Please read and enjoy the rest of the website. Keep in mind that there are many personal views and opinions expressed here. Consider them as you would anyone else's opinion. Also realize that we are unable to validate the source and content of individual submissions.

Frequently Asked Questions

About this website

Who runs this website?

This website is currently run by an alumnus of UOP, a graduate of the on-campus MBA/Technology Management program. Let me assure you, the people who run this website are not expert website developers. We try to do the best we can, and apologize for the appearance and quality of the website.

Why did you start this website?

There were several reasons; none of which individually would have prompted me to start this website, but the culmination of the entire experience and UOP’s attitude prompted me to start this website to spread the word.

What is the purpose of this website?

The purpose of the website is to provide information about UOP that UOP doesn’t want you to know or won’t voluntarily tell you. Our aim is to validate the concerns that current students may be having about their experience, and for new students to help provide a clear picture of what UOP is really about before they commit to such a large expenditure of time and money.

Does this website make money?

The purpose of this website is not to make money. The minimal advertising revenue helps to pay hosting expenses.

Where do you get your content?

Most of the content here comes from over 5 years of email from students, employees, and faculty, as well as my personal experiences and posts in the user forum. If you have any facts or information that would be appropriate for this website, please let us know.

Aren’t you guys just a bunch of whiners?

This is a subjective assessment of the way complaints are presented on this website. This site is comprised of a collection of reviews and consumer information about University of Phoenix. We strive to present the criticism in the most reasonable manner possible. If you have any suggestions about how to present this material differently, please send us an email.

Don’t all schools have the same problems?

UOP’s problems are not necessarily unique to UOP; however, that does not make this website any less useful or any less necessary. It is still useful for visitors to learn about the problems that are prevalent at UOP. Whether or not other schools share the same problem is beyond the scope of this website.

How can I help?

If you see anything missing from the website or know of any good content that we can use, send it to us. If you would like to volunteer to rework this website, we would be glad to have the help. Just send me a quick note and let me know what you have in mind.

About UOP

I heard that UOP is accredited?Doesn’t that mean UOP is a good school?

Yes, most universities are regionally accredited by NCACS or similar agencies. However, this is not an indication of quality. The regional accreditation guidelines merely check to make sure a school has proper staff, faculty, curriculum, etc. to be considered a University. It is similar to the accreditation criteria in the recent film Accepted. It does little or nothing to audit course content and learning achievement. Be sure to check that your chosen program at your school has program accreditation. Program accreditation typically goes further and exams the merits of particular degree programs. UOP’s popular MBA program is NOT accredited by AACSB or IACBE. Read the associated blog entry.

Can you recommend an alternative to UOP?

Other than my undergraduate education, my experience lies only with UOP, thus I cannot in good faith recommend any other non-traditional schools. Please take some cues from this website as things to look for when evaluating other schools, as other schools may have the same problems. There are some links on the links page to other resources that you might find useful. Users in our forum may be able to direct you to other schools.

Did UOP buy the naming rights to a stadium?

Yes, UOP spent over $150M worth of student’s tuition to buy the naming rights to the new pro-football stadium in Glendale, AZ. We urge you to refer to the stadium as “The Nest” or simply “OOPS” instead of its purchased name.

Do you have anything good to say about UOP?

Yes. If there’s one thing they do well, it’s marketing and sales. Give them a call and you’ll see what I mean. They have found a way to appeal to the public’s desire to get a degree as fast as possible, with as little work as necessary, with no barriers to admissions. If they could only find a way to keep the quality of the education up to par, then they might really have something. Unfortunately, when you eliminate admissions standards and reduce the amount of education, the quality of education suffers.

Is UOP completely worthless?

No, UOP is not completely worthless. For the person who doesn’t care about getting an education and they just want or need a piece of paper (degree), this is probably a great option for you. UOP truly offers the easy way out with among the most convenient hours and smallest, easiest workload possible.

Do you have any proof for the complaints on the website?

Where possible, we provide as much proof or evidence as possible, but it is VERY difficult. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to gathering this evidence:
a) UOP would NEVER allow a third party to truly and honestly audit and publish student data; particularly if it wasn’t flattering. UOP has end of course surveys, but there’s a reason they don’t publish the results.
b) No one attends a new school and expects to have a bad experience. As such, people tend to not gather and meticulously document all of their interactions and experiences with the school. As a result, when something goes wrong there is often little or no documentation to report or validate complaints.
c) There is a common misperception that people who are complaining about a school are complaining because they flunked out or couldn’t cut it. Even if this is true, it makes people reluctant to voice their complaints.
d) People in general don’t like to complain and they are often very tolerant of bad experiences. People tend to have a lot of self doubt and second guess their conclusions about their bad experiences, they may blame themselves, or they feel that it’s an isolated incident and not worth pursuing. e) Those who have completed degrees at UOP don’t want others to know how bad the school is at the risk of devaluing their degree further or damaging the image.

Did I miss one? Email me so I can add it to this list!