it makes me mental when I work with someone that has/is getting a "degree" from the University of Phoenix.
I'm a bricks-and-mortar-college kind of girl. I went to a college with buildings for my Bachelor's degree and I went to a college with even more buildings for my Master's degree. I sat in classrooms with people and professors, had to park my car in a parking lot and, when I went to night school for the MBA, had to eat my dinner during the 15 minute pee break (I didn't eat it while peeing, to clarify.)
I work with a girl now that is getting what she calls a master's degree from University of Phoenix. It really does irk me. I want to say, "No, I went to school for a Master's degree, you took out a loan to purchase one."
I don't even know where I am going with this post other than to rant a little about diploma mills. It seems there are so many people getting these purported MBAs from the corporation, and I'm really hoping that it's causing the value of my earned MBA to skyrocket.
Okay, the Amazing Race is going to start soon. Rant over.
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15 comments:
Do you think employers as much to blame as University of Phoenix is?
Alot of emphasis is placed on college education and a degree. This isn't a bad thing in itself, but when no distinction is made about where the degree is from or what it's in, just how meaningful is that degree?
I've had terrific managers with just an Associates Degree in Applied Computer Science. I've had terrible managers with multiple Masters in MIS, IT. I've had multiple managers with degrees who had *nothing* whatsoever to do with the IT field.
University of Phoenix is a response to demand. The reality is that many people work, don't have time for fulltime schooling at a bricks-and-mortar institution, and so they turn to a "paper mill", err, I mean "online university".
I share some of your opinions about University of Phoenix. Personally, I think higher of Community College of Northern Virginia students than University of Phoenix students... but employers do so value those pieces of paper, regardless of where they're from.
It's funny you say that. I actually Googled U of Phoenix when I was posting this and found a forum where people were discussing job postings that said "University of Phoenix and DeVry graduates need not apply."
I do agree that a lot of emphasis is placed on a degree and that a "piece of paper" is no replacement for good old fashioned experience. Perhaps the onslaught of unqualified U of P "graduates" will cause a shift in that trend.
I think a big part of it for me lies in the fact that I did sacrifice a lot of my free time to spend three years getting my master's degree the old fashioned way. And I didn't even have kids or a demanding 70 hour a week job like some of my classmates!
It’s not something that I take a huge issue with, really. I know that I earned my degrees and am capable of performing at the level of someone with a masters. It’s just one of those things that, when I’m in the right mood, just gets stuck in my craw!
Vicky got her Nursing degree from Marymount. I went to University of Maryland and then continued school in the US Air Force. The subjects of degrees, time, and cost come up from time to time.
In both nursing and systems administration, alot of emphasis is placed on certifications. For Vicky, it was Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and now her Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). For me, it's my Solaris (SCSA, SCNA) and Redhat (RHCE) certifications. We're both finishing certs and chasing new ones now.
We both know the constraints of time and money. Our nieces and friends are finishing their degrees now, and telling us about the $20-40K/yr of a DC education. I don't blame people for taking the "easy route" of a University of Phoenix, DeVry, or ITT education, but I simply don't value their degrees as highly as I would a Marymount, UVA, Georgetown, or even an NVCC education.
I agree with you about the sacrifice. Sacrificing more of yourself in time, money, and effort means more and shows more in your work. People respect the value of a hard-earned education or degree, and those people tend to be harder workers.
But the thing about those schools is that they aren't cheap. Univeristy of Phoenix costs twice what the average state school charges, and DeVry costs more than most private colleges. And, if you've ever looked closely, there's a little disclaimer in the DeVry commercials that says "Credits unlikely to transfer", so you're way better off going to a community college.
The other point that I forgot to make in the original post is that U of P doesn't have "teachers" they have "facilitators" that basically pose the topics and let the students teach themselves. If I have to teach my damn self, it sure as hell should be costing less than going to SUNY and getting a professor with a PhD!
After all the GD pain and suffering I've been through, I certainly think less of those online GIS degrees. Hell, a couple of my classes had online components and I gotta tell you, I learned next to nothing. And I know for a fact that those students who take those classes 100% online have a significantly more difficult time learning the material and continuing on in the program.
One of our former coworkers at that big ole company was a UofP "facilitator". He had several degrees but I can't say I ever had a lot of faith in his ability to teach a class well. He was incredibly nice to me (other had different experiences) and I'll always remember him fondly, but I can't say he would be a good professor.
Meb: that big ol' TLA is *exactly* what I was thinking about as I wrote both my comments. MK and TM were both facilitators at one point for UofP. I can't imagine MK standing over me, explaining MIS, and going through his wild hand-gyrations as he talked. (If you tied his hands together, would he stop talking?)
