Many of you may not have heard of the animated television show King of the Hill, suffice to say it is a show loosely based upon a character from Beavis and Butthead. At least I think it’s based off of him, Tom Anderson.Anyways so I’m eating lunch tonight at work and on a television in the room is this cartoon show where a young elementary school kid is trying to get into a good college by earning extra credit doing a work study. Hey I didn’t say the show was realistic. Anyways, so this kid’s protégée gets fired and all of a sudden the kid starts panicking and said, “oh no, now I’ll have to go to the University of Phoenix or DeVry!” Now the cartoon had my attention. I was a little taken aback at the remark, especially from a cartoon of all things and honestly I felt the little remark really betrays a lot of ignorance on the part of many people out there.
Here’s my take. DeVry and University of Phoenix are both regionally accredited schools with a large amount of students and an open enrollment policy. Both schools have had students which have seen tremendous success and both schools have had students fail out, drop out, get frustrated and quit, etc. This is all part and parcel of having an open enrollment policy.
Now here’s the good news. DeVry and University of Phoenix were both leaders in regionally accredited distance learning programs. No they were not the first and they probably are not the best but University of Phoenix is without a doubt the biggest. They have provided an opportunity for many people to earn their degree who may not have been able to do so otherwise. They have also demonstrated to probably more schools than will admit it that distance learning can be not only viable for students but healthy for the school’s budget as well, opening yet even more doors. In the case of University of Phoenix, they were somewhat to be partially credited for the paradigm shift in higher education to where distance learning programs are now considered okay for the most part. Heck, even some Ivy League schools are slowly but surely coming on board. So let’s give some credit where credit is due. DeVry and University of Phoenix have demonstrated that a full time working adult can also be a successful student and good for the school.
Now here’s the bad. Because of the extensive, extensive, extensive advertising campaigns both schools are a household name. Because of the open enrollment policies many people correctly assume the school is easy to get into. Unfortunately many people also incorrectly believe that it is then likewise easy to get a degree from these kind of schools. Ignorantly believing that easy enrollment must equal easy coursework. Additionally because both schools are a household name many people assume they know something about the school and have thus formed an opinion based upon the advertising, their assumptions, something they heard, hearsay, speculation or just because. Like most assumptions in life, many of their assumptions do not even resemble the facts. Either way, fair or not each of these schools carry a reputation that potential students should keep in mind. It’s not fair, it’s not right and it certainly isn’t enlightened on the part of those who would discriminate against these institutions but it is a reality and must be considered.
Now here’s the ugly. The guerilla warfare recruiting tactics combined with open enrollment and exceedingly high tuition rates have really hurt the reputations of these schools in many academic and professional circles. Additionally the constant, shameless and almost intrusively spam like advertising online, through email, through television or even by purchasing exclusive naming rights to a football stadium have caused many and sometimes rightfully to believe that these schools are shamelessly for profit. Some of these marketers must not realize that we, the American people know that they are there. But these schools aren’t selling hot dogs or beer. We don’t need the constant barrage of advertising crammed down our throats daily. Seriously, I haven’t gone a single day in probably years where I haven’t seen or heard a University of Phoenix advertisement in some form of media. Lastly the boiler room recruitment tactics of the University of Phoenix has earned them some well deserved criticism from academics, professionals, students and the press. I once inquired at the University of Phoenix and had people calling me 18 months after I had already enrolled in another program. They were positively relentless and some of the recruiters became somewhat terse whenever I didn’t want to enroll right away even giving me the proverbial hard sell.
It is a shame that these schools have these reputations amongst so many people and it is unfair to the students. To the point that employers are specifically naming these schools in their “do not bother to apply if you have a degree from…” is shameful. So rather than criticize I am here to help.
So here is Cajun’s plan to set the University of Phoenix and DeVry back on track and in the good graces of the public.
My number one, at the top of the list, highest priority is to LOWER YOUR TUITION. Let’s face it guys, we all like to make money but Harvard you ain’t. In fact your tuition is right up there with some really big name competition and yet, your schools reputation hardly justifies such an expense. I know, financial aid is easy to get and you guys get more than most, but seriously get some realistic tuition rates within the budget range of your average middle class family without having to take on $60K in debt in the process.
Cut back on advertising. See, you can still hit your margins by cutting back costs and therefore lowering tuition. I think I can be reminded that your school is still there if you did the occasional ad. I don’t need emails, pop-ups, digital ads in the margins of every newspaper and magazine webpage in America or television and radio daily and nightly running. Trust me, the whole friggin’ world knows you’re there.
Do some charity for once. Sure you’re for profit. But look at it like this, it’s really good P.R. that helps the reputation of the school and guess what, it can even work like advertising but in a good way. I know you guys like advertising. Don’t forget that many of these charities are tax deductible. Hey get crazy, have students working at a homeless shelter or faculty participating in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters programs. Give scholarships to orphans and children of disabled vets. Give the occasional academic scholarship or even just make a donation here and there.
Build some relationships with other schools. Don’t view everybody as “competition” but instead form some partnerships with non-profits. I don't know, sponsor some research or something.
Well that’s it for now. Anymore and I’ll have to start charging consulting fees. Like you guys would listen to little old me anyways right? Still, when you’re right, you’re right.