I finished 50-something credits in two plus years, with one-week breaks between classes and some time off. You can read through the series here on Consumerism Commentary for more of my thoughts on the pros and cons of the program.

Thanks. I do have a Masters in Accounting and now wants to do MBA. The curriculum as it is now for online MBA at UoP, is only of 36 credits with 12 courses. I’m hoping to get atleast 2 course exemptions. Is it not doable with in 60+ weeks, considering my background. I know every person is different ,but in general…….. btw, how much does it took for you to complete? and how many credits?

Asper

Working full time and spending several hours a day with classwork without a break between each class isn’t something I’d consider easy for most people, but if you have the drive, dedication, and time, you might be able to handle that. That’s up to you.

Don’t choose Phoenix if you’re looking for something quick, easy and light on required course work.

I’m evaluating various options of doing MBA online including at UoP. A question? Is it very difficult it is to finish the degree say with in 60 weeks(10 courses), considering 6 weeks for each course of 3 credits with a total of 30 credits, as it is now. I’m working fulltime.

Thanks
asper

Why the hell am I going to a University that says it’s suited for adult learners, blah blah blah. The way I see it, everyone that says they received a “Quality” education, guess what folks!? You gave YOURSELF that education! That’s right. UOP’s instructors push everything off on the books and learning groups. So you spend your entire educational career teaching yourself and you have to pay them for that. Messed up if you ask me. When you do the math. 3 hours (because the other 1.5 hours are wasted in mindless chatter) at 5 weeks equals 15 hours of “instruction.” Traditional university. 3 hours a week at SIXTEEN M-Fing WEEKS! equals 48 hours of instruction. So all of you folks happy with your education. You mean to tell me that 15 – 20 hours of instructions even comes close to 48 hours!? No wonder UOP graduates aren’t hired.

Oh yeah I forgot to finish the story. I dropped out after the first class before this place reeled me in. True, it’s not for everyone. If you want to teach yourself, struggle with setting up “group” time, instructors who “work in their field” (what a joke), high costs, administration that really doesn’t know how their own institution works (My FA advisor swears the FA office was wrong), then UOP is for you. By the way, even if you officially withdraw from university (not just your class but from the circus known as UOP), you’ll still get welcome emails and letters from your new academic advisor (its been two years folks! get a clue, i’m not returning) and follow up telephone calls to make sure that your classes are going ok, then knock yourself out. See how many folks respect you when you tell them where you graduated from.

Some student’s go through their entire degree without every experiencing issues, some don’t. I get some student’s who have been attending for several years and have their first call to Technical Support. We get all kinds of calls from basic computer use and training to the nitty gritty technical stuff. Some students call nearly once a week.

If you are one with little self-discipline you will be challenged and online school may not be for you unless you actually push yourself to be a good learner and adapt, of which adaptation really is what being a life-long learner is all about. Otherwise you can go to a ground campus. Attending online classes means you need to create your own schedule and follow through with it. Many of these student’s lacking discipline will wait till the last minute to work on their assignments, encounter a technical issue, get all frustrated, they want what can’t be done and expect the school to jump through hula hoops just because their lazy ass won’t get in gear. Then they try to find every excuse they can to justify themselves and bash the institution. Those people are going nowhere fast and online school is not meant for them at least not in their current state mind and lifestyle.

I’ve encountered so many people who are negative about online school when they have very little knowledge or experience if any. People are insecure about what they don’t understand and they feel threatened, especially when it comes to education. Unfortunately those types of people are always going to be around and always going to be a waste of time, effort and valuable resources. I don’t care where you got your degree, that’s what an interview is for.

Everyone is different so of course Online School is not for everyone. But I do know that UoP does a good job of offering a curriculum that applies to many different learning styles, whether be it linguistic, spatial, logical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, or interactive, yes that’s right there are plenty of methods to use on the computer that allow you to actually full fill these types of learning styles all at your finger tips not miles away at a library or campus. In fact I personally believe it can offer more than what the physical classroom but that does not necessarily mean that’s what I prefer.

