My Norwich University Experience : University of Phoenix

Education IPO

WheelCipher — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Anyone who has done research on any of the many schools that provide distance education will have an understanding that market demand is a partial driver of success or failure. There are online schools out there such as University of Phoenix, Kaplan University, and a few others who are “for-profit” institutions. That said, one can also buy stock in some of the publicly-held corporations that own these institutions. The Apollo Group owns University of Phoenix, for instance.

I have always thought that as distance learning evolves, we would see more institutions offering stock in order to raise capital. That happened again this week with Grand Canyon Education, Inc.

The problem is that the shares took a dive after the market opened. I have a few thoughts on this whole idea of education institutions (or corporations) raising money through an IPO.

-    In a market like we have now, someone should have put a stop to the whole process. This is a really bad time for stocks and a worse time to offer an IPO. It was not a smart idea for a short term effort to raise money.

-    The distance education market is still in the early stages of what promises to be a long-term win. But that doesn’t shield it from the cyclical behavior that plagues other industries.

I believe that the “hype” that has surrounded distance education over the past couple of years is currently in a depression. Based on the economy as a whole, people are afraid to spend money on an education right now. A lot of jobs are being lost every day and a degree means almost nothing in an economy that is bleeding.   It will be difficult for a lot of people to get a job no matter what education level they have.

I think that if a person were buy stock in education, it would probably be a long term win. In addition to waiting for the economy to rebound, there has to be some reinvention in the online education market. It has become almost bland from an investor standpoint. Perhaps Grand Canyon or Apollo will notice that and make some moves in the next year or two to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Time will tell.

With almost six consecutive years dedicated to distance education, Scott has the experience to answer any questions you may have about the topic. Please feel free to contact Scott about anything having to do with online education.

You can also check out his photo blog or his LinkedIn profile.

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Fan Mail From Abiola

WheelCipher — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:27:00 GMT

I was so glad when I came across your blog. My name is Abiola and I reside in Maryland.

I have been considering going back for my MBA for the past few months and have been doing my research for weeks now. At times I just get confused about what school I should attend, accreditation issues, best business online schools to pick from and most of all, if it will be wise to attend an online school or go for the traditional classroom method.

I have a full time job right now and will want it to remain that way. I have to support myself thorough school. Being a foreigner it is harder for me.

I am considering University of Phoenix, Kaplan University, Devry University, Walden University, and Capella University.

In your best judgment, which of the above schools do you think I should try out? Does it really matter if the school is AACSB OR ACBSP accredited? How will the accreditation affect me when seeking a better job in future?

I really need your help and assistance to figure this out. I am all by myself in this country. I need your advice.

I can only speak of Kaplan University since that is where I got my undergrad degree. I have heard some great things about Capella and Walden. If I were you, I would call each of those schools and ask questions. Each one may have different requirements in terms of admission. At the same time, just because one school worked for me does not mean it would be the best school for you. I can sit here all day and give you pointers, but at the end of the day, you will need to do some research on your own to find out which one is best for you.

Having AACSB or ACBSP accreditation is VERY important. Employers will look to see if the school you attended has one of these. If you get the MBA from a school that is not accredited, you may have a hard time justifying it in the eyes of any future employer. When looking for schools, please narrow your selections to those that are sccredited.

Furthermore, ask questions of other students that attended these institutions. There are message boards here at eLearners.com that can help out a lot. For me to talk about how good one school is over the other would be wrong since I have not attended those. I only went to Kaplan. I enjoyed my time there. At the same time, their MBA program is not accredited by the AACSB or ACBSP last time I checked. That school would be off of my list for that reason.

I spent a year researching the best school for my MBA. You may need to do the same. This is a very expensive and life-changing decision. Don’t make a mistake because you didn’t do enough research. Take your time and do it right. You will be happy you did.

Do you have any questions about distance education
or anything in this post? Feel free to contact Scott anytime!

