Hi. I attended this school and then got accepted to another more standard institution, which I applied at the same time to. The new institution, learning I had been attending U of the P, promptly told me that U of the P credits would not transfer. Universal transferability in question, I opted out.
I did enjoy meeting people from all walks of life, all over the world. However, I also saw a grossly wide range of educational professionalism in the students. In the introductory mandatory writing course, for example,there were a number of classmates whom could not grasp the idea of plagiarism being unethical. With a plagiarism assignment graded by those peers, it was difficult to not feel like higher educational learning was moving along for oneself at a progressively intellectually challenging pace.
> could not grasp the idea of plagiarism being unethical
I remember experiencing this at a private religious university. At the time, my hyper-religious mind was blown to see students outright cheating in the Testing Center.
Since then I've been exposed to additional perspectives on plagiarism. It is an extremely deep and nuanced topic. A few years out of school, I ended up mentoring and then teaching college students who seem to match the sort of person you describe. This was a huge shock at first.
The more I learned about these students, the more I learned about the sheer variety of perceptions involved: One person's fairness concept is, to another person or group, a latent power dynamic which ought to be questioned.
Or, this person's concern for the big-picture ethical questions is this other person's small-picture roadblock in an economic problem which seems more urgent with each passing moment. You want a big picture? Can you justify it in seconds, with something that's not simply a subjective perception or largely-covert moral construct of your own?
Yet another person's assumption of perpetually commonly-understood contract is another's baroque exercise in cleverness and flexibility. It's the sneaky laser dance from _Ocean's Twelve_, and _that_ kind of challenge is, psychologically speaking, extremely energizing for them. Don't think they didn't notice how things work in the "real" world! (When these two see each other face to face--so to speak--there are harsh outcomes)
Anyway--sorry to hear about your experience & thank you for sharing so that others can be more educated about their choice of institution.
> The new institution, learning I had been attending U of the P, promptly told me that U of the P credits would not transfer. Universal transferability in question, I opted out.
Yes, many schools will not accept coursework from nationally accredited universities. This includes coursework from UoPeople. You will not be able to apply for many graduate schools as well. A degree from UoPeople definitely comes with limits, and I wish the school was a little more forward about that. (There are lots of discussions about this on the internal social network.)
Not to invalidate your observation, but plagiarism is a hot topic at any college or university. I attended 6 different ones and in all of them it was top or near the top of concerns.
I am sorry to hear that your transfer of credit was not possible between UoPeople and the more standard institution. But I think that you should not feel bad or think that because the transfer was not possible implies that UoPeople standard is low or questionable. I say so because transfer of credit depends on the university in question, University A may refuse but University B may accepts and both universities are of high standard. For example, there are universities of higher standards out there that accepts transfer of credit from UoPeople, all you need do is to first of all carry out a research to know such universities before you apply rather than applying before requesting for transfer of credit which might not be possible.
As for the aspect of plagiarism, I must say that it is a serious offense and at UoPeople, many students have not grasp the idea because they did not take their orientation classes and foundation courses seriously else they will not be ignorant or be victims. So putting all these together truly makes one feels that studies at UoPeople is not like higher education, but on the other hand, everything being equal,if you are a student at UoPeople, then it means that you should be responsible to follow all the instructions and rules governing the platform right to the end of your study then you will feel that UoPeople is more than a higher education center.
NB: There is no institution in the world without a downside that affects the student as well.
>there were a number of classmates whom could not grasp the idea of plagiarism being unethical
It might help to define what form of plagiarism you encountered as there are some behaviors that count as plagiarism (at least were counted as such back in my college ethics class) which I never found any valid reasoning for. I have no difficulty understanding the ethical issues of passing off someone else's work as your own, but you can also plagiarize by passing off your own work as your own.
I've just completed my first term with UoPeople. I agree that I learned a lot about plagiarism and even had the opportunity to report some!
For me UoPeople is a blessing. I'm able to pursue a higher education all while working and supporting my family. This will give me so many new opportunities for better careers when I eventually move back to the states.
The educational method is challenging. I do like peer assessment, but I feel that some peers don't really try when grading. I like to give grades that are warranted, good or bad. Being told my work is not good with no correction is highly vexing.
I hope to continue to grow as a student with UoPeople and see others do the same.
> However, I also saw a grossly wide range of educational professionalism in the students
Your specific example of plagiarism is odd; I'm not sure what's difficult to grasp there. But wide ranging dedication (or professionalism if you prefer to call it that) is pretty standard at brick and mortar universities - it's pretty standard for a subset of people to prefer the partying and socialising aspects, and also pretty standard for quite a lot of people to drop out altogether.
plagiarism was how the germans caught up on the industrial revolution. plagiarism is how china cought up to the western world. the strict argument on this is that ideas cannot be owned. no one owns an idea. ideas just float around and can be left aside or captured. that's how i think about it anyways.
