Slashdot Mirror

Surprisingly, Phoenix University is accredited, although it has been placed on notice -- i.e., subject to losing its accreditation as documented on their website

Of course, this indicates that accreditation is not exactly a true Gold Standard.

Getting a Degree with a Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) and a few part time online classes?
If you can do it outside the classroom why not do it as part of an official curriculum and get credit for it?

Learn more about PLA from :

• University of Pheonix
• American Council on Education
• Wikipedia

... or Google like I did.

Wish you good success!

... then I would value a degree of the same name obtained online as about a 2, partially because of introp's observation that the quality is all over the place and is an unknown; and partially, I admit, due to personal unfamiliarity.

Also I think it's worth mentioning that "online" is a tainted word when it comes to schooling. (Much like it is with prescriptions.) A more mainstream term known to most generations is "by correspondence". Most universities use "distance education" and offer various combinations of accessibility for students. It's not dumbed down material, and it certainly doesn't cost less. It's specialised for a non-lecture, non-classroom format.

If you say "I got my degree online", you're asking for trouble. Say, "I got my degree from accredited college X, through their exceptional distance education curriculum."

Assuming your potential employer doesn't cringe at the name of "University of Phoenix", you should be fine with distance education from any brick & mortar institution... http://www.phoenix.edu/colleges_divisions/global.html
If they're an ivy-league snob who cares more about what fraternity you were in, than the work you can do, it might not be a good fit.

That could never happen.

http://www.phoenix.edu/

Whoops.

There is even an online university... http://trolluniversity.com/

There's also one for trolling AFK, in the career of your choice!

The difference is you watch a truckload of commercials in the hopes that maybe, just maybe you will buy Pirelli tires, Gerber baby food, a few cases of Bud, some Pepsi, Doritos, throw some Orville Redenbacher in the microwave, vote for LOCAL_POLITICIAN, replace the windows in your house, drink Florida orange juice, pick up the phone and call Binder & Binder, enroll in classes at Phoenix, get a couple Sham Wows for your friends, tune in for the BIG_STORY at 6 o'clock, stay at the HI Express tonight, ... well, you probably get the idea by now.

So everyone goes to those 3 schools. They must be huge to turn out so many famous scientists and professors. And hey leave the UoP out of this.

Um, hate to break it to you but the University of Phoenix doesn't even OFFER a real computer science degree, they offer a lot of bullshit "IT" degrees, meaning they don't teach any of the real fundamentals(and no math beyond middle school algebra) behind how computers work, how to evaluage algorithms etc. They do offer some classes handholding you on technology that will probably be obsolete in a few years, if that's useful.

I guess I'm just an elitist, but I found that people who never studied any real computer science tend to write really shitty code(largely because they don't have the analytic abilities and because they don't really know whats going on behind the scenes).

http://www.phoenix.edu/

It's been going on for quite a while, actually.

Classrooms won't be obsolete though for quite a long time though, because I doubt listening to a lecture on an iPod will give you a better experience than being in a lecture hall. We will use classrooms until they have helmets that we can put on and be given the info we need for life.

Yours isn't the only one. I'm a University of Phoenix grad, and they have a block on non-IE browsers on their student access site. Worse, one student I know of who goes there tells me that some classes have requirements to read DRMed eBooks with Adobe Reader, and of course, all though there is an Adobe Reader for her platform of choice (GNU/Linux), it doesn't support the DRM.

Yours isn't the only one. I'm a University of Phoenix grad, and they have a block on non-IE browsers on their student access site. Worse, one student I know of who goes there tells me that some classes have requirements to read DRMed eBooks with Adobe Reader, and of course, all though there is an Adobe Reader for her platform of choice (GNU/Linux), it doesn't support the DRM.

A degree can help to increase your chances of doing something you really want to do. Given your circumstances, perhaps an online university such as this one could be just what you need.

Here is the most critical part: the US is divided into certain regions. Within each of these regions there is a main certification body, mostly some kind of association of schools. What you want is to make sure that whatever school you pick has passed the proper certification process by this main body. Cheesy schools will make these up to try to sound legit.

Read Dr. Bear's guide to distance learning (ISBN 1-58008-202-5). This man is the expert in figuring out diploma mills v. legitimate schools.

Consider a program like Regents College (now called Excelsior College, https://www.excelsior.edu/). The Regents program was run by the State University of NY out of their Albany campus. Their program was very simple: for a very modest fee they became custodians of your transcripts and they became your educational advisors. You submitted whatever credits you had completed so far, plus your military service records if available. They checked the validity of your transcripts and made sure you completed the courses in accredited institutions. You were free to take your courses anywhere as long as it fit your degree program (BA, BS, etc.) and the transcripts were sent sealed from the school.

Once you finished your course load, they issued you a diploma from the State U. of NY. This program is very popular with military personnel because they can work on their degrees regardless of where they are stationed, since all services make an effort to provide college-level education services. When I was stationed in Germany our education centers were run by the University of Maryland.

Also, there are online universities that have been around since forever. University of Phoenix (http://achieve.phoenix.edu/) started with satellite offices thru the country, then moved online. Keller (http://www.keller.edu/) did the same.