I have personally attended classes with Axia College of UoP, the associate degree only school which is similar to the undergrad and above format but is not nearly as rigorous and demanding. I have also attended Fullerton JC and Westwood College of Technology. All different experiences, with the JC being the most like high school especially being that it was in Orange County; too many distractions, a high student to instructor ratio, very little one-on-one time available, and of course in attending a classroom like that means a lot of wasted time, and that’s why it’s so cheap. Westwood College on the other hand was an excellent experience, small classes, great instructors who worked in their field, and I was delved into some of my core classes immediately which really helped keep me interested and motivated to proceed pretty much what I expect from a good ground campus and that’s probably why i’m still paying my education bill from them. I ended up moving out to Phoenix and started working for Apollo Group and began attending with Axia College. Like Westwood, the online class had a better student teacher ratio and the instructors were currently working in their field. The best part was time management, I didn’t have to waste time getting there, wait for the instructor/students, so I spent more quality time doing work and critical thinking. Being a perfectionist that I am this came to be in my favor. I personally can not be very creative under time constraints. Creativity has to come to me naturally and my work gets better the more time I can spend on it allowing my thoughts to flow and collect It’s great to be able to start something, stop, cool off, let some other thoughts come in, revise, continue in the comfort of your own home. As I continued that process it made critical thinking even easier and come to me much sooner

I believe that both distance learning and in class have their advantages and disadvantages, and you just need to figure out what style learner you are and which one is best for you. If it isn’t good for you there is no reason for you to just go all out bashing, because not everyone is like you, so realize that and shut up. This has been my experience attending the online classes with UoP and working with the student’s directly day to day.

All I can say is that people who look down upon an online degree obviously have no personal experience of just how challenging it is. I can honestly say that I was pushed harder during the UoP program than I ever was at a bricks and mortar school. For one, the participation required is very high – there is no way you can just sit at the back of the classroom. Not only do you have to contribute at least 4 days a week, but you are challenged on your comments from your classmates and this forces you to really think about what you say (and you can’t get away with not reading the course work). Secondly, the time management and personal motivation required are very high. I also had classmates drop out because they just couldn’t cope. This is something that you should highlight to prospective employers when they question your online degree. Surely every employer wants to hire someone who has proved that they are responsible, independent thinkers who can work on their own and deliver on deadline.

The online format also allows for much richer interpersonal interaction with your teammates and your instructor. I almost never got a chance to have a private discussion with my professors at the bricks and mortar school, but with UoP, my professors were available to me 24/7. They have to respond to you within a certain time period, or you can complain to the university. That kind of personal time with instructors can be very valuable, if you care enough to avail yourself of it.

I am currently researching institutions where I can do my MBA and I will likely go with another online institution. It probably won’t be UoP – not because I fault the learning experience I had, but because I think my education and prospectives for global employment would be better served by an MBA from a European business school. There are plenty of very good business schools and universities that are now offering an online route, which just goes to show that there is obviously merit in the medium.

The main idea of this program is to get a job at the United States, so what are my probabilities of finding a job at the end of the MBA??

Have in mind that I will enter the country with a F-1 Visa (student Visa) and I will seek for the Working Visa (only if an employer offer it).

Thanks you all,

Fernando.

This is to maremojo, above. The decision to use an online format should not be taken lightly. Not because the degree is less then another, but because of the discipline it takes to follow through. I took flex net, format which requires the first night and the last night on campus with a real instructor and you meet your class mates and instructor and determine your teams. This is a much better experience.
Online is not for everyone. However, if you do decide to do online UOP is the best. I tried others, and did an exhaustive search for the right one. UOP won my vote hands down. The support from the academic advisor and financial aid persons is very professional.. They have been doing it longer than anyone, and the website is easy to use, and very professional. Experience matters with anything and UOP has the experience.
The program is not easy. I have only one class left for the MBA program ending June 28. I am graduating in a July commencement. A typical weeks work, includes 2-6 chapters of text book reading. Usually we also have 1-4 different articles and case study to read. Based on the reading you must answer 3 discussion questions online in the classroom forum. You must also discuss the topics in that forum with at least 2 posts each night a minimum of 4 days a week. Then you must re-study to find the answers to very challenging questions in the open classroom forum. You do not want to look like an idiot so you must do the work. Then you have an individual paper of some type due and the end of the week, plus an end of the week summary where you discuss what you took away from the weeks work. This is to be all inclusive of what was covered and you hope learned. You get points off for not including the right stuff and the syllabus is clear. All during the weeks of the course you pick up information to tie that all together for a final paper that encompass the entire course material and experience. This all inclusive course paper and presentation is the final exam. You are required to research your writing and back up your work with solid evidence. Papers are in APA format and your citations must be accurate. They have very professional requirements on writing these papers. I do not know about you but I am not a speed reader so it took me 3-4 days just to get the reading done. There is no way you will not learn this stuff if you follow the program and do what is required.
There is no easy way out. If you insist on using someone else’s ideas or material, you will get caught. They have programs that check your writing for flags that something may not be your original work. During the course you have two papers or projects that are required of the teams. You must work in your team to put this assignment out. Work a lot, learn a lot. The only thing I did not like about this program was the fact that I had to put my life on hold. I had not time to myself. Not everyone will learn as hard as I do, so it may not require as much from you. I must study if I want to learn and get this work done. If you decide to do online I would recommend the best. The best is the most experienced and that is UOP and the flex net.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