I took a semester of courses from UofP. It had a wonderful diversity of ages, genders, and nationalities. Interacting with those people through peer assignments was interesting, and I applaud what they're trying to do.
Ultimately, however, I found the entire thing way too tedious - full of the classic "make-work" and silly hoops. The level of pedagogy was very basic.
I dream of (and am actively working towards) a day where the computer's potential as a new educational medium is fully realized, rather than the current parade of attempts at transplanting a brick and mortar classroom into a remote asynchronous delivery system.
The first question I always ask of these weird online universities is, are they regionally accredited? National accreditation is not really a high bar and isn’t considered competitive; all legitimate institutions of higher learning should qualify for and receive regional accreditation from an appropriate authority before considering such study in one’s best interest.
This online learning site is eligible for regional accreditation as of 2020, but they really play up the eligibility in a way that seems suspect. They aren’t clear if they have even applied, but they have 5 years to apply until they have to have a redetermination of eligibility.
Not saying this is a scam, but it feels like a scam.
This site was very hard to find, for what it’s worth.
> Not saying this is a scam, but it feels like a scam.
Not directly related to your specific concern, but every attempt to make a open / democratized degree has felt like that to me, unfortunately.
Example: There was an online degree program I saw that awarded a real, regionally accredited degree from a state university. The degree and course work were exactly the same, but the online program was basically open. No admission requirements except to pay for and pass some pre-requisites that would then grant you access to the rest of the degree. The equivalent brick and motar program went through the typical admissions process.
My first thought: "this sounds very close to for-profit school".
So what makes regional accreditation so great? Do other countries have it? Why can’t a major regional body go national? Is it the law? It all sounds like a scam from that to textbooks.
I graduated from Bob Jones University. During my time there, BJU was Nationally Accredited and not Regionally Accredited.
This didn't personally affect me very much, but I know of many people who had difficulty getting into graduate school or professional work because of this.
A degree from a nationally accredited university limits your options. I'm not saying you'll be completely screwed if you get it, but not as many graduate schools will consider you.
Uopeople is not a scam . It's like every other institution of learning with qualified instructors . Make your research well before you make any comment.
I've graduated from this university with a bachelor's in Computer Science last year.
Overall I had a good experience. I found the curriculum to be on a weaker side. I was interested in various things about computers when I was young, so it felt like I knew half of the material.
While studying, I was working at the company part-time. At the normal study pace, you should be ready to put up to 30 hours per week when taking 2 courses. In reality, it took me half of that time. Usually 10 hours per week. Some people with whom I've studied had a full-time job.
I guess its a tradeoff. You have a less rigorous curriculum but you then have more time to pursue other interests. Closer to the end of the studies I quickly found a full-time job in a good company locally.
The tuition-free part is more of a marketing. At the end of the day, it cost me $4,060 for the whole degree which is quite reasonable.
Speaking of employment and red flags, from LinkedIn I know that those who had studied at UoPeople work for many big companies including FAANG. No problem here.
> At the normal study pace, you should be ready to put up to 30 hours per week when taking 2 courses. In reality, it took me half of that time. Usually 10 hours per week.
30 hours per week for just 2 courses? Are these courses covering more than a typical university?
In my undergrad, I took a minimum of 5 courses per semester (16-20 credits). Scaling from your expectations, that would be 60-80 hours per week? I doubt I went over 40/week, including lectures (admittedly, it wasn't a demanding university).
Just giving you my 2 cents so you don't assume that the time you spent per course is all that different from a traditional university.
That's what I'm finding. I started with one course because I was worried about time to study and time with my wife and child, but now I'm thinking I could do 2 courses probably without too much concern.
My only worry is the Math course. Not having gone to University or high school in 20 years I'm fearful. The other courses have been easy so far though, but like you I'm working on the field, so it's not so new to me.
YMMV. When I took Calc 3 at a "legitimate" university, we were told that the class would probably require a good 30 hours a week. I don't think I ever spent more than 5 hours a week, and I still got out with a good grade.
On the other hand, I've had small classes worth only half the credits, with absolutely ridiculous workloads.
So this seems like a good time to ask, does anyone have experience with University of London's online degree and how US employers feel about it? I've been eyeing it for a couple years now and was wondering if anyone either has experience directly with this program, or at least can speak more to how US employer's feel about degrees from overseas.
