Are online university degrees accepted in Bahrain?
Does anyone know about the University of Phoenix specifically?
Call the professional organizations/governing body for your profession. Talk to recruiters/employers before you register. Do they require you to attend a certain type of school? Does you school need to be accredited? By any specific bodies? Use this information when you are looking at any school, not just UOP.
Within two months of graduating I had two new job offers (one from a private college and one from the university hospital). I was even on a phone interview in less than an hour of commencement, I was still in my regalia even.
I am thinking about obtaining a degree from an online university and I am curious to see what corporate America thinks about online degrees.
We HR people are more concerned about the reputation of the particular school than whether it was delivered online or in the classroom.
Some schools have a reputation for graduating excellent students, others have a reputation for being "pay your fee, get a C" — we generally prefer the former over the latter.
Online and DL delivery of college coursework is normal now. Almost every college in the country offers online coursework and some of the best offer whole degrees online.
If your degree is from a school that has a solid reputation and is regionally accredited then it will be well received. If it doesn't have a good reputation then it will be known for what it is.
Explore the really good schools like UMass, Boston, SUNY, U Fla, U Cal., and the like. The cool thing about online education is that you can get a degree from a really good school online.
Please help me settle a dispute between two co-workers. One has a BS in psychology from the University of Phoenix online and the other attended Southern Connecticut State University and has a BS in psychology as well
The University of Phoenix fellow bragged & bragged when he got his degree online.
The gentleman that actually went to the classes at Southern CT State argues his degree is more meaningful since he sat through live classes and experienced the full college scope by hearing ideas of others in a classroom environment, did an internship to obtain his degree, live group projects, etc.
I don’t know what to think. Do you think an online degree from the University of Phoenix is really equivalent to that of one from a college where you actually attend the classes in person?
Do you think a job recruiter would take the ‘in person’ degree more serious that a degree obtained on line?
I too may be biased, but I got my degree online. AIU
I too sat through class, via live chats with my instructor and fellow classmates. I had to do the same research, along with Discussion Board postings, which in turn is like responding to someone in the classroom. Maybe even harder, since you're REQUIRED to respond to your fellow classmates, along with posting your own discussion. You're NOT allowed to just sit there and listen.
As far as group projects….TRY doing one with 6 other members and getting them to be involved with out the phyical contact.. MORE than once I've been left stranded with those trying to come in at the last minute to get credit where no credit was due.
Personally, If I could of attended a class in person, probably would of made my life easier, but being disciplined enough to do your work, when you'd rather be doing something else…really hard!
AIU has several campuses, which one can attend and sit through the class, or do what I did and accomplish each one at an accelerated level of only 5 weeks per class.
I also know of other colleges which offer their classes online now…
AIU campuses:
Buckhead in Atlanta
Dunwood in Atlanta
Houston
London
Los Angeles
South Florida
AU Dubai
and ONLINE
ONLINE classes are beneficial, especially to those of us who are serving our country. It enables us to still serve, and further our education at the same time.
Most employers juat want someone with a degree to work for them. Are these Phoenix degrees credible?
I'm an instructor at the University of Phoenix, so I obviously know a
great deal about that aspect. But I have done a good bit of research on the subject, so I think I can answer your questions objectively.
1. How do employers view a degree from the U of P?
First, check out the following article from a respected online job
information site:
Vault
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=407&article_id=19393&cat_id=3092
The article desribes the results of a recent Vault survey of HR
professionals. 30% of them had encountered job applicants from an online university. Here is the meat of the survey:
"26% of those surveyed believe that an online bachelor's degree is as credible as an offline degree, while 61% say that the online degree is not as credible, but was acceptable. Another 13% said that online degrees were not credible and were unacceptable. Likewise, 37% of those surveyed believe that an online graduate school degree is as credible as an offline degree, while 54% said that it was not as credible, but was acceptable. Another 9% said that an online graduate school degree was not credible and unacceptable."
The good news is that this view is slowly changing. I dare say that 5 years ago, only a very small minority of HR professionals would value an online degree of any kind.