A couple of our co-workers were getting their Quality Assurance degrees through UofP. I commented and joked derisively of a "the value of UofP QA degree" to one of them. She got *very* angry with me and didn't talk with me for over a week.
UofP would occasionally set up their table across from the cafe, have a rep or two sitting there, and had course catalogs sitting out. I briefly perused them, but never enough to look at the costs.
IT, Systems Engineering, and Systems Administration might lend themselves more to "facilitation" over "teaching", but I'm not sure to what extent. I'm not sure I'd want to learn the intricacies of heartbeats, clustering, replication, and failover from a facilitator.
I'll stick to my books, classes, and certifications. :)
The problem with UoP is a mix of both the school and the students that attend.
The school is open enrollment so anyone can attend (in fact most 4 year schools will take you if you have completed a 2 year program). Therefore, most students may just opt out of taking SAT's and ACT's and go to a community college and then transfer.
You can say you are a "Brick and Mortar Kind of girl" but I don't think that eating ramen noodles while urinating on yoru 15 minute break makes you any better qualified then the person who has to work a full time job with kids and attend classes online.
In fact, I am hedging a bet you don't own a business and probably never will. My wife and I started our business in and in less than 1 year were making in the range of $100,000, neither of us had degrees. An interesting fact is that our business operated on NO CREDIT because we are smart enough to save money and run our business on pure capitol. So, do you think you are more qualified to run a business compared to me?
Also, my boss has a degree in business administration but to be completely honest with you I wouldn't let me run a hot dog stand. He is a GREAT system administrator but I don't believe he has one small idea about how to operate a business.
Also, take into consideration that 80% of all people who graduate from a brick and mortar school tend to get jobs outside the field of their degree; thus, making their degree useless.
I will admit the courses are more tailored for idiots at UoP and just recently they changed the rules and now allow the instructors to create their own syllabi.
So, what I would ask for you is a little acceptance from those of us who cannot attend school on campus but need to go online. Sure, I can drop my life, get divorced and move into a dorm room eating ramen noodles all day with a bunch of idiots who drink all night.
OR
I can keep my lifestyle where I go out to eat at nice restaurants, still go on decent vacations, have a great paying job that allows for me to gain more work experience and have time to be an....adult!
So, I am sorry that you believe that all online courses are bullshit but allow me to point out to you that I knew a teacher who was taking distance education from Harvard! So, I take it that because she is learning "online" she is less qualified than you? I would love to see your rebuttal to against an Ivy league school (something I doubt you were qualified to attend).
So please, bash the person who is taking the class and not entirely the school. You have to remember that the graduation rate at UoP is LOW compared to the number of students who are enrolled.
Well, I do know you're a jerkoff that posts on a blog that hasn't been touched in almost two years.
Way to prove my point there, Donald Trump.
If your literacy skills were above U of P standards, you'd have read that I was referring to Grad School, which I did at night, while I was working a full time professional job all day. Sure, purchasing a degree online would have been a lot easier than spending my nights in class but I wanted to get something out of my MBA, since I was paying for it.
Now, go Google your crappy alma mater some more and post bitter comments on some other stranger's defunct blog.
Well said, Robert! I applaud you!
I know this blog is really old, but I think it's important for people to know that it doesn't matter whether you attend a school online or in the classroom. University of Texas offers degree programs on campus and online. It doesn't matter how you attend, your degree will just say that you got a degree from one of the top 50 schools in the nation. University of Phoenix also offers degree programs on campus, but it doesn't matter; you will still have the name of a school with a crappy reputation on your diploma. At least at traditional schools, the quality of education is pretty much the same. You still have to go to a campus near where you live to take proctored exams, so it's not like you can cheat. Yes, going to night school is less convenient, that's why people choose to attend online. I think of it as being smart, not as being lazy or buying your degree. People attending school online still have to listen to lectures, read textbooks, do research, write papers, and take exams; they can just do all of that on their own schedule and without having to waste gas sitting in traffic. If I were an employer, I'd rather hire someone who obtained their degree from University of Texas online than someone who attended UoP or Devry on campus.
I think you need to ask yourself, "what is it about this person that I cannot accept in myself." Its not about other people honey. Its about you.
Causing your MBA to skyrocket? LOL. There's the insecurity. You know that MBAs are worthless and you are scared to face that, so you FOCUS with intensity and displace your fear onto this UOP gal. You should look at yourself.
And you post repeatedly on a defunct blog anonymously.
Get a life.
and yet you keep responding.
dude....man....dude....man....
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