This may be slightly off-topic, but if you're looking at online/distance-learning offers from the UK, the OpenUniversity ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University ) is very well known and well respected, and has decades of experience in doing this.
I’m doing a Master’s in Finance from CEFIMS[1]. It’s a taught Master’s so it’s just fifth year of undergrad, with higher grading standards, though not that much higher. I’ve found it reasonably rigorous and intellectually stimulating and to the extent it’s not rigorous a great deal of that is my own fault for not choosing harder courses. Can’t speak to the esteem it’s held in by US employers but it’s cheaper than almost anything equivalent in the US. If you want prestige and you’re in Software Engineering do Oxford’s M.Sc. They’ll accept enough quality work experience in lieu of a Bachelor’s[2]. You need to go to Oxford for a week for each module though, and the fees aren’t cheap. If you want a regionally accredited US degree cheap and fast people have gotten Excelsior College degrees in under a year. If that interests you go to degreeforum.net. It’s devoted to speed running the credential acquisition process at minimal cost. People have done GA Tech’s MS in CS after.
> However, more extensive experience may compensate for a lack of formal qualifications, and a strong, immediately-relevant qualification may compensate for a lack of professional experience.
I don't know about the online course, but in general the University of London is highly regarded. Some of the best universities in the world (LSE, UCL) are part of the University of London system, and all the members are very good universities.
I don't imagine US employers would have an issue with degrees from there. You can find it easily and it looks reputable.
University of London includes among the most prestigious colleges in the world: King's College of London, London School of Economics, and Goldsmiths. They have been doing distance learning since for decades, if not longer if I remember correctly.
The one thing to note, at least when I took it in early 2000, is that its tough. I signed-up for their business/finance program and it was quite the course workload.
In looking at the CS curricilum this looks more like an extended bootcamp. Most regular university courses are not there, the credits/classes won't transfer to full universities, and you're left with a "degree" that pales in comparison to a "regular" degree. Plus you've spent about $5,000 to get their paper. I guess "accredited degree" just doesn't mean the same thing to as what I was thinking.
After seeing a lot of comments here discussing accreditation, I figured it may be beneficial to many readers to know about low cost, more transferrable, options for college credits. I have to stress though, there are lots of a-hole universities so try to find one that is ok with transferring large numbers of credits. You can't get an entire degree from this, but you can get most of the fluff class requirements you don't actually need for your major done.
Ordered based on cost. First 3 are online.
saylor.org - You only pay the fee for online proctoring. Has a list of roughly 20 total lower level courses that are ACE accredited. Self paced.
aleks.com - Like 20 bucks a month and they have some classes at the level of college algebra and precalc ACE accredited.
straighterline.com - Self paced, overall better course quality than saylor. Has professor graded writing assignments sometimes. ACE accredited courses. Normally $60 a class with a $99 a month membership fee. To keep costs down sign up and do as many courses as possible in a month.
The GED - You can get up to 10 college credits by doing well on the GED. Not online sadly, requires a testing center. If you have a non-traditional american high school background you probably need one of these to get into a university anyway.
CLEP exams - Are very cost efficient at $90 each and allow you to "test out" of many lower and higher level classes. Not online, requires. testing center.
Sophia Learning is currently offering their courses for free through July. They are ACE "accredited" (recommend is actually the proper term, I believe). I think they're normally ~$300-350.
There are several of us students doing courses there to transfer in.
Study.com offers many courses in CS and other areas which are ACE recommended. They charge $199 a month and an exam fee. If I recall correctly, you get so many exams in the monthly fee.
AP exams are another option.
DSST offers credit by exams.
And Excelsior College offers credit by exam as well, but I'm not sure of the costs.
There are different types of accreditation for schools. Generally speaking, if you are in the US and want minimal risk in terms of transferability, you want to attend a school that has been accredited by one of several regional authorities. National accreditation is different and for purposes of credit transferability in the US, it is considered inferior to regional accreditation.
The University of the People applied for regional accreditation in 2020. They are not regionally accredited yet. The process can take years.
Note: Good schools can lack accreditation and bad schools can get the most prestigious accreditations.
Another note: There are schools that set up accrediting organizations to, surprise, accredit their own schools.
Edit: I think this is the list of legitimate regional accrediting organizations:
University of the People stands out front and centre as different and sketchy as the name makes you think of protestors in a park waving the hammer and sickle and handing out diplomas for life experience.
While we have removed most of the costs associated with attending a university, we do still have some fees to help us keep UoPeople running, and take care of all the admin and processing work we have to do for all of our students.
