University of Phoenix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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University of Phoenix |
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| Motto | Thinking Ahead |
| Established | 1976 |
| Type | Private, For-profit |
| President | Bill Pepicello |
| Faculty | 20,000+ |
| Staff | 12,000+ |
| Undergraduates | 220,000+ |
| Postgraduates | 60,000+ |
| Location | Phoenix, Arizona, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Locations | 190+ campuses |
| Website | phoenix.edu |
University of Phoenix (UOP) is a for-profit educational institution specializing in adult education, with campuses located throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. UOP was founded in 1976 by Dr. John Sperling.
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[edit] History
In the early 1970's, at San Jose State University in California, John Sperling and several associates conducted field-based research in adult education. The focus of the research was to explore teaching/learning systems for the delivery of educational programs and services to working adult students who wished to complete or further their education in ways that complemented both their experience and current professional responsibilities. At that time colleges and universities were organized primarily around serving the needs of the 18-22 year old undergraduate student. That is not at all surprising, given that the large majority of those enrolled were residential students of traditional college age, just out of high school. According to Sperling, working adult students were often "invisible" on traditional campuses and treated as second-class citizens.
Since 1976, University of Phoenix has grown considerably, producing more than 171,000 alumni. In 1989, University of Phoenix was recognized as the first U.S. university to offer course work online. As of October 2006 University of Phoenix has an estimated 280,000 students attending via the various methods of going to school. The University of Phoenix, originally, was based out of California. Later its main campuses were moved to Phoenix, Arizona.
In April 2006 UOP began offering classes through a sister organization, Axia College of University of Phoenix, which is an online-only school focusing on Associate Degree programs and entry level college courses.
In September 2006, UOP agreed to pay $154.5 million over 20 years for the right to put its name on the Arizona Cardinals' new NFL stadium, previously named Cardinals Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona[1]. UOP does not field any intercollegiate athletic teams.
[edit] Accreditation
UOP is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. UOP as a school is regionally accredited. UOP does not have professional accreditation for many of its majors, in particular its very popular MBA program. In British Columbia, the University of Phoenix was accredited by the Private Post-Secondary Education Commission (PPSEC) in 2002. That agency is now called the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA).
[edit] Business Programs
UOP does not have "professional accreditation" for their business programs, however UOP is a candidate for accreditation with ACBSP. According to a UoP statement,
Employers have not expressed a preference for business school accreditation. Regional accreditation, like that of the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits the University of Phoenix, is important for students seeking employer reimbursement and federal financial aid. With respect to the academic issues, UOP students greatly benefit from being taught by practitioner faculty who are experts in their field. This allows our students to integrate and apply the content knowledge to their chosen professions. By adhering to this model of instruction, the University of Phoenix is better served by not being accredited by AACSB. In addition, compliance by UOP faculty standards requires over 50% of its educators to be of a doctorate level (terminally degreed) to teach masters level courses, while working in their field. [1]
However, a 12-month corporate preference study held with HR professionals conducted by the Online University Consortium (OUC)[2] concluded the following:
All of the best business degree programs now carry both regional and professional accreditation from an accrediting body that's been approved by the Department of Education. A program accreditation to look for is Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. It's considered to be one widely accepted standard in the market for business education. Another to consider is the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).[3]
UOP's statement also contradicts a recent announcement by Intel, where Intel states that they will no longer reimburse tuition for non-AACSB accredited business programs, as well as published statements that companies like Proctor and Gamble will not hire graduates of non-AACSB accredited programs.
[edit] Nursing Program
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the Master of Science in Nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
[edit] Counseling Program
The Master of Counseling program in Community Counseling (in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona) and the Master of Counseling program in Mental Health Counseling (in Utah) are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)[4].
[edit] Modalities
Ground classes are similar to the traditional college experience. Students attend a class with a professor-facilitator who mediates a class discussion. These classes normally are 5 to 6 weeks long depending on the program of study. If a student were to schedule their classes to be year round with no more than a week break in between their classes they would accrue credits at the same rate as that of a full time "traditional" college student. These students typically attend one day a week for about 4 hours; they also are expected to spend time outside of the scheduled class, organized into "learning teams." Each "learning team" usually consists of 3 to 5 students who are expected to complete assignments for class credit. Professors tend to require at least one class presentation from each team.
Online students attend an online classroom via the Internet and either a web-based user interface, known internally as OLS3, or else Microsoft Outlook Express. In lieu of a classroom discussion, the facilitator will ask the class "discussion questions" in the classroom newsgroups. Each student responds to the questions and each other's responses, thus creating online interaction on a variety of topics. These classes follow a similar format to the ground classes. Students attending online can connect to the online classroom wherever there is a proper internet connection, and are expected to participate online at least 4 days a week. A typical student should expect to spend at least 15 study hours per week, but the time can be distributed over the week to fit the student's schedule.