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Some New Fan Mail

WheelCipher — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:00:00 GMT

It’s been a while since I’ve had some fan mail. I’ve received two this week. The first one is posted below.

"Scott, I have read most of your blog, however if you mind, I would like to ask you a couple questions and would love your honest reply. I did my undergrad at UOP, and am considering Norwich. If you had to start over, would you pick Norwich? If you could rate your education thus far 1-10 (10 being best), how would you rate it? How would you compare your Grad at Norwich vs. your undergrad at Kaplan. Thank you."

Thanks for the mail. I would pick Norwich again! I love it. It's challenging, and the course content is geared toward me applying my 15+ years of experience in the corporate world to what I am learning in the class. Furthermore, I am able to take what I am learning in the class and apply it at work. In general, I feel like it's the perfect program for me.

I am glad I found Norwich, as I had essentially narrowed my choices to University of Houston-Victoria, Texas A&M-Commerce, and University of Dallas. All of which are good schools, I'm sure. But at the last minute, I found Norwich. I looked at the curriculum and saw that I could get in without having to take the GMAT exam based on my experience and my undergrad in Management, and I could be done in 18 months based on those criteria as well. So having the work experience paid off big-time for me.

If you have your undergrad at UOP, you would do well to follow up and get the MBA. I personally think that just getting an undergrad doesn't set a person apart from everyone else. Too many people are getting undergrads now. Stand out and get that MBA. I love Norwich. It is very time-consuming, but with the material that I am learning, and the fact that I am able to apply it *now* to what I am doing, I consider the experience very much worth the investment.

I would rate my experience at Norwich a 9 out of 10 right now. I am not sure what a “10” is, so … Also, to answer your last question directly, there is no comparison between the undergrad at Kaplan to the grad at Norwich. They are different worlds. I attended Kaplan to get a basic understanding of the topics I needed to study. I used it to “get my ticket punched” so I could get into grad school. I loved Kaplan also, but these educational experiences are completely different (in a good way).

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NewsFlash! Apollo Group Ordered to Pay $280 Million

WheelCipher — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:00:00 GMT

First, I would like for everyone to look at this comic … a little off the topic today, but funny none the less.

Now for the big news of the day in distance education: The Apollo Group Ordered to Pay $280 Million

Apollo Group Inc., the for-profit company that owns the University of Phoenix, fraudulently misled investors about its student recruitment policies, a federal jury ruled Wednesday, and was ordered to pay shareholders about $280 million.

[…]

The report, which was issued on Feb. 5, 2004, concluded that the University of Phoenix paid enrollment counselors "solely based on (the) recruiters' success in securing enrollments," which violated federal regulations. It added that the university systematically keeps its incentive-based recruitment practices hidden from the Department of Education. [SOURCE...]

This could be devastating to the school. If they were supporting and carrying out illegal practices for the sake of revenue, I am very upset that this happened. Not so much for the University of Phoenix, but for the industry as a whole.

There are good schools out there that are making an effort to do the right thing. People like myself and all the other bloggers and staff at eLearners work on a daily basis to promote online education. What this does (in an indirect way) is slap us in the face. It also tarnishes the image of the industry and the schools out there that try to uphold standards and keep the process rigorous.

I didn’t want to use the term “diploma mill” in this post, but what is a person to think that doesn’t know any better? They were letting anyone in that met absolute minimum requirements for the sake of gaining revenue. There is a distinct difference between “for-profit” and fraud.

The only thing I can hope is that they have cleaned up their act. If there is one thing this industry doesn’t need is for it’s most populous (and most well-known) institution to have a black eye like this.

The thing is that all of these problems were preventable. How? Stay above-board and honest. Don’t get greedy. Do the right thing in the interest of the students. It is apparent that the school (by practicing this behavior) saw a bottomless pit of cash in Washington, DC and took full advantage of it. It’s sad to me that an institute of higher learning would do this.

Apollo’s lawyers argued against the accusations on several levels, but I have faith in our justice system and believe the right call was made.

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