To cover these fees we ask for:
A one time non-refundable application fee of $60 and,
For undergraduates: an assessment fee of $100 per course, or
For graduates: an assessment fee of $200 per course
Don’t worry, if you need to time to save the money and you want to start right now you can, as the fees don’t need to be paid until the end of each course. The assessment fees do not need to be paid until the end of each course which is very convenient for students who have to budget and save up. You can also apply for one of our numerous grants and scholarships to help you cover all the fees.
Please note the application fee does not include any additional fees that may be required for third-party evaluation.
After all courses we estimate the total fees for the:
Associate Degree are $2,060
Bachelor’s Degree are$4,060
MBA is $2,460
M.Ed. is $2,660
What are the costs for Transfer credits?
If you have credits approved to transfer toward your degree, the cost per transfer course will be $17. This is instead of paying the assessment fee per course of $100 for undergraduates and $200 for graduates. Transferring credits may significantly reduce the total cost of your degree.
What Grants & Scholarships are available?
UoPeople works with top corporations and organizations to provide grants and scholarships to students needing financial support when paying the required application fees. Students can apply each term for the scholarship for which they are most qualified, and once awarded it can last for a full year of study. It is UoPeople’s aim that financial need will not restrict students from studying.
How can I pay the application fees?
Payments can be made through Western Union, Western Union Global Pay, Paypal, Cashier’s Checks and Payment via MoneyGram. PayPal payments can be with your personal PayPal account or by using major credit card or debit card – VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. For more information on how payments can be made, click here.
"tuition-free" is a misrepresentation of USD 4K for an undergrad degree. That might seem cheap for US (does it? really? compared to community college for example?), but it's crazy expensive for most "people" out there.
"As an accredited University, UoPeople has a number of requirements for all potential applicants, to help maintain a strong, intellectual student body. [...] In addition, applicants need to have:
" * Be able to demonstrate undergraduate degree completion
" * Have English proficiency
" * A minimum of two years work experience
" * One reference (from an employer/lecturer etc.)"
The phrasing of the first two bullet points doesn't agree with the preceding sentence. That's a poor example of English proficiency.
If they don't proofread and correct their own admissions page, I'm frankly not too optimistic about the rest of the university.
It’s not regional accreditation, so it’s not real accreditation.
For example, the MBA program doesn’t have AACSB accreditation.
I don’t want to just be negative here and certainly for the price of free it’s a good resource to receive some kind of education, and ultimately a lot of people shopping for degree programs forget that a big reason to do them is to actually learn things. In that way this is a great resource!
But without that regional accreditation, I find the big bold claim of “accredited” to be just about as misleading as the way that for-profit schools throw around the term.
Of course, a lot of employers ignore the name of the college and don’t bother with researching its accreditation. I’m sure a lot of people want to just get through HR filters if you can say “bachelors degree” instead of “high school diploma.” Or maybe you need a masters degree to become a manager as a matter of company policy, and the company isn’t picky about the degree.
I look at the MBA courses and it looks like the program consists first foundational courses that make up less than half or so of the curriculum of an AACSB accredited MBA. The computer science program does look a little more comprehensive.
There are a ton of programs out there online with reasonable costs and more legitimate credentials. Since I was recently looking at MBA programs, I can tell you that public schools like the University of North Dakota, Ball State, Mississippi State, and many others are highly ranked along with a low cost per credit hour. You can jump on the US News online MBA ranking site and filter by credit hour cost.
The most expensive thing is your time, and unlike money you can’t get it back, so if it were my own education I would consider cost but also consider whether I come out of the program having wasted time with any of the concerns I stated above. Look at the curriculum and make sure it offers electives that might help you in your desired or current career (for example, a good AACSB business school will have courses on specific industries like Healthcare or IT Operations).
Great, they made it tuition-free, accredited, and online; now take it all the way and get rid of the idiotic hoop-jumping of the admissions process!
Edit: I know nothing about their admissions process, only that they have one. Somebody's unimaginative I see. "Admissions" should be filling out a form including contact info, bank info and so forth, and then verifying that it's all true. What could they (or you downvoters) possibly have vested in restricting admissions in any way beyond that?
To conserve scarce resources? No, resources are almost limitless, because it's online, and lecturing and presumably grading are partially or fully automated, and there's no campus with spatial restrictions.
To make sure everyone pays their way? No, everybody does pay their way, and it's a non-profit.
To maintain an air of exclusivity? No, it's the University of the People.
To make sure the on-campus community is vibrant, diverse, and full of people with interesting extra-curricular interests and leadership skills? No, because again, there is no campus and no on-campus community.
To make sure not too large a percentage of enrolled students flunk out or quit trying? No, because who cares? Only elite colleges that care about an air of exclusivity, and they care in the other direction, i.e. they want you to fail out so they appear rigorous and demanding.
