a leg up. 4. If you are lazy, unmotivated, can't write, don’t know Microsoft office, always have an excuse why things don't go your way, etc. Don't bother. You have to do a ton of writing and a group project each class (more later). You have to put in a lot of work if you aren't motivated and can't keep to a work schedule you won't make it. They let anyone in and count on the rigor of the work to weed out those who shouldn't be there and for the most part it works. 5. This is an advanced degree and online to boot. No one is going to hold your hand. You are pretty much on your own. If you are not the kind who can figure things out by yourself once again don't bother. The teachers are a mixed bag, some are very good and some bad. If you learn nothing at all in the program you will be able to write and give presentations by the time you are finished. The materials are very good. the books are electronic in format and the electronic library is comprehesive. The customer service is not great. They did make the financial aid section very easy, but they should as the tuition is outrageous. The group projects are the main reason against the school. They are a joke and usualy you have at least 2 members you have to carry. if you complain your score gets lowered so you carry them and move on if you are smart. It sucks, but they are not going to change it, so deal with it or go elsewhere. The discussions require you to post 2 discussions a week on average and post responses to others posts twice a day for 4 days a week. The class sizes small. Afterwards I have found the degree to be well accepted within the government. You can find other regionally accredited programs like or upper Michigan that have the same accreditation at 40% of the cost. By the time I found these alternatives I was too far in to change. So, a little more leg work and you can get the same accredited degree much cheaper. Then again UOP has name recognition where other online universities may not.

My overall personal experience with the school is great. Nothing was handed to me I had to work hard for it. When I turned in my assignments late or they were poor quality I received a poor grade. When I did excellent work I received an excellent grade. I have read many reviews on how poor the teachers were, well let me tell you something the instructors there are great and everyone that I have had worked in the same field that they were teaching. I have had several Doctors and Biomedical engineers, Register Nurses, you name it. The teachers there are very qualified and anyone that says different is because they suck and couldn't be taught a thing. Many people are degrading UOPX because in the higher level degrees you are required to do Charters which means group work. You will be pared with a group and a group project is due!! My opinion on that is, Who in the right mind wants to work their butt off on a project while you have some slacker sucking up all the credit! I myself find this a little disturbing but the truth is all the different schools that I talked to require group work. So UOPX is not the only one. There is also ways around on not giving that certain slacker(s) credit. Take the initiative, proof read the paper before it get turns in. If those slackers didn't turn in their part be one step a head of them make sure your paper is complete and looks good. Be sure to take their names off the title page. The instructors know their grade as far as participation will not look as good as yours. In fact most of the bad reviews are people who couldn't handle group work. Its a learning tool for all you complainers if you can't learn how to take initiative then you really shouldn't be looking into a degree in any type of leadership. UOPX requires you to hold a certain GPA through out each degree program if your not disciplined then this school isn't for you.. You have to work for your grades and I can assure you that just because these are online programs they are not easier than your traditional class room programs. In fact they are harder depending on your learning concepts. Thank You, Amanda

At first I was extremely excited to be going back to school. I have worked in healthcare for over 20 years and wanted to receive a diploma to match my experience. My excitment was quickly diminished when I realized the teachers did not "teach" and the students did not learn. A few of my fellow students began emailing each other off-line and found out we were making the same grades. The students who could not write proper sentences were achieving the same grades. I prepared a test for the school and guess what....they failed. My final project was way below my normal standard. In fact, I could say the final project was in the mid 60's to low 70's, but I received a grade which allowed me to keep my 4.0 average. From this point, I completed the set of classes and told my "advisor" and financial "counselor" I was withdrawing from the University of Phoenix. Low and behold I received an email from a new counselor asking why I was not attending classes. DUH!!! I withdrew. No one told me that I had to do a formal withdrawal and now I am being told I owe $150. DO NOT ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX. The process is a diploma mill and the "counselors" change as fast as the commercials on TV.