Whatever you do, research a bit to make sure the school is certified properly, then take it from there. Regents/Excelsior has a very active network of graduates that welcome inquiries from people interested in the program.

that can spell worth a damn? Or who can get they're, their, and there right? (obviously not many slashdotters, to read a few posts) Or, for that matter, two, to, and too? Or than and then? Or affect or effect?

I work in an industry with a considerable population of well-educated persons from India-- and I know a heck of a lot of Americans (being one myself, and having grown up here, ya know). One of my co-workers' children has far better grammer and spelling than the average slashdotter (i.e. knows and understands the above grammer items, and can spell very well). He obviously hasn't been studying English for 10 years, given that he's only nine.

My point is that people in the US whine and moan about jobs going overseas to "less educated" people-- while the average American high school student can't even find Iraq on a world map. If Americans want to compete globally, they have to do more than just go back to school to get a degree for "life experiences"; they're going to have to actually get smarter and work harder. If stating that bluntly makes me an asshole, so be it ;>

I completely agree that these types of programs are what the Internet should enable for people: to do things that they are unable to do because of location. We are able to meet people, communicate, and maintain relationships (professionally and personally) on the Internet - using this resource to learn is the next logical and easy step. The hard part is getting the programs tough and effective so that they are respected.

Legally, the Phoenix browser does not infringe on Phoenix Technologies' trademark any more than the University of Phoenix, the City of Phoenix (or even the City of Phoenix). However, notice they said "The kind folks over at phoenix.com" - Phoenix Technologies has every right to be unhappy about about the Phoenix browser, and if they have politely asked the name to be changed, then this really isn't a legal issue. The Phoenix browser can be renamed simply to be nice.

IANAL, and I have no idea what I'm talking about. This is Slashdot after all. :-)

I would watch out for the half-priced masters degrees. When I got mine, it was clear that the white-out hadn't even dried before they used a calligraphy pen to misspell my name over the top.

For the best degree money can buy, check out the University of Phoenix

I am surprized that I haven't seen others mention this, but make sure you are getting the right education for you. People learn different, and you may of had a problem with the learning / study methods used at university.

There is a difference between difference schools, state vs. private universities, two and four colleges, polytechs, and distance education vs. correspondence. Research the options, and pick the right one for you.

In this day and age you do not need to attend classes in person to earn a meaniful degree, in UK, the Open University leads the way, and in Canada there is Athabasca University, I am not as familiar with US schools, but there is the University of Phoenix as well as many others.

Define your goal(s) of attending a post-secondary school. Also an idea for your career goals might be useful, but you need specific education goals. Write them down. I said, write them down. This is how you will evaluate schools, programme and course choices.

Is it just to have a degree? Do you want more a fundamential understanding (i.e. theoric) of computing? Do you want business skills? To become a better rounded software engineer? Understand business, so you can grow your own business? Get a MBA? Meet women? For technical training? To earn more money? Continue doing what you already do, or so you can do something new? Certification?

An university degree is suppose to be based upon a theorical understanding, which while being less specific (i.e. more abstract), is more lasting and will not be outdated every 3 years. That is the #1 source of frustration and confusion I see from young computer science students. An university degree is not a career training programme. You get to do the career training in your own time.

Make use of your electives, do not choose courses because you think they will be easy like "Rocks for Jocks" and "Clap for Credit", find introductary courses you will be interested in, and will benefit you either personally or professionally.

Most schools have some means of providing tours of their facilities, especially in the summer. Since this is an investment that will cost approx. $40,000, you should research this investment as being right for you. If possible, arrange a talk with someone from the department that you are looking at majoring in.

Bone up on time management and planning skills, and study skills if you find studying difficult. University is about learning, but unfortunately very little is taught about how best to learn (for you). Read Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People it will help in setting your priorities, and planning. To help learn about learning, John L. Adams book Conceptual Blockbusting: Care and Feeding of Ideas, and George Polya's How to Solve It.

Practice reading, seriously if you do not do a lot of non-fiction book reading, start doing some more. A list of books any /.er should enjoy is Steven C. McConnell's Top 10 Reading List.

-Bob

Call 1-800-366-9699 and ask to speak to an Enrollment Advisor or

goto http://apply.phoenix.edu/online and click the NEW USERS CLICK HERE! link.

It usually will take 2 years to finish a BSIT from scratch, and all classes are 5 weeks(24/7)

I also am a student with them, and so far have not missed traditional ground classes.

--

Did I get a good education out of the process? Absolutely. Were there students passed that shouldn't have been? Probably. But what University doesn't do that to some extent?

UOP certainly targets the "non-traditional" student - and does so much better than traditional Universities. I can't recall anything I had to do that required me to make special arrangements around work to accomplish.

The reality is that you get out of education what you put into it - some of my fellow students were merely after a piece of paper - others were frightfully serious about the process.

I would make a strong suggestion to the original questioner - be sure whatever University you choose is accredited by one of the regional accrediting organizations (WASC, NCA, etc.). Many universities may be available online, but without some sort of valid accreditation, some organizations/employers may not honor your degree.

Hope this helps!

OTOH, I have friends attending UPho (U-Ph-O) and they're serious students. They are also non-traditional students, which is the target market for such places.
--

Oh yeah, one more thing. It's not just in Phoenix. There are 85 campuses aroung the country. (I don't want to tell you how many people have said "Oh, when are you moving?" when I tell them I go to the University of Phoenix :P)