For what it may be worth: two accredited online universities that have interestingly sustainable models and, I gather, good quality:
BYU Pathway Worldwide and associated programs. It requires a Church affiliation but not necessarily membership (I think). I think tuition is much lower especially if you do the year of English etc first, bachelors programs (like IT, business, others) are available, programs excellent, and is also suitable for those who need to first become qualified for entering a university (edit: i.e., learning English which is used in curriculum, and other basic skills), then provides that university. More info is in Wikipedia and I have gathered a bit of info including linking to a news article that explains it well I think, here: http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854578440.html .
And: https://www.wgu.edu/ (also mentioned in wikipedia): state aid available from multiple states it seems (per wkp). Others have commented about it in this discussion, and praised it in other HN discussions, IIRC.
Sometimes I read some heated comments / discussions on online degree programs. Is it good? Is it better or worse than traditional education? The answer is very simple: it depends on the student!
I am a student at UoPeople. I’m already in my early 40s and I earned my bachelor degree in business roughly 20 years ago. I’ve built a solid and international professional career and I am a new father.
I really wanted to pursue a new degree in computer science and I am so glad that I found UoPeople. It suited me perfectly.
I have to say, though, that online education is not for everyone. It requires a few qualities that not everyone has (or wants to develop): discipline and self-motivation.
UoPeople is excellent in my opinion, and from my perspective. It is an accredited American university that has academic partnerships with some of the most prestigious universities on the planet. It is tuition free. It allows students to have a flexible schedule. It sounded just like music to my ears.
If you are a curious self-motivated person that is willing to accept the level of discipline that such commitment requires, I have to say: you will have a rewarding experience.
Hello. I have just completed my first term with UoPeople. For me, it's been a blessing to be able to pursue a higher education from home and on my own schedule, without the financial commitment that other institutes have.
My purpose for getting a degree is to A.) Have a degree, and B.) Have the competitive advantage over others in my field. Many employers these days want 2 things from employees: a degree and experience. I've already gone off into the world, worked for a few years, and started a family. Now it's time I complete my resume by getting a higher education.
Specifically with UoPeople, the educational method here is much different than what I've experienced before. Peer assessment has it's ups and downs. The fact that we are headed by peers (on written assignments) I think is an effective when done right. I'm an English teacher and I've started implementing it with my intermediate students.
Only time will tell how the rest of my path goes. For now, it's a good solution to my situation and I plan on taking advantage of it.
I like the premise and I believe education should be a basic right. Someone should be able to pursue knowledge to the highest level and receive recognition for having done that. Now so often large corporations will not hire someone unless they went to a very expensive school, or at least their chances are much lower. So I like the overall idea here and I hope it will grow in strength
[+] [-] dart600|5 years ago|reply
I did enjoy meeting people from all walks of life, all over the world. However, I also saw a grossly wide range of educational professionalism in the students. In the introductory mandatory writing course, for example,there were a number of classmates whom could not grasp the idea of plagiarism being unethical. With a plagiarism assignment graded by those peers, it was difficult to not feel like higher educational learning was moving along for oneself at a progressively intellectually challenging pace.
[+] [-] themodelplumber|5 years ago|reply
I remember experiencing this at a private religious university. At the time, my hyper-religious mind was blown to see students outright cheating in the Testing Center.
Since then I've been exposed to additional perspectives on plagiarism. It is an extremely deep and nuanced topic. A few years out of school, I ended up mentoring and then teaching college students who seem to match the sort of person you describe. This was a huge shock at first.
The more I learned about these students, the more I learned about the sheer variety of perceptions involved: One person's fairness concept is, to another person or group, a latent power dynamic which ought to be questioned.
Or, this person's concern for the big-picture ethical questions is this other person's small-picture roadblock in an economic problem which seems more urgent with each passing moment. You want a big picture? Can you justify it in seconds, with something that's not simply a subjective perception or largely-covert moral construct of your own?
Yet another person's assumption of perpetually commonly-understood contract is another's baroque exercise in cleverness and flexibility. It's the sneaky laser dance from _Ocean's Twelve_, and _that_ kind of challenge is, psychologically speaking, extremely energizing for them. Don't think they didn't notice how things work in the "real" world! (When these two see each other face to face--so to speak--there are harsh outcomes)
Anyway--sorry to hear about your experience & thank you for sharing so that others can be more educated about their choice of institution.
[+] [-] uopeoplestudent|5 years ago|reply
Yes, many schools will not accept coursework from nationally accredited universities. This includes coursework from UoPeople. You will not be able to apply for many graduate schools as well. A degree from UoPeople definitely comes with limits, and I wish the school was a little more forward about that. (There are lots of discussions about this on the internal social network.)