FlexNet modality is a hybrid of the Ground modality and the Online modality. The typical FlexNet class is six weeks in length. The FlexNet students meet during the first week of the course in a classroom, and the next four weeks in the online environment, and finally the last week is held once again at a ground campus. During this first meeting the instructor will distribute the course syllabus. Over the next four weeks, the students complete their assignments in an online format using classroom newsgroups. The FlexNet modality was an original method for students to attend class, however the programs now mainly exist of strictly Ground or Online.
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Academics
The business degree at UOP has been criticized as an "MBA Lite" for its low level of instruction.[2] Approximately 95% of UOP faculty are part-time compared with an average of 47% across all universities, with most holding full-time day jobs; to help its professors, courses are written by the school's headquarters.[2] As a result of these issues, in November 2006, the Intel Corporation, which had previously had hundreds of employees go through UOP, stated that it was excluding the university from its tuition reimbursement program, saying it lacked top-notch accreditation - notably from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.[2]
[edit] Graduation and retention
When calculated by the federal standard used by the Department of Education, UOP's overall graduation rate is 16%, which is among the nation's lowest.[2] The federal standard measures graduation rates as the percentage of first-time undergraduates who obtain a degree within six years. The number is significantly lower at its Southern California campus (6%) and its online programs (4%).[2] UOP claims these percentages come from students who enter with no college experience, which make up approximately 7% of the University of Phoenix's students.[3] However, the institution publishes a nonstandard graduation rate of 59%, purportedly accounting for its large population of non-traditional students and what the institution believes are problems with the federal government's graduation rate formula.[2] UOP claims this is due to the substantial number of students entering with 24 or more prior college credits.[3].
[edit] Federal investigations
UOP receives more federal student financial aid than any other university in the United States, receiving $1.8 billion in federal student aid in 2004-5.[2] A whistle-blower lawsuit accusing the university of fraudulently obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid is currently pending.[4][2] UOP has previously paid out a settlement of $9.8 million for alleged violations of the Higher Education Act.[4] The University of Phoenix has been fined by both the United States Department of Education [5] [6] [7] and the United States Department of Labor [8] [9] for its recruitment practices and its treatment of recruiters.[2] In addition to the pending fraud suit, the University is also being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [10][11] for alleged religious discrimination.
The University of Phoenix's parent corporation, Apollo Group, Inc., is the target of a securities-related lawsuit [12], alleging that the group disseminated false financial statements to stock purchasers. "In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said that it denies all claims and that it intends to defend itself vigorously against the allegations made in the suit." In November 2006, Apollo Group's chief financial officer and chief accounting officer resigned in the midst of an internal investigation into the procedures for issuing and documenting certain stock option grants,[5] resulting in a dip in profits and a likelihood of restatement of prior profits.[6] In addition, Stull, Stull & Brody announced commencement of a lawsuit against Apollo Group for back-dating of stock options.[13] Apollo Group discontinued the tracking stock option for University of Phoenix Online in August 2004, placing all of UoP stock under the Apollo Group umbrella.[14]
[edit] Academic programs
The University of Phoenix is divided into four schools, some with associated colleges.
- The John Sperling School of Business and Technology
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- College of Undergraduate Business and Management
- College of Information Systems and Technology
- College of Graduate Business and Management
- Artemis School of Education, Health and Human Services
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- College of Education
- College of Health and Human Services
- College of Arts & Sciences
- The School of Advanced Studies
[edit] Notable alumni
- Kirkland H. Donald, Navy Admiral
- Jon Guenther, author
- Patrick Madrid, writer, EWTN television personality and Catholic apologeticist
- Shaquille O'Neal, basketball player
- Mary Peters, United States Secretary of Transportation
- Nathan Sproul, political consultant
- Hunter Tylo, actress
- Ice Cube, musician and actor
- Lisa Leslie, basketball player
[edit] References
- ^ Cardinals get collegiate feel, Sports Illustrated, September 26, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sam Dillon, Troubles Grow for a University Built on Profits, The New York Times, February 11, 2007.
- ^ a b University of Phoenix, The Facts About University of Phoenix February 12, 2007.
- ^ a b Dawn Gilbertson, Court revives U. of Phoenix fraud lawsuit, The Arizona Republic, Sept. 6, 2006
- ^ Angela Gonzales, Apollo controller resigns on heels of CFO departure, The Business Journal of Phoenix, November 9, 2006.
- ^ Chris Kahn, Apollo Group 1Q profit dips on higher costs, restatements likely, Associated Press, February 7, 2007.
- MGT350 'Critical Thinking'. UOP Press, March 5, 2006, p.1.
- Marketing campaign grows University of Phoenix Online enrollment, 2001. Retrieved on 18 May 2006.
- Farrell, E. F. (2003-05-30). For-profit colleges see rising minority enrollments. [Electronic version]. Chronicle of Higher Education, 49, A35.
- Worker bias suit targets University of Phoenix Retrieved on 28 September 2006.
- Current Information about the University of Phoenix on its 30th Anniversary.