I’m thinking about UoP but am not sure what I want do do! Without a plan, it’s foolish to pursue education unless you just have oodles of cash lying around (not I) but your remarks give me confidence that brick-and-mortar folks feel threatened by the UoP nontraditional approach to education. Ironic that these same Big 12 (and Ivy) schools are now implementing and considering online education as well. Saw a billboard the other day that one can now earn an online MBA from my alma mater (UT-Austin).

Hook ‘Em Horns! Class of ‘95

Thanks.

I have some experience with brick and mortar universities as well. I earned my economics degree from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, which is a top-rated Virginia University and business school. I place equal value on both my graduate and undergraduate degrees. However, to those who want to bash the UoP experience, I will tell you that during my time at Tech, I had some classes that were taught by disengaged professors with no practical business experience and graduate students who had no teaching experience. I also had some great professors at Virginia Tech who really loved teaching. I worked with individuals in team environments who had no interest in contributing their fair share while others picked up the slack. To my knowledge, they all graduated. I have friends at other well know Virginia Universities who have had the same experiences.

Frankly, I would have gladly gotten my graduate degree from one of these fine Virginia institutions but they did not offer programs that accommodated a working parent’s schedule. I needed something more flexible. Though no brick and mortar offered online classes when I started at UoP, I see they are all scrambling for a share of that market now.

Like others that have responded here, I actually lost many a UoP classmate during the 24 month curriculum to the fact that he or she could not handle a full-time job and the demands of UoP. I guess for some who have responded here, these folks should not have even been offered the opportunity to return to school. The online classroom is more demanding because it requires an incredible amount of self-directed time management. I spent no less than four hours a day answering posts in discussion groups and completing my course work.

UoP was a very rewarding experience. It helped me develop a solid business plan for a company with the potential to generate over $100 million per year in revenue. I had no issues with UoP’s accreditation, which includes the The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). No, the University is not accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and neither are a lot of other fine brick and mortar schools across the nation. If you want some good information and articles on distance learning, feel free to visit AACSB’s website and learn how some other traditional brick and mortar Universities are trying to create for-profit distance learning models.

I could just as easily delve into the credibility of the faculty at many brick and mortar schools but if anyone really wants to know whether their traditional University have had any issues just use Google.

Is UoP perfect? No. However, unlike most state funded brick and mortar schools, if UoP fails to meet the needs of its customers, it will eventually go out of business. However, for whatever reason, state funded schools never seem to die when they are mismanaged. They just get new administrators and more state funding and press on.

My 2 cents …

I received my Master’s degree (MS-CIS) from UoP-online in 2006 (took me 3 years to complete). I have mixed feelings with the entire experience, both during the degree and after. Since my degree was technical (Computer Information Systems), I thought it mattered less if I chose an ‘online’ university as against the traditional university. However, for an MBA (which I aim to do sometime soon), I plan on attending a brick-and-mortar university classroom nearby. The main reason being that the responses that I got from people (friends, college professors, etc) regarding my UoP degree was far from satisfactory. In fact the MBA director at a local university spoke with disdain about the degree, saying that the degree was not sufficiently ‘accredited’. In fact, if my master’s degree was from a regular school, the GMAT requirement would’ve been waived for my MBA admission, but the MBA director refused to waive the GMAT requirement because the degree was obtained ‘online’.
In any case, I wouldn’t defend the UoP online degree vigorously; I only did it because:
1. My company paid for the full tuition.
2. Work and familial reasons prevented me from attending a regular university.
3. Being a ‘technical’ degree, especially in the I.T. field, I was OK with the ‘online’ format.
However, I wouldn’t ‘trash’ every online class out there; many of the so-called ‘ivy-league’ schools are themselves getting into ‘online education’ in a big way. That simply vindicates the usefulness of an online degree/class in the real world!

I’m a bit nervous as I finish up my degree- I have been looking to start a new career, and hoping that my experience at UOP will give me an edge over the field of candidates out there- but with the mixed reactions I hear when discussing UOP, it is a bit disheartening- people bash UOP without ever having attended- it is not an easy schedule, although some of the courses are lacking in substance. How do you combat those people who are convinced that UOP is just an over-priced B school? (PS- I attended the brick and mortar school- and it has definitely enhanced my education experience when compared to the online classes I have taken in the past).