[+] [-] vegai_|5 years ago|reply
Sorry, pet peeve. It's "who". "Classmates" are the ones doing "could not grasp" instead of "could not grasp" being done to them.
[+] [-] coderintherye|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] S111663|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SkyBelow|5 years ago|reply
It might help to define what form of plagiarism you encountered as there are some behaviors that count as plagiarism (at least were counted as such back in my college ethics class) which I never found any valid reasoning for. I have no difficulty understanding the ethical issues of passing off someone else's work as your own, but you can also plagiarize by passing off your own work as your own.
[+] [-] Illesam|5 years ago|reply
For me UoPeople is a blessing. I'm able to pursue a higher education all while working and supporting my family. This will give me so many new opportunities for better careers when I eventually move back to the states.
The educational method is challenging. I do like peer assessment, but I feel that some peers don't really try when grading. I like to give grades that are warranted, good or bad. Being told my work is not good with no correction is highly vexing.
I hope to continue to grow as a student with UoPeople and see others do the same.
[+] [-] TrackerFF|5 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Harvard_cheating_scandal
[+] [-] GordonS|5 years ago|reply
Your specific example of plagiarism is odd; I'm not sure what's difficult to grasp there. But wide ranging dedication (or professionalism if you prefer to call it that) is pretty standard at brick and mortar universities - it's pretty standard for a subset of people to prefer the partying and socialising aspects, and also pretty standard for quite a lot of people to drop out altogether.
[+] [-] stormdennis|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] territop|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pugio|5 years ago|reply
Ultimately, however, I found the entire thing way too tedious - full of the classic "make-work" and silly hoops. The level of pedagogy was very basic.
I dream of (and am actively working towards) a day where the computer's potential as a new educational medium is fully realized, rather than the current parade of attempts at transplanting a brick and mortar classroom into a remote asynchronous delivery system.
[+] [-] aspenmayer|5 years ago|reply
This online learning site is eligible for regional accreditation as of 2020, but they really play up the eligibility in a way that seems suspect. They aren’t clear if they have even applied, but they have 5 years to apply until they have to have a redetermination of eligibility.
Not saying this is a scam, but it feels like a scam.
This site was very hard to find, for what it’s worth.
https://www.uopeople.edu/student-experience/quality/accredit...
[+] [-] non-entity|5 years ago|reply
Not directly related to your specific concern, but every attempt to make a open / democratized degree has felt like that to me, unfortunately.
Example: There was an online degree program I saw that awarded a real, regionally accredited degree from a state university. The degree and course work were exactly the same, but the online program was basically open. No admission requirements except to pay for and pass some pre-requisites that would then grant you access to the rest of the degree. The equivalent brick and motar program went through the typical admissions process.
My first thought: "this sounds very close to for-profit school".
[+] [-] BigChiefSmokem|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dhdersch|5 years ago|reply
This didn't personally affect me very much, but I know of many people who had difficulty getting into graduate school or professional work because of this.
A degree from a nationally accredited university limits your options. I'm not saying you'll be completely screwed if you get it, but not as many graduate schools will consider you.
[+] [-] uopeoplestudent|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] efeoja|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zerof1l|5 years ago|reply
The tuition-free part is more of a marketing. At the end of the day, it cost me $4,060 for the whole degree which is quite reasonable.
Speaking of employment and red flags, from LinkedIn I know that those who had studied at UoPeople work for many big companies including FAANG. No problem here.
[+] [-] BeetleB|5 years ago|reply
30 hours per week for just 2 courses? Are these courses covering more than a typical university?
In my undergrad, I took a minimum of 5 courses per semester (16-20 credits). Scaling from your expectations, that would be 60-80 hours per week? I doubt I went over 40/week, including lectures (admittedly, it wasn't a demanding university).
Just giving you my 2 cents so you don't assume that the time you spent per course is all that different from a traditional university.
[+] [-] misterhtmlcss|5 years ago|reply
My only worry is the Math course. Not having gone to University or high school in 20 years I'm fearful. The other courses have been easy so far though, but like you I'm working on the field, so it's not so new to me.
[+] [-] TrackerFF|5 years ago|reply
On the other hand, I've had small classes worth only half the credits, with absolutely ridiculous workloads.
[+] [-] poma88|5 years ago|reply
I got a bachelor in a normal university while having a full time job in the last two years. I see no issue about this point.
[+] [-] Zircom|5 years ago|reply
https://london.ac.uk/sites/default/files/prospectuses/comput...
https://www.coursera.org/degrees/bachelor-of-science-compute...