Here are some additional thoughts:
* University of Phoenix is the largest private university in the
nation
* It is fully accredited
* As stated, any graduate school is required to accept your UOP degree since it is from an accredited university.
* The view of online universities is going through a revolution right
now. By the time you graduate, I dare say a majority of HR people will view your degree favorably.
* The tide toward online degrees has begun and there's no stopping it. Within 5 or 10 more years, your degree will be as readily accepted as any other.
* Many major schools, including the Ivy Leagues, are getting into
online education, or distance learning. This is the wave of the
future.
* In my humble opinion, I think an online degree teaches you some
things that an onground degree doesn't teach you. You'll have a lot
more self-discipline. You'll also know how to work with difficult
people, since group work is required at UOP.
Now, the negative aspects.
* Yes, you're a few years ahead of the curve. When you graduate, there will still be those who look down their noses. This is especially true of the large, prestigious private schools such as Harvard, etc.
All things being equal, if you and a Princeton graduate applied to
Harvard MBA school tomorrow, with one slot open, you'd loose.
I like to explain it this way. A UOP degree is not as good as a
Northwestern or Harvard degree. Then again, it's probably better than some state schools, and most community colleges. There is a definite prestige pecking order among schools, and you are not at the top. Then again, you're not at the bottom either. 
That may be somewhat of a nebulous answer, but it's the best I can do!
2. Once I receive my degree how do universities such as UCLA,USC, or the California State University system view my degree if I was to apply for graduate studies to get my Master's Degree?
As alluded to above, the California state university system will
accept your UOP credentials, as they would from any other accredited university. They are actually required to. However, if you are competing for limited slots in graduate school, for example, your degree will of course not carry as much weight as an Ivy League school. Remember, there's a prestige pecking order. But if you're a California resident, applying to a state school, you really shouldn't have any problem, assuming your grades are good.
3. What are some negative experiences that students have had with the U of P that I should be aware of?
Wow, that's a hard one. There are always going to be disgruntled
consumers when you have 160,000 students worldwide. And I'm sure you can find lots of places on the web. Here's one place I found:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/education/phoenix.html
But, overall I've found the complaints I've heard rather petty and
self-serving. People say, the value's not there, the administration
was unresponsive, the teacher gave me too low a grade, etc. There has been, to my knowledge, no problems of any great magnitude or consistency.
As a matter of fact, I think the UOP program and administration is the classiest, best-run program I've every been associated with. They try to respond quickly, they're dedicated, and excited about the future.
One problem you didn't mention: the technology leaves a bit to be
desired for such a big company. The servers are slow sometimes. Worse, there is no dedicated software technology. They simply use Outlook Express. For a company this size, both of these shortcomings are pretty inexcusable in my mind.
Still, if I were getting my education online – for whatever personal
reason I had – I rest well at night.
Thanks for the question!
Prof
If two people applied for the same job and held the same degree but one was from a online university and one was from a true "brick and mortar" university, would it make a difference to potential employers?
Is the school accredited? will it's courses be accepted at other universities? If not, don't waste money and time on a worthless degree.
Say you get such a degree, then decide to go on and get additional schooling, only to find out nothing you took will be accepted at a university.
Many real, brick and mortar universities offer a few online degree programs. Those are the real thing and would be the better option, assuming the brick university is accredited.
As for employers, say they want a nurse and your degree is entirely on line… where is the clinical experience and if the school is not accredited by the state, the training won't get you the job.
There are a number of fake universities offering these type programs. Check and double check their credentials.
I want a couple different bachelor's degrees, and I was wondering if online college degrees (like the university of phoenix) are treated the same when applying for a job? Because with working a full time job, and already going to school full time, I don't have time for anymore on campus classes, so an online school sounds tempting for one of the degrees I want. Did I lose everyone already?
Your degree will not state whether your classes where taken one way or the other. It will simply have the name of the university/college.
There are a bunch of traditional schools that offer courses online. Maybe looking at a community college or small school to save on costs may help. The key is to find a program that is fully accredited. Distance Learning Alliance has a list of these traditional online schools. Look at that if you are truly concerned with the name of the school. Good luck on your search!
Check out: http://www.distancelearningalliance.com
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