University of Phoenix [UOPX] review: Unethical and misleading practices 8

This happened to me as well. has anyone truly resolved this issue?

Me too! I am going through that exact same thing. I am taking my final 2 classes, which are first year general ed, and the semester ends Dec 16, 2010. My deadline date for my UOP degree program is Nov 20, 2010 so they will not give me my degree. I have to take 3 more classes, they will not accept them transferred in from a major university program, and quoted me a price of $8, 000 for 3 classes! I went through a lenghty and painful appeal process which lasted over a month and then was denied. During the 2 1/2 years leading up to this I was in constant contact with my academic counselor, who never, at any time, mentioned the deadline date. I am accusing them of intentionally letting me fall outside of the deadline to get another $8, 000 from me. Their academic counselors are sales people, they continuously called me to enroll, but never gave me a single bit of academic advisement or guidance. I am mad.

UOP is a scam. They are refusing me my BS degree saying that my "program" has expired and entering into the new "program" would require me to RETAKE around 27 credits. I am already $50k in debt from UOP and am 2 credits shy of my BS. TWO ELECTIVE CREDITS!
UOP IS A SCAM!
If you are in IL - Contact US SENATOR DICK DURBIN for anything regarding UOP.

Thank you.
Laura

I graduated with a BS/IT in 2001 before all the hype and bad press University of Phoenix was generating. At the time I had all ready 5 years experience in my field which was Information Technology with a focus in web application development and project management.

Up until recently, my experience spoke for itself. I acquired work without problems, no one gave a second look at my degree because of the amount of experience I have. Now, I’ve been solidly denied work due to the fact I have my degree from UOP despite my solid experience. This is unbelievable. People are actually telling me I have solid PM experience but they require a “solid degree” to take me seriously. IN fact I’m having conversations with people who tell me not display it at all, like I don’t even have a degree.

In this job market with over 15 years experience, to be denied work because of the degree I thought was obtained from an accredited school because the school itself is being irresponsible by creating such a bad reputation I can’t get a job anymore. UOP is now causing a backlash and now I have a worthless degree.

With Intel, Cisco and many other companies that won’t touch me because of the degree, this means UOP shouldn’t be offering degrees that mean nothing in the field the degree is meant for. They’re taking money for a document that is worthless even for a person like myself with years of experience. I can’t imagine what it is like for newly graduated people.
If you’re attending QUIT NOW. That is the only advise. It doesn’t matter if the work is hard or it’s accredited. I have recommendations from people who worked along side John Chambers from Cisco and that still didn’t matter. The companies want to be able to tell their clients or customers what school their project managers went to without cringing.

You will find it hard to find a job with a degree from UOP > That’s the only GUARANTEE you’ll get.
So where do you go? UMASSONLINE, Penn State, and there are online classes you could attend to get your general ed with West Valley College in CA and others. THey are real schools. These options were not there for me in 2001. I’m glad they are now.

The truth about UOP: http://myphoenixmistake.webs.com/

STOP GOING TO UOP NOW!

this is extremely alarming to read the other complaints. I stopped school back in 2007 short 6 credits (2 courses) of my degree. both courses were basic math, so i intended to take them at another, cheaper school. long story short, i put it off (until now), and was just told i have take a total of 14 addtional classes if i want to receive my degree. i basically have to retake 12 of the 20 core classes because they have been "updated". im in the process of writing an appeal, but am not sure what to say. im likely going to go down the "financial hardship" road, but it sounds like there is nothing i can do. god i cant believe i wasted $20, 000 on that [censor] school. if anyone has a better idea of what i should appeal, please let me know.

I also have had the same experience. I completed ALL of my classes in the "upper division" and returned to a community college to complete the core curriculum. Due to the amount of classes, this took me quite a while. I had been in contact during the entire time - my counselor confirmed my correspondence - they have records of every phone call and email. However, not until I transferred all of my credits was I notified that my degree plan needed to be "updated."

I am putting together an appeal letter now but after reading several of these posts it looks like my chances are slim to none. I do know this - I will not take another class there. I will appeal, and I I do fail, I will go to a real school and finish whatever I need to finish. The stigma of this school is worth the extra effort to avoid. It will be a crap shoot to see which classes may transfer, but I am not about to take 8 classes - that is 40% - to "finish" something I have already completed. My only advice is to weigh all of your options, cut your losses, and keep your eye on the prize. If you are looking to truly advance your career, this easy way out apparently doesn’t fit the bill. I thought as the school grew older the reputation would build – it has not. I walked in to a degree program which was too good to be true - and it definitely was.

I agree 100% with both these comments about UoP. Mine goes all the way back to 2003, and have STILL not gotten a full resolution. I had attended UoP from 2000 to mid-2002 when I had to withdraw due to a death in my family and was responsible for a lot of probate hearings, etc. Thinking I was okay with coming back, I spoke with a "Kenneth" in the Financial Aid department who assured me all would be okay, that my "file" would be updated and that he would "see to it" that my Stafford loans were not cancelled and placed in "full-time student" deferment status. This is when all hell broke loose.

So, I start classes back in January 2003 and everything is all good until I have to yet again withdraw due to more probate issues. So I do, and next thing I know I suddenly have a $2, 130 balance due to UoP! I raised the roof, tried to locate this "Kenneth" and the nice, friendly receptionist/gatekeeper would not let me see him, as he was always "busy" or "with another student". He even skirted my calls; I would average three calls a day until I finally got through...to a lady who said he had quit! That just infuriated me more, and now by this time my $2, 130 balance had reached corporate collections. They too were not very helpful, trying to tell me that was what I owed for ONE class. There was no way possible! I explained to them over and over that I was going through probate/legal hearings and they seemed like they could care less, that paying back that money was top priority to them rather than something I had no control over.

I have ultimately tried and tried and tried to resolve this with their internal collections unit but still get the same story..."you owe what you owe." I told them I could pay in installments due to the age of the so-called "debt" if this would satisfy them but they wanted everything up front. To this day they still say I owe the amount, I firmly and adamantly contest it. Now it is showing on my credit report as a charge-off, I have disputed it three times over, and they still say it is a "valid debt" owed to them. Bottom line, I totally refuse to pay this at all due to some financial aid counselor who didn't know their job from a hole in the ground.

If some class-action suit does come about (SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING instead of talk the talk), I would love to join in. Apollo Group (d/b/a UoP) needs to be grounded fully, for all the headaches they cause people and the monetary burdens they place on people.

My wife unfortunately had the same exact thing happen with her! We are currently battling the same issue as we speak. Were you able to resolve your case? My wife just got her second denial notice. Like you, she was never made aware of a policy change, in fact, the UoP counselors had not known about the policy and therefore admitted that my wife was never made aware of it. Still did not help! My wife was down to 2 remaining non-core lower level electives that were not transferred when she had a medical issue that she had to deal with. The kicker is, she went for two years straight with no breaks at all and had a 3.78 GPA.

We are furious but don't really have any recourse. I was told to take it up with the ODM office.