[+] [-] querez|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barry-cotter|5 years ago|reply
[1] https://www.cefims.ac.uk/
[2] http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/msc-software...
> However, more extensive experience may compensate for a lack of formal qualifications, and a strong, immediately-relevant qualification may compensate for a lack of professional experience.
[+] [-] noelwelsh|5 years ago|reply
I don't imagine US employers would have an issue with degrees from there. You can find it easily and it looks reputable.
[+] [-] djpr|5 years ago|reply
The one thing to note, at least when I took it in early 2000, is that its tough. I signed-up for their business/finance program and it was quite the course workload.
[+] [-] cy_hauser|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deathgrips|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m463|5 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accreditation_mill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unaccredited_instituti...
[+] [-] traverseda|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] BearsAreCool|5 years ago|reply
Ordered based on cost. First 3 are online.
saylor.org - You only pay the fee for online proctoring. Has a list of roughly 20 total lower level courses that are ACE accredited. Self paced.
aleks.com - Like 20 bucks a month and they have some classes at the level of college algebra and precalc ACE accredited.
straighterline.com - Self paced, overall better course quality than saylor. Has professor graded writing assignments sometimes. ACE accredited courses. Normally $60 a class with a $99 a month membership fee. To keep costs down sign up and do as many courses as possible in a month.
The GED - You can get up to 10 college credits by doing well on the GED. Not online sadly, requires a testing center. If you have a non-traditional american high school background you probably need one of these to get into a university anyway.
CLEP exams - Are very cost efficient at $90 each and allow you to "test out" of many lower and higher level classes. Not online, requires. testing center.
[+] [-] uopeoplestudent|5 years ago|reply
Sophia Learning is currently offering their courses for free through July. They are ACE "accredited" (recommend is actually the proper term, I believe). I think they're normally ~$300-350.
There are several of us students doing courses there to transfer in.
Study.com offers many courses in CS and other areas which are ACE recommended. They charge $199 a month and an exam fee. If I recall correctly, you get so many exams in the monthly fee.
AP exams are another option.
DSST offers credit by exams.
And Excelsior College offers credit by exam as well, but I'm not sure of the costs.
[+] [-] phaus|5 years ago|reply
The University of the People applied for regional accreditation in 2020. They are not regionally accredited yet. The process can take years.
Note: Good schools can lack accreditation and bad schools can get the most prestigious accreditations.
Another note: There are schools that set up accrediting organizations to, surprise, accredit their own schools.
Edit: I think this is the list of legitimate regional accrediting organizations:
https://www.chea.org/regional-accrediting-organizations
[+] [-] MattGaiser|5 years ago|reply
University of the People stands out front and centre as different and sketchy as the name makes you think of protestors in a park waving the hammer and sickle and handing out diplomas for life experience.
[+] [-] factchecker01|5 years ago|reply
While we have removed most of the costs associated with attending a university, we do still have some fees to help us keep UoPeople running, and take care of all the admin and processing work we have to do for all of our students.
To cover these fees we ask for:
A one time non-refundable application fee of $60 and, For undergraduates: an assessment fee of $100 per course, or For graduates: an assessment fee of $200 per course Don’t worry, if you need to time to save the money and you want to start right now you can, as the fees don’t need to be paid until the end of each course. The assessment fees do not need to be paid until the end of each course which is very convenient for students who have to budget and save up. You can also apply for one of our numerous grants and scholarships to help you cover all the fees.
Please note the application fee does not include any additional fees that may be required for third-party evaluation.
After all courses we estimate the total fees for the:
Associate Degree are $2,060 Bachelor’s Degree are$4,060 MBA is $2,460 M.Ed. is $2,660 What are the costs for Transfer credits? If you have credits approved to transfer toward your degree, the cost per transfer course will be $17. This is instead of paying the assessment fee per course of $100 for undergraduates and $200 for graduates. Transferring credits may significantly reduce the total cost of your degree.
What Grants & Scholarships are available? UoPeople works with top corporations and organizations to provide grants and scholarships to students needing financial support when paying the required application fees. Students can apply each term for the scholarship for which they are most qualified, and once awarded it can last for a full year of study. It is UoPeople’s aim that financial need will not restrict students from studying.
How can I pay the application fees? Payments can be made through Western Union, Western Union Global Pay, Paypal, Cashier’s Checks and Payment via MoneyGram. PayPal payments can be with your personal PayPal account or by using major credit card or debit card – VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. For more information on how payments can be made, click here.
[+] [-] syats|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DudeInBasement|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paulmooreparks|5 years ago|reply
On the MBA admission requirements page (https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/ba/degrees/master-of-busin...):
"As an accredited University, UoPeople has a number of requirements for all potential applicants, to help maintain a strong, intellectual student body. [...] In addition, applicants need to have:
" * Be able to demonstrate undergraduate degree completion
" * Have English proficiency
" * A minimum of two years work experience
" * One reference (from an employer/lecturer etc.)"
The phrasing of the first two bullet points doesn't agree with the preceding sentence. That's a poor example of English proficiency.
If they don't proofread and correct their own admissions page, I'm frankly not too optimistic about the rest of the university.
[+] [-] dangus|5 years ago|reply
For example, the MBA program doesn’t have AACSB accreditation.
I don’t want to just be negative here and certainly for the price of free it’s a good resource to receive some kind of education, and ultimately a lot of people shopping for degree programs forget that a big reason to do them is to actually learn things. In that way this is a great resource!
But without that regional accreditation, I find the big bold claim of “accredited” to be just about as misleading as the way that for-profit schools throw around the term.
Of course, a lot of employers ignore the name of the college and don’t bother with researching its accreditation. I’m sure a lot of people want to just get through HR filters if you can say “bachelors degree” instead of “high school diploma.” Or maybe you need a masters degree to become a manager as a matter of company policy, and the company isn’t picky about the degree.
I look at the MBA courses and it looks like the program consists first foundational courses that make up less than half or so of the curriculum of an AACSB accredited MBA. The computer science program does look a little more comprehensive.
There are a ton of programs out there online with reasonable costs and more legitimate credentials. Since I was recently looking at MBA programs, I can tell you that public schools like the University of North Dakota, Ball State, Mississippi State, and many others are highly ranked along with a low cost per credit hour. You can jump on the US News online MBA ranking site and filter by credit hour cost.
The most expensive thing is your time, and unlike money you can’t get it back, so if it were my own education I would consider cost but also consider whether I come out of the program having wasted time with any of the concerns I stated above. Look at the curriculum and make sure it offers electives that might help you in your desired or current career (for example, a good AACSB business school will have courses on specific industries like Healthcare or IT Operations).
[+] [-] fortran77|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdiddly|5 years ago|reply
Edit: I know nothing about their admissions process, only that they have one. Somebody's unimaginative I see. "Admissions" should be filling out a form including contact info, bank info and so forth, and then verifying that it's all true. What could they (or you downvoters) possibly have vested in restricting admissions in any way beyond that?
To conserve scarce resources? No, resources are almost limitless, because it's online, and lecturing and presumably grading are partially or fully automated, and there's no campus with spatial restrictions.
To make sure everyone pays their way? No, everybody does pay their way, and it's a non-profit.
To maintain an air of exclusivity? No, it's the University of the People.
To make sure the on-campus community is vibrant, diverse, and full of people with interesting extra-curricular interests and leadership skills? No, because again, there is no campus and no on-campus community.
To make sure not too large a percentage of enrolled students flunk out or quit trying? No, because who cares? Only elite colleges that care about an air of exclusivity, and they care in the other direction, i.e. they want you to fail out so they appear rigorous and demanding.
So yeah. ????
[+] [-] lcall|5 years ago|reply
BYU Pathway Worldwide and associated programs. It requires a Church affiliation but not necessarily membership (I think). I think tuition is much lower especially if you do the year of English etc first, bachelors programs (like IT, business, others) are available, programs excellent, and is also suitable for those who need to first become qualified for entering a university (edit: i.e., learning English which is used in curriculum, and other basic skills), then provides that university. More info is in Wikipedia and I have gathered a bit of info including linking to a news article that explains it well I think, here: http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854578440.html .
And: https://www.wgu.edu/ (also mentioned in wikipedia): state aid available from multiple states it seems (per wkp). Others have commented about it in this discussion, and praised it in other HN discussions, IIRC.
[+] [-] dbdb|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Illesam|5 years ago|reply
My purpose for getting a degree is to A.) Have a degree, and B.) Have the competitive advantage over others in my field. Many employers these days want 2 things from employees: a degree and experience. I've already gone off into the world, worked for a few years, and started a family. Now it's time I complete my resume by getting a higher education.
Specifically with UoPeople, the educational method here is much different than what I've experienced before. Peer assessment has it's ups and downs. The fact that we are headed by peers (on written assignments) I think is an effective when done right. I'm an English teacher and I've started implementing it with my intermediate students.
Only time will tell how the rest of my path goes. For now, it's a good solution to my situation and I plan on taking advantage of it.
[+] [-] dvduval|5 